It is normal for distilleries to have a core range that they produce in quantity and consistency. It sees their whiskies reach the widest audience and lets customers know what to expect each time they open the bottle. Occasionally they may release special offerings like a yearly or seasonal offerings. Mingo Creek Craft Distillers, more commonly known by their brand name Liberty Pole, takes the even rarer step (though they are certainly not the first or only) of releasing a single barrel. This is usually done by distillers when a single barrel has a unique quality all on its own that the distillers want to share with the world. Liberty Pole has released a number of single barrels over the years and this one is named Pecan Pie for the qualities reminiscent of grandma’s classic dessert. This barrel began as one of their standard ryes, (61% rye, 13% red winter wheat, 13% rye malt, and 13% six-row distillers malt) but was aged for a minimum of 36 months and is one of only 104 bottles.
Distillery: Mingo Creek Craft Distillers
Region: Foreign
Age: NAS
Strength: 58%
Price: $70
Barrel: Bottle 74 of 104; batch 583; 30 gallon barrel, heavy toast, Char 3, barrel entry proof 115.2
Location: Washington, PA
Nose: Evergreen, wintergreen, brown sugar, white peppermint bark, butter, rye, buckwheat, pumpernickel
Palate: Rye, wintergreen, brown sugar, caramel
Finish: Wintergreen, rye
Comments: Don’t be afraid to add water. Even a generous portion helps cut the heat without sacrificing the palate. The nose is muted a little but not ruined.
Adam – There can be no doubt the Pecan Pie is a cask strength whiskey, even from the nose. It’s not a scorcher but the heat is there. Thankfully, that’s not all there is. The evergreen and wintergreen are surprisingly strong on the nose and throughout the experience. I’m surprised at how layered the nose is, a robust sweetness and richness to compliment the grains. The rye comes marching in on the palate yet never without the sweetness, the wintergreen making it crisp. In fact, wintergreen and rye are in the finish that doesn’t linger, readying your palate for another sip. I really love this with some water, as it allows me to hang onto it in my mouth a little longer without burning the palate, appreciating the holiday-esque associations. We normally don’t do rye whiskies here at Scotchology but besides being fans of this distillery, this expression was unique enough to warrant further exploration. I’ll be revisiting this one again very soon.
Bill – This reminds me a lot of my maternal grandmother, who would make pies at Thanksgiving and pour liberal amounts of rum into the Mincemeat pie. Delicious.
The rye comes marching in on the palate yet never without sweetness.
Henry – The nose is quintessential rye: spicy notes of brown sugar, candy, and wintergreen. Pleasant nuttiness and wheat notes enter on the palate, and this is where the complexity of the mash bill comes through. Baking spice, pecans, and wintergreen follow through on a soft wheat underlay. A very interesting cask strength expression which is worth trying with a drop of water.
Ben – In the nose right away I get the rye and also the wheat, and I normally don’t like wheat in a whiskey. The wintergreen was big for me, all the way through the palate. There is a Buttermints note in here that really solidifies it for me. Super nutty and brown sugar on the palate. Overall, I like this Pecan Pie.
