Odd Society Maple Whisky
40% ABV - British Columbia, Canada
Nose: Soft vanilla and maple notes, with candied apple and faint citrus. Delicate. There was a little bit of candle wax after time, or with water.
Taste: Very sweet with red fruits, caramel candies – the hard kind, and maple. The taste is more flavourful and more fruity, and it maintains into the finish. With water, cherries intermingled.
Finish: Sweet fruits, maple, caramel, with light florals and spices. This is where the whisky is most recognizable as Odd Society!
This is a bottle of the second release of Odd Society’s Maple Whisky - I would have definitely picked up from the first release but there are lineups on release days and, to no surprise, things can sell out quickly! Details on maturation are hard to come by via internet searches, but, from what I could gather, this whisky sat for a minimum of three years in 30L ex-Bourbon ex-Maple Syrup barrels. Yes, ex-Maple Syrup. I haven’t been able to get the ultra specific details regarding about where they sourced these barrels except for "a Washington distillery." My best guess is Woodinville, since they have an ex-Bourbon Maple Syrup product and switched to 53L barrels starting in 2011. Why am I so confident? And what does barrel size have to do with it? Well, I figure by around 2012 or 2013 that Woodinville are still emptying the smaller, 30L barrels and that could have been around when Odd Society purchased them. Maybe Woodinville’s ex-Bourbon Maple Syrup became more popular, or Odd Society couldn't get the same flavours from a 53L… either way, the supply dried up or became inaccessible. No more Odd Society Maple Whisky for the foreseeable future! (My other guess is J.P. Trodden, but I don’t have a good story to back that up - other than they also sell a barrel aged maple syrup.)
This was priced at just over $50 CAD for a 500mL bottle, which is a definitely a premium compared to larger scale producers, but the unique flavours, and knowing you are supporting the growth of a local spirits producer, makes this a great value whisky. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy another should I ever see it again in the wild! This is a bottle I try to only bring out for special occasions.
Tasted 3 October 2019. (Posted 6 October 2019.)
