Whiskey Overview: The Good Fifth Canongate 14-Yr-Previous American Whiskey

Editor’s Word: This whiskey was supplied to us as a overview pattern by the occasion behind it. Per our editorial insurance policies, this by no means influenced the end result of this overview.

The Good Fifth, based by Karl Schoen in 2019, takes inspiration from Schoen’s journey of watching his relations toast milestones with Scotch whisky as he grew up. As an grownup, he fell in love with Scotch single-cask bottlings and loved sharing them with others.

As a enterprise, Schoen and his brother Ben, appearing as an American unbiased Scotch whisky bottler, supply what they consider is the perfect whisky from throughout Scotland. The model goals for high quality over amount, which is why all of its releases are restricted editions.

What’s within the bottle

The whiskey being reviewed right here, The Perfect Fifth Canongate 14-Year-Old American Whiskey, bucks the model’s pattern a bit in that it’s a 14-year-old American whiskey sourced from Heaven Hill in Bardstown, Kentucky. Initially distilled in 2009 from a corn-dominant mash invoice, it spent three years growing old in Kentucky earlier than being despatched to Scotland to age one other 11 years.

The lineup this expression belongs to, Canongate, partially highlights American expressions which can be “born and bottled,” a celebration of “the lengthy historical past of cask sharing between the US and Scotland.”

“Distillers in the USA, specifically, Kentucky, have all the time had a harmonious relationship with Scotland, largely attributable to sending used bourbon barrels to Scotland for a second life, to mature spirits distilled in Scotland.  Our Canongate expression, which is our ‘born and bottled’ line, is an ode to that symbiotic relationship,” mentioned Schoen on the time of this whiskey’s launch. “This collection celebrates the lengthy historical past of cask sharing between the 2 nations by choosing single cask whiskies distilled within the U.S., and growing old and bottling them in Scotland.

“Our newest launch, the Canongate 14-Yr-Previous American Whiskey isn’t solely well-traveled, however is a novel mixture of the environments of Kentucky and Scotland.”

The Good Fifth Canongate 14-Yr-Previous American Whiskey, bottled at 64.4% ABV, is priced at $175, with solely 232 bottles accessible.