Featured at World Whisky Day 2019: Mingo Creek Craft Distillers was founded in 2017 by Jim and Ellen Hough. The name of their distillery and their whiskey, Liberty Pole, references the Whiskey Rebellion (1791-1794) that has its roots in Western Pennsylvania, where the Liberty Pole was raised by farmers to proclaim their resistance to the whiskey tax levied against them by a fledgling federal government. The rebellion collapsed after federal militia arrived but memory of it still lives in Washington, PA. The distillery offers six core whiskies, including a bourbon cream, and have recently upgraded their still size to increase production. In 2019, they worked with all the other Pennsylvania distilleries to create a special cask strength rye containing whiskey from each distillery for the Whiskey Rebellion Festival. The Liberty Pole Peated Bourbon is double pot distilled and aged 13-18 months.
Distillery: Mingo Creek Craft Distillers
Region: Foreign
Age: NAS
Strength: 46%
Price: $57.00
Barrel: Batch #14
Maturation: New American White Oak (from Minnesota!) quarter casks and 25-30 gallon barrels
Mash Bill: 59% Bloody Butcher Corn, 41% Six-Row Distillers Malt and Heavily Peated Barley
Location: Washington, PA
Nose: Peat, ash, peach,
Palate: Smoke, peat, caramel, corn
Finish: Smoke, cinnamon
Comments: No water needed. The distillery is worth a visit, sitting an hour south of Pittsburgh. Sons Rob and Kevin Hough usually mind the storefront.
Adam – I’ll admit, part of the appeal on this whiskey is simply the novelty (like the OOLA Three Shores). Peated bourbon? It’s not what you think it’ll be, and it works. Some great play on the nose with a kiss of peat to let you know you’re in for a ride before descending into grain. I’m really reminded of the scent of barley distilleries will sometimes set out for the initiated. The interplay between the peat and bourbon does not allow one to dominate the other. The solid caramel notes are complimented by the some campfire that warms into your chest and remains smoldering if you let it. And you should let it. Additional aging would likely give it greater complexity yet what exists now is enough to unravel and appreciate. A fun dram to sit, sip, and ponder, whether on a cold night or a summer afternoon. The folks at Mingo Creek are still relatively new to the game, so I can’t wait to see what they have in store as they continue to evolve and improve. Actively involved in their geographical and the distilling communities, Liberty Pole is a great showcase for American craft distilling that drove the idea behind the 2019 World Whisky Day focus on the United States.
Jenny – Summery. I might enjoy it more when I’m missing summer. It smells like midsummer, full of farm and hay and soil.
Meghan – I am not a fan of bourbon. I just find it too sweet, in a sticky kind of way that I don’t want in my whisky. However, the addition to peat really helps cut through that corn sugar flavor. I can now say that there is a bourbon that I like. I do find the nose a little off putting- very sweet and sugary with a combination of peach cobbler and red Twizzlers. There is a touch of peat on the nose but not enough to outweigh the sugary smells. Luckily, this peated bourbon tastes nothing like it smells. There is sweetness but it just lurks underneath the earthy, medicinal flavors from the peat. It is a little hot feeling on the end, which is a bit strange at only 46% but I’m guessing it’s the whisky’s age showing. The finish has more bourbon aspect than I’d like (e.g. it resembles bourbon at all) but it is nowhere near as sickeningly saccharine as regular bourbon. There is a lingering touch of peat to the finish with a dusty dryness. This will never be my favorite whisky but it is nowhere near my least favorite. I am definitely intrigued to see what other batches might be like, as well as investigate their other offerings.
It’s not what you think it’ll be, and it works.
Peter – Syrupy. Like those mornings you make pancakes and don’t have maple syrup so you use simple syrup. And realize it doesn’t work.
Caitlin – Smells and tastes like a campfire to me.
Ben – Sweet like hay or corn. There’s a farm smell coming around to it that seems common from the micro-distilleries we’ve had. There’s a sweetness, but like the way they used to make candy in 1700s, like a terrible root but it’s also sweet. It’s an unspecific barnyard scent, like walking by some of the barns at the State Fair.
