Cask finishing is standard practice in American whiskey these days, but there’s one brand that was doing it long before it was cool—Angel’s Envy. The core bourbon from this Louisville distillery is finished in port barrels, but the latest addition to the lineup is given a secondary maturation in three different types of casks. We got an early taste, and it’s a great new bourbon that is worth seeking out.
Angel’s Envy was founded by master distiller Lincoln Henderson and his son Wes over a decade ago. In 2022, Owen Martin was appointed as the new master distiller, and he’s been part of some excellent new releases since then like last year’s cask-strength bourbon and rye whiskeys (the latter was a first for the distillery). The latest release, Triple Oak, is a continuation of the distillery’s cask-finishing philosophy, but it takes things in a very different direction.
The core Angel’s Envy bourbon is aged for about five years and then finished in ruby port barrels for up to six months. It’s a great whiskey, with dollops of tannic spice and sweetness layered on top of a solid base bourbon—which, according to Martin, is almost completely produced in-house now (there are still some sourced barrels in the mix as well). Triple Oak, however, uses three different barrels for the secondary maturation instead of just one, and the focus is on different types of wood as opposed to using a cask that was previously used to age wine or another spirit. Five-year-old bourbon is put separately into second-fill Hungarian oak for about six months, new Chinkapin oak for about six months, and new French oak for about three months. All three liquids are blended together to create the final product, and the results are excellent.
According to Martin, the Hungarian oak yields the lightest, most classic bourbon profile; Chinkapin brings notes of vanilla and caramel to the palate; and French oak is the most assertive with lots of baking spice notes, which is why it’s the shortest finish (and the smallest percentage in blend). Triple Oak is totally different from the core bourbon, as you might expect, but the blend of these three cask finishes works very well. The palate is nutty, sweet, and spicy, with a hint of the woody dust and floral notes that the French oak adds to the mix. It’s a balanced bourbon, and at 92 proof there’s just a kiss of heat on the finish.
“The goal for making a new product is to innovate, but still feel authentic to the brand,” Martin told me at a recent tasting. “We’ve never done a release like this—but why couldn’t we, and how do we do it in our own way that still represents Angel’s Envy?” I think he figured it out with Triple Oak. According to Martin, this release could lead to others—perhaps a cask-strength version, or maybe a distillery-only expression that highlights just one of the cask finishes used in Triple Oak (I was able to try them as separate components, and they shine on their own). This new bourbon is not being positioned as a precious sipper, although that’s a great way to enjoy it. Instead, the brand team recommends also using it in cocktails like a simple whiskey-cider combination or an Old Fashioned (I can vouch for that one). If you’re a fan of Angel’s Envy, I think you’ll enjoy this new iteration. And if you’re someone who has gotten a little tired of cask-finished whiskeys, Triple Oak might give you a reason to reconsider.
Score: 90
- 100 Worth trading your first born for
- 95 – 99 In the Pantheon: A trophy for the cabinet
- 90 – 94 Great: An excited nod from friends when you pour them a dram
- 85 – 89 Very Good: Delicious enough to buy, but not quite special enough to chase on the secondary market
- 80 – 84 Good: More of your everyday drinker, solid and reliable
- Below 80 It’s alright: Honestly, we probably won’t waste your time and ours with this
Every week Jonah Flicker tastes the most buzzworthy and interesting whiskeys in the world. Check back each Friday for his latest review.
