Hillrock Estate Single Malt
American Single Malt Whiskey | 48.2% ABV
Score: 5/10
Average. In a good way.
TL;DR
Good, but it needs a nudge toward more transparency
Warning: You may Trip Over the Peat.
Transparency is important, for more than the obvious reasons.
I live in a small state in the northeast of the United States. Our local liquor stores, generally, carry copious stocks of bourbon and rye, with only a few shelves of single/blended malts. If you want bourbon, no problem. I, however, prefer the complexity of malts instead of the often overly corn-y sweetness of bourbon. According to some friends, I may have to renounce my citizenship, but I am saved by having a few bourbons on hand that are not seemingly dripping with caramel and sugar. This keeps me safe from local mobs and pitchforks.
For whiskey enthusiasts here in New England, going to liquor stores is an adventure to see what new things we can find. Sure, there are Laphroigs, Macallans, Glenfiddichs, Ardbegs, and other “core range” core ranges, but the hunt is ever-lasting to see which stores bring more unique brands and expressions. Oooh, a Ledaig 10! Oh my, a cask=strength Clynelish! Shut the barn door! I see an Aberlour on the shelf!
Yes, all good to have had, and glad to have come to know, but after almost two years since donning a self-ordained whiskey geek cap, I have been on the lookout for those more unusual and interesting bottles.
The cost of tuition to earn said cap was full-immersion reading, watching, tasting, and conversing. I have read books, sampled bottles, read articles and reams of reviews, and watched countless hours of whiskey talk and tastings online. As I made my way through these books, reading and studying the history of whiskey, the history of the distilleries, and the history of certain labels, I started wanting not just to study the whole whiskey landscape — but to taste it.
As I travel down this path, I naturally expand my whiskey experience with new bottles I find along the way. The search for those bottles can take an odd and twisting route. I am — to use the well-worn phrase — whiskey-curious, and happy to discover and sample any new bottles that appear on the horizon. My whiskey journey has led me to many new and interesting malts — fascinating and gratifying. To be sure, sampling and sharing with family and friends is, by no means, an insufferable burden by any measure… I have even started my own whiskey club! That has been a wonderful bit of enjoyment, and it is where our journey with Hillrock Estate Distillery starts.
“What makes this distillery unusual, at least in the USA, is that they are not just malting their own barley, they are floor malting it.”
Our whiskey club meeting in June was held at a local liquor store, as they were hosting us with samples. While the bottles placed before us were mostly bourbons, we enjoyed ourselves tremendously.
One member of my whiskey club is my clergyman. He is a health nut, he takes care of himself, and he is always graceful and measured. That said, I have introduced him to the world of whiskey, for which I have lost a bit of trust with his wife, who does not enjoy it like he does.
On this night, there was a bottle of Hillrock’s bourbon before us – cask strength, as it was a bottle pick by the liquor store direct from the distillery. I was intrigued by the distillery, as I learned from our host that Hillrock was only about an hour’s drive from us. I was also told that they have a rye as well as a single malt in addition to their bourbon. Admittedly, the bourbon was delicious (a review to come?), and I made a mental note to look into the details of Hillrock Estate after the tasting event.
Unfortunately, my clergyman also thought the Hillrock bourbon was delicious, and imbibed heartily. And, clearly, he did not have dinner before the evening tasting, as his proverbial ship began to take on water and sink. There ensured slurred words, help to leave the store, a call to his wife, and a photo taken past midnight (by his wife – who, thankfully, was laughing herself silly) of him sleeping on the floor with his dog beside him.
This ill-but-hilariously-begotten start to my interaction with Hillrock Estate Distillery is the genesis of this review of their single malt. After that tasting, I wanted to know more about the distillery and their whiskey.
