Stillhouse Black Bourbon Review

Bourbon, Spirit Reviews, Whiskey, Whisky

Travel Distilled reviews Stillhouse Black Bourbon, which comes in a cool steel can and has been mellowed in roasted coffee beans.

Elsewhere I’ve seen criticism of the packaging of this Stillhouse Black Bourbon and the rest of the Stillhouse range. If you haven’t seen them, their bourbons, moonshine, and other spirits come in stainless steel cans. This must catch the eye on the shelves of liquor stores, but people have said that you shouldn’t sell something you’re marketing as ‘America’s Finest’ spirits in the kind of can you buy turpentine in.

I disagree. I didn’t know the spirit came in cans, and when a tasting sample arrived I showed it to my wife and we both thought, ‘Hey, this is cool!’ And when the cans are empty we can do something creative with them. So I love the packaging. But first, what is Black Bourbon?

Black Bourbon

Stillhouse Black Bourbon is made from a mix of corn, rye, and barley, then aged in new charred oak barrels, and finally it’s ‘rested and mellowed’ in roasted coffee beans. I tried to find out more on their website but while it was strong on presentation, it wasn’t easy to navigate and the factual info was minimal (see below).

Stillhouse Black Bourbon Review

Just as you can’t judge a book by the cover, and the proof of the pudding is in the eating, what does it taste like and do you get bang for your buck? Stillhouse markets itself as ‘America’s finest’, but at $30 a can, you’re not going to get that.

I really liked opening the can, and around the neck is a tiny flip-fold leaflet which tells you about Stillhouse, their other products, and gives some cocktail recipes. It’s a lot easier to navigate than their website (again, see below)!

On the nose the predominant scent is of sweet molasses, followed by coffee, then that unmistakable alcohol/medicinal aroma. I also thought there was a hint of sherry in there. So it wasn’t America’s finest, but it wasn’t too bad either.

Tasting it, there wasn’t quite as much coffee on the palate, and it was a little rough, but the predominant taste was that sweet molasses with a dash of sherry.

Swallowing, the roughness was still there but the coffee notes were stronger and it left a favorable impression. I could imagine that as an after-dinner drink with a coffee, this would go down well. In fact, next time we have an after-dinner coffee, I just might try it.

The Website

While I love the packaging, theirs is the kind of website that annoys the hell out of me. It’s very graphically based, so while it looks good it takes ages to load. It also only seems at first glance to feature only two of their products, this Black Bourbon and their Original Whiskey.

I knew there were more, but I could only find them when I clicked on the Enjoy tab on the menu. It wasn’t obvious that that’s where their product range would be. But now I do know that they make some crazy things like a Peach Tea Whiskey, an Apple Crisp Whiskey, a Spiced Cherry Whiskey, a Red Hot Whiskey (what?), and a Coconut Whiskey. Well, you can’t say they’re not original at Stillhouse.

Unfortunately if you want to find out more about, say, their Red Hot Whiskey, I don’t see how you can do it. Click on the link and you get some cocktails you can make with it, but I couldn’t find a page that tells me what Red Hot Whiskey actually is.

The Verdict

While this won’t make the list of 101 bourbons you must taste before you die, it’s not bad, if a little on the rough side, but that’s redeemed with a more-ish quality about the flavor. I did pour myself a second shot. And you do get a can which I think looks really neat.