Peruvian
Black Whiskey
Yes, you read the title correctly.
My father in law contacted me with a question about whisky.
He send me a photo of a bottle with the question: "Had to ask you about this for someone. Is it any good?" The photo showed a blurry label from something I did not encountered before. So I called him. Long story short: He bought a bottle of Don Michael Black Whiskey on one of his trips for work for me. Very kind, thank you!
This Black Whiskey gets its name from the fact it is made with black corn from the Andes by the Don Michael distillery. This whiskey was created with a bourbon style whiskey in mind, so its mash bill is 60% Andean black corn, 30% malted wheat and 10% malted barley. Aged on white oak barrel from the USA, this whiskey actually won several prices on different occasions and in 2022 the Forbes magazine New York World Spirits Competition named this whiskey the best whiskey in the world. That is quite a big result for a distillery that only worked 6 years on whiskey before this concours! An extra funfact: The distillers got the Peruvian Goverment as far to create an Andean Whiskey category. Andean Whiskey must be made in Peru and must contain at least 51% Andean corn. (The rest of the rules follow the US Bourbon standards.)
Did this whiskey win the 2022 price for " El mejor whiskey del mundo" justly?
Let's try it! This whiskey has a very dark color and since it is created following the rules for making bourbon, not coloration has been added. What a very nice dark color it is. A quick twirl in the glass leaves almost no line or legs. Bottled at 45% Vol. alcohol (90 proof for my American readers), this whisky is in my opinion pretty mild.
On the nose I got some very distinct corn. But also candy corn, molasses and sweet and sour gummies. Some dried grasses and hay, summer flowers and vanilla. And oak and almonds as small, bitter notes.
The taste was surprisingly soft (compared to another corn whiskey I tried) and full of sweet fruits, sticky toffee and ending in something I called a sweet coffee liqueur. Unfortunately, after discovering that last one, I kep getting just the sweet coffee liqueur and lost lots of fruits. A second round made me even go towards aloe and cactus fruit.
The finish is medium long, with a lingering sweetness of corn syrup, coffee and oak.
I wanted to try something, So i used it in my recipe for Grilled Watermelon instead of the Glenlivet 18 and found it added more taste to that recipe.
Thank you Tammo, for thinking of my hobby when travelling abroad! You found me something special to add to my selection!