As it turns out, my investigation yielded immediate promise. Hillrock Estate Distillery is on a short list of American whiskeys that have garnered awards and curried much fanfare in recent years (see vinepair.com, whiskyadvocate.com, and uproxx.com, along with an honourable mention from scotchwhisky.com). Located in the Hudson Valley of New York – just two hours north of New York City – Hillrock Estate Distillery prides itself on its in-house processes. One of the few distilleries to floor-malt its own barley, Hillrock controls every facet of producing its single malt, from planting and harvesting its own grain and distilling in a uniquely crafted copper pot still to hand-bottling.
The more I read about Hillrock, the more impressed I became. So, I ventured out on the hunt to find a bottle of Hillrock’s single malt. And, as expected, I could find many bottles of their bourbon and rye, but no single malt. I was reminded, yet again, that I was searching for single malts here in Connecticut. Even though the distillery was literally a little more than an hour’s drive away, nary a bottle was to be found. But, as a stubborn and persevering New Englander (and someone on his whiskey journey with purpose), after three stores, I managed to find a bottle of their single malt.
As I uncorked the bottle, I couldn’t help but chuckle at how a tasting resulting in my clergyman sleeping on the floor with his dog in the front vestibule of his home was the starting point of my investigation of this single malt. Hopefully, this bottle would not be an acrid or sour experience of devil’s juice; an ungodly concoction that would make me wince. Would this be a respectable taste experience but fall short of expectations? Or would it be a seminal experience that would make me lose track of time for a few minutes? I was eager to find out.
Review
Hillrock Estate Distillery Single Malt Whiskey, Barrel #OPX #43
NAS, 48.2% ABV
US $99.99, limited availability
Of course, as I started to pour the first dram, my wife looked at the bottle — it is a very distinct shape that Hillrock uses for its liquors — and asked if that was the delicious stuff that knocked out our clergyman. After the peals of laughter, I told her that this was Hillrock’s single malt, not the bourbon. She diligently retrieved a Glencairn for herself and happily joined me in the uncorking.
There’s no indication on the bottle as to chill-filtered or not and no indication as to whether colour has been added. It does say that the age is no less than four years.
Nose
The initial impression on the nose was of baking spices — cinnamon, allspice — with malt and a hint of orange in the background. There was also some sweet caramel lingering. A very pleasant nose that was inviting and without any alcohol burn. Maybe a wisp of smoke — but there was no indication on the bottle that this was made with peated barley. Nonetheless, quite appealing and inviting.
Palate
The first sip was malt, stone fruits, spice, and a wisp of orange, but after a few seconds, the palate changed. Peat came forward mid-way through, slowly but surely. It became stronger on the finish. Great mouth feel, with a degree of viscosity and cling. Still, I was surprised by the peat and the amount of it at the end of the finish. I looked again at the bottle, and still no indication of much of anything on it.
The Dregs
So, all the bottle indicates with regard to a flavour profile is that it is “aged in American Oak not less than four years and finished in sherry casks.”
I went for my second sip, and as I raised the glass to my nose, the peat was clear as day. It was as if the peat had waited until I had taken a first sip to come out, without hesitation, and make itself known. Now, the peat was clearly forward. The dram had changed in an instant. The nose was peat-forward, with caramel and spices intertwined but slightly in the background.
The second sip confirmed the nose. The taste was unmistakably peat-forward, but not strong or acrid. It was a sweet smoke, not quite as sweet as Longrow Peated, for example, but well done with this mix of malt, caramel, and spice. A hint of pipe tobacco hit my senses at the finish. It was well balanced, and I did not feel any alcohol making things sting or bite. Not a long finish, but not short, either. It was an unexpectedly solid entry into my peated single malt collection, for sure.
There are few things more disappointing than hearing raves about someone only to have those expectations dashed when you are able to meet that person and discover he/she has the personality of a stale biscuit. Despite the fact that Hillrock’s bourbon was a bit better, I am glad to report that my hopes of a good single malt were met by this bottle.
