Some of the early iconic American whiskies were in fact ryes out of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. Kinsey Whiskey was a well-known brand from the the late 19th Century that, despite surviving Prohibition, finally went by the wayside in the 1970s. That was, at least, until the Millstone Spirits Group built the New Liberty Distillery, which offers three iconic brands of whiskey: New Liberty, Maryland Heritage Series and a revived Kinsey in 2015. There are now several Kinsey offerings available, some of which are distilled at New Liberty and others sourced from elsewhere. The Kinsey Zinfandel Cask Finish is what the brand calls “American Whiskey” – supposedly 99% corn and 1% barley that is 10 years old – sourced from Indiana (the label says “blended and bottled by Kinsey”) and finished for 15 months in ex-zinfandel casks from Chateau Montelena in California.
Distillery: New Liberty Distillery
Region: Foreign
Age: NAS
Strength: 43.4%
Price: $39.99
Maturation: ex-zinfandel casks
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Nose: Floral, vanilla, wine must
Palate: Corn, vanilla, cinnamon
Finish: Wine, mineral
Comments: Recommended to let this air out in your glass for several minutes before really diving in.
Adam – I really struggled over how to feel about the Kinsey Zinfandel for a while. I really wish it were easier to discover who made the whiskey and what it’s made from without having to dig through corporate layers and external reviews. Then again, maybe I’m spoiled by more transparency from other companies. At the end of the day, it has an affordable price and is a pretty easy sipper for a summer afternoon. A few sweet elements on the nose that show up as big corn on the palate with a dash of baking spice before fizzling out with a little generic wine tartness. I’m a little curious to explore more of them since they have a wide variety of offerings but I’m going to be a little cautious after this introduction.
Bill – It could be really good but it’s waiting for something. It’s on the cusp of “could get there”. The base juice is the problem here.
It reminds me of sea breeze, the funk from the ocean but not rotting oysters.
Henry – Toasted oak, vanilla, light florals, and wine must on the nose. Both the Zinfandel and oak are a little too muted on the palate, leading to a finish with raisin-y lingering sweetness.
Ben – It’s like having some wildflowers in a bouquet, in a vase. This doesn’t have any baking spices, it doesn’t overwhelm me with pie in the oven smells that I get in other bourbons. This needs to be a better bourbon before they add the zinfandel cask because the wine is doing all the work here.
Mike – It smells like a double barrel to me. A very woody but very robust note. A very very round barrel smell. It smells like MGP to me. I would keep it in the oak barrels longer before they put it in the wine barrel.
Kim – I have mixed feelings on this one. There’s the oak and vanilla and light floral. It feels so muted at first but then you let it sit for a bit and you can pick things out. It’s only after it sits that I liked it a bit more.
Kristin – I like it.
Evelyn – I get a funky note on the back of this, something almost moldy on the back of the tongue.
Sam – It reminds me of sea breeze, the funk from the ocean but not rotting oysters.
