Aged leather | Tobacco | Light clove | Seared oak | Dark fruit | Cereal grain | Nutty undertone

Baking spices | Frosted Flakes cereal | Maple sugar candy | Leather | Dark fruit | Savory & robust

Baking spices amplify up front | Slight grain note | Black raspberry | Nutty undertone returns | Aged leather | Progressively more dry as it fades

Founded in 2010, Rock Town Distillery is located in Little Rock, Arkansas, and says they are the first legal distillery of any kind in Arkansas since Prohibition. The mashbill for the company’s Column Still Collection is derived from grains that are grown within 125 miles of the distillery. Then they are transported to Bardstown Bourbon Company in Kentucky where the whiskey is distilled, before being moved to Arkansas to be aged and bottled.

Rock Town’s French Oak Finish really seems to lean into its finishing barrels. The whiskey is progressively dry and carries a somewhat unique aged leather note combined with a nutty undertone from start to finish. Sweet flavors of Frosted Flakes cereal and maple sugar candy develop at the midpoint of the palate, adding much needed contrast to the flavor profile. There are a number of elements here making for a fairly interesting sip. There is a slight grain note on the nose and again in the finish, but otherwise it’s a fairly savory experience that, while young, doesn’t necessarily come across as underaged. With that being said, it lacks an overall refinement that tends to come with age. Overall it’s a dynamic sip, and one that will likely be polarizing among consumers due to its fairly robust delivery of the more unique flavor profile it offers.