Review #219: Dragon’s Milk Origin Small Batch 2025E “Sweater Weather”

MASH BILL: 70% corn, 5% rye, 25% malted barley

AGE: NAS (5+ years per website)

PROOF: 119.6

COST: $100 for 750mL bottle (I’m reviewing a sample)

New Holland Brewing Company started making beer in 1997.  Their Dragon’s Milk stout is probably their most popular and well-known beer. In 2005 they started distilling spirits, and in 2008 began selling bourbon and rye whiskey under the “Dragon’s Milk” name due to the whiskey aging in Dragon’s Milk stout casks. While I’ve known about Dragon’s Milk stout for over a decade, I hadn’t heard of their Dragon’s Milk Origin whiskey until about 2 years ago. Being a fan of their stout, I have wanted to try their whiskey for a while, particularly their honey cask, but haven’t brought myself to pay the nearly $100 price tag for a bottle. u/JewishJawnz was able to provide me with this sample so I could check their whiskey out. With a name like “sweater weather,” I figured this would be a great pour to check out in the middle of winter. Let’s see if this is as good as their Dragon’s Milk stout!

Reviewed neat in a Glencairn.

APPEARANCE: Dark brown (1.8), oily in appearance with medium bodied slow legs.

NOSE: It has some ethanol on the nose that I have to work around initially, but when I home in on notes I get vanilla, fresh apple slices, maple syrup, and freshly split oak. After nosing this for a little while I started to pick up on that 25% malted barley in the mash bill with a slightly earthy grain note.

PALATE: This has a very unique profile. On the landing there’s an immediate simple syrup note that fades into maple syrup. That transformation is partially hidden behind a wave of proof heat. As the heat subsides, a very beer like profile manifests with an earthy, bitter profile. This is a very intentional profile with the high malt content and using a brewer’s yeast (they are basically distilling craft beer and not a typical whiskey wash). While that malt note was more subtle on the nose, it literally screams at you here on the palate. While I like craft beer and I like whiskey, this is a combination that just doesn’t land well with me. This is the second whiskey I’ve had that uses a craft beer wash and both had a very similar profile that I do not care for.

FINISH: Long, dry finish. The malty beer profile lingers for a while along with maple syrup and caramelized sugar. Lindt cream filled milk chocolate dance in and out of the earthy, malty notes as well.

RATING: 4.6/10

OVERALL: That craft beer wash basically just turns this into a bitter, musty, malty profile on the palate that doesn’t sit well with me. The nose was the only pleasant quality to me. It was rather sweet for all other notes, but that bitter must just can’t be overpowered by the sweeter notes. I had been on the fence about buying a Origin honey cask finished bottle for a while and after trying this, I am 100% confident I wouldn’t enjoy it with it having the same mash bill. Thanks to u/JewishJawnz for letting me try this out. Learning what you don’t like is just as good as learning what you do like. With this being the second distilled craft beer whiskey I’ve had and both being very similar in profile, I’m able to say it’s just not for me. I’ll take New Holland’s Dragon’s Milk stout all day over this Origin bourbon.

1 | Disgusting | see my 1/10 ratings

2 | Poor | see my 2/10 ratings

3 | Bad | see my 3/10 ratings

4 | Sub-par | see my 4/10 ratings

5 | Good | see my 5/10 ratings

6 | Very Good | see my 6/10 ratings

7 | Great | see my 7/10 ratings

8 | Excellent | see my 8/10 ratings

9 | Incredible | see my 9/10 ratings

10 | Perfect | see my 10/10 ratings