Low Gap 4 Year Wheat Whiskey is made from 100% malted Bavarian hard wheat and is a combination of four and five year old whiskey and aged in a combination of four different barrels: new charred oak (American), ex-Bourbon (Buffalo Trace), ex-Brandy (French Limousine) and ex-Port (Spanish Oak). This multi-barrel approach lends a unique quality to this wheat whiskey that isn’t found in any of the others I’ve reviewed before.
Leaning so heavily on used barrels and coming from a temperate climate that doesn’t have massive temperature changes through the year means that it doesn’t have a strong oak driven character like the Bernheims. It’s a softer whiskey that plays out more gently across the senses andI don’t know about you, but that seems like a good segue into the Low Gap 4 Year Wheat Whiskey review.
Low Gap 4 Year Wheat Whiskey Info
Region: California, USA
Distiller: Craft Distillers
Mashbill: 100% Malted Bavarian Hard Wheat
Cask: New Charred Oak, ex-Bourbon, ex-Brandy and ex-Port barrels
Age: NAS
ABV: 45.5%
Price: $75
Low Gap 4 Year Wheat Whiskey Review
EYE
Amber
NOSE
Bananas, pie crust, lemon heads, baking spice baking soda, citrus, coffee, cocoa and light bits of tropical fruit leather. This thing is crazy. Not at all what I was expecting.
PALATE
Bananas, tropical fruit, pie crust, coffee, caramel, saw dust, baking spice, cocoa, brittle and a light bit of citrus. I’m at a loss here, it’s nothing like I expected, it’s like nothing I’ve experienced and I like it.
FINISH
Long notes of candied citrus, coffee, cocoa, fruit and spice slowly fade out.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Well balanced, round full body and a warm silken feel.
OVERALL
Low Gap 4 Year Wheat Whiskey is crazy stuff. Aged in four different types of barrels and made from a mash of 100% wheat it’s so weird and interesting that it captured me right away. It’s not overly deep, which I attribute to California weather, like with the Low Gap Bourbon, and the used barrels. Though it’s so nice and silken while drinking that I don’t fully care. I don’t care because it caries a character I couldn’t get anywhere else.
Yes the Low Gap 4 Year Wheat Whiskey is crazy expensive at $75 a bottle and that’s kept me from pulling the trigger on a bottle, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted. I hope Crispin Cain continues to evolve this whisky and finds success because the world needs more craft whiskey that’s worth drinking.
SCORE: 86/100 (B)
*Disclosure: This sample of Low Gap 4 Year Wheat Whiskey was graciously sent to me by the company for the purposes of this review. The views, opinions, and tasting notes are 100% my own.