Review #200: Blind Review of River Roots r/Bourbon Pick Sea of Kings, Vol III: American Malt Whiskey

AGE: 7yr 10mo

MASH BILL: 88% malted barley, 12% malted rye

PROOF: 148.62

COST: $130 for 750mL bottle from Shared Pour (I'm reviewing a sample)

A friend provided me with this mystery pour. I actually forgot about because it got hidden behind some glassware which I only discovered after he prompted me on it because he was looking forward to me taking a guess at it. All tasting notes were developed prior to the reveal. Let’s get to it!

Reviewed neat in a Glencairn.

APPEARANCE: Burnt umber color (1.7), viscous looking with really thin but slow legs and sticks to the glass quite well. 

NOSE: Sweet and earthy with a little spice towards the end. Lots of fruit notes show up first with fig, tart blackberries, melon, and green apple. A steady, nutty earthiness provides a consistent background, at times being a little hay like. Lemon zest, cardamom, and ginger brighten/spice it up towards the end of the nose.

PALATE: After the first little sip to coat my palate, I had to immediately check with my buddy and make sure this didn’t have some sort of THC or anything in it because it was initially dank AF! Like, think a really hopped up IPA or just some dank ass weed. That’s literally what I got on the first sip. (Since I work at a nuclear power plant and get frequent random drug screens, I just needed some reassurance I didn’t need to call in sick for a month after this pour.) Now that I know it’s not laced with something (not trying to insinuate my buddy may try something sinister or anything lol), this is absolutely WILD on the palate. It’s like, “wtf was that!?” after coming off the fairly straightforward nose. Very musty and barnyard like, maybe rye whiskey like? Maybe it uses a unique yeast strain creating a funkiness? Or maybe even some sort of beer barrel finish (not a stout though, but a dank IPA?). This is just a crazy sip making it hard for me to pick it apart at first. There is some bright candy sweetness of Lemonheads, green apple Runts, and orange fruit chews. The orange note is almost Triple Sec like even. Fennel, sage, and a little anise stand out as some herbal/spice notes. If you’ve ever had Mukhwas at an Indian restaurant, that’s probably a fairly “singular” flavor profile to describe this as (plus must). The mouthfeel is very thin and astringent. I feel like this is probably a 125+ proof cask strength whiskey.

FINISH: Long, long finish! Relatively dry but it does have some pops of bright sweetness that persists from the palate. The dank, malty/musty note carries over from the palate for sure, and while it starts to mellow out a little, it’s still the longest lasting note. Some notes of lemon peel, fennel, cardamom, and ginger continue to pop. Green apple tart sweetness still weaves in and out as well.

GUESS: 125+ proof 6-10 yr single malt whiskey finished in IPA barrels. The bright sweetness, musty grain, and dankness of this just make me think of those flavors being combined.

REVEAL: River Roots r/bourbon SiB pick American Malt Whiskey, “Sea of Kings, Vol III” 148.62 proof, 7yr 10mo old, with a mash bill of 88.3% malted barley and 12% malted rye…that’s right!100.3% of malty goodness for you! At least that’s what’s on the bottle… I’m pretty sure it’s just 88% malted barley and 12% malted rye.

RATING: 6.8/10

OVERALL: This is one of the most unique pours I’ve ever had, and hands down the LOOONNNNGGGEEESSSSTTTT finish! While the specific distillery that River Roots sourced from for this expression is undisclosed, some digging around online may suggest that it’s a California distillery that uses brewer’s yeast. So maybe I was onto something with a unique yeast providing some of that dank, mustiness. It could also be due to a little longer malting time for the grains, which can yield higher moisture content and create a mustier profile as well. Regardless though, I’m going to say my guess was pretty on point and all over it, just didn’t quite hit it on the head.

Flavor wise though, the dank, malty, musty note was clearly intentional from the start, however, it might have been a little too much for my palate. I did enjoy all the bright sweet notes. Going back to what I mentioned on the palate though, Mukhwas really is a good description for a lot of what’s going on in this very complex pour.

And let me not forget to point out that even though I called it out as 125+ proof, it was still over 20 proof points more than 125! So, even though it was a beefy 148+ proof hazmat, it drank like it was a much lower proof. The astringentness and thinness on the palate is really the only spot you could tell.

 

1 | Disgusting | Watershed Apple Brandy Finished Bourbon

2 | Poor | Balcones Lineage

3 | Bad | High West Double Rye, Jefferson's Ocean 28

4 | Sub-par | Weller's SR, Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select, Hillrock Estate Sauternes CS

5 | Good | Buffalo Trace, Sazerac Rye, Green River Wheated

6 | Very Good | Blanton's, Holladay Bourbons, Eagle Rare

7 | Great | Baker's 7yr SiB, BBCo Origin High Wheat, 1792 BiB

8 | Excellent | Most ECBP batches, Maker's Mark Wood Finishing releases, High West MWND Act 11

9 | Incredible | Woodford Reserve Batch Proof 121.2, BBCo Disco #7 and #13, Four Roses OESQ

10 | Perfect | Found North Batch 08, RR15