‘A Radical Idea From the Start’: Angel’s Envy Breaks Tradition With Release of Unfinished Bourbon

Angel’s Envy unveiled an unfinished, bottled-in-bond bourbon — a first for the brand. (Photo: Angel’s Envy)

The Spirits Business reported that Angel’s Envy released an unfinished bottled-in-bond bourbon on Friday, marking a stark departure from the brand’s ethos of finished whiskeys.

Distinctive finishes are a calling card for the Angel’s Envy brand, such as January’s Cellar Collection release which featured bourbons finished in oloroso sherry, tawny port and madeira casks. Yet as experimental finishes take off in the whiskey world, the brand chose to pivot with the release of a radically different bourbon, finding that less is indeed more.

The project was guided by Master Distiller Owen Martin, who helped bring the bourbon to fruition.

“If Angel’s Envy was combining ideas across categories, if this product combines ideas within a category for the first time, overlapping bottled-in-bond and cask strength then with that in mind this is absolutely an Angel’s Envy release,” Martin explained according to The Spirits Business. “And honestly, what could be more Angel’s Envy than pushing the category in a new way?”

The whiskey follows bottled-in-bond regulations and was bottled at 50% ABV.

Angel’s Envy Cask Strength Bottled-in-Bond hosts a suggested retail price of $55 and 12,000 375 ml bottles are available to the public. The barrels were filled in spring 2018 at 103 proof and left to rest in a cool warehouse. Martin chose 27 of the low-proof barrels and blended them with two high-proof barrels from the same season to make bottled-in-bond regulations.

“If we had a radical idea from the start, and now that radical idea is commonplace, then why wouldn’t we look in our own blank spaces,” Martin expressed. “If you reframe and think of the idea of surprising people with combining ideas and processes and casks, then I think anything can be Angel’s Envy, when you’re willing to look at it from that lens.”

Angel’s Envy Bottled-In-Bond Tasting Notes, via the brand

Aroma: Banana pudding, vanilla wafers, caramelized sugar.

Palate: Honey latte, fruit syrup, toasted oak with a balanced sweetness.

Finish: Soft and round.

Join the Whiskey Raiders Bottle of the Month Club, where you will receive hard-to-find bottles curated by Whiskey Raiders staff with a 90+ rating on whiskeyraiders.com plus live virtual tastings. Sign up here!