Wyoming Whiskey Double Cask review [In Depth]
Wyoming Whiskey Double Cask
by: ALEX WANG
Founder, writer
Founder, writer
Wyoming Whiskey Double Cask Details
Distillery: Wyoming Whiskey
Type & Region: Bourbon, Wyoming, USA
Alcohol: 50%
Composition: 68% Corn, 20% wheat, 12% barley
Aged: 5 years
Color: 1.4/2.0 on the color scale (tawny)
Price: $60-70
From the company website:
A whiskey gets its color and character from the cask in which it ages and matures. This Double Cask whiskey goes through the process twice. The first five years of maturation in a new charred oak barrel makes it a bourbon. That bourbon then experiences secondary maturation in decades-old casks seasoned by Pedro Ximenez sherry that adds a touch of sweetness, and yields a smooth and impressively complex spirit.
Wyoming Whiskey Double Cask overview
I’m a big fan of finished bourbons. Some of my favorite ones of all time, such as Joseph Magnus Cigar Blend and Bardstown Bourbon Company Chateau de Laubade Batch 1, are finished bourbons…although I guess that I’m also very partial to finished MGP bourbons of old.
Anyway, I digress. Wyoming Whiskey has a cask finished bourbon (sherry cask to be precise), called Wyoming Whiskey Double Cask. They cask finish their 5 year old bourbon in Pedro Ximenez sherry casks, which came all the way from Spain. While cask finishes felt very new in say 2018-2019, their use exploded in 2020 as brands tried to find ways to bring something new to drinkers.
Wyoming Whiskey was founded in 2006 and is located in Kirby, Wyoming. They’ve been at it for a surprisingly long time, to the point that they’ve released a 10 year old bourbon that they distilled themselves. 2006 was a totally different time, when bourbon was doing fine, but it wasn’t as raging hot as it’s been since 2019.
Now time for a brief lesson on Pedro Ximenez sherry (also called Pedro Jimenez, either is fine). First off, it’s the sweetest type of sherry…and it is very very very sweet. The cheaper ones are more one-dimensionally sweet, but the older ones layer in more refined oak and spice into the sweetness. Nonetheless, the sweetness and oxidative funk aren’t for everyone.
It’s made by sun drying Pedro Ximenez grapes (into raisins), which concentrates the sugars, and then mashing them up into juice to be fermented. It’s wine after all, so it follows most of the same processes. After pressing and fermentation, brandy is added to stop fermentation (which is why it’s called a fortified wine), and the wine is aged in used casks for some amount of time, often for years.
While Pedro Ximemez can be aged for a long time, aging in old casks that have been used over and over for decades is not the same as aging bourbon in virgin charred oak casks. The casks used to age sherry tend to be less reactive. The oak and wine interaction is a slower process done over years, instead of the “faster” virgin charred oak maturation where you get a lot of oak influence in 2-4 years. A 20-30 year old sherry isn’t going to be crazy woody, but a bourbon will.
A Pedro Ximenez cask finish should then infuse some amount of sweet dark grape fruitiness and oak, although the amount depends on the length of the finish and just how reactive the casks are. I don’t know how long the bourbon was finished, how reactive the casks are, or which bodega / bodegas provided casks. I do know that I like sherry of all kinds and I like finished bourbon.
Let’s find out how Spanish sherry and Wyoming bourbon get along in this Wyoming Whiskey Double Cask Bourbon review.
Thank you to Wyoming Whiskey for providing this sample. All opinions are still 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.
Wyoming Whiskey Double Cask smell
Wyoming Whiskey Double Cask has dark honey, heavily baked red apple, cherry, cinnamon, shimmery roasted oak (as if it were finished in french oak, dried orange peel and preserved lemon, and a hint of nuttiness.
This smells really good. It’s dark, rich, and expressive, just how I like my finished bourbons. For better or worse, the sherry influence is on the moderate side, meaning that it’s not super red grape heavy, but also not so subtle that I can’t tell it’s there. I personally like my sherry finishes to be heavier, but this is already quite pleasant.
In a bit of a contradiction, as good as it smells, it doesn’t feel that deep and complex. It’s starting to scratch the surface and get there, but it doesn’t have the depth of some of the great finished bourbons out there. I’m not saying that it has to, but I always make that comparison in my mind.
