Apricot | Nectarine | Orange | Lemon | Mellow oak

Cantaloupe | Green grapes | Vanilla | Caramel

Granola | Walnut | Light dryness | Mellow oak | Touch of smoke

Up until now, Old Dominick’s main releases have consisted of whiskey sourced from MGP. While two of their limited edition whiskeys have been fantastic, All the Cookies, and Huling Station Single Barrel Straight Wheat Whiskey (Overton Park Conservancy Edition), their standard releases have been largely straightforward, classic style whiskeys, which has made them hard to get overly excited about. In November 2022, Old Dominick announced two new products both of which were made from the ground up by and at Old Dominick Distillery in Memphis, Tennessee. These releases also marked the first distilled, barreled, matured, and bottled whiskey in Memphis since Prohibition. Furthermore, These whiskeys were spearheaded by Alex Castle, the first female master distiller in Tennessee.

MGP makes a lot of great whiskey, but there’s something to be said of a company that goes out and tries to do it on their own. Right from the start, Old Dominick Straight Tennessee Whiskey showcases the uniqueness that can come from controlling your own product production. The whiskey’s nose is shockingly fruit-forward, but not of the usual berry sort. Apricot, nectarine, orange, and lemon combined with mellow oak create a soft yet memorable aroma. The whiskey’s sugar maple charcoal filtering becomes even more apparent on the palate. Cantaloupe and green grapes are offset by vanilla and caramel, but all are delivered in an incredible mellow fashion. This light to medium bodied sip concludes with a finish centered on granola and walnut with a touch of dryness and smoke.

While Old Dominick Straight Tennessee Whiskey is far more interesting than the company’s sourced whiskeys, it still has some room to grow. The whiskey doesn’t suffer from youthful notes, but given more time I’d expect it to gain a more complex middle ground and body. Its 85 proof combined with its sugar maple filtering makes this an incredibly easy sipper. That said, I also wouldn’t mind a small increase in proof, but not at the cost of the great fruit notes it offers. As a first release from the company’s new distillate, I am happy where it’s at, and hopeful where it's going.