Iowa’s Cedar Ridge Distillery announced on Monday that the sleeper whiskey brand is experimenting with Port Casks for two limited edition bourbon and rye releases. Both whiskeys can be purchased online, and a national rollout is set to launch in April.
Cedar Ridge Port Cask Finished Bourbon has an MSRP of $49.99 and clocks in at 94 proof. The bourbon is Cedar Ridge’s flagship bourbon, which is distilled from a mashbill of 74% corn, 14% rye and 12% malted barley. After spending an initial aging period in New American Oak barrels, it is finished in Port Wine casks. The Iowa brand claims it has flavors of dried red fruits, like cherries, interlaced with vanilla and a lingering spicy throughline.
Its sister expression, Cedar Ridge Port Cask Finished Rye, has an MSRP of $59.99 and pays homage to the brand’s wine-making roots. The limited whiskey is Cedar Ridge’s annual Aged Straight Rye, which was distilled from a mashbill of 85% rye, 12% corn and 3% malted barley. This non chill-filtered whiskey was moved by the distillery team to freshly emptied port barrels from the Cedar Ridge estate after an initial maturation process.
The brand shared that Master Distiller Murphy Quint closely observed the Iowa climate’s impact on the aging rye and moved it into the brand’s estate port barrels at the perfect moment.
About Cedar Ridge — a Distillery and Winery Honoring Iowa Terroir
Cedar Ridge is the first licensed distillery in Iowa since Prohibition.
Though it may have been founded in 2005 by Jeff Quint, the Quint family has a long legacy of farming and distilling that goes back several generations. Jeff Quint claimed his reasons for founding Cedar Ridge Distillery stemmed from the fact that he believed Iowa — the number one corn-growing state in America — should earn a spot on the map in the bourbon world.
Cedar Ridge’s portfolio is diverse, with bourbons, barrel-proof expressions, American single malts and bottled-in-bond expressions.
The brand additionally features estate-grown wines and Cedar Ridge shares they are “younger, fresher and meant for immediate consumption.” Cedar Ridge produces wines from hybrid varietals, like Brianna and Edelweiss and the brand additionally does a French style rosé.
For these particular whiskeys, Cedar Ridge’s American Port appears to be a fixture in the finishing process. The dessert-style port is a blend of the brand’s estate-grown grapes and Cedar Ridge’s own grape brandy.
No responses yet