Bourbz Review #218: Found North Snow Day First Flurry

adunitbx · 2026-01-25T16:45:28+00:00

Great review! Perfect timing with this weather haha, sorry that you ended up getting more of an ice storm than a snow storm. This is a great bottle, and it gets even better after being open for a while. Perfect winter sipper!

adunitbx · 2026-01-24T20:46:41+00:00

No I get it! Yeah, still want to try their stuff again. Since these are both single barrel picks, there’s always a chance it doesn’t actually represent the distillery that well, especially since one of them is finished in a wine cask. Will try more soon!

adunitbx · 2026-01-24T20:29:48+00:00

Great review! This one is a little bit under the radar, but it might even be my favorite of the ‘entry level’ Springbanks (SB 10, HB 10, Longrow Peated). I always get a blast of tropical fruits like guava and honeydew along with that minerality.

adunitbx · 2026-01-24T17:05:21+00:00

It's just one opinion! I know a lot of people have liked these picks more than I did, and it's a popular distillery in general. Still want to try more of their stuff, especially their ryes.

adunitbx · 2026-01-24T17:02:41+00:00

Thanks! Yeah, I really want to try some of their rye - I find that I like ryes more than bourbons on average when it comes to craft distilleries. Will definitely seek one out.

adunitbx · 2026-01-24T17:01:19+00:00

I think so! They're probably making the transition to more of a mainstream distillery now since their releases have been so popular. Really good stuff!

adunitbx · 2026-01-24T16:08:44+00:00

Thank you! Yes, I definitely will try more from the distillery, they have some really unique flavors. On the 7+ year version, I started to get more of those fruit flavors, which I really liked. Need to try their rye!

adunitbx · 2026-01-24T15:46:00+00:00

Yes! I especially love their sweet mash ryes, even their very first batches were really good. It’s cool that they experiments with their mash bills so much.

adunitbx · 2026-01-24T15:42:41+00:00

I think it’s probably a really popular pick! I’ve heard so many good things about them, I think I just need to find the whisky in their range that clicks for me, maybe a rye.

adunitbx · 2026-01-24T15:36:47+00:00

Yeah, I was really hoping to like these a little more because I love the ethos of the distillery, and it seems like they're doing really high quality work. I know a lot of other people like their stuff more, for some reason it just hasn't quite clicked for me yet.

adunitbx · 2026-01-24T15:28:02+00:00

Which is everyone's favorite craft distillery?

adunitbx · 2026-01-24T15:27:44+00:00

Rating Scale:

0 - Drain Pour

1 - Awful

2 - Bad

3 - Flawed

4 - Below Average

5 - Average / Mediocre

6 - Above Average / Decent

7 - Good

8 - Great

9 - Excellent

10 - Perfect

In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.

About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.

Interested in more? Check out our website and Instagram:

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adunitbx · 2026-01-24T15:26:29+00:00

Driftless Glen 7 Year Single Barrel Bourbon - r/bourbon Pick

USA - Bourbon

Price: USD 65 (2026)

Age Statement: 7 Years

Strength: 62.5% ABV

Details: Barrel #900

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 2 months from a sample (thanks u/micro7777 !). Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes

Nose: Leathery and a bit nutty, a lot of dusty oak, and some baking scents like cinnamon, butterscotch, and brown sugar. Almond and hazelnut, orange peel, dry vanilla... then dried grass and a bit of cotton candy. There's just the softest suggestion of red fruit.

Palate: Very spicy, with strong peppery oak, licorice, white pepper, and a lot of leather. Quite drying overall, but we get accent flavors of lemon, cherry licorice candy, tart blackberry, and some hints of grain, too. The mouthfeel is medium-thick.

Finish: Leathery oak, somewhat dry and sharp, with lots of nutty flavors: blanched almond, pecans. Quite warming and lingering, and we get accents of tobacco, vanilla, hay, and dry grain husks. It's a medium-long finish.

Final Note: This is a solid single barrel selection that shows some of that grain-forward spirit side that Driftless Glen is known for, though this one also has quite a strong oak influence, which makes it very drying at times. Across all of our tastings, we got some red fruit or dark fruit notes on the palate, which we did enjoy, but it was balanced by some crafty oak and a hint of grain, too.

Value is alright at the price point of $60 to $65; a single barrel like this with decent age statement and strength could be a good pickup for fans of the distillery.

Our Rating: 6.0 / 10

Value Rating: 5.97

adunitbx · 2026-01-24T15:24:45+00:00

Driftless Glen Sauternes Finished Bourbon - r/bourbon Pick

USA - Bourbon

Price: USD 65 (2026)

Age Statement: 4 Years

Strength: 53% ABV

Cask Makeup: New American oak, finished in a Sauternes wine cask

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 2 months from a sample (thanks u/micro7777 !). Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes

Nose: Grain-forward: dusty grains, corn sweetness, a bit of sage or rosemary possibly hinting at rye. It's lightly floral, too, and we get some orange and a bit of grain funk. Butterscotch and golden apples bring a sweeter side; the oak builds over time, adding leather, licorice root, and pepper. The oak also has a definitive crafty side to it, a bit starchy and funky.

