Mixed nuts | Creme brulee | Caramelized sugar | Red grapes

Dried fruit | Dense oak | Sugared mixed nuts | Roasted pecan | Vanilla cream | Toasted oak | Rich

Baking spices | Toasted oak | Mixed nuts | Cinnamon-sugar toast | Raspberry | Medium-length

High Wire Distilling is located in Charleston, South Carolina. Founded by husband and wife team Scott Blackwell and Ann Marshall, High Wire Distilling makes small batch spirits distilled in a hand-hammered, German copper still. The company’s flagship product is Jimmy Red, made from 100% Jimmy Red corn sourced from Turnbridge Farm in Darlington, South Carolina. A rare heirloom, Jimmy Red corn is a “varietal that the brand has worked tirelessly to bring back from the brink of extinction."

High Wire’s Double Oak Bourbon is a straight bourbon, but was aged in two sets of new barrels. The first is char 3 American oak for approximately 4 years, and then the bourbon was transferred to char 1, medium toast American oak barrels for approximately 14 months. This batch is the distillery’s first distributed release of Double Oak, and totals 10 barrels. Distillery co-founder Scott Blackwell anticipates the next batch will be released in winter 2025, with a larger batch following in 2026.

High Wire’s Jimmy Red Double Oak Bourbon dials up flavor intensity to a high degree. It has a grounded nutty underpinning akin to mixed nuts with a surge of roasted pecan on the palate. Caramelized sugar, red grapes, dried fruit, dense oak, and vanilla cream add depth, with hints of toasted oak, raspberry, and cinnamon-sugar toast in the finish. It’s an earthy, full-flavored affair that explores a unique flavor profile spectrum without straying too far off course.

The bottle in review is from Batch 1.