Chasing Cherries! Traverse City American Cherry Whiskey & Barrel Proof Cherry Whiskey

Background

It’s cherry blossom season here in the District so let’s celebrate with some cherry whiskey! Unfortunately, DC’s distilleries don't have anything that quite fits that bill, so I outsourced my cherry fix to Traverse City. Every year, Traverse City (the town in Michigan) holds its annual cherry fest. Traverse City (the distillery in said town), takes a set of handpicked local cherries to add to their whiskey. They then select a set of their higher age statement barrels (aged at least five years), blend them, then add the local cherries to the blend to seep for three days. Technically, that process means both of these are classified as American Whiskey. I love cherries, so I’m excited to see how these ended up.

Traverse City American Cherry Whiskey (NAS, 70 Proof)

Nose: Ripe, sweet, cocktail cherries. Yup, not much else but it smells delicious!

Palate: Vanilla, cherry candies, hints of cocoa nibs but yeah, mostly cherry.

Finish: Little bit of barrel spice, and you guessed it, a nice cherry finish!

Good (5/10)

Overall: This is fun! I'm not sure I mind having a 200ml bottle instead of a full one, as it's pretty one note. But it's a good note! I love cherries, so I don't mind. I actually wish they pushed the proof a bit further on this, to maybe 90, and then it'd probably hold up wonderfully in a cocktail. As is, it’s a smidge too light and delicate.

Traverse City Barrel Proof Cherry Whiskey (NAS, 114.8 Proof)

Nose: Caramel, vanilla, hints of milk chocolate... pretty standard stuff and honestly I'm not getting much cherry yet.

Palate: Banana bread, chocolate covered cherries, plum, caramel, some oak spice.

Finish: Marzipan, again cherry cordial, some light pepper and oak but fairly sweet on the whole. Honestly pretty solid length and rich.

Very Good to Great (6.5/10)

Overall: This is surprisingly subtle! That actually cuts both ways, I'll be honest that part of me was hoping for a slightly more robust cherry note. It's definitely there, but it's very well integrated. Given how short a time the cherries are stewed, I can only imagine how fine a line it is to make this. I do wonder what, say, 12 to 24 more hours would do. Regardless, this is tasty stuff.