Shenk’s Homestead Sour Mash Whiskey Review (2023 Release)

With strong ties to a distilling legacy spanning over 250 years, the Michter’s Distillery in Louisville, KY, has been producing a comprehensive range of award-winning American whiskies since the brand was resurrected by Company President Joseph Magliocco in the 1990’s. Now distilling in their own facilities since August of 2015, the Michter’s brand has seen a quick return to global recognition for the quality of both their own and their sourced whiskies under Master Distiller Dan McKee, Master Distiller Emeritus Pam Heilmann – the first woman to serve as a Master Distiller at a Kentucky Distiller’s Association distillery since prohibition, and Master of Maturation Andrea Wilson – the first woman to ever serve as Chair of the Kentucky Distillers Association and inductee to the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame®. Most recently in 2023, Michter’s was the first American distillery to be crowned the “World’s Most Admired Whiskey” in the prestigious annual list of top 50 producers published by Drinks International in 2023, beating many other premium global brands. 

The Michter’s core range of whiskies, which are bottled under their popular US☆1 line, consists of their small batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon, their single-barrel Kentucky Straight Rye, their small batch Unblended American Whiskey, their small batch Original Sour Mash American Whiskey, and several limited edition variations of these. Their age–stated whiskies, which are bottled under their 10-year-old, 20-year-old, and 25-year-old labels consist of straight Kentucky bourbon and rye whiskey which come from sourced stocks and are released on a ‘when-ready’ basis to eager fans.

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Shenk’s Homestead Sour Mash whiskey is a small-batch American whiskey produced by Michter’s Distillery in Louisville, KY. The brand honours the legacy of the original Michter’s Distillery in Schaefferstown, PA, which was owned by Swiss Mennonite farmers John and Michael Shenk and began distilling in 1753. As a satellite brand, Shenk’s allows Michter’s Master of Maturation, Andrea Wilson and Master Distiller, Dan McKee along with their dedicated teams an opportunity to innovate and produce unique flavours beyond their typical brand profile through special wood finishes, interesting mashbills, and more.

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As an annual vintaged release, Shenk’s Homestead is a sour mash blend of whiskies featuring one or more innovations by the Michter’s Team. These innovations can include things such as using special wood finishes, making proprietary changes to the barrels the whiskies are aged or finished in, using special mashbills, etc., and are used to create something unique that wouldn’t necessarily fall within Michter’s ‘House Style’. In 2022, it was announced that Shenk’s would not be using Chinquapin Oak, with the Michter’s website instead detailing, “The unique character of this 2022 offering results from our ageing a portion of the whiskey in special toasted French oak barrels that were made from 24-month air dried wood sourced from the Vosges region of France.” This news caused a larger-than-normal stir of excitement with fans for two reasons. First, Michter’s were returning to a type of oak last used in 2018, and second, the word ‘aged’ had been used in the description as opposed to ‘finished.’ As a brand notorious for being considerate in their approach to their whiskies and the language surrounding them, the use of the word ‘aged’ implied that the whiskey aged in French Oak barrels was either matured for longer than a standard short finish in these barrels, or, came from their own-produced whiskies, which would be the first time Michter’s own whiskey was included in this release. As far as I’m aware, this hasn’t been officially confirmed, but Michter’s have always said the changeover from sourced to own-made would be seamless and without much fanfare so we can only continue to speculate based on what they do confirm.

In 2023, Michter’s continued its tradition of surprising and exciting fans with the news that this year’s offering will not only stand out due to its unique production process, with the inclusion of malted rye in the grain recipe, but that the maturation process will also once again set it apart. Similar to the 2022 release Michter’s utilised two distinct barrel profiles: with a portion of the whiskey aged in 18-month naturally air-dried and seasoned wood with Michter’s signature toast and char profile, whilst another portion was again aged in special toasted French oak barrels made from 24-month air-dried wood sourced from the Vosges region of France – mirroring the language used in 2022. Let’s taste!

