Cinnamon apple | White sugar | Vanilla | Corn | Grass

Apple brandy | Charred oak | Vanilla extract | Simple & direct

Chestnuts | Plum | Oak | Leather | Burnt caramel | Clove

You might have missed it with the slew of acquisitions this year, but Marussia Beverages acquired Watershed Distillery in August for an undisclosed sum. The fan favorite distillery has been careful not to over-expand its reach as their whiskey continues to age. Their bourbons now feature a 6 year age statement, though much to my chagrin, their barrel finished bourbons remain distillery only and lottery based. There’s hope that this changes with the acquisition as the distillery has been something of a hidden gem for many years now.

Now in its fourth batch and featuring new branding this year, Watershed Distillery’s Bourbon Finished in Apple Brandy Barrels continues its upward trajectory of proof. Coming in at 127.5 proof, Batch 004 is as rich as it's ever been, but it's also far from a carbon copy of previous batches.

The whiskey remains as potent as ever, with big robust notes of oak, barrel char, leather, and plum, but it's the introduction of chestnut and clove in Batch 004 that further takes this whiskey into the dark side. However, that is where Watershed Distillery’s Bourbon Finished in Apple Brandy Barrels is starting to show some stress lines. The apple brandy finish has always taken a backseat in each of their batches but in Batch 004 it’s starting to get lost completely. Watershed makes a surprisingly robust whiskey, which is what they have become known for, and I don’t want them to change that, but the apple brandy finish needs to be turned up a notch. It needs to cut through all of the robust flavors and act as a beacon through it. The company’s excellent Nocino Finished Bourbon already features a heavy and dark flavor profile so well, so at this point, I’d like a little more distinction between the two brands. It’s a minor gripe, but as the distillery and their brands continue to mature and a potential influx of capital is available to them as a result of their acquisition, now is the time to make some minor adjustments as they begin the next leg of their journey.