Caramel | Creamy vanilla | Oak | Toasted marshmallow | Faint marzipan | Nougat

Vanilla powder | Dry oak | White peppercorn spice | Cinnamon stick | Light brown sugar | Rye spice

Light dry oak | Leather | Faint vanilla | Rye spice | Short

Louisville Distilling Company, the producer of Angel’s Envy, was co-founded by Wes Henderson and his father, Lincoln Henderson. Before his passing in 2013, Lincoln worked selecting and blending whiskeys for Angel’s Envy. In 2015, Angel’s Envy was acquired by Bacardi Limited. Later, in 2016, Angel’s Envy opened its distillery located in downtown Louisville. In the fall of 2022, Angel's Envy appointed Owen Martin as the first master distiller since co-founder and Master Distiller Lincoln Henderson's passing in 2013. 

Notably, Martin didn’t distill or create the idea for this whiskey, but he was involved in the final product. Almost all bottled in bond whiskeys are proofed down to 100 proof with water; however, Angel’s Envy chose the hard road to create their inaugural release of Bottled in Bond Cask Strength Bourbon, bottling at cask strength with no addition of water at all. In order to achieve this feat, the company filled barrels in the spring of 2018 at a lower entry proof of 103. After aging, the proof dropped further, and 27 of the lower proof barrels were blended with two high proof barrels from the same spring of 2018 distilling season. These blended barrels brought the proof to an even 100, one of the requirements to qualify as bottled in bond. Initially released in June 2024 as a 375mL distillery exclusive, the company switched to 750mL bottles and began selling the inaugural release of Angel’s Envy Bottled in Bond Cask Strength Bourbon nationwide in late 2025. 

The sip opens with sweet confectionery scents, as caramel, creamy vanilla, and nougat, among others, rest on a bed of oak. The midpoint is more straightforward, focusing on classic bourbon flavors and leaning slightly dry. This dryness carries over to the finish, as light dry oak and leather push against rye spice. 

A classic sip that’s straightforward and to the point, Angels Envy Bottled in Bond bourbon is an intriguing product for a company that has built their reputation on finished whiskeys. Given that Angel’s Envy created a bottled in bond product that is technically cask strength, this bourbon makes me wonder what other products the company might eventually release if they continue down this road. It would be great to see what their unfinished whiskey tastes like with more age and potentially more proof. Whether that happens or not is yet to be seen; however, in the meantime, fans of the brand will have fun seeing what Angels Envy tastes like before entering a finishing barrel. However, all this comes at a cost, and in comparison to other bottled in bond products, consumers are being asked to pay a premium for what amounts to just an average sip.