Butterscotch | Cinnamon | Vanilla | Caramel popcorn

Butterscotch | Cinnamon | Vanilla | Caramel popcorn

White peppercorn | Peppery caramel sauce | Seasoned oak | Hot

Founded in 2018, Austin Craft Spirits Company is based in Austin, Texas, with a sole focus on producing light whiskey. The company names their products after the proof of their whiskeys, thus Austin 121 is 121 proof. While no specific mashbill is provided, the company places a strong emphasis on sourcing locally and states that the mashbill is composed of non-GMO white corn from Texas, red winter wheat sourced from the Texas Panhandle, and barley from Texas that's malted in Fort Worth.

At a year old, this light whiskey is fairly straightforward. Austin 121 tastes like it smells, with distinct flavors of butterscotch, cinnamon, vanilla, and caramel popcorn. Unlike Austin 101, which is the younger, lower proof version of Austin 121, it has less of a grassy taste. It’s during the whiskey’s finish where things get more prickly. White peppercorn comes through quickly against the peppery caramel sauce, which uniquely delivers a very sweet and spicy combination of flavors. Some of this might have bled into the rest of the finish as seasoned oak plays a larger role than expected, given this is a year old and aged in used bourbon barrels.

Currently, Austin Craft Spirits Company is in a precarious position. Being in business for 6 years, it's certainly a choice to release whiskey at a year old. As the whiskey currently stands,  it’s a fairly straightforward tasting whiskey, and with Austin 121, proof plays too big a role right now. There isn’t enough flavor accompanying the heat, with flavors dropping off quickly, leaving behind only heat. As of this moment, Austin 121 is in a worse position than Austin 111 Light Whiskey, but shows greater promise. A lot could change over the next few years as additional barrel time further changes this whiskey, that is, if the company actually wants to move away from its core identity of young light whiskey