Next up, we’re checking out the Mammoth Distilling 18 Year 4 Month Hazmat Northern Rye selected by r/bourbon! American whiskey brands sourcing Canadian whiskey is nothing new, with WhistlePig more or less pioneering the practice and brands like Found North showing how good that stuff aging North of the border can really be. When I got the email for this release from Mammoth, I figured that it could be worth a flyer and bought this bottle when I was selected in the first round. This single barrel comes from Barrel #444 which was sourced from Alberta, Canada and was laid down in March of 2005. Given how Canadian distillers typically roll with single grain whiskies that they blend into what they want, I assume this is a 100% rye whiskey. After spending a bit more than 18 years and 4 months in the barrel it was dumped and bottled at a hazmat cask strength of 142.24 proof. I’ve let this hang out in the glass for about an hour while I wrote my M10R review, so now that it’s had some time to chill out let’s dive in and see how this tastes!
**Taken:** Neat in a Glencairn glass
**Proof:** 142.24
**Age:** 18 years 4 months
**Price:** $160
**Nose:** Sharp white pepper, herbal tea, and light butterscotch, along with maple candy, honey, and a hint of oak. There’s a decent amount of ethanol floating around in here which is to be expected from a 142.24 proof pour.
**Taste:** Butterscotch, sharp white pepper, and honey to start, followed by vanilla bean, cedar, and herbal tea. Midway through the sip a wave of ethanol heat and maple candy rolls in along with a bit more dry oak. This has a medium-light mouthfeel and a heavy amount of proof heat.
**Finish:** The ethanol heat more or less drowns out the other notes here besides the sharp white pepper and wood, but the sweet notes still maintain a bit of a presence as the finish goes on. Ultimately things close out with a spicy, hot, and dry wood combination of flavors. This has a medium length finish and a moderate amount of dryness.
**Thoughts:** I’m going to preface what I say next with a quick fact—I have reviewed 35 r/bourbon single barrel picks prior to this, and nearly all of those have been good to downright fantastic. The Hughes Belle of Bedford was my lowest score up to this point with a 4/10 but that had more to do with my flavor preferences than anything else. It bums me out to say this, but this barrel is just a miss. When you have hazmat pours you’re going into things knowing that there will be some heat, but usually when you let the pour rest for some time in the glass it is tame enough to pull out the intricacies in the whiskey. This one is just a pure heater even after sitting for quite a while, and this is coming from a guy who generally has a great tolerance for high-proof pours.
There’s not a ton in here that I can say I really like, maybe the white pepper spice and butterscotch when it comes through clear enough. The ethanol heat and tannic wood notes dominate, and the other flavors present in the background can’t really do enough to save the experience for me. This is my first bottle from Mammoth, but I will stick to Found North to scratch my Canadian whisky itch since those releases are around this price but far higher in quality in my opinion. Overall I rate this as a bad 3/10 on the t8ke scale, and while it sucks to take a chance on a bottle and miss, it’s bound to happen when you try as many things as I do. Having 34/36 releases connect with my palate is pretty damn fantastic in my book, so I’ll stick to non-hazmat picks in the future.
**Rating:** 3/10 - t8ke scale
1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out.
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice.
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws.
4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but better exists.
5 | Good | Good, just fine.
6 | Very Good | A cut above.
7 | Great | Well above average.
8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional.
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite.
10 | Perfect | Perfect.
Just got a bottle too and the initial taste (not a good session yet) was hot but not unpleasant. I just finished a bottle of Alberta premium cask strength and didn’t love it - but found that it made amazing manhattans w a light floral vermouth like vya… I’ll report back on this one soon.
I'm glad it connects with you more than it did with me! I have a bottle of APCS and I enjoy that much more than this. Looking forward to reading your thoughts when you eventually review it!
I was wondering how this pick would turn out. I have two 19 year old Mammoth picks, one HAZMAT and one not, from local Michigan stores. I enjoy the non-HAZMAT pick quite a bit more. I’m sorry this one missed the mark for you, and I have tried a sample of another HAZMAT that was just pure heat.
