I like to think of Diageo’s Orphan Barrel “project” as equivalent to Barrell’s batched whiskey blends. There’s always some quirk that makes the release special: for the Orphan Barrel Rhetoric, it was the age; for Muckety-Muck it was a 24-year-old grain whiskey from Port Dundas, a ghost distillery in Diageo’s portfolio that was basically merged into Cameronbridge in 2010.

Orphan Barrel “The Gifted Horse”’s quirk is a supposed accident in which 17-year-old bourbon from the Bernheim Distillery was mixed with 4-year-old bourbon and 4-year-old corn whiskey from MGP. Released in 2016, my favorite line in the flurry of reviews came from Eric at Breaking Bourbon: “ “Accidental whiskey” is becoming a trend within the bourbon industry over the last few years, and it makes you think these massive multi-million dollar companies are run by The Three Stooges.”

I happen to agree with Eric on this. The Wild Turkey Forgiven story is just a bit more believable if only because there was a stated motive - but accidentally mixing 17-year-old whiskey with not one but two different younger whiskies by Diageo is a hard pill to swallow.

Thankfully, I got to try this blind, so I came in with no bias from the story. I initially thought this was a sherry-finished whiskey (though bourbon or malt I couldn’t tell you). There are spices and wine on the palate and semisweet chocolate on the finish, and enough old leather to point towards an older whiskey. Looking back through my notes, I realized my overall nose palate mouthfeel and finish pointed towards a younger, oakier whiskey aged for a while in sherry or red wine casks. Not quite right, but I was picking up that younger whiskey without realizing it.

I liked this better than Eric did. I’m not hunting for a bottle, but it was interesting and I still haven’t figured out where those sherry notes came from. That being said, I had to close with Eric’s finishing move - read it while keeping in mind that this bottle, when you can find it, is close to $500 and only on secondary or auction sites.

How Diageo has the audacity to charge anywhere close to $50 for this is an insult to their customers, and is probably doing more harm than good to their Orphan Barrel brand, which is already a controversial brand to begin with.

Ding-ding-ding!

Orphan Barrel The Gifted Horse: Specs

Classification: American Whiskey

Origin: MGP and Bernheim Distillery

Mashbill: Undisclosed

Proof: 115 (57.5% ABV)

Age: NAS (Blend of 4YO bourbon, 4YO corn whiskey, and 17YO bourbon)

Location: Indiana and Kentucky

Orphan Barrel The Gifted Horse Price: $50, but you’ll never find it at MSRP.

Official Website

Orphan Barrel The Gifted Horse: Tasting Notes

Eye: Maple syrup. Thin disintegrating rims and thin legs.

Nose: Old sherry, a little funky like wet leather. Not sure off the bat what the underlying spirit is (neither grain nor country of origin). The nose is light even with the Oloroso notes. Becomes more bourbon-y and vanilla-forward with air.

Palate: Spicy - deliciously so up front. Sill getting more sherry or red wine than anything else. Pink peppercorns in dark chocolate. Mouthfeel is slightly numbing, not coating or oily, on the thin side of medium.

Finish: Semisweet chocolate with chilies, medium-length.

Overall: Trying this blind, I guessed a 90-95 proofer that was sherry or red wine finished. I was so befuddled I even threw out Japanese whisky finished in mizunara because of the pink peppercorns. Clearly, off by a mile, but the sherry is delicious even though it’s not there.

Final Rating: 6.9

10 | Insurpassable | Nothing Else Comes Close (Blanton’s Straight from the Barrel)

9 | Incredible | Extraordinary (GTS, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof B518 and B520)

8 | Excellent | Exceptional (12+YO MGP Bourbon, Highland Park Single Barrels)

7 | Great | Well above average (Blanton’s Original, Old Weller Antique, Booker’s)

6 | Very Good | Better than average (Four Roses Small Batch Select, Knob Creek 14+ YO Picks)

5 | Good | Good, solid, ordinary (Elijah Craig Small Batch, Buffalo Trace, Old Grand-Dad Bottled-in-Bond)

4 | Sub-par | Many things I’d rather have (A.D. Laws Four Grain, Compass Box “Oak Cross”)

3 | Bad | Flawed (Iron Smoke Bourbon, Balcones)

2 | Poor | Forced myself to drink it (Buckshee Bourbon and Rye)

1 | Disgusting | Drain pour (Virginia Distilling Co. Cider Cask)