Lost Lantern Tom's Foolery 10 Year Bourbon Review [In Depth]

Lost Lantern Tom's Foolery 10 Year Bourbon

by: ALEX WANG
Founder, writer

Lost Lantern Tom's Foolery 10 Year Bourbon Details

Distillery: Tom’s Foolery, sourced and selected by Lost Lantern

Type & Region: Bourbon, Ohio, USA

Alcohol: 59.1%

Composition: 63% corn from their farm, 10% winter rye, 24% Vienna barley malt, 3% two-row barley malt

Aged: 10 years

Color: 1.5/2.0 on the color scale (auburn, polished mahogany)

Price: $150

From the company website:

Lost Lantern hand-selected this cask from Tom’s Foolery in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. The family-owned distillery uses traditional, labor-intensive methods, including wooden fermenters and pot still distillation, to make whiskey the way it used to be made. Their whiskies embody the cold, snowy climate of Ohio’s snowbelt.

Aged for 10 years in a 53-gallon barrel, this straight bourbon whiskey was made from 63% corn from their family farm, 10% winter rye, and 27% malted barley. It has notes of maple-drizzled cornbread, French vanilla, and warming oak spice on the nose, with hints of maple candies, chocolate syrup, and fresh-cut hay on the palate. Like a warm autumn day in a glass.

Tom’s Foolery is a small distillery, but it’s one of the few that has always planned on aging its whiskey for a longer period of time. They have released several single barrels on their own that are 10+ years old, and every single Tom’s Foolery release Lost Lantern has done has been the oldest single cask of that style of whiskey we’ve ever released (at least up until the launch of this Collection). This cask, our first-ever 10-year-old bourbon, is no exception.

Lost Lantern Tom's Foolery 10 Year Bourbon Overview

Lost Lantern, the independent bottler of American whiskey based in Vermont, is back at it with some much older craft whiskeys from across the US. I won’t go into the details of the others, but this particular release is Lost Lantern Tom’s Foolery 10 Year Single Barrel Bourbon. This single barrel was very short – only 82 bottles came out of that barrel. I don’t know if one bottle was set aside for media samples, so maybe 83 came out of the barrel?

I’ve seen a few Tom’s Foolery releases in DC, but I’ve never actually drank any of their whiskey before. I have a lot to learn, so let’s get started. Tom’s Foolery distillery is located in Burton, Ohio (Go Blue!), which is about 40 minutes east of Cleveland. I’ll leave it at that.

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I will admit, I like that Lost Lantern keeps introducing me to new distilleries. That means that I get to try new whiskeys from distilleries that I’ve never experienced before, but I hopefully get the benefit of Nora Ganley-Roper and Adam Polonski (the founders) carefully curating this for me. Hopefully this one is great.

Let’s find out if this extra-aged Ohio bourbon can deliver in this Lost Lantern Tom’s Foolery 10 Year Bourbon review.

This sample was provided at no cost to me. All opinions are my own.

As an FYI, I bought and use these Glencairn glasses for everything (they’re the best): Glencairn Crystal Whiskey Glass Set of 6, Set of 4, Set of 2, or just one. Full transparency, this is an affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else from Amazon.

Lost Lantern Tom's Foolery 10 Year Bourbon smell

There’s very dark caramel, baked red apple, and cherry jam, followed by dark roasted oak, vanilla, leather, and a little cinnamon, orange peel, licorice, and caraway seed. Lost Lantern Tom’s Foolery 10 Year Bourbon is dark, dense, and heavy with a lot of dark sweetness, dark red fruitiness, and oak.

As dark and old as this is, the oak doesn’t feel overly roasted or burnt, and it’s also not all that spicy either. It’s surprising for a 10 year old bourbon. There also are occasional moments where some brighter apple and cherry fruitiness come out. It smells great.

In all that darkness and heaviness is some flabbiness that mushes the scents together, but overall this feels mature, developed, and complex. The nearly 60% ABV is also very well controlled. It doesn’t singe my nose at all.

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After swirling and 15ish minutes of rest, I smell dark caramel and maple syrup, baked red apple and cherry jam, dark oak that’s surprisingly not that burnt, vanilla, cinnamon, and a little orange peel, caraway, eucalyptus, grassiness, and graininess. There’s a very faint “craft” grainy and earthy funk that pulls me out of the experience just a little, but it’s so far back that it’s minor at worst.

I will say, Lost Lantern Tom’s Foolery 10 Year Bourbon smells even better now. It’s a densely dark, sweet, and woody bourbon that keeps the woodiness and earthiness well under control. The red apple and cherry fruitiness stand out in the mix, which rounds out the wonderful scents. The roundness, richness, and viscosity are there, but the pop and expressiveness are not all there.

This is definitely a fragrant and enticing bourbon, but it still has some limitations that put a ceiling on how great this smells.

