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Hillrock Estate Solera Aged Bourbon

The Hillrock Estate Distillery, located in the Hudson Valley, NY, take their name quite seriously. Established on a stunning--well, estate--complete with a mansion built in 1806, Hillrock describe themselves as a "field to glass" distillery; in addition to growing their own heritage barley, they floor malt, smoke, and kiln it in house. The distillery is staffed by a team of industry veterans including Master Distiller Dave Pickerell, of Maker's Mark and Whistle Pig fame. In addition to the painstaking attention paid to their barley, Hillrock also use a solera aging technique for their Bourbon. You can read more about that process here, but it is a complex and difficult technique which allows the average age of the spirit produced to grow continuously over time via fractional blending; the longer a solera is in place, the older and more complex the bottled spirit becomes. Presumably, this process is somehow made compatible with the legal requirement that Bourbon be aged in new charred oak containers. The label indicates that this bourbon was also finished in Sherry barrels and bottled at 92.6 proof.

The bourbon pours a mild yellow amber, with a subtle blue-green cast to it. Considering the lavish aging process, it's surprisingly green on the nose as well. Vanilla, walnut, and sherry are muted by a fresh varnish of lacquer, though this is somewhat tempered with notes of dill and a bright apricot acidity which lessen the solvent character. Given more time to open up, a bitter citrus, like bergamot becomes apparent as well.  The palate is also quite warm, verging on hot, despite coming in well under 100 proof. Wood varnish with more dill (37% rye mash!) lead the profile, with a brusquely compacted mid-palate composed of stewed fruit, bitter orange, sage, allspice, and coriander. The heat builds to a tannic, dry finish with some lingering caramel and aniseed.

As previously mentioned, a solera is made to improve with time. This review is based on Barrel 3, very early in the lifespan of the project and it shows plenty of promise, though somewhat underdeveloped in this particular bottle. This all feels a little bit like sneering at the incoming freshman class; there's nothing wrong with being young when you're young, it's a necessary step towards something more interesting and put-together. Just as my old friends have graciously allowed the many missteps and indiscretions of my younger days to fade into the mists of memory, I look forward to sampling a more mature iteration of this fascinating product.

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