Brown Sugar | Vanilla | Sweet corn | New oak | Peach gummy ring | Light grain

Oak | Vanilla | Light rye spice | Marshmallow | White peppercorn | Touch of brown sugar

Vanilla cream | Oak | Light rye spice | Short

Opened in August 2021, Village Garage Distillery is based out of Bennington, Vermont in a former garage for Bennington’s highway department, which was aptly nicknamed “the Village Garage.” When we last reviewed Village Bourbon back in 2022, the company was sourcing whiskey while they were aging their in-house distillate. Since that time, they’ve moved away from sourcing, and their Village Bourbon is now 100% produced onsite.

Composed of only two grains, Village Bourbon is a high rye bourbon that comes across as more sweet than spicy. It starts with an aroma that focuses on sweet scents with a light new oak and grain scent to break things up. The midpoint pulls in additional sweetness with the addition of a light rye and white peppercorn spice note, gently highlighting the 40% rye grain in the mashbill. Ending on a short note of sweet and very light spice, the bourbon wraps things up quickly.

With the move to in-house distillation, the Village Bourbon is different yet similar to when it contained sourced whiskey. The sip is still sweet with a layer of spice; however, it also hasn’t evolved much either. It still comes across as average, which, while there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, consumers will eventually expect more for the price. This represents some of the first in-house distilled whiskey the brand has laid down, and I’m looking forward to seeing what additional age and experience bring to the evolution of their whiskey.

The bourbon in review comes from Batch #12.