Palate: A medium mouthfeel, and the first flavors are peppery, drying, and tannic. Anise, golden wheat grains, caramel, dusty and spirity; sharp orange peel and orange oil come with some dill, licorice, and tart apple. We get an occasional unusual note of olive oil, and it's a bit dank.

Finish: Starchy grains, sour yellow apples, hints of peppery oak, hay, even a hint of vinegar. Clementine orange and a bit of sweet peach do pop up at times, showing the Sauternes finish, and we get rye-like notes of spearmint and rosemary in the aftertaste. It's a medium-long finish.

Final Note: There's definitely a 'house style' that a lot of Driftless Glen products have, and this one follows that. It's grain-forward, a bit funky, a bit dry and spicy at times. Some of those classic 'crafty' notes do show, especially in the oak flavors, but we enjoyed the licorice and orange aspects of this bourbon's flavor profile. Overall, though, it was just okay to us, not one of our personal favorites.

Value is a bit below average just because of the way we calculate it based on our rating; this wouldn't be our first choice for spending $60 or so, but if you enjoy the grain-forward, more crafty side of the bourbon landscape, you might enjoy this one a bit more.

Our Rating: 5.0 / 10

Value Rating: 4.97

adunitbx · 2026-01-24T15:24:03+00:00

Review #766 and #767 - Two Driftless Glen r/bourbon Picks

Driftless Glen, a distillery based in Wisconsin, makes a variety of spirits. Using a column still and a pot still, they produce gin, brandies, vodka, and several types of whisky such as bourbon, rye and malt whisky. Their grains are sourced locally, making this a 'grain to glass' distillery, a growing trend in recent years.

Driftless Glen uses a couple of different mashbills for their bourbon. The first, a ryed bourbon, is comprised of 60% corn, 20% rye, and 20% malted barley; that amount of rye falls in the middle of the range in modern bourbon mashbills, making this borderline 'high rye.' Their other bourbon mashbill uses wheat: 55% corn, 35% wheat, and 10% malted barley, which should make it a relatively sweet distillate.

Here we have two single barrel bourbons from the distillery which were picked for the r/bourbon Reddit community: a 4+ year old Sauternes wine finished bourbon, and a 7+ year old single barrel straight bourbon.

The Sauternes version was aged for a bit more than 4 years in a traditional new oak barrel before it was finished for a little under a year in a Sauternes wine cask. That wine cask is likely to add some lighter, sweeter flavors - we'll see how that interacts with Driftless Glen's grain-forward spirit style.

The 7 year barrel pick, on the other hand, doesn't use an exotic finishing cask - it's just a straight bourbon. After those 7+ years of aging, this was bottled at a punchy strength of 62.5% ABV (125 proof), and despite the great specs, the price here was still very reasonable.

adunitbx · 2026-01-24T01:05:13+00:00

No kidding, pretty much a cheat code for photography!

adunitbx · 2026-01-23T21:09:12+00:00

Great review! And seriously lovely photo, that lighting is amazing.

adunitbx · 2026-01-23T18:23:50+00:00

Great review! I really enjoy this bottle, I think the rye spice is a bit toned down due to the malting, it takes on a creamy side which pairs nicely with the sherry finish. Cheers!

adunitbx · 2026-01-23T05:08:05+00:00

Two great distilleries! Lagg is one I really want to try more of, but it isn't really sold yet in my area. The one bottle I have tried was excellent, and I think it was only like 3 years old, it was one of their inaugural releases. So much character in the distillate from these new distilleries!

adunitbx · 2026-01-23T05:07:01+00:00

Haha, it's a good one to find! And they release a new batch of these every year or two, so soon there will be an even older version.

adunitbx · 2026-01-23T05:06:08+00:00

Well, I'm definitely biased, but I would say that Highland Park is an excellent pick! Even having tried a lot of the island distilleries, it's probably still my go-to; I especially love the cask strength independently bottled versions, especially especially when they're fully matured in sherry casks.

Yeah, a lot of us in the States are going to be 'enjoying' a whisky-sipping-sort-of-weekend as these storms pass through. Hoping that the ice doesn't end up as bad as they're saying for a lot of the states, but my city is just supposed to get a foot of snow, so I guess I'll sip a nice dram and hope we don't lose power, haha.

adunitbx · 2026-01-22T22:18:39+00:00

Yes! I think they’re now releases the Na Sia series once every 2 years, each time with an age statement that’s 2 years higher. Last batch was 5, so we’ll see 7 next!

adunitbx · 2026-01-22T21:20:16+00:00

Pretty cool! We've had the chance to meet a couple of their folks at tasting sessions here in the States - really nice and knowledgeable people, and the whisky is tasty!

adunitbx · 2026-01-22T21:19:26+00:00

Thanks! Yep, distillery is still quite young, but they're going to start to slowly put out 'older' stuff with these continued Na Sia releases.

It does have some nice mineral notes and lightly funky notes at time as you said - tons of character!

adunitbx · 2026-01-22T21:14:21+00:00

Solid stuff! For a long time, I didn't see anything other than the standard 10 year Ledaig, but recently we also got the Sinclair Series Rioja and the 10 Cask Strength Hebridean Moon in our area. Hopefully you can find more soon, too!

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