With swirling and rest, I get dense honey and baked red apple, dense vanilla, honeycomb, shimmery oak and fragrant cinnamon, cherry, roasted coffee, orange peel and a little nuttiness. Ooh there it is, Wyoming Whiskey Double Cask Bourbon smells really good now. It feels bigger, bolder, and more complex as everything seems to have woken up for show time.
Even though the bourbon is “just” 5 years old, the combination of bourbon and finish makes it feel like a great 12 year old finished bourbon. The finish fills out an already very good bourbon and makes it that much better.
No, it’s not quite to the level of Joseph Magnus Cigar Blend, but it’s not jarringly short of it either.
Wyoming Whiskey Double Cask taste and aftertaste
The flavors have dark honey, a lot of baked red apple, orange peel, cherry, vanilla, shimmery roasted oak, cinnamon, roasted coffee, and a little fennel. Wyoming Whiskey Double Cask not only smells great, but also tastes great. Compared to the scents it has more expressiveness, fullness, depth, and complexity.
This has great sweetness and fruitiness with refined enjoyable oakiness and spice. The sherry flavors aren’t so heavy either, although I am a big sherry fan and wouldn’t mind if it were stronger. The finish seems to add more apple (or the grape comes off more as red apple to me) and shimmery oak that feels so developed and interesting. For a lack of a better term, it feels right at home.
“Chewing” reveals dense honey and baked red apple, vanilla, preserved lemon, shimmery oak, cinnamon, cherry, this all encompassing background dark oakiness, and some nuttiness and nutmeg. And there really is a lot of honey, baked red apple, and vanilla. Oh yeah that’s yummy.
The finish is really nice too with dark honey, baked red apple, cherry, cinnamon, and oak with pleasant lingering effervescent oak, caramel nougat, cinnamon, and nuttiness. After “chewing”, it leaves honey, red apple, cinnamon, roasted coffee, a lot of dark oak (but not burnt), cherry, and orange peel with a long lasting dark oak, coffee, honeycomb, baked red apple, cinnamon, and peanut butter.
I think you could call this Wyoming Whiskey Cigar Blend because of how pleasantly oaky and sweet it is.
The combination of developed sweetness and fruitiness plus dark yet sweet oak and spice makes it feel so put together and mature, as if it were 12+ year old bourbon. It’s full, rich, complex, and interesting. I’m sure that the cask finish helps accelerate that development process because Wyoming Whiskey even tells us that the bourbon is only 5 years old. It’s clearly working.
If I had to nit pick, Wyoming Whiskey Double Cask could be more defined and have more pop, but this still amazing as is.
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.
Wyoming Whiskey Double Cask Rating
I’ll be completely honest as always – I’ve walked by this bottle many times and never really considered buying one. I never felt compelled to do it and was content in that decision. I’m glad that I got this sample, because I’ve realized the longstanding error of my ways. Wyoming Whiskey Double Cask Bourbon is REAL GOOD! It’s one of the best bourbons that they offer.
The caveat is that I’m a sucker for finished bourbon or rye. I haven’t rated every single one that highly, but they often do well with me. Take it for what it is as you make up your own mind about this bourbon.
The finish is a seamless part of the bourbon, and that makes all the difference. The sherry casks expertly accentuate the base bourbon, adding dense sweetness, red fruitiness, and effervescent oak and spice, in artful ways that elevate it to something amazing.
I personally wouldn’t mind stronger sherry sweetness and fruitiness, but this is great already. The finish is strong enough to make a meaningful (and positive) difference, but not so overdone that it’s like drinking high ABV sherry. The bourbon still shines here.
I think you could fool people into thinking that this wasn’t finished, just a really mature Wild Turkey bourbon. Really, it reminds me a lot of older Wild Turkey bourbon. This is a good segway to a thought I had as I did this review. I’ve already mentioned that this 5 year old bourbon feels like it’s 12 years old.
If anything, it feels like a toned down version of Wild Turkey Master’s Keep Revival, the limited 12 year old Wild Turkey bourbon finished in oloroso sherry casks. Wyoming Whiskey Double Cask isn’t nearly as dark, woody, and spicy, but I think it’s a close alternative since you can actually buy this while Revival is relegated to secondary since it was released in 2019 (I think).
This whole experience makes me wonder if Nancy Fraley channeled her experience with Joseph Magnus Cigar Blend into this one too (but at around a third the price). On the topic of price – $60-70 isn’t affordable for everyone, but it’s definitely worth it if you can. It drinks above its price point.
Regardless of whether you like finished bourbon, Wyoming Whiskey Double Cask Bourbon is a must try.
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.
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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)
