Cask Mates is a term I am tuly coming to love. When a distillery and a brewery collaborate together making a pair of products that each play off the other’s additions to strengthen their own flavor profile. Mystic Mountain decided to take this one in a slightly different direction, and partnered up with a home brew club instead of a brewery.
When I first read the back of the label and saw that 39° North Homebrew club was the collaborator on this, I was intrigued and extremely excited. I’ve seen lots of distilleries and breweries work together, but a Home brew Club? That was something I personally hadn’t seen. Their beer, the Anti-Imperialist Stout-comes in as at a whopping 13% ABV and certainly left it’s mark on the Cask Mates bottle from Mystic Mountain.
This particular release is the Mystic Mountain Outlaw Legend bourbon. It spends 2 years in New American Oak barrels before being moved to a holding tank while the barrel ages the beer for about 6 months. Once the beer is taken from the barrel, that barrel makes it’s way back to see the Bourbon return to it for 6 months of finishing. This release is labeled an American Whiskey, instead of a bourbon, likely due to the restrictions with how a cask finished bourbon has to be labeled to still be called a bourbon. Regardless of the name on the front though, this release lives up to the expectations I have for anything that comes from an Outlaw Legend bottle.
Please Note: This bottle was provided to us at no charge by Mystic Mountain distillery to be reviewed on the site. As laid out in our about us page, this does not influence our final tasting notes or opinions of the bottle.
In the Bottle:
Mashbill:
Same as the Outlaw Legend, so contains at least 51% corn.
Age:
2 Years in a Charred New American Oak Barrel, then an additional 6 months in that barrel after it is used for 6 months to age an imperial stout beer.
Proof:
101 Proof (50.5% ABV)
In the Glass:
Color:
Dark Brown/Molasses color, definitely got some dark color influence from the stout beer it looks like. There is a bit of a cloudiness, it looks filtered but definitely not chill filtered.
Without Water:
Nose:
Sweet Brown sugar right off the bat. It is instantly noticeable, and paired with vanilla, bits of citrus and baking spice, and some roasted/Chocolate notes. Definitely reminiscent of the Outlaw Legend.
Palate:
Brown sugar sweetness again jumps right out of the gate, complimented with cinnamon, allspice and other baking spices. Again, extremely reminiscent of the Outlaw Legend, but there is a chocolate undertone that plays with everything very well. A full mouthfeel, and definitely layered.
Finish:
Extremely long. There is clearly some barrel/tannic notes that come through, but the stout beer flavors really shine here with the malty, roasted, chocolate flavors coming through. Still just enough spices and vanilla sweetness to not disappear behind the stout finish.
With Water:
Nose:
The Brown sugar notes are still the most prevalent with water added, but a new citrus note comes through with the few drops of water. It loses a bit of the chocolate note with the water added however.
Palate:
The citrus from the nose follows through to the palate, playing a bit with the baking spices to give a great flavor. The sweetness up front remains, though the sip is not as full anymore. Stout beer chocolate notes still shine through.
Finish:
That stout beer flavor still shines really well, leaving a long lasting, clean stout beer finish. The malt and chocolate really maintain well through the water here, making the finish really stand alone in that it doesn’t lose a lot.
Final Thoughts:
I want to try this beer. That is the main thought that I had while sipping this. I am still absolutely blown away by Mystic Mountain working with a home brew club, I think that is an awesome partnership and will hopefully pave the way for a lot of new collaborations in the future. This bottle is a great example of a distiller finding the notes to add to a whiskey that can’t be added traditionally, but by just aging in a barrel that previously held something else instead of trying to add flavors specifically. Excellent job on this one, though I did prefer it neat to having a couple drops of water.
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