Vital Stats:

Name: Shenk’s Homestead (Batch: 23D1487)
Age: Non-Age Stated
Proof: 91.2 Proof (45.6% ABV)
Type: Kentucky Sour Mash Whiskey
Mashbill: Not disclosed –  mixed mashbill of corn, rye and malted barley
Producer: Michter’s Distillery, KY
Website: https://michters.com/shenks-homestead/
Glassware: Glencairn

Review

Nose: The nose opens bright, warm, and reminiscent of a dessert where sweet red apples have been stewed in brown sugar and mixed in with dried stone fruits, candied orange peel, and dusted in earthy baking spices and robust cinnamon, served with rich vanilla custard. As you nose deeper, the fruits, cinnamon, and baking spices all become increasingly robust, whilst a dark herbaceous and floral rye edge emerges alongside warm toasted marshmallow notes.

Palate: The palate opens viscous with soft vanilla and vibrant honey, quickly followed by an explosion of tart, stewed red fruits, floral peppery rye, and herbaceous dark oak. As these wash across the palate, they bring with them rich peppery baking spices and faint tobacco notes, drying the edges of your tongue and cheeks as layers of flavour build up with each subsequent sip. As you keep chewing these layers of spice begin to melt away with the herbaceous oak spice fading first, leaving heavily toasted oak complemented by a tart fruit-forward and peppery rye profile with a hint of salinity in its wake. The tart fruit notes soften next, leaving rich fruit notes of red apples and berries, complex caramels, herbaceous charred oak, dark baking spices, warm toasted oak, and sweet cinnamon notes.

Finish: The finish mirrors the palate, opening warm as lingering floral malted rye fades to milk chocolate, dried fruits, candied orange peel, vanilla custard and rich toasted oak tannins fading into a long and complex aftertaste of floral malt, milk chocolate, herbaceous rye, and lingering toasted oak.

Overall 

If you are a fan of decadent and complex whiskies at a modest proof, this is the whiskey for you.  It’s sweet but broody, dark yet vibrant, and spicy whilst subtle, with dark herbaceous notes and earthy baking spices perfectly balanced against soft rich fruits, warm toasted oak, and floral malted rye spice.  When I heard that Michter’s had used stocks aged in French Oak from the Vosges region in this release I wasn’t too surprised, given the success of their previous release (check my full breakdown here).  I was, however, surprised to see that they included malted rye when distilling the components of this whiskey.  To my knowledge, this is the first time Michter’s have used malted rye in their whiskey and, although it remains true to the pioneering nature of these releases, this was the element which caught my eye. On its own I wasn’t quite sure how this addition was going to change an already delicious whiskey, however, given last year’s release didn’t report to have any malted rye but used the same French Oak I was soon going to find out if I could taste a difference between the two.  

Sipped side by side, the differences quickly became apparent. Whereas the 2022 release hit many of the same notes as the 2023, there was a distinct floral fruitiness woven throughout the 2023 that distinguished it and made it superior to the point that the 2022 tasted like a prelude to the 2023, a complete experience but missing the final cherry on top. With this fruitiness carefully layered into an already enchanting 2022 release, the entire drinking experience is elevated as toasted oak edges are softened and a finely-tuned profile is balanced out even further to create arguably the best Shenk’s Homestead release I’ve tasted in the past 6 releases, as far back as 2018.

Although Shenk’s Homestead and its sister release Bomberger’s Declaration exist on the edge of innovation, they maintain the consistent level of premium quality and depth of flavour that fans of Michter’s whiskies know to expect. This annual vintaged whiskey both pays homage to the brand’s history and allows their exceptionally talented teams an opportunity to continue innovating outside of their core flavour profiles and to date, it certainly hasn’t failed to deliver a delicious whiskey. The return to toasted French Oak from the Vosges region and the addition of malted rye has definitely provided us with something we haven’t tasted in Shenk’s before. Include the fact that there might also be some of Michter’s own distillate in this release and you add another level of excitement to an already delicious whiskey.

Try or Buy?

This is an easy recommendation folks. That being said, its RRP of $110 calls for some caution- so why not try before you buy. If you love it, like I do, you can always come back for more. For anyone stuck on the low proof, I’d highly recommend you also try this because it will surprise you how much flavour they’ve packed into the proof.