Leopold Bros. 4yo Bourbon | 50% ABV

The mash bill: A foreign concept to some, all too familiar for others (Pt. 2 flavour)

From a flavour perspective, our grains of malt, corn, rye or wheat each provide their own unique flavours to the distillate.

Again, as with the first part of this piece, we’re painting with very broad brush strokes here; barley provides a combination of biscuit-like and fruit notes, corn brings a general sweetness (similar to corn syrup in cooking), rye brings the oft-quoted spiciness (think baking spices) and herbal notes, and wheat can provide a honey, bread, and sometimes dusty-type notes.

If you chase down bourbon-heads, they might swear corn provides more flavours than a general sweetness. I’ve heard of caramel, maple syrup, and some leather-like notes are also common although I would strongly argue that many of these notes can be produced and found in many other grain distillates, especially with some decent maturation behind them, making them not distinctly the result of the corn base grain. Furthermore, and I’m not intending on poking the bear further, but caramel and maple syrup would be first-order derivatives of my general sweetness descriptor. 

One additional note I wish to make: these mashing and flavour aspects for each of these grains are taken in isolation. How do they interact with each other when they are all milled and mashed together in the wash backs or fermented once yeast is added? That’s some details I don’t have nor is a rabbit hole that I wish to chase at this point. Between the variations in mash bill, mashing process, fermentation parameters, shape and distillation profile of the stills, the barrels used for maturation and the location of which the maturation takes place would arguably play a larger role in the resulting end product than the in-mash interactions between these grains. 

Most bourbons contain corn, rye, wheat/barley, in order of decreasing volumes in the final product. This would generally produce a sweet and somewhat spicy distillate, especially combined with the virgin American oak requirement of American bourbon. So for malt (barley) drinkers who are accustomed to the fruity aspects of a 100% malted barley mash bill, a core flavour aspect would be missing. That’s where our two bourbons today come in.

Relative to the vast number of bourbons on the market, these two have a significantly higher malted barley content. 

• Boulder Straight Bourbon has a mash bill of 51% corn, 44% malted barley, 5% rye. It’s also only two years old.

• Leopold Bros. Straight Bourbon has a mash bill of 64% corn, 21% malted barley, and 15% Abruzzi heritage rye. The bourbon we are reviewing today is four years old.

On paper, these two should be bringing some more of the biscuit and fruit-type notes to the party, while tamping down on the spicy notes from the lower rye content. Let’s dive in and see if this bourbon might match the suspected flavour profile given its mash bill and if it can earn the moniker of a malt drinkers bourbon.

Aengus’ Review

Leopold Bros. Bourbon, 4yo Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Cask Selected by Argonaut Wine & Liquor, Barrel #52, 50% ABV
CAD$70 paid / £42

Listening to Todd Leopold speak about his whiskey, it’s apparent that depth of research, and attention to detail taken to bring back the best of old methods and equipment, like their specially recreated three chamber still, is second to none. You don’t even need to taste it to know this bourbon is going to be unique.

They brought back a heritage strain of Abruzzi rye, which is more oily and has a lower starch content than modern rye. They malt their barley in their own floor maltings. They ferment in open pine washbacks with the windows open, allowing wild yeasts to intervene. This bourbon is pot distilled, unlike the majority of bourbon and they fill the barrels at 50% ABV to produce a softer whisky. Due to the local climate the ABV doesn’t change during ageing in their dunnage-style warehouses which allows them to bottle at 50% ABV without adding water.

So with all this on my mind when I saw the bottle on a recent trip to Denver, I knew it would have to come home with me. This straight bourbon whiskey is a single cask selected by Argonaut Wine & Liquor (barrel #52).

Nose

Dusty, damp basement (dunnage?), peanut satay sauce, ripe cantaloupe, and marzipan all in a woody forest. Also more typical bourbon notes of caramel, vanilla, and oak. Water releases a slight swimming pool whiff of chlorine.

Palate

Rye forward on the palate with star anise, cherry cough syrup, and pine. The weighty spirit has a good strong initial attack without being overwhelming. There’s chilli oil and thick leather and a very long finish. Water tames the cough syrup a bit and brings out more stone fruit.

