Featured at World Whisky Day 2021: Back in 2009, navy veteran Tom Lix started experimenting with whiskey. But not in the traditional sense. Cleveland Whiskey seeks to push the envelope about what is possible with whiskey, from how it is produced and aged to the regular taste profiles generally expected in the industry. The Underground series is the distilleries main line, each offering ages in traditional barrels for about six months before going through a proprietary process involving pressure extractions and differing wood combinations using more exotic woods rarely seen as finishing elements. The Cleveland Underground Super Maple is a bourbon (no mash bill available) finished with sugar maple wood using this transformative method.
Distillery: Cleveland Whiskey
Region: Foreign
Age: NAS
Strength: %
Price: $39.99
Maturation: It’s complicated
Location: Cleveland, OH
Nose: Wood, maple, amber, processed cinnamon, plum, vanilla, rye, organic peanut butter
Palate: Wood, vinegar, rye, cardamom, peanut
Finish: Malt, amber
Comments: Pour this one early, as it needs some time to open up properly.
Adam – The Underground Sugar Maple is a conundrum for me. I value the traditions wrought from centuries of work in some Scottish and Irish distilleries, while at the same time often championing the rise of craft distillers, who are often so ready to experiment and push the envelope of what whisky can be. This certainly qualifies as pushing. I’ve been reading about aging wood chips in steel tanks as a way for producers to cheat Father Time in the whisky department, but I’ve yet to hear of one (or taste of one) that’s found the holy grail. I’d like to think Cleveland Whiskey isn’t trying to create a Macallan 10 in quality in a Macallan 2 of time, if that’s even possible. So I’m encouraged that they’re not trying to create what is expected, leaning instead into a variety of exotic woods. Whether this pans out as foresight or gimmick might be arguable depending on where you fall on the regular whiskey spectrum. I certainly wish them luck. That being said, I find the bourbon I have in my glass rather bland. Maybe this is because I tend to favor other whiskies, and can certainly detect some sweet and savory bits on the nose, and maybe a kiss of that maple, before transforming into something a little more two-dimensional on the palate. You really have to concentrate to find the subtle elements, and perhaps that is on purpose. It is not a bad bourbon, certainly, but I have trouble holding on to anything memorable about it.
Kate – I feel like there is a bunch of different components swirling around together competing for center stage and there isn’t a clear winner. The bitterness stays longer than the flavours in the finish. There’s something warm and refreshing at the end too. A sensation rather than taste. I feel like I’m tasting something that’s still in the process of aging. I’d be interested to see what’s happening in, say, six more months. It’s a work in progress.
(They aren’t) trying to create a Macallan 10 in quality in a Macallan 2 of time.
Henry – What makes the Underground Suger Maple unique is that it is a quintessential American whisky. There isn’t a long tradition of how it’s been done and experiment with how it could be. It’s an infusion process and something a lot of bourbon distillers are doing. Like biting into an unripe persimmon or green banana. The tannic astringency has an undertone of maple wood but it’s not well integrated. This is a little shy to open up, but at least as far as the nose is concerned, it’s worth it. A slightly larger pour helps. Toast, vanilla, and fresh maple sap leads off, and I wish it would stay there. The palate has a rough corn syrup core, and the finish hits with a tannic astringency with an undertone of maple wood, but not well integrated.
Bill – Sugar cookie on the nose, along with butterscotch and peanut. It’s hitting that level of peanut that I like on the palate. It doesn’t hit the level of candied PB like Screwball. It’s solidly there but not pushing it. Yellow pine in the empty glass.
Ben – The Underground Sugar Maple reminds me of walking past the back of a brewery that has empty mash tons. There’s nothing inherently bad but you don’t want to drink it directly. The nose brings to mind a farm. There’s a vinegar feel rather than taste at the end. Astringent. It’s easier to talk about what’s not there rather than what is there.
