Three Whiskeys from Florida’s Timber Creek Distillery
A couple of months ago, I was contacted by the PR firm that works with Timber Creek Distillery to see if I would like to review some of their products. At first, I was a little leery since, unfortunately, I’ve sort of soured on trying new craft whiskey lately. At this point, they have to be interesting on some level to even get me to respond anymore. I’ve just been burned too many times.
But as I was reading through some of the notes that came along with the offer, I thought to myself, “what the heck? I probably won’t be back to Florida for a while, and the rye says it’s made with a Florida specific strain of Rye grain.” So I said yes to the offer of samples. The worst that would happen is that I would have something to make another batch of Cherry Bounce this summer.
Timber Creek is located in the Florida Panhandle near the town of Crestview, about 70 miles north and east of Pensacola). In talking to Camden Ford, the proprietor, I was intrigued by a few of things. First, he is very particular about where he gets his barrels. He sources 15-gallon barrels from McGinnis Wood Products in Cuba, MO and 53-gallon barrels from Canton Cooperage in Lebanon, KY. Both sizes are charred to a #3 char level. (I was glad to hear he shared my opinion of the Minnesota produced barrels you often see small distillers use. I’ve had very little good whiskey that came out of them.)
I liked the idea that they were doing things a little differently than the big guys. They use a roller mill to crack the grains instead of a hammer mill. Then they lauter them before fermentation (in other words they filter out the grains as you would in making beer) and ferment the wort instead of distilling with the grains still in. They also produce their whiskey in the Canadian manner. They grind, ferment, distill and age each of the grains individually and then blend them after aging. To my knowledge, I’ve never had an American Whiskey that was created this way.
So yes, they make their own products. These whiskeys are young. The age statements are nine months on each of them. But as they are blending product from small and large barrels, this isn’t surprising, particularly in the heat of Florida. Their standard Bourbon is a wheated bourbon made from corn, wheat, and less than 5% barley. The Reserve Bourbon is a four-grain Bourbon made from corn, wheat, less than 5% barley, and a Florida-specific strain of rye called Florida 401 or Black Rye. The Black Rye Whiskey is made from 100% Florida Black Rye.
Timber Creek Florida Bourbon
Purchase info: This bottle was provided to me for review purposes by the distillery. Doing a little digging shows that it is available for purchase online for $40.
Details: 9 months old, 46.5% ABV
Nose: Young with raisin, cinnamon, and cedar.
Mouth: Peppery with dried fruit and a lot of baking spice.
Finish: Short and gentle with lingering dried fruit notes.
Timber Creek Florida Reserve Bourbon
Purchase info: This bottle was provided to me for review purposes by the distillery. Doing a little digging shows that, it is available for purchase online for $50.
Details: 9 months old, 50% ABV
Nose: Young with raisins, brown sugar, and almonds.
Mouth: Sweet with wintergreen, brown sugar, raisin, and ginger.
Finish: Short with lingering wintergreen, ginger, and sweetness.
Timber Creek Florida Black Rye
Purchase info: This bottle was provided to me for review purposes by the distillery. Doing a little digging shows that it is available for purchase online for $51.
Details: 9 months old, 46.5% ABV
Nose: Sweetness with raisin, anise, cedar and a hint of wintergreen.
Mouth: Gentle in the mouth with dried fruit, wintergreen, baking spice and a generic sweetness.
Finish: Short and gentle with lingering wintergreen and granola.
I state in my Statement of Ethics that if I accept a review sample, I will disclose it at the beginning of the article. Please consider it disclosed. I’d like to thank Timber Creek Distillery for providing this sample to me with no strings attached.