Jacob’s Pardon is a new interesting whiskey that has just arrived in Louisiana. The brand is a project of a large wine distributor, Palm Bay International. The Taub family, the owners of Palm Bay, has had a long history in the spirits industry, which continued even despite prohibition. Post-prohibition, they developed Baltimore Club whiskey, a brand which unfortunately did not survive the American whiskey dark ages of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. In any event, two of the Taubs were charged criminally during prohibition, and they were both later pardoned by President Roosevelt, thus the name Jacob’s Pardon.

Oh, and they have this guy helping them blend the whiskies. Paul Pacult has forgotten more about whiskey than I have ever known. They partnered with Strong Spirits to bring the project to the bottle.

Recipe number 1 was a blend of eight year old Tennessee bourbon from Cascade Hollow blended with 15 year old American Light whiskey from MGP. Recipe 2, however, states on the label that it is 100% Tennessee whiskey, but its not all bourbon in there. It may be they were able to source some light whiskey from Cascade Hollow. The label states that the whiskey is eight years old, but since it is not labelled bourbon there must be older light whiskey in this bottle, just as in recipe number 1. This comes in at a hefty 109.3 proof. I paid $73 for this bottle

Based on the color alone, this isn’t just eight year old Tennessee bourbon; the color says this is light whiskey. On the swirl is a thin film and big big big legs. On the nose is some fruitiness, vanilla extract, bread pudding, toasted marshmallows. On the palate the fruit notes tend toward apple and pear, with some nice vanilla and almond extract notes, along with a hint of butterscotch and honey. On the finish, I get peach cobbler with a lot of cinnamon but it is light and airy somehow – like an amuse bouche of really good peach cobbler that somehow lingers.

If you like Old Carter American and Barrell Whiskey, this should be right up your alley. Bourbon this is not; nor does it claim to be. I am not sure there is any bourbon in this mix at all; this may very well be all light whiskey from Tennessee. It’s different, but it is good, and given the price point of Old Carter American and Barrell Whiskey, this is priced to find its way to your bar.