Since the Wine & Spirit’s Guild’s first pick of Copper & Cask Limited Edition Small Batch No. 1 was a good seller (I bought the last bottles Hokus had), the Guild has now sourced two more batches that are available now. Both are mixes of high and low rye MGP bourbons, with the majority being low rye. WS-2, was aged seven years, but was finished in toasted oak barrels for three months, and comes in at 118.4 proof, and is priced at around $59. WS-3 is a seven year old MGP bourbon at 118.8 proof at $49. 18 barrels went into each batch. Both are non-chill filtered and cask strength, that way good bourbon should be.

WS-2 with its toasted oak finish really puts toasted oak flavors on full display. The color is a nice medium amber with big thick legs on the swirl; this is a really oily whiskey. The nose is up front with vanilla notes, fruit notes, and toasted oak. On the palate, cherries, figs, and orange zest notes are apparent, but taste candied, along with caramelized brown sugar, Wood sugars are also very prominent on the palate from the toasted oak. On the finish, the fruits fade into some baking spice and a lot of toasted oak notes. This is definitely comparable to Red Line’s Toasted Oak bourbon at six years old but that sells for about $20 less even though it is older. Copper & Cask created a page and a video for this bourbon. Given the sheer cost and expense of re-barrelling this whiskey in toasted oak casks for three months, this is a real bargain, and I can only assume those toasted oak casks got shipped to Scotland after use to keep the price this low.

WS-3 just has everything I love about MGP bourbon aged six to eight years. The color is likewise a nice medium amber with big thick legs on the swirl. The nose has a note that I can only describe as Juicy Fruit, like the gum, with some nice traditional bourbon notes in the background. On the palate, the juicy fruit note coats the tongue, along with notes of cherry altoids, a hint of marzipan, and a kiss of oak tannin. Just lovely. On the finish, the juicy fruit is met with cinnamon and a hint of clove, as the finish lingers and lingers. Like Batch 1, this really reminds me of Nashville Barrel Company picks and Red Line Single Barrel, except that this is a year or two older and $10-$20 cheaper.

I really have to give a shout out to Gus Olah, Hudson Funk, and the rest of the Hokus Pokus crew, and all of the members of the Wine & Spirits Guild, and Latitude Beverage, for sourcing such great MGP bourbon and selling it at a great price, including a toasted barrel version. This will be my go to bourbon while it is in stock at Hokus, and hopefully when it is gone they will get another batch or two. As a closing note, Hokus Pokus in Alexandria had a bottle in their tasting room a few months ago of Batch 1, and I made an announcement to the room that they really should try this bourbon, explaining how it was sourced. What they had left was promptly sold out. I went to Whiskey Wednesday two days ago and more than a couple of people commented that my recommendation was spot on and that Hokus now had two more batches; thus I bought the bottles I reviewed. All that is to say that the Wine and Spirits Guild picks of Copper & Cask remain highly recommended by me.