Background

Eight whiskeys entered, five went home with various members of our tasting panel as “eh, I guess I’ll find a way to use it” souvenirs, one went down the drain, and we’re left with Blackened vs Brother’s Bond- a clash of the titans decent whiskeys. If you’re curious for the full journey:

• Part One: Bradshaw Bourbon bested Drake’s Virginia Black Dumpster Runoff. Then Longbranch beat out Digits, meaning Scottie Pippen will not be adding another title to his 6 rings.

• Part Two: Brother’s Bond (from the two Vampire Diaries guys who apparently are very IG famous) triumphs over Sweeten’s Cove (RIP Peyton Manning and Andy Roddick). Then our tasting panel split our votes on Heaven’s Door vs Blackened and decided to just knock out Bradshaw because it’s not very good.

• Part Three: I get angry as our tasting panel advances Brother’s Bond over Heaven’s Door. Blackened cruises past Longbranch. 

This brings us to our final!

Blackened (3) vs Brother’s Bond (2)

Pour 1:

Nose: Berry compote, caramel chews. Getting a bit of citrus.

Palate: Blueberries, strudel, apples, “not quite cider but malty apples”

Finish: RIDE THE LIGHTNING- this must be Blackened!. Pie crust, a bit of grape.

5.5/10

This pour turned out to be: Blackened

Pour 2:

Nose: THIS (But seriously that same pear note, vanilla)

Palate: IS (Still pear, this is maybe the easiest blind whiskey to identify that I’ve ever tasted)

Finish: BROTHER’S BOND (Yup sweet cream, pear, short, sweet, pleasant)

5/10

This pour turned out to be: you already know
 

Notes from the Panel: “So this proves the Black Noise Process works right? Maybe if they blasted Drake at those 2 year MGP barrels it would have helped Virginia Black.”

Winner: Sonic Maturity. Blackened takes it unanimously. American whiskey aged in a black brandy barrel that’s blasted with various Metallica playlists is our champion. I remain skeptical of the process, but I do think the Blackened brand has demonstrated some repeated care with their offerings. I’ve heard great things about their Wes Henderson collaboration, and I loved Blackened x Willett. It’s off to never-never land for Brother’s Bond…

Send off for Brother’s Bond: This was a really pleasant surprise and I’m now curious to try their cask strength offering. Do I think the auto-play video on their website is truly ridiculous? Because I’m not someone who will be riding motorcycles into the desert with nothing but some steaks, firewood and Brother’s Bond any time soon- of course I do. Still, this is a nice sip and a truly unique taste profile. Cheers to you, Vampire Diaries guys.

Thanks to everyone who followed along with this project. Steph Curry and Nic Cage recently announced bourbons, so 2024 promises to be a loaded field!