Iron Fish - Mad Angler - Estate Series Whiskey
$55
Iron Fish – Mad Angler – Small Barrel Estate Grain Series – American Whiskey (Wheat)
Collection: Small Barrel Estate Grain Series: Batch No. 1
Proof: 90
Age: 4+ Years
Distillery: Iron Fish Distillery
Type: American Whiskey (Wheat)
Mash: 51% Iron Fish Juniper Winter Wheat / 26% Meadows Ranch Organic Yellow Corn / 14% Great Lakes Malted Barley / 9% Iron Fish Rye
Website: Iron Fish Distillery
*Disclaimer: A score of 5 is the midpoint for my reviews. Above 5 I like it. Below 5 I didn’t for some reason. Most of my reviews are between 4-7. It takes something really really special to go above 7 or below 4. See the methodologies for rating at the end of the article
Nose: Red Hots Candy, “Honey Bread” and “Clove” that I agree with from Iron Fish’s description. There is a clear grain smell to this vs what you’d get from a Bourbon for example. If you’ve ever done a distillery tour and took White Dog and poured some on your hands, rubbed them together and smelled… That’s a similar nose. It’s a lot of grain. But not in a bad way.
Taste/Palate: I used White Dog as a comparison to the nose, but the palate is far from that. Upfront you get Honey, Caramel, and in the midpalate there’s Cinnamon, Clove, and Orange Peel. It has a thin to medium mouthfeel.
Finish: It has a calm finish as the Clove/Cinnamon from the midpalate fades away. It has a sweet Agave Nectar with vanilla notes that stays for medium finish. I would compare the finish to a Don Julio 1942. Obviously one is a tequila and a completely different animal, but I couldn’t help but to notice the similarities.
Verdict: For a “Batch 1” this is great. Whistle Pig has a similar farm to bottle concept (More on that below) and I would choose this hands down when comparing each of the “batch 1s”. Is $55 too steep for this? I don’t think it is given what was put into it. On taste alone I don’t regret this purchase. It has sweetness from the wheat and still a little bite to it. On the nose I was like “oh geez what did I get myself into, I hope this doesn’t taste like straight white dog”, but through the palate and finish it gets better and better and leaves you with a great finish that makes you want to pour just a little more to revisit.
The Story: I was on a mission for this review. As I’ve been in Michigan for a year and a half now I wanted to do a review on a MI product. There are plenty by the way. But, I wanted to focus on something that WAS Michigan. Not something that was sourced and bottled here. It took me 30 minutes to find this variation of Iron Fish prior to purchase. I had to sit in a store, on my phone, looking up distiller’s sites, Instagram, etc. before I landed on this bottle to try. I lived this bottle “By Proxy” until I could actually bring it home and taste it. Good news I couldn’t find ONE single review of this product in my google search so I have a fresh take on it. There was a story speaking about the release of the product, but no review on taste as of when I’m writing this (at least on the first 3 pages of google search).
As an FYI if I can help it I NEVER look up reviews, other opinions, the distiller’s site option, or anything prior to tasting and reviewing, because I want my palate to speak for itself. In this case it was an exception, because I had to do research prior to buying to make sure I was checking the boxes I wanted for this review.
The Distillery’s Story (My take on it): Iron Fish is not unique in their start. As with almost all distilleries when they first start they need to get product in the barrel and let it sit for years. Well, what do you do for revenue while you wait? You source juice that you hand select from an established distillery, add your twist on it (I have my eye on the Mezcal finished whiskey next), and put your name on it. This is standard practice and not a dig on the distillery itself. Even with their sourced products they are doing fun stuff with it.
Where the distillery went next is where I give them a lot of credit. They took their location and farmed their own grain in addition to distilling and aging. They are the first in MI to do so. Most of some of the most well known distilleries in the nation source their raw materials prior to distilling and then aging. Iron fish took their estate series 1 step further. I commend them on that.
Whistle Pig has done something similar where they even grow the trees for the wood in the barrels and theirs is called Farmstock. They are a few years into this series. Overall, I think this is a cool concept.
For the story in their own words check out the link that I put for the site at the top of the review.
Final Thoughts: Since I’m in MI and the distillery is in MI did I cherry pick this review and have bias? Yes and No. Let me explain. I have a Michigan Bourbon in my possession that I’ve been holding off reviewing because its SO bad. I revisit it each month to make sure I’m not crazy. I live close to this distillery. When I do a review on this bourbon I will not hold back, but I didn’t want to come out of the gate with a bad review on a MI product. That’s where I’m bias.
In the case of Iron Fish – Mad Angler – Small Barrel Estate Grain Series, I have no problem putting my seal of approval on it. Could it be better? Things can always be better. Given that this is the first batch and has aged as long as the distillery has had the possibility to do so I think this is excellent. PS aging loner doesn’t always mean better.
While I’m on the subject of aging… It’s printed on the bottle “Small Barrel”. This is interesting. Most indicate Small Batch which is the combination of multiple barrels of the same batch blended together to improve consistency along the product line. If the “Small Barrel” indication is in relation to the size of the aging barrel vs the batch size, that has implications on the aging process. It seems counterintuitive, but the smaller the barrel the faster a whiskey will age. Technically there is more surface area for the whiskey to touch the wood vs a larger barrel where more liquid is held in the middle and less available surface area. A standard size distillery barrel is 53 gallons. Anything smaller would technically speed up the aging process. It takes a large reduction in barrel size (i.e. 200 liters [53 gallons] down to 20 liters to see a 2x increase. It’s also said that smaller barrels are more porous leading to faster aging as well. If the “Small Barrel” was in relation to actual barrel size the 4+ year age statement would technically net more mature whiskey over the same period of time if it were in a 53 gallon barrel. This is a question I hope I can actually answer with a future distillery tour.
I’m excited to see what other products they “Farm Distill” (To Which they already have a couple more available in the series) and I’m also excited to see what some of these taste like when they’ve had the chance to sit a little longer. Lastly, It will be interesting to see what Iron Fish has in store if they start playing with their own product with interesting finishing techniques. Like what would the Mad Angler taste like with Rum/Port/Cab Barrel Finish or the Mezcal barrels that they are using? Hmmm….
Methodologies for Rating:
1. Dump it down the drain or regift it to someone you don’t care for.
2. This doesn’t even belong in a mixed drink. Use in case of an emergency.
3. It’s really not for me, but I heard some people like it.
4. Its only good when I’ve had too many and it’s decent in a mixer.
5. Solid. It hit all of what’s expected.
6. Above average. Good to bring to an event and you wouldn’t expect any guff from it.
7. Buy two if you see it to make sure you have one on reserve.
8. Very Very good. Constantly a GREAT POUR.
9. Superb. If I were to drink this and only this from now on I’d be a happy person.
10. Perfection is impossible. But this really comes as close as you can possibly get.
Nose, Palate, and Finish I rank regardless of cost. Value (recent addition) is ranked based on taste vs price.
Reviewer: David S
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