Art of Alchemy Blend of Straight Whiskies Blend No. 2

Art of Alchemy Blend of Straight Whiskies Blend No. 2 is a small-batch blend from Art of Alchemy, an independent bottler whose founders include Blackberry Farm Brewery partner Roy Milner. Big C Liquors carries it alongside other shops; the whiskey was blended by Art of Alchemy and is sold in Florida and a run of other states. At 110 proof it is 65% rye and 35% bourbon: 23 barrels of Kentucky rye aged 4 years (80% rye, 12% corn, 8% malted barley), 9 barrels of Georgia bourbon aged 9 years, and 4 barrels of Tennessee bourbon aged 10 years. That 4-year figure is only the youngest whiskey in the vat. Seelbach’s and Bourbon Lens attribute the Kentucky rye to Jim Rutledge, the former Four Roses master distiller. A share of the proceeds goes to the Appalachian Impact Fund.

Bourbon Lens found lavender, smoke, roasted nuts, wood, and savory herbs, then spice up front, a lingering sweetness, toasted coconut, and almond, with sweet heat drying toward dark chocolate. Mark Pringle, at People’s Bourbon Review, got brown sugar and mint on the nose, a bold sweet-and-spicy palate he likened to a peppermint patty with salted caramel, more oak than Blend No. 1, and heat that builds through the finish.