Lost Lantern Tom's Foolery 10 Year Bourbon taste and aftertaste

At first, I taste oily caramel, baked red apple, roasted oak, stewed cherries, cinnamon, clove, vanilla, caramel nougat with a little bit of toasted grain (but not in a youthful way), and a little orange peel and licorice. The woodiness really comes through more with that oiliness and darkness, although it’s a really well controlled and not a heavily burnt and grassy woodiness. Nice job with that.

Lost Lantern Tom’s Foolery 10 Year Bourbon again is dark, dense, heavy, oily, and viscous. It’s very flavorful and is well balanced across the board. The darkness makes it feel more like 12-13 years old. At the same time, that heaviness brings some flabbiness, so the flavors often feel a bit muddled together. Don’t get me wrong, I can still taste everything.

This is delicious so far for sure.

With “chewing” I get dense caramel, baked red apple, super oily roasted oak, cherry jam, cinnamon, vanilla, orange peel, licorice, caraway seed, and some maple syrup and mint. Oh yeah, “chewing” brings out more rich flavor and complexity that have me hooked. It also draws out all the non chill filtered oils. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a bourbon this oily and sticky before, except for maybe 2015 George T Stagg.

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The finish leaves dense caramel, baked red apple, oily oak, cinnamon, and a light oaky bitterness with lingering toasted oak, cinnamon, and caramel nougat. “Chewing” leaves dark caramel, baked red apple, dark oak, vanilla, cherry jam, caraway seed, eucalyptus, and a lot of drying oils. Jeez…those oils just suck the moisture right out of my mouth.

Lost Lantern Tom’s Foolery 10 Year Bourbon is so flavorful, but the last burst and pop of flavor doesn’t quite appear to get to “wow” – to “Top Shelf+”. The heat also only bites a little, and it takes a few seconds of hard chewing to even coax out that kick, which is laudable for nearly 60% ABV. It still has more flabbiness than I’d like, but that’s also forgivable.

Lost Lantern Tom’s Foolery 10 Year Bourbon is rich, mature, complex, and interesting – really well done.

I’ve unfortunately lost some Glencairn’s while in transit, and that made me very sad. So, I wised up and bought this Glencairn Travel Case that comes also comes with 2 glasses so I don’t need to worry so much about them breaking. I think it’s great, and I think you’ll love it too. Seriously, if you already have glasses, protect them.

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Lost Lantern Tom's Foolery 10 Year Bourbon Rating

I’m very pleased with Lost Lantern Tom’s Foolery 10 Year Bourbon. Drinking this feels like a breath of fresh air – a very oily, sticky, and dark one. From memory, I don’t think that I’ve ever had a bourbon that smells or tastes quite like this. This densely dark bourbon that’s full of dark sweetness, dark red fruitiness, and wonderfully controlled oak feels unique to me. It’s not overly woody, burnt, earthy, or really anything overdone. The balance is fantastic.

The flabbiness and not quite explosive pop with “chewing” prevent this from scratching “Top Shelf+”, but all in all this is an incredibly well made bourbon that impresses a critical curmudgeon like me. It’s even better than bourbon such as Heaven Hill’s Elijah Craig Barrel Proof.

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$150 isn’t cheap by any means, but I think it might be worth it. All things considered, a 10 year old, sourced, and excellent bourbon from a craft distillery + independent bottler isn’t that bad. You could easily spend the same amount / more and get a lot less…and I have. Sure, the value isn’t amazing, but you will get the quality that you paid for. There’s not much hype, and it probably deserves more. I guess I’m trying to help fan that because I tried it and believe in it.

On that note, this crushes the $400 Willett 10 Year El Moro Bourbon that I bought with my own money…at MSRP. It’s painful to admit given the price. Willett is just out of their damn minds with their bourbon pricing when a distillery out in the middle of nowhere Ohio is producing better stuff…and a team out in Vermont is picking it.

With 82 bottles on the market, probably 81 after media samples, you know what…yes you should buy this if you have the money and want something tasty and different. Great job to Tom’s Foolery and Lost Lantern for this bourbon.

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Meet the Author: Alex

I have far too much fun writing about whiskey and singlehandedly running The Whiskey Shelf to bring you independent, honest, and useful reviews, comparisons, and more. I’m proudly Asian American and can speak Cantonese, Mandarin, and some Japanese.

There are no sponsors, no media companies, and no nonsense. Support The Whiskey Shelf by Buying Me A Shot.

Shattered glass really sucks, so if you’re on the move, this Glencairn-like stainless steel snifter glass should survive your travels. Full transparency, this is an Amazon affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else from Amazon.

BrüMate NOS’R, Double-Wall Stainless Steel Whiskey Nosing Glass – 7oz (Matte Black)