Taste Test: Orphan Barrel’s newest bourbon is utterly forgettable.

Whiskey aficionados have many thoughts about Diageo’s Orphan Barrel brand, a series of whiskey releases that come from lost casks sleeping in dark corners of warehouses. This unlikely narrative takes a back seat to the stories behind the individual whiskeys in the series, some of which are very good—if often overpriced. The new Indigo Hour, however, is an 18-year-old bourbon that doesn’t live up to its backstory, and it’s not worth its hefty price tag.

I think anything is possible, but it’s highly unlikely that any distillery or whiskey brand will actually misplace a single barrel of whiskey. Casks are barcoded and the inventory is carefully monitored as it ages because, at the end of the day, it’s all about the bottom line and every barrel contains money in liquid form. Sure, it’s conceivable that a few barrels might slip through the cracks over the years, but not enough to literally create a brand identity. Regardless, as mentioned earlier there have been some great Orphan Barrel releases over the years—the Makati-Muck was a 24-year-old single grain Scotch whiskey from the prestigious Port Dundas Ghost Distillery, and the Copper Tongue 16-year-old. Bourbon was the sample. Home of George Dickel, Cascade Hollow Distilling Co. The latter whiskey is a good example of high prices, especially considering that you can find nearly as old a whiskey as Deckel for less than $100 per bottle.

The new Orphan Barrel is called Indigo’s Hour, and it’s an 18-year-old bourbon distilled from a high-rye mash bill (68 percent corn, 28 percent rye, and 4 percent malted barley) at MGP in Indiana, aged in Kentucky (probably in Diageo-owned warehouses, but probably not), and Cascade Hollow Distilling Co. in Tullahoma, TN. i bottle So basically you have an old MGP whiskey that was aged in Kentucky—sounds great, right? Unfortunately, that’s not the case here. The eighteen year old is really pushing the upper limits of bourbon, giving the whiskey a solid chance to become an oaky, tank bomb. Thankfully that’s not the case here, but instead it veers to the opposite end – the whiskey’s mouthfeel is very thin, and instead of oak you get faint vanilla, crisp pear, honey, coffee bean, and a bit of spice. . That rye proof is just a hair less than 90 degrees, which may be part of the problem. You can easily believe that this bourbon is aged less than 10 years, which is a perfectly respectable (and perhaps preferable) age. But given the price of this whiskey ($225, and possibly much more on the secondary market) and its age, I was expecting something much more complex.

Most importantly, this whiskey is obnoxious but unremarkable, like Coldplay or Ben Affleck of Bourbon. That’s all well and good for a $40 bottle, but not for an ultra-premium brand like this. If you really want to drink some 18-year-old bourbon, there are better options like Knob Creek 18, Elijah Craig 18, or Dickel 18 (yes, it’s Tennessee whiskey, but it also fulfills all of the bourbon qualities). Sure, these are all expensive whiskeys, but may be good enough to justify their price with rich, rich, aggressive flavors that deliver exactly what you’re looking for. Indigo’s Hour it ain’t, so unless you’re an Orphan Barrel completer (you know who you are), go along.

Score: 81

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