Leather | Aged oak | Light grain

Nougat | Malted milk balls | Raw grain | Peppery oak | Leather | Caramel | Punchy

Baking spices | Leather | Black pepper | Pleasant

Long Island Spirits was founded in 2007 in Baiting Hollow, New York. The company was the first distillery to be located on Long Island since the 1800s. It’s a farm-to-bottle distillery producing a range of spirits, including vodka, liqueurs, and various types of whiskey. The company’s whiskey brands include Rough Rider, Pine Barrens, and Field & Sound.

Old Lion is an annual limited edition release, named in honor of Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt, who was affectionately referred to as "The Old Lion" in his later years. It’s the oldest release under the Rough Rider line, which helps smooth some of the brand’s rougher notes, though not entirely. It leads with savory scents of leather, aged oak, and light grain on the nose. The midpoint is full of flavor: nougat, malted milk balls, peppery oak, leather, and caramel define the more refined side. But an undercurrent of raw grain and somewhat punchy delivery reveals the bourbon’s less developed side. The finish is pleasant with baking spices, leather, and black pepper.

Long Island Spirits distills their own whiskey, so seeing an 8 year old single barrel, barrel proof bourbon from Long Island helps solidify how far United States based whiskey distilling outside of the Kentucky epicenter has come. But Old Lion doesn’t quite reach the quality I had hoped for, considering the distillery has been around for almost 20 years. It still tastes somewhat underdeveloped, which harkens back to the craft distilling boom’s earlier days.

The bourbon in review is bottle number 250 of 298 from barrel #1319.