In a quaint house-turned-distillery (or world headquarters as the sign states) is a local Sewickley, Pennsylvania distiller who is producing local craft bourbon, whiskey and flavored moonshines. Owner Kim McLaughlin follows his family's distilling traditions and pours his heart and soul into each barrel. McLaughlin Distillery will tell you up front that they aren't the biggest and they don't have the fanciest machinery. But what they do have is a passion for making distilled spirits that represent this southwest Pennsylvania borough while using oak from the North to age their spirits.
The 3799 Bourbon has a beautiful dense chestnut-orange color. While we don't know the age statement of this bourbon, it is the distillery's most popular offering. The nose presents chocolate covered almonds, green earth, vanilla and dark tea. Swirling really opens this up and we tasted this neat. In the mouth was almond crunch, hayloft earthiness, hints of semi-sweet chocolate and carmel. The initial sip gives you a hug and then quickly falls off to a smoother finish that leaves you curious about the next sip.
We will be re-visiting this with a few drops of water and a cube at a later date. The McLaughlin Distillery team offers four cocktail recipes on their website for this bourbon, so that might be a fun way to share this with friends as well. We like what Kim and company are doing and we would love to see what some older bourbons are offering from them.
ABV: 45.0% (90 proof)
Distillery: McLaughlin Distillery
Suggested retail price: $69.99
Drink The Bottles score: 88/100