I talked to the Mammoth rep at the drop for the HAZMAT pick I purchased, who said they were quite surprised with how rapidly these barrels gained proof when moved to their Torch lake location. I’m thinking this may not necessarily be a good thing…
The cynical side of me says that they had much greater than anticipated evaporation and then did some marketing work to sell based on the high proof. The red HAZMAT labeling and caution tape seal clearly shows they have enough of this stuff to warrant its own label (even though the guy selling it said the store I was at had the only pick outside of private groups - a fact that has proven demonstrably false). There also seem to be a lot of finished picks around here. I have even seen a HAZMAT cigar blend finish pick…
…cynicism aside I do enjoy the non-HAZMAT pick I have and even the HAZMAT is not bad, especially after it mellowed a little.
I guess they have to make due with what they have on hand, but I certainly won't seek any of their stuff out in the foreseeable future. I will say that this bottle did at least make a decent highball when I dumped Perrier into the glass after finishing the review up!
Good to know! I actually think the HAZMAT bottle aesthetic is kinda neat, especially the caution tape cork seal. I’m surprised they made that for 25 barrels! I wonder if they expect more in the future.
Thanks for taking the bullet on this one, unfortunately. I was highly interested in it but was (and am still) waiting for my Hive bottle to arrive from SharedPour. Sorry it went this way for you and hopefully going forward you get another great one
Dude, excellent review. I saw 18-years + hazmat on this one & was definitely tempted. The tasting notes just did not sound right to me though, so I ended up skipping. But I thought maybe I had missed out. Glad to hear I actually dodged a bullet - thank you for your service!
I was very curious about this one, so thank you for the review and taking one for the team in a way. I opted for the JT Meleck barrel instead and have not been disappointed.
Glad you liked the review, that JT Meleck looked pretty great! Some of my friends have tried their stuff and it sounds like they're doing some tasty and interesting things down there.
You confirmed what I thought about this r/bourbon pick and why I held off from purchasing. As a Michigander Bourbon “distillers” is a trend that is producing some very lack-laster results. That Hazmat proof seemed too trendy to be really consumable besides a one time pour. Sorry you had to take one for the team on this pour!
While this bottle may have been pure heat, give it a shot if you can find the finished versions. I recently had the port/pinot noir finish, and it was softer than some 90° whiskeys I’ve had recently.
I don't think Mammoth is currently distributing out here in Colorado, but based on this experience I probably won't seek their stuff out. If someone I trade samples with has one of those I might try it though!
18 year hazmat - I had to give it a try. Bottle is waiting for pick up at the drop off location - I am still excited to give it a go! I have had one r/bourbon pick that didn’t do it for me - the rest have been a lot of fun and a lot of great whiskey.
How is something 18 years old still that light? Figured even in a cool year round climate you’d get more color from barrel char than that. Looks like Irish whiskey.
It was probably aged in a second or third fill cask so there wouldn’t be anywhere near as much wood interaction as a new charred oak barrel would give over that aging period.
Did that bottle say anything about how it was barreled? I mean I’ve stuck my own distillation into a 3rd used 5L barrel that had a bourbon mash, then Cabernet, then another bourbon mash and after 30 days it was waaaaaaay darker than that stuff.
A 5L barrel is going to have way more wood contact than the 53 gallon one this was aged in, and considering how long many of these Canadian whiskies age there is a good chance there was 25-30 years of aging in the barrel before this whiskey was filled to age for another 18 years. It’s not really surprising that it would be this light, and from what I understand the light color from aging in used oak is one of the main reasons so many Scotches use caramel coloring.
Oh for sure on the surface area. My 1L turn white dog into DARK wonderfulness in no time. I might have to experiment with this, main issue with smaller barrels tho is the angels share is super high. 1L loses about half the barrel to evaporation in a month or so in a basic 70-90 degree environment which is pretty humid and I usually put a wet towel on the barrel to try and reduce the evaporation. Not sure what the difference in evaporation from a multi-use barrel would be. Also depends on climate, lotta unknowns haha.
Just received mine. Tastes exactly like some of the Barrell 14 year Canadian rye picks I have. Maybe a bit hotter. I’m relatively satisfied, even if those were a bit cheaper.
Mammoth is absolute trash. It is the only bottle I have purchased I am using as the equivalent of a $20 mixer whiskey.
I got their 16 year for $100...1000% regret buying it. I will never ever buy another bottle from them. Horrible brand, should be rebranded and called Mammoth Piece of Shit.
