Review #84: Redwood Empire Pipe Dream Bourbon
It rained the other day in San Francisco. Which is actually a notable event. One person on a local bourbon group I’m in posted a video of the flooding. Although I can’t find the exact video, the news clip below sheds a bit of light.
All of the above gives me some excuse to whinge but to be quite honest, down in the financial district whete I was at did not rain quite hard at all. We had wandered to the Salesforce tower to see SF’s first Christmas Market and it started sprinkling (and continued sprinkling for the rest of the day) so we panicked and ducked into the Trailblazer Tavern, a Hawaiian themed restaurant in the Salesforce tower.
Naturally, the rain unleased my inner scottishwoman (of which my 23andme tells me I have zero genetic relation to) and I sought out whisky to complement my breakfast. I scanned the scotch rows but the tiki theme of the restaurant yielded quite a limited selection (there is not much point in paying quadruple the cost of a scotch you already have a bottle of) so I ended up deciding on a bourbon from the local Redwood Empire distillery located in Sonoma County.
The mashbill on it is immensely corn heavy: 75% corn, 21% rye and the remaining 4% barley. Age is a mix of 4 to 12 years. Interestingly enough, the name of the bourbon is from a redwood tree (the fourteenth tallest one in the world). We ended up with quite mixed reviews. I didn’t mind it but my partner abhorred it. Tasting notes below.
Redwood Empire Pipe Dream Bourbon Review
- Score - 6/106/10
Overall
Tasting Notes
Nose: Oranges and cherry juice soaked into oak. Vanilla Coke. Lots of oak dominates.
Palate: Oranges rolled around in dark cocoa powder. Oddly tingly at the end. A bit hot. Bit hard to distinguish other flavors through the youth. Vanilla but hot after.
Overall
Summary: Straightforward bourbon rye flavors but would benefit greatly from more time in the barrel.
Bought for $15/pour (but the bottle retails for around $35 on drizzly…)
Quick overview of our scoring system
About the brand:
- Created by Purple Wine + Spirits located in Sonoma (wine country of California)
- They plant a redwood tree for everyone whisky sold in partnership with Trees for the Future
- Started by Derek Benham and head distillery Jeff Duckhorn