Distillery: Nightside Distilling
Proof: 90
Age: 18 Months
Mashbill: 65% Corn, 10% Rye, 5% Oats, & 20% Malted Barley
BACKGROUND: Nightside Distillery was started 7 years ago and proudly wears the name of "America's Smallest Distillery" coming out of a building that is only 496 sq foot! They started off making clear liquors from a 15 gallon beer still, and eventually grew to making whiskeys and more in a 100 gallon still. The founders and core workers are all military and first responders who love the craft. Nightside prides themselves on being a staple in the community, working to give back and share their craft.
NOSE: The nose is very rich with opening up with a strong scent of roasted barley, dark chocolate like, oak, sweet marshmallow, with a bit of ethanol peaking in the back. (20/25)
PALATE: Nightside packs quite the punch for a 90 proof bourbon. An oily coat covers your mouth with notes of roasted oak, nuts, sweet spice, roasted barley, brown sugar, and toffee hints. (32/40)
FINISH: The finish disappears fast but leaves mild flavors of oaky spice, nuts, corn, and barley. (21/25)
VALUE: For $50 this is a nice traditional bourbon. Definitely worth a try. (7/10)
Overall: 80/100
FINAL THOUGHTS: I was very surprised by how much flavor as packed into a whiskey with 90 proof. You can definitely pull the sweet notes from the oats in the mashbill. Very Unique and delicious.
Similar & Slightly Better Whiskey: Michter's US*1 Bourbon
Similar & Equal Whiskey: Basil Hayden's
Similar & Slightly Worse Whiskey: Woodford Reserve Chocolate Malted Rye
Tell us what you think and give us some feedback!
Scoring Legend:
96-100: The perfect dram, juice of the gods
90-95: Near perfect, truly incredible whiskey
85-89: Amazing whiskey, will always try to keep a backup bottle of this
80-84: Very good, some minor flaws here or there
75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink, Will try and keep a bottle on the shelf
70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get this
60-69: Decent, would offer this up to non whiskey drinkers
50-59: Not my cup of tea
Below 50: Give away
