Copper Fox Original American Single Malt Whisky (750mL)

Review by FWL Contributing Editor Uncle Knucklehead

Rick Wasmund of Copper Fox Distillery had an early encounter with the peaty smokiness of single malt Scotch whisky that eventually led him to an apprenticeship with the renown Jim McEwan, Master Distiller at the Bowmore Distillery on the Isle of Islay. There, on one of the last of the distillery malting floors in the country, Rick learned from this master of malt how to craft flavors from the floor up, carefully raking and shoveling the germinating barley malt as it slowly dried to enhance the sweetness of the grain. Then completing the process in the kiln, where it was cured with smoke from dried peat that infused its pungent aromas deep into the grain and leaving traces of its phenolic terroir: salt air, seaweed, fecund earth, rich vegetals and medicinal traces that make Scotch whisky its own unique liquid gold.

Returning to the US, Rick created Wasmund’s Single Malt using his own brand of smoke: his floor malted barley is infused with the burning embers of his childhood obsession: the smoke from American hardwoods like apple wood and cherry wood. The result is a uniquely flavored, bold, juicy liquid that envelops your nose and mouth with the sweetness of honey and olive tapenade, wrapped in silky ribbons of flavor that suggest dried apples, brown sugar, orange marmalade on rye toast and root beer float.

Smokey and complex; a unique, distinctively flavorful, brawny and balanced whisky. A great choice for artisan cocktails or sipping.

Copper Fox Original American Single Malt Whisky Tasting Notes:

Aroma: Rich aromas of suede, olive tapenade, honey and wood fire

Palate: dried mango chutney and clay with a silky dry fruitiness, medium-full body

Finish: Long and spicy, with wood smoke, orange marmalade on rye toast and root beer float