REVIEW: Five Springs Honey Sage Infused Bourbon – I Want More!
Luke Cuenco 07.23.24
Bourbon is a drink that is almost intrinsic to the culture of the United States. Being a uniquely American spirit, Bourbon dates back to the late 18th century in its namesake county in Kentucky. Bourbon’s creation is somewhat accidental as the unique soil, climate and Kentucky’s special limestone-filtered water gave distillers all the ingredients for what would become one of the country’s most favored spirits. Five Springs Bourbon carries on this tradition and flavor with a new spin. The distilleries Kentucky-born founder moved to New York to form Five Springs and its Infused Bourbon line. These unique bourbons are still aged in premium oak barrels, and infused with botanicals, natural fruits, and other flavors to give bourbon a unique spin. I’ve been lucky enough to receive samples of their first three offerings, and today we’ll be reviewing what has to be my favorite of the bunch – Five Springs Honey Sage Infused Bourbon.
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REVIEW: Five Springs Honey Sage Infused Bourbon – I Want More!
Each infused bourbon comes standard in a very nice, sturdy, and heavy 750 ML bottle listed as 70-proof. This is a bit below the typical 80-120 proof that standard Kentucky bourbon comes in at. This means you can expect a much lighter-tasting experience, especially when combined with the infused flavorings that Five Springs is all about. Although it’s now generally accepted that screw tops are just as good as corks – Five Springs chose to go with a traditional cork sealing method and as a result, you get that satisfying pop when you first open a bottle of Five Springs-infused bourbon.
Nose – Five Springs Honey Sage Infused Bourbon
It should come as no surprise that Five Springs Honey Sage-infused bourbon has a strong sage and honey nose to it. Honey Sage presents the nice oaky aroma of bourbon as its strongest scent, with a close second being the sage which provides a nice bittersweet peppery scent to the overall profile. To round things out, you can also get brief hints of the infused honey in the spirit.
Palate – What you’re tasting
I shared the entire bottle of the Five Springs Honey Sage-infused bourbon with my girlfriend and we both agreed the strongest flavor coming from it was the one that was least prominent in the nose – the honey. For many drinking bourbon can be quite the task as it’s typically a stronger tasting drink – the Honey Sage infused bourbon is the exact opposite of that and has a pleasant peppery and sweet taste that goes down smooth with or without ice.
If you were looking for a strict bourbon experience, this isn’t it. The Honey Sage flavor is dominant despite smelling mostly of bourbon. In my estimation, this makes the Honey Sage-infused bourbon an easy drinker and one that is probably best reserved for an after-dinner drink. The peppery sage flavors round everything out without making the bourbon overly sweet, and also do a bit to bring back in that familiar bourbon flavor as it runs over your tongue.
Cocktail Suggestions
Five Springs has a couple of interesting and alluring cocktail recipes that they recommend for the Honey Sage infused bourbon including a Kentucky Mule, Hot Toddy, and a Paper Plane. The Kentucky Mule in particular sounds like it would be an absolute crowd-pleaser at any outdoor get-together.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have the ingredients on hand to mix any of these cocktails but I did wind up tossing a couple of shots of the Honey Sage bourbon into a glass of iced tea and garnished it with lemon for a pretty refreshing honey sage iced tea. My only regret is that I didn’t think of this sooner because that’s a mix I could drink all afternoon!
Final Thoughts
This is my first experience with Five Springs and their line of new Infused bourbons. I do have to admit that I am a pretty boring bourbon drinker in that I enjoy strong, neat, and plain bourbon. I was expecting to completely dislike the honey sage bourbon but instead, I found that it’s a good change of pace from my typical go-to’s of Woodford Reserve and Wild Turkey.
If you’re looking to change up your evening drink, or are looking for a bourbon to spice up some of your evening cocktails to impress your friends and family, I can strongly recommend the Honey Sage Infused Bourbon from Five Springs. I enjoyed my first experience so much I’m looking forward to sampling and trying the other two infused Bourbon offerings from Five Springs. I also hope that this inspires other distillers to try more interesting things with one of my favorite drinks. Keep tabs here at OutdoorHub.com for reviews of both the Vanilla Maple and Blood Orange infused Bourbons from Five Springs.
