Honeysuckle | Lavender | Sweet corn | Caramel | Toasted oak

Orange | Grapefruit | Lemon | Sweet corn | Cookie dough | Toasted oak

Sage | Burnt caramel | Orange marmalade | Cinnamon crumble | Rye spice

Finger Lakes Distilling is located on the southeast side of Seneca Lake in New York’s Finger Lakes wine region. The brainchild of Brian McKenzie, the company was one of the earliest craft whiskey distilleries in New York, having started operations in 2007. Finger Lakes Distilling uses locally sourced grains for their products, and produces a variety of different whiskeys and liqueurs, with the McKenzie whiskey brand being what they’re best known for.

Finger Lakes Distilling Mac’s American Whiskey falls into the often-neglected and largely overlooked blended whiskey category. The classification is defined as “A mixture containing at least 20% straight whiskey blended with other whiskeys or neutral spirits.” The last part can definitely scare a lot of folks off, thinking it's simply a kitchen sink mashup of subpar spirits. Though that may be true in some cases, Finger Lakes Distilling uses it as a creative and fun outlet, blending many types of whiskeys together, and as an affordable entry point in their brand portfolio. Finger Lakes Distilling Mac’s American Whiskey is also labeled with the rare “Class A Blended Whiskey,” which guarantees neutral spirits are not included in its blend.

At 90 proof, the flavors are noticeably light, yet given the minimum age requirement, the whiskey features a decent shade of gold amber to it. The aroma starts off the sip with herbal and sweet scents, thanks to honeysuckle, lavender, sweet corn, and caramel. The palate is citrus-forward with orange, grapefruit, and lemon leading its flavor profile. The finish adds sage upfront, before burnt caramel, orange marmalade, and cinnamon crumble join, finally ending with a ramp up of rye spice. It’s light, but the flavors are enjoyable if you can grab hold of them.

The generalness of the term “blended whiskey” can throw off a lot of people. People like to see “bourbon” or “rye” plainly, as they understand what they are getting. “Blended whiskey” is more nebulous, but can often result in wildly varied flavors. That is the case with Mac’s American Whiskey. Given its citrus and sweet flavors, it stands out on those qualities, and will probably work best as a summer sipper.  It’s proof and age work against it, but it's likely an economical decision to keep the price as low as possible and accessible to a wide range of customers.