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I've lived in California for two years and I have yet to try a California whiskey. So
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we're gonna do that today. Welcome back to Bourbon Bites. I am Clifton and today we are trying West Coast whiskey
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So I want to give a huge shout out to the folks over at 117 West. They sent me this bottle to
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review. Like I said, I've never had a California whiskey, which is it was crazy. I love craft
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distilleries and I tried a few different ones back when I lived in South Carolina. But since
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moving out here to California, I really haven't had the opportunity to try any of them. So what
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better way than to start with a whiskey that's really unique? So 117 West is actually from San
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Diego, California area. Master distiller Justin McCabe is actually a UC San Diego graduate
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actually has a doctorate in chemistry. So I guess he was inspired by his studies to make a whiskey
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So like I said, this is their West Coast whiskey, which is actually 100% malted barley. So this is
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This is something very different from what I'm used to, at least in most American whiskey
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I'm more of a bourbon guy usually, but I love branching out. And one thing that I really love about craft distilleries
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is they have the freedom to experiment a bit. They're not necessarily bound by
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oh the Kentucky tradition with bourbon They get to go off there do something different And I think this is a really unique spirit based on what they tell you on the bottle Hey guys Future Cliffy here
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So in the process of the mess that we've made while moving to a different apartment
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I missed this amazing, sweet, handwritten letter from the 117 West team
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It's from Paige McCabe. So I wanted to read it out. It has some good info about the whiskey itself
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They are a small family-run distillery. They've been only operating for about two years, and they use a 100-gallon pot still for all of their whiskey
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So they seek out specific strands of malted barley. This time, they're using crystal, chocolate, and roasted barley
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And then they age it in small charred American oak barrels. So with the small barrels, that aging happens a lot faster
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That oak influence is way more apparent than a larger, let's say like a bourbon barrel
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And they do say that this whiskey was actually inspired by stout beer
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So they mentioned the chocolatey and roasted notes, like caramel vanilla, that you typically find in a beer like that
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So Paige actually recommended it in an old fashion. So I have one here
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So let's go ahead and give it a taste. And I will say, it's pretty freaking delicious
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It's definitely different than like a bourbon old fashion. Instead of like the corn sweetness you get more of a caramel sweetness when doing it in an old fashion So thank you for the suggestion page And thank you to the entire 117 West team for this letter I going to hang it on my wall somewhere So for now let get back to the review I had something
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similar to this, but it's been a really long time and it's not what I typically drink. So I'm really excited to see what it brings. Whoa, what an interesting nose. That's something that I didn't
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expect. Huh, that's really roasty. I guess roasty is the first thing that comes to mind
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it's almost more like a coffee than a whiskey. Like a vanilla, I guess like a toffee nut kind of flavor of a coffee
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Very, very chocolatey. I know they say they use like a chocolate grain
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which I've had experience with. I don't know if it's related, but Balcones, their rye uses a chocolate rye
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I don't know. I'm not a grain expert. I'm sorry. But it does give me very similar, really rich, chocolatey
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almost not quite espresso. It's like a lighter nose than espresso. Really good, though
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So I'm really excited to see how it carries over on the taste. Cheers. Hmm
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So the front of the palate, you get more of those like vanilla toffee notes. It's still got that kind of coffee element to it, but it's way richer
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And that rich, roasty flavor is really, really nice going down on the finish
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Now like I said they do use smaller barrels There is a good bit of oak on that finish And I think the proof I mean I think if it were a higher proof it may be a little overpowering But with it being that 90 proof I think it a really good balance of the heat from it being you know aged in smaller barrels
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Usually those are a bit hotter. But with it being barley versus, you know, like rye, which is, you know, typically, you know, jumped out of the glass spicy
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This is super approachable compared to other craft spirits I've had here in America
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So 117 West actually does a bourbon and an American single malt. So I'm really excited to try more stuff from them
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I think they know that I'm a bourbon channel. And I think they sent it to me because they knew that this was unique
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They want to be a craft distillery that's doing something different. And I can appreciate that
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So thank you again, 117 West, for sending over this bottle. Now MSRP on this is about $60 on their website
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I think it's priced perfectly. And I definitely highly recommend picking this up
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Especially if you're from California and you want to try more local distilleries
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I think they're doing something right and they're doing something different. All right, I'll see you guys next video, most likely from a different apartment because I'm
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in the process of moving, if you notice the mess behind me. So thank you guys so much for watching
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Bourbon Bites, Whiskey Reviews with a Retro Twist. I'm Clifton, and this has been 117 West Spirits
