3 Howls Backbeat Bourbon Review

What is it about such small differences in the water, grains, aging time, barrels used, love, sweat, and tears that creates the delicate and yet identifiable difference in our whiskeys we enjoy so much? This week, I will be doing a tasting review of one of my first bottles of bourbon whiskey that my sister-in-law Francie purchased for me, as a birthday gift. As I had my thirty-fifth birthday just this last August, I also dove deep into a growing passion of enjoying, experiencing, and sharing fine whiskeys with others.

The Backbeat Bourbon is an American bourbon style whiskey produced by Washington States, 3 Howls Distillery in Seattle. This is a bourbon with a mash bill labeled as 75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malted barley. Just as the mash bill may lead you to believe, the taste fits that sweet corn and spicy notes of rye as I dig deeper into the drink. Upon first look, it reflects a dark gold almost orange color or others may label as dark amber. It sits beautifully in the glass.

At 92 proof and high corn yield, when swirled it coats the glass with just this side of a smooth coating texture before running back down the glass edges back into the drink. The first nosing brings high smell of corn and sweet corn at that. You can smell the sweet vanilla or caramel notes and reflect that of a more medicinal or herbal nosing which becomes more sweet after several sippings and nosings.

The first sip is very short and soft on the front of the tongue and sweet with all that corn in the make up. However, the back end is very peppery and spicy balanced by the 21% rye off of the corn. The taste is actually very short lived. You can taste the oak notes, but is not super strong which suggests not a long aging time in the new American Oak barrels.

The lingerings of sweet vanilla and caramel are present, but then are changed to that whiskey flavor with spice and pepper. Not so much a smooth balance, but a surprising switch from one end of the spectrum to the second. The mouth texture feels much more on the oily side which is to be expected from the corn in the yield and creates a coating texture in the mouth, but with the rye does not create a overwhelming hot or super spicy burn or warming of the mouth or nose.

In the end, this bourbon is a nice bourbon to try and to have. I think it creates more of a better bourbon for those old fashioned cocktails that calls for a rye spicy whiskey such as a Manhattan. However, the sweetness of it such as a traditional bourbon can make it good as a sipper if wanted. 3 Howls produces many more spirits such as a hop flavored whiskey, rum, gin, and a blood orange infused vodka. I would give this a three out of five stars.