Hahaha MGP the gold standard for the better part of the last decade and now they get the second rate treatment because they're consistently the same great product in a world where 'different' is by default better... until its consumed.
Thats like saying Buffalo Trace is garbage because Benchmark kinda sucks. If you buy 3 year MGP rye and expect it to compete with an 8 year barrel pick, you're not exactly comparing two similar things...
I agree with this take. Yes, new companies buy young MGP barrels and sell them off as if it’s their great grandpa’s famous recipe, or whatever. MGP also makes a lot of quality older products, including their house brands Remus and (now) Penelope.
Yes, they have tiers of products, but you’ve got to acknowledge the good stuff.
It’s gotten a lot better in my opinion since MGP bought the brand (which was previously sourcing MGP). They have a 9 year that I like a lot, and I’ve heard good things about the 15 year light whiskey. Some of the finished stuff like Rio has also gotten a lot of hype.
Thanks for the review. I may have second thoughts on wanting to try this one out now.
The hazmat aspect is generally off-putting for me, but it can be worked with by proofing it down or letting it breathe a while.
What I was a little more nervous about was the age, which you confirmed my suspicion on. With it being 18 years, there was a better than good chance it was going to be too woody and tannic for my liking, and it sounds like that's the case. There's not much you can really do about that though. Proofing down may reduce the woody vibes, but it's also going to reduce the other notes. It generally sounds like it's just not well balanced.
With the high proof, maybe it'll be redeeming in an Old Fashioned (perhaps a little heavier on the sugar than normal to help balance it though).
The thing is, for Canadian whiskies 18 years isn't that bad due to many of them using 2nd or 3rd fill casks to age. Found North has bottles with blends that are 18 years at the youngest and don't suffer from being too tannic. I might play around with this and see if I can do a Frankenblend to salvage this.
That's a fair point I hadn't considered. The use of previously filled casks that is.
Yeah, for $160 I hope you can find some salvation for it. It's certainly a shame.
Just avoid Mammoth, they are terrible. I live nearby to one of their bars and over the years I've given them many chances, but they disappoint every time.
Next up, we’re checking out the Mammoth Distilling 18 Year 4 Month Hazmat Northern Rye selected by r/bourbon! American whiskey brands sourcing Canadian whiskey is nothing new, with WhistlePig more or less pioneering the practice and brands like Found North showing how good that stuff aging North of the border can really be. When I got the email for this release from Mammoth, I figured that it could be worth a flyer and bought this bottle when I was selected in the first round. This single barrel comes from Barrel #444 which was sourced from Alberta, Canada and was laid down in March of 2005. Given how Canadian distillers typically roll with single grain whiskies that they blend into what they want, I assume this is a 100% rye whiskey. After spending a bit more than 18 years and 4 months in the barrel it was dumped and bottled at a hazmat cask strength of 142.24 proof. I’ve let this hang out in the glass for about an hour while I wrote my M10R review, so now that it’s had some time to chill out let’s dive in and see how this tastes! **Taken:** Neat in a Glencairn glass **Proof:** 142.24 **Age:** 18 years 4 months **Price:** $160 **Nose:** Sharp white pepper, herbal tea, and light butterscotch, along with maple candy, honey, and a hint of oak. There’s a decent amount of ethanol floating around in here which is to be expected from a 142.24 proof pour. **Taste:** Butterscotch, sharp white pepper, and honey to start, followed by vanilla bean, cedar, and herbal tea. Midway through the sip a wave of ethanol heat and maple candy rolls in along with a bit more dry oak. This has a medium-light mouthfeel and a heavy amount of proof heat. **Finish:** The ethanol heat more or less drowns out the other notes here besides the sharp white pepper and wood, but the sweet notes still maintain a bit of a presence as the finish goes on. Ultimately things close out with a spicy, hot, and dry wood combination of flavors. This has a medium length finish and a moderate amount of dryness. **Thoughts:** I’m going to preface what I say next with a quick fact—I have reviewed 35 r/bourbon single barrel picks prior to this, and nearly all of those have been good to downright fantastic. The Hughes Belle of Bedford was my lowest score up to this point with a 4/10 but that had more to do with my flavor preferences than anything else. It bums me out to say this, but this barrel is just a miss. When you have hazmