Two words that strike fear in the heart of any reasonable person: craft whiskey. Not all the bad whiskeys I’ve had over the years have been craft whiskeys but most of the craft whiskeys I’ve had over the years have been bad. This may explain why this bottle of Zeppelin Bend has sat umolested on my shelves for many years now. My friend Greg bought it at the New Holland Brewery in Michigan sometime in the last decade and gifted it to me. I must not have been very motivated to open it and then I forgot all about it until I noticed it on the shelves of the ever-shrinking whisky hoard last week. For whatever reason, I was suddenly driven to open it. And, what do you know? it turned out to be quite drinkable. It’s somewhere between Scotch whisky and bourbon in that it’s double distilled from malted barley (a la Scottish single malt whisky—though whether in a pot or column still, I don’t know) but matured in heavily charred new American oak casks (a la bourbon). I believe the maturation process lasts 3 years—very young by classic Scottish standards, even in these days of NAS, but older than most Amerrican craft whiskeys (or at least older than they used to be in the bad old days). I’ve enjoyed it straight on several occasions since  I opened the bottle but have enjoyed it even more as a rye/bourbon substitute in Manhattans. Alright, let’s get to the notes.

Zeppelin Bend (45%; from my own bottle)

Nose: A mix of sweet (vanilla) and spicy (cinnamon, clove) but not overly oaky per se. On the second sniff there’s some dusty oak and some pastry crust (baked dark). A couple of drops of water pull out a bit of fruit—plum?

Palate: Comes in as advertised by the nose. Very good drinking strength and texture at 45%. Gets sweeter as it goes and the oak expands a bit—but never gets tannic. With more time still some pepper emerges. Okay, let’s add a drop of water. Fruit here too with water and, yes, it’s plum.

Finish: Long. Nothing new here; the spices have the last word as it fades. As on the palate with time and water.

Comments: I think Zeppelin Bend is still being made—though the more recent bottles look different. I’d be tempted to replace this bottle for continued use in cocktails but it’s a bit too expensive for that.

Rating: 82 points.