It is curious, however. The bottle came ‘as is’ — no packaging and therefore no additional information. As noted above, the only pieces of information on the bottle about the liquid inside were that it was aged for no more than four years in American oak, that it was finished in sherry casks, and that it comes in at 48.2% ABV. Nothing about chill filtration. Nothing about added colour. Nothing about peat. I went to the Hillrock Estate Distillery website, thinking they would surely have copious amounts of clear information there about the single malt and how it was made. But not so fast…
Hillrock Estate Distillery’s website is sleek and polished. However, the information is terse and spread among several places within the site: the introduction pages, the tab for the malt house, the tab for the estate grain, and the tab regarding their single malt. In bouncing back and forth among these tabs, we read quick bits about the distillery’s ‘commitment to quality and the unique local terroir [that] embodies the rich history of artisanal distilling in the Hudson Valley’, and also the fact that Hillrock is ‘proud to be one of the world’s few distilleries that floor malts its own naturally grown grain and hand-crafts premier spirits traditionally in small batches.’ We also learn that Hillrock uses its own ‘naturally grown grain which is all traditionally steeped, floor-malted, smoked, and kilned all by hand’, and that ‘[e]xpressions smoked with imported Speyside Scotland peat exhibit a complex, lingering smokiness…’
Again, all impressive, without question. And yet, when you are at the liquor store (or wherever you may be purchasing your bottles), having information on the bottle or the box containing the bottle is rather helpful. As much of a whiskey geek as I may be, as I stand in the aisles looking at bottles to purchase, I have yet to go to a distiller’s websites on my phone as I do so and take 5–10 minutes to read all of the text, bouncing from one tab to another. Standing with this bottle in the aisle, there is no indication of use of colouring or chill filtration, nor even a hint as to whether the liquid inside the bottle is peated or not.
To be clear, there is no doubt the Hillrock website — even with the need to go through several tabs to get the full monty of descriptions about their processes — does have information. And yet even with the information on the site, there is still no affirmative statement about colouring or chill-filtration. Certainly, we can assume from the insistence on the hand-crafted nature of things that Hillrock would utterly eschew colour and chill filtration — to such a degree that they wouldn’t even think to mention these things, because to even consider them would be utterly preposterous!
With all due respect, however, and as preposterous as it might be, why can’t they simply make a statement? I, for one, believe that the single malt I thoroughly enjoyed was neither coloured nor chill-filtered. However, we whiskey nerds want as much simple transparency as possible. And here, unfortunately, the bottle leaves us with only a bare few facts. The website leads us to a strong belief, but some essential facts are still not simply spelled out.
Maybe I am being too picky. Maybe I am being too hard. But maybe I just want information to be easily and prominently shared. We whiskey geeks appreciate and crave openness and information from distillers. And as basic as this may be, the website only says that certain expressions from the distillery are smoked with imported Speyside peat — would that be the bourbon? The single malt? The rye? There is no confirmation. Therefore, if all we have is information from the website and the bottle itself, there is only a strong inclination that the single malt is a peated integrity bottling…but no confirmation. I simply feel that information sharing is a skill that needs to be honed by Hillrock Estate Distillery.
This bottle cost US $100.00 (the actual list price is $99.99, to be precise). While I enjoyed the experience, as I do enjoy a peated dram, I cannot say that the price invites me to buy another bottle. I can think of three or four other peated expressions that I can find in my geographic area that are wonderful drams and cost between $60.00 USD and $80.00 USD. Certainly, Hillrock Estate Distillery has a mere fraction of the output of many distilleries in the world, and their in-house/artisanal methods are not likely to be cheap or geared toward the mass market. No doubt their price point may be reflective of these facts. Still, spending $100.00 on a bottle — at least to me — is the exception rather than the rule.
There is no doubt that the malt itself is quite good. As I said, it was an unexpected peat treat. I enjoyed the balance of flavours, the mouthfeel, and the finish. Was it a bottle that I will replace? Most likely not. Will I enjoy it while it is on the shelf? Absolutely.
I’m glad to have found this bottle. Who would have thought I would have been led to this single malt by an inebriated man of the cloth?
Score: 5/10
(It could have garnered a score of 6, but Dramface’s scoring system clearly says that a 6 must be priced fairly…hence the score of 5.)
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. OS
A Friday First
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