This bottle is beautiful. I love just looking at it. The bottle itself is just enough outside normal, but still classic enough, that it evokes all the traditional good bottle feelings, but also just enough differentiated shape that it feels a little special. What really draws me in though is the labels. The color palate is warm, elegant, sophisticated and brings to mind barrel wood and copper stills. The font is classy and the information presented is clear, detailed and wonderfully geeky.
The label lets you know that the grain for the mash is smoked with applewood and cherrywood for a gentlemanly 12-18ppm phenol level. That the grain used is 100% Virginia grown 2 row and 6 row barley and is floor malted in house by Copper Fox. It’s aged in used bourbon barrels with oak and applewood chips added in and then finished in a second used bourbon barrel. Finally, it’s also non chill filtered. All words that I like to hear and the more information the better. I wouldn’t mind an age statement, but I understand not having one.
That said, as I’ve unfortunately found out, bottle design and information on the bottle does not always equal good whiskey. It does sometimes make me just look at a bottle and appreciate it as a work of art. But even that doesn’t make the spirit taste better.
So, once you get past the niceties, how does Copper Fox Single Malt taste?
The nose starts you out with sweet campfire smoke, apples, roasting herbs, grains with honey toasting over a fire and a nice woodiness. As long as you’re in the mood for smoke, you’ll enjoy this nose.
The palate is two, maybe two and a half stages. The front is delicate honeyed fruit with mild sweetness, and subtle, complimentary smoke. It’s really nice. The mid-palate is short and features mainly toast and single malt spice and bite. The last stage features the various wood elements, bringing a bit of char, tobacco and leather, but also shows some youth as the palate comes apart late into the finish. That finish goes a bit ashy and loses the pleasant flavors replacing them fruit that got a bit too much char over the campfire.
Turning back to the positive, the mouthfeel warrants special mention. It’s oily, thick and rich. The 96 proof is a nice change from so many single malts that are only 80-86 proof.
If I’m comparing this to peated whisky, I think it fairs well. more age would make it better and probably put it in the top of that category for me. It’s moderate in its smoke and has some really enjoyable flavors. Against the better Scotch peated whiskies, it doesn’t quite hold up. Also, if you’re an Ardbeg person (full disclosure, I prefer Laphroaig and Caol Ila to Ardbeg), it’s going to be too little smoke. But if you like Highland Park 12 a lot (I do), you’ll enjoy this. More aging would make it head to head competitive with such whiskies, but right now its not that. That said, it’s cheaper, it’s local (for me at least), doesn’t need to be shipped over an ocean, and it’s plenty tasty when I’m not doing that direct comparison with a higher level Scotch.
Virginia is a good place for whisky, and I think it’s a good place for single malt. Between Copper Fox and Virginia Distilling Company, there’s seriously good single malt production going on here. Kinda makes you want to go try your hand at it…nah, I’ll leave production to others and just keep honing my side of the craft, consumption.
Final rating: 80 of 100
Cost per 50 ml: $2.80
Whiskey Repartee 