Forward/Slash Patience Whiskey

Forward/Slash Patience Whiskey is a 519-bottle malt blend from the Winter Park house a few minutes from Big C Liquors. Michael Buffa and Tim Bradstreet built it from peated American malts — 80% Boulder Spirits (2019), 14.5% Journeyman (2018), and 5.5% Breuckelen (2015) — then finished it 18 months in third-fill Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso sherry casks that had already held Kentucky bourbon. Slow-proofing in those barrels over six months is the point of the name: water went in a pound at a time so sherry fruit would sit on peat instead of burying it. A strong pick for sipping with friends.

Aged stone fruit and sweet caramel lead, with delicate peat smoke running through the sip rather than sitting on top. The sherry casks keep the middle rounded, and the finish stays smooth and lingering instead of ashy.