Table Of Contents
The Details
| Rating | 94 |
| Style |
Bourbon American Whiskey Whiskey |
| Produced In |
Kentucky United States |
| ABV | 58.1% |
| Availability | Limited |
| Price | $229.99 |
| Reviewed By | |
| Review Updated | 2024-11-27 |
Angel's Envy 2024 Cask Strength Bourbon Review
Late Fall and early Winter are the bourbon world’s prime season for “halo” releases, the kinds of hard-to-find bottles that should showcase a distillery at its peak powers. For Louisville-based Angel’s Envy, that release is a rare cask-strength selection of its port-finished Kentucky bourbon.
For a dozen years, it’s been a clockwork-like expression of the brand’s best stocks and blending. But the 13th release — the second such bottling under Master Distiller Owen Martin — tosses a couple curveballs across the plate.
Angel's Envy 2024 Cask Strength Bourbon is the first in the line with Kentucky bourbon finished across two different cask types: this year, some of the base bourbon was finished in tawny port in addition to the typical ruby port the brand is well known for. Martin and his team also used a solera method for this year’s final blend, the first time we’ve seen Angel’s Envy employ such a strategy.
This year’s Cask Strength release is bottled at 118.8 proof. The base bourbon contains both Angel’s Envy in-house distillate, along with a small portion of bourbon sourced from another, undisclosed Kentucky distillery or distilleries. According to Martin, at some point in the near future, Angel’s Envy Cask Strength will feature entirely in-house distillate.
Let’s see how it tastes!
Angel's Envy 2024 Cask Strength Bourbon: Stats and Availability
The 2024 version of Angel’s Envy Cask Strength Bourbon carries a suggested retail price of about $230, and it will be distributed nationwide. Props to the brand for transparency in the release size: a total of 23,196 bottles will hit retail shelves and on-premise accounts (i.e. bars and restaurants). This is a bottle I’m used to seeing for close to MSRP or a bit above. The fact Angel’s Envy disclosed the release size should hopefully help keep price markups in check. At 23,000+ bottles, it’s not nearly the size as a “regular” major release by any means, but it’s also larger than a number of other premium bottlings this time of year.
Angel's Envy 2024 Cask Strength Bourbon 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 kicks things off with a big burst of English toffee, along with an early ethanol kick. To be clear, this doesn’t exactly nose “hot” with aromas getting overpowered by alcohol. Here, that punch bolsters the first scents (sweet and confectionary), which soon morph into classic bourbon notes of dark caramel, barrel char, and cinnamon-spiced sugar cookies. Black cardamom, ginger, and white pepper follow along with toasted oak staves. Combined with the impact of the bourbon’s nearly 119 proof, it’s an altogether sweet, spicy, and even buttery nose that carries solid oak character without getting mired in too many tannins.
That’s a fairly complex start, but this year’s Cask Strength has more on offer. Spending more time on the nose sees a further progression toward cooked stone fruit and a hefty dose of vanilla, like ice cream scooped onto a hot apple and pear cobbler. Black cherry develops at the very end, a balanced final pop that turns the fruit notes a shade darker and richer. The longer the whiskey sits, the more that cherry wafts from the glass.
This is one of the best-nosing Angel’s Envy products I’ve come across in some time.
Taste
Pronounced oak coats the tongue at first sip, followed quickly by dark molasses and nutty brown butter. The latter component is elevated by a creamy mouth feel, the bourbon spreading evenly across the tongue. It’s certainly adequate for this proof and profile, though it doesn’t “stick” across the palate quite as heavily as I might have hoped. (A small critique, to be clear.)
While the first taste is intriguing, the second brings loads more complexity: lots of red fruit and mulberries, followed by salted caramel and a big dollop of chocolate ganache. Subsequent sips bring some bitter elements, which balance out the dessert-forward flavors just in the nick of time. Coffee-adjacent tannins push the midpalate toward a cold brew float with vanilla ice cream, all without losing that base of oak and fruit.
Lightly roasted peanuts form toward the back palate, providing a bit of nuttiness to finish out an unabashedly complex palate. As with the nose, it’s one of the best I can remember from the brand.
Finish
Roasted peanuts continue through the finish alongside semi-sweet (and dry) baking chocolate, port wine, and dark cherry cough drop. My first taste only resulted in a moderately long finish, but that extends over time, the bourbon building on itself for more pronounced and lingering flavors.
Angel's Envy 2024 Cask Strength Bourbon Rating
94/100
Recap
For Owen Martin and the rest of the team at Angel’s Envy, tweaking the process behind Cask Strength paid off on the first try. This is a whiskey that elevates — but doesn’t crowd out — great Kentucky bourbon flavor with additional layers of complexity. I can manufacture a few small critiques here and there, but in the grand scheme of this whiskey’s near-undeniable quality and flavor, they really aren’t worth focusing on. Enjoy a bottle if you can, and make sure to share with friends for the holiday season.
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