What happens when a group of whiskey enthusiasts from all over the US descend into the marvelous land of corn to visit a distillery producing the number one bourbon in their state? Greatness. That's what. But we're not here to chat about bourbon, although Cedar Ridge produces one hell of a bourbon and rye, which we can certainly confirm.
We're here to talk about the latest American single malt release from Cedar Ridge, which we think you should absolutely put on your radar. Why? Because we got to try it straight from the vat pictured above, where Murphy Quint has been blending barrels for the last six months. The Amongst the Whiskey team was geeking out at the opportunity to taste a release that Murphy seemed more than eager to share as a follow-up to the smashing success of the Untitled Cigar Malt Project.
As Murph thieved from the vat, we were told this was their fourth special release that he had been blending since April. Timing is everything, it seems—with whiskey, experiences, and life—as we found kismet in being the first outside palates to try it aside from Cedar Ridge employees.
Murphy seems to have hit a stride with his blending process, which he admitted has evolved with each release. Typically, blending takes him up to 3 months before he feels confident enough that it's ready to be bottled. This particular project took twice that time.
Wondering how this vat compares to the last bottling? We'll get to that. As for a bottling date for this one, we can only speculate, but the label is approved at least. Starting this project with a base of single malt aged in ex-bourbon barrels means this was already born from a place of low tannins - a good thing for a project that would go on to feature so many different wine casks influences.
Wine casks have been used to age whiskey and whisky, intentionally omitting the 'e' here, for decades. The Scotch and Irish whiskey industries have been built on reused, retooled, and refurbished casks from many other industries. Spain, France, Portugal, Hungary, and America are all much larger oak producers than the more sparse islands of Ireland and Scotland. As such, we know what happens when these barrels get imparted with a fruit-forward wine before putting new make whisk(e)y into it—you get some extra flavor from the previous oak interactions. This influence is a massive lever that distilleries can pull on these days to produce nuanced, differentiated products. Murphy Quint has pushed all in on finding the best casks to work with. He showed us many of them in Warehouse 4, a place everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime. Ramon was certainly excited in this warehouse, finding a mighty fine Amontillado barrel to drool over.
On the nuance of whiskey making, Murph is quoted on their website saying:
"The beautiful thing about whiskey is that there is no right or wrong. Each barrel is different, with its own unique strengths and limitations. Your role is to discover them."
Distilling since 2005 has meant that the Quint family has learned a thing or two about what makes good whiskey. They've gone through a growing array of 4 Christian Carl copper stills, and even recently adopted a grain-out distilling approach that has their finished mash pressed through an array of filters to extract all the usable liquid they can, increasing efficiency in a way that doesn't compromise on flavor.
If you thought smelling a glass of whiskey was potent, try sticking your nose above 1000 liters of the stuff. The wave of aroma that comes off that volume of alcohol is intoxicating to say the least, but we were on a mission to discover the flavor of this project, so out came a round of glencairns, and away we tasted. Are you ready to hear about it? Let's get into it.
Company on Label: Cedar Ridge
Whiskey Type: American single malt
Mash Bill Percentages: 100% malted barley
Proof: 118.1°
Age: NAS
Further identification: The 2024 release of QuintEssential Special Release is a 2-row pale malted barley mash aged in ex-bourbon barrels, finished in first-fill amontillado, sherry, tokaji, and moscatel casks before being blended with peated malt, that was finally finished in pinot noir casks; it's coming soon at an expected MSRP of $99
Nose: The nose leads with remarkably clear blueberry muffins, the top forming that sweet crystalline sugar layer that tickles at the tongue. Milk chocolate follows before the wine influence makes itself known. The amontillado cask influence procures sweet cream, fig, and tobacco. Tokaji layers in apricot and honey. Moscatel introduces sweet pomelo before the darker loganberry of the pinot noir rounds things out. There's a creamy approachability all throughout that produces a touch less wow than the Untitled Cigar Malt Project but offers oodles more approachability. Little evidence of peated malt can be found on deep inhales.
Palate: On first taste, we were immediately surprised by the flavor of a good wood-fired pizza. It took us to a brick hearth, pouring out the radiant heat of a crackling fire. Creamy tones are prevalent on this silky mouthfeel. Fig, plum, pear, and cola tones are all incredibly well integrated. Late in the glass, some notes reminiscent of the previous project surface: toasted bread, melted butter, grape jam, and blackberry tart all dance wonderfully in the mouth. Subsequent sips are surprisingly minty as the glass finishes long and undulating with notes of subtle milk chocolate, cardamom, thyme, and clove.
TL;DR: A softer, more elegant, and refined rendition of the QuintEssential Special Release series
Rating: 4.5/5
After a hilarious verbal description of the whiskey reminding us of a crackling fire, one of our tasters remarked, "You prescribe sounds to tasting notes, you're the only person I know who can do that." Well, when the whiskey speaks to you, you listen. This one will be calling from afar until the day it is reunited with our glencairn, as we'll certainly be buying one of these. We tried our hand at blending better than Murph, but ultimately he's got a much better knack for it. Keep your eyes peeled for more from this incredible Iowa distillery.
Written by: The Amongst the Whiskey Team
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Sounds like a rollercoaster ride. That will be a cool one.