Table Of Contents
The Details
| Rating | 96 |
| Style |
Bourbon American Whiskey Whiskey |
| Produced In |
Virginia United States |
| ABV | 57.5% |
| Availability | Limited |
| Price | $80.00 |
| Reviewed By | |
| Reviewed | 2025-09-02 |
Abraham Bowman Oak Series: Hungarian Oak Review
Virginia-based A. Smith Bowman has been quietly rolling out one of American whiskey’s best experimental lines: the Oak Series. The French Oak (a blend of whiskeys) and American Oak (a bourbon) releases challenged some conventions associated with American whiskey flavor, marrying liquid streams aged across specific wood varieties. The third and final Oak Series release explores Hungarian Oak, which we’re diving into today.
This particular release was distilled on Dec. 6, 2012 and bottled on July 11, 2025. The whiskey spent the entirety of its life aging in charred Hungarian Oak barrels before bottling. (Though the bottle says “Virginia Limited Edition Whiskey,” a brand press statement says this is a bourbon.) The final liquid is bottled at 115 proof.
“What surprises me about Hungarian Oak is the lack of pepper or spice, which we have come to expect from our barrels that are aging ten or more years,” said David Bock, Bowman’s master distiller. “Hungarian Oak barrels seem to have replaced any spicy notes with a flavor profile that is rich and glossy. Hungarian Oak is one of the most well-rounded whiskeys I have tasted and I’m excited for our fans to try this release.”
While this release marks the third and final in Bowman’s Oak Series, it’s actually the 25th overall in the Abraham Bowman Limited Edition Collection, which kicked off in 2020 with Abraham Bowman Rye. It remains to be seen what the distillery — which shares a parent company with Buffalo Trace — has planned for future limited releases.
Let’s see how it tastes!
Abraham Bowman Oak Series: Hungarian Oak: Stats and Availability
Like almost all Abraham Bowman Limited Edition Collection releases, this bottle was distributed primarily by lottery, which folks across the United States could enter in August 2025. Selected winners were notified and given the chance to pick up their bottles in person at Bowman’s Virginia distillery. While $79.99 might seem like a steal for lucky winners, that “in person” clause is strictly mandated — no exceptions. This system makes the Limited Edition Collection bottles some of the toughest to find in American whiskey.
Abraham Bowman Oak Series: Hungarian Oak Review
As with all of VinePair’s whiskey reviews, this was tasted in a Glencairn glass and rested for at least five minutes.
Nose
The nose starts off with — and I don’t say this lightly — an incredibly inviting combination of honey-drizzled fruits, vanilla soft serve ice cream, and melted butterscotch. (If you’ve ever had a butterscotch-dipped cone from Dairy Queen, you may recognize that specific intersection of scents.) Sno-Cap candy and melted butter pecan ice cream lend even more decadent, sweet notes. Candied peaches add a touch of fruit to the mix.
There’s detectable oak, but it smells a lot less like the inside of a barrel or rickhouse than I might expect. Instead, the wood conveys a soft and honeyed quality, more like barrel-aged maple syrup than the tannins one might expect from whiskey that spent over a decade in charred wood.
Taste
Orchard fruit compote, apple jelly, cinnamon apple pie, and orange marmalade open the palate with complex sweetness that powers through all the way to the finish. Buttery, golden brown (but never burnt) pastry crust follows, conveyed in a big way but a viscous and incredibly creamy mouth feel. There’s a touch of ethanol heat, but it’s almost an afterthought due to the rich and pronounced fruit flavors up front.
Jordan almonds hit close to the midpalate, along with oak almost devoid of tannins; again, the wood influence is more akin to smoked confections or cocktails than the traditional barrel influences in American whiskey. The apple element gets a little more spiced with subsequent sips, and combined with the continuing underlying sweetness, the sip becomes reminiscent of an apple cider Old Fashioned. I’m not complaining about that in the slightest.
Finish
The finish is lengthy, fruit-forward — think very dark, spreadable apple butter — and heavier on spice than both the nose and palate.
Abraham Bowman Oak Series: Hungarian Oak Rating
96/100
Recap
Bowman’s Hungarian Oak release may just be the best of its three-part exploration of wood. It’s a delicious whiskey with a uniquely fruit-forward profile, one that showcases its maturity without leading with astringency or leaning on wood tannins. Indeed, it makes me eager to try more American whiskey aged in Hungarian oak barrels — fingers crossed Bowman and other producers have some currently sitting in warehouses.
*Image retrieved from Abraham Bowman
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