The Dregs

I’ve had a bit more time to spend with this whiskey than the Boulder bourbon and I’m glad for it. This bottle is a complete contrast from the Boulder, the higher rye content is obvious on first sniff and the weight and mouthfeel of the liquid is near perfect. I do enjoy a good rye so this one sticks out as my favourite of the two, with just a slight stale note that I identify with many craft distilleries holding it back from a seven. I’m glad to have this one in my collection and I’ll nurse it for a long time to come.

Let’s see what my fellow Dramfacer Broddy thinks.

Score: 6/10 AMc

Broddy’s Review

Leopold Bros. Bourbon, 4yo Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Cask Selected by Argonaut Wine & Liquor, Barrel #52, 50% ABVCAD$70 paid / £42

Nose

Helpings of nutmeg powder, cinnamon crusted green apple slices, a waft of wheat dust from the chaff of a combine during harvest. Vanilla and brown sugar are found but not overpowering. The massive hit of sweetness I commonly associate with most bourbons is nowhere to be found, improving the balance of the nose from my perspective.

Palate

Slightly oily and gentle entrance given the %ABV. It’s a muddled palate that I’m having some difficulty in separating individual notes. Sidenote: I’ve cracked open the second sample from Aengus and my palate is much more sensitive this time round. The muddled comment need not apply any more and the flavours are quite prominent. Goes to show the changes in your palate depending on the day and also some of the challenges when tasting from samples.

There is a medley of brown sugar, blonde cookie dough, red apples, a touch of star anise or licorice, and a very healthy dose of allspice. The allspice quickly morphs into chilli flakes. It definitely leans on the rye spice. Below that layer, there’s a touch of generic fruit cup syrup, supermarket canned cherry pie filling, and the vanilla comes across as marshmallows. Retronasal is a mix of orange zest, vanilla, cereal grains, and cinnamon. Overall, it does present as a fairly chewy and spicy dram, similar to a very heavily spiced gingersnap cookie where someone measured the spice ingredients in tablespoons instead of teaspoons. I’m liking this much more the second time around.

The Dregs

The two whiskies considered over this pair of reviews are immensely different, showing the power of a varied malt bill. Despite the relatively elevated malted barley content of the Leopold Bros compared to your standard bourbon mash bills, the fruitiness is very much in the background and a small part of the experience, especially compared to the Boulder. If I didn’t know the mash bill before reviewing the Leopold Bros, I would have guessed there was an increased volume of rye in the mash bill owing to the greater presence of spicy-type notes. I do enjoy the mouthfeel of the Leopold Bros however, and I suspect that’s down to the higher percentage ABV. There’s a 50%ABV version of the Boulder available so perhaps that will shore up the Boulder’s palate to this delightfully oily Leopold Bros.

While I received generous samples from Aengus, and not knowing what he paid for his bottle, it can be found for $117 CAD (£72) in my area so I’ve judged my score relative to this price.

For the money, the Boulder Bourbon palate is not my cup of tea and is far less interesting than the nose, garnering it a solid 5/10 score.

I connected with this Leopold whisky far better and the palate had far more going for it. For my taste preferences, it’s heavier on the rye spice notes than I would prefer however the oiliness and chewy nature does counterbalance these notes. If you like heavier rye content whiskies, then this Leopold is a solid 6/10.

The Bottled in Bond 50 %ABV Boulder can be found for $20 cheaper than the Leopold, and the standard 42 %ABV Boulder reviewed here is $40 cheaper. For the price vs flavour experience, including my personal preferences in how I like my whiskies, I prefer the higher malted barley Boulder releases but this Leopold is a compelling and unique bourbon.

Broddy edit: I wrote the above statements before sending this review to Aengus to add his thoughts and bottle details. Upon receiving his completed sections, his price was significantly lower than I could find in my local area, likely owing to a local Colorado purchase rather than our Canadian market prices. For its price of $50 USD (£42), it most definitely earns a 6/10 score for that price point.

Score: 6/10 BB

This review is 2 of 2, continued from Pt. 1

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