Blackened

Originally launched in 2018 as a collaboration between Metallica and Master Distiller and blender Dave Pickerell, who was considered one of the founding fathers of modern Bourbon, having spent many years at Maker's Mark. Sadly Dave died shortly after the launch at the age of 62, to be replaced with Rob Dietrich.

The 'standard' Blackened whiskey is a blending of spirits sourced from various distilleries that are married in 'black brandy' barrels - a term coined by Pickerell which are actually Spanish brandy casks. To increase the motion of the whiskey inside the barrels, increasing the interaction between spirit and wood, the barrels are subject to a process dubbed 'Black Noise' - basically Metallica and other metal songs are played at a low frequency to the barrels with the sound waves generating motion.

However, this particular bottling is the second of a series dubbed 'Masters of Whiskey' in which Blackened will pair with individual distilleries to produce a limited number of bottlings.

The first release was a collaboration with Willett Distillery, whereas this latest bottling sees a partnership with Wes Henderson, who recently retired as the co-founder for the fantastic Angel's Envy Distillery. Whereas Angel's Envy is known for their Port and rum barrel finishes, here we see an unusual use of barrels that previously held white Port wines to introduce a light, almost floral aspect to the whiskey - and the 'Black Noise' is used again to maximise that interaction with the wood. The 'standard' Blackened is on the sweeter side, but here the white Port casks introduce notes of pear and white grapes, before a spicy note arrives at the finish. Despite the high ABV it still drinks well neat thanks to that lighter feel, but a drop of water certainly releases more of those white fruit tones. It's quite unusual but absolutely fascinating and shows that the Blackened team aren't afraid to take the flavour profile in different direction, despite the 'celebrity' branding.