I spent much of my holiday in Nashville, rummaging around some of the better liquor stores there for bottles I don’t normally see at home in D.C. So, I was pleased to come across a bottle of St. George Spirits’ Breaking & Entering American Whiskey.
The first B&E release, a sourced bourbon blended at the California distillery, was well regarded by whiskey enthusiasts—perhaps more so now that the stock has been depleted. For this current release, St. George took more of a Swiss Army knife approach, sourcing bourbon and rye from Kentucky and Tennessee, then blending them with the distillery’s own malt whiskey. As the brand puts it, the blend brings together distillates of corn, barley, rye, and wheat, “with no one grain being dominant.”
The end result shows its relative lack of age (“no less than 2.5 years,” it says on the bottle) and doesn’t quite come together into a cohesive package. The nose shows much more of the malt character, dry and spicy with some oatmeal and banana notes and a strong iodine component. A touch of sweetness shows up on the palate along with some nuttiness, but it dries up rather quickly, taking on an almost astringent character as the finish all but disappears.
Breaking & Entering American Whiskey is an interesting blend, and it’s worth trying at the price point. But, man, I’d love to see what another three years in the barrel would do for it.
★★★
Stats:
— 43% ABV
— $35
