Muddled mixed dark berries | Peach jam | Oak | Heavy fruit wine

Mixed berry jam | Artificial peach | Light vanilla | Dominating fruit wine

Tannic | Tart berry | White peppercorn spice | Dry

Purple Toad Winery & Distillery is located in Paducah, Kentucky, approximately 200 miles west of Bardstown, Kentucky. The company opened their doors in 2009, initially only selling wine from grapes grown on their vineyard. Only recently did they build an on-site still, unveiling their first clear spirits in December 2024. To make their fruit whiskeys, Purple Toad Winery & Distillery blends their homemade fruit wines with sourced Kentucky bourbons.

Fruit wines are an enjoyable porch crusher for many, and in their given category, they make sense. While bourbon is often finished in used wine barrels, it is less rare to see wine directly blended with bourbon. In the case of Purple Toad Blackberry Peach Whiskey, the crushingly sweet nature of the fruit wine blended with the whiskey flips the end result on top of its head.

While the majority of the base must be whiskey due to the percentage of alcohol by volume in the final blended product, you would guess that it’s the exact opposite based on taste alone. The sip is sickeningly sweet, with heavy fruit wine influence throughout the entire sip. In particular, the finish is tannic and dry to a fault, ending things on a sour note. I’m not sure if this is targeted at fruit wine drinkers who’d like a kick in their wine, but bourbon drinkers who like wine finished whiskeys are going to find little to enjoy with this pour.