American Whiskey Review #95: Heaven’s Door Bootleg Series 2020 Edition 15 Year Old Jamaican Rum Cask Finish

Distillery: ?

Bottler: Heaven’s Door

Region: Tennessee

Age: 15 Year. Finished in Jamaican Pot Still Rum Casks.

ABV: 52.30%. Cask Strength.

Price: $60 for a pour at Proof in Omaha, NE.

Color: 1.6, Mahogany/Henna Notes.

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Nose: (according to the wife) Tons and tons of vanilla. It’s like opening up a jar of vanilla paste and taking a big whiff. Crème brûlée also comes to mind along with slightly singed marshmallows. A bit of toasted wood comes through as well.

Palate: At full strength, it’s rather dry in the mouth. It’s very nutty with notes of raw almonds, walnuts, and macadamias coming through. It’s got such a dry mouthfeel though that it almost feels like sawdust. With water, it does get a lot less dry and dense. The nuttiness is still prevalent and the sawdust gives way to some toasted oak. Burnt caramel comes into play along with something that reminds me of a wine-based spirit. I imagine this is that rum coming through but I don’t know enough about rum to say definitively.

Finish: Medium in length. That wine-based spirit note continues on here. A bit of vanilla paste comes through as well along with something quite funky and woody.

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Conclusion: In celebration of our anniversary, the wife and I went out for the first time in quite a while. This bottle immediately caught my eye. I could only hope that the whiskey was as beautiful as the bottle itself. The nose was quite promising with an almost intoxicating level amount of vanilla and some other sweets to go along with it. Tasting it, however, was rather different. It’s incredibly nutty and rather dry, especially before any water is added. Thankfully, the near-sawdust levels of dryness goes away with a few drops of water. That note of something like a funky, wine-based spirit keeps things interesting and from being one dimensional. The finish is quite nice as well, especially as a bit of the vanilla comes back. This is one that will go in the category of “I’m glad to have tried it and I enjoyed it, but I wouldn’t want to keep this in the home bar”. It’s not one that I would find myself reaching for but it will live long in the memory in any case.

Final Score: 83.

American Whiskey Review #95, Bourbon Review #70, Whisky Network Review #396

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Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.