This Dettling Bourbon single barrel embodies one of the enduring lessons we learned during our recent Prime Barrel Southern Sojourn: incredible whiskey is being crafted well beyond Kentucky through innovative techniques, distinctive ingredients, and a relentless focus on flavor. For more than a decade, Seth and Vicki Dettling have been leading the way at Big Escambia Spirits in Atmore, Alabama, crafting bold, richly flavored bourbon like this 55-month-old, 123-proof cask-strength single barrel.
The Dettling approach begins with a unique six-grain mashbill featuring 70% non-GMO, food-grade Alabama corn, 15% Canadian rye, 12% oats for mouthfeel, and a 3% blend of caramel malted rye, chocolate malted rye, and malted wheat. Those specialty malted grains may comprise only a small portion of the recipe, but they add intriguing layers of malt, roasted notes and confectionery character without overwhelming the bourbon.
Seth Dettling’s meticulous, flavor-driven approach extends through cooking, fermentation, distillation and maturation, with close attention to factors including pH, temperature, starch conversion and time. The result is a bourbon that reflects both the unique mashbill and the care behind every step.
Then there is Alabama. Distilled and aged just 50 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico, this bourbon matured in an environment where extreme heat and humidity become part of the DNA of the barrel. The rickhouse reached a staggering 155 degrees Fahrenheit on the day we selected this barrel, indicative of the intense maturation environment that heightens the interaction between bourbon and oak. Even with the use of dehumidifiers, the barrel’s proof climbed from 106.1 at barrel entry to 123 proof at bottling, concentrating the whiskey during its Alabama maturation.
Time spent maturing in this intense environment in a Kelvin Cooperage Standard Toast, Char 3 barrel produced a bourbon with dark, divine layers of caramelized sugar, chocolate malt, toasted vanilla custard, cacao nib, mature oak, and dark roasted coffee that seems to linger forever.
Our last Dettling single barrel was a fast sellout, and this one isn’t likely to last long either. It’s a bold expression of Seth Dettling’s palate-driven, culinary approach to bourbon - an innovative six-grain recipe shaped by the intense Alabama climate and bottled at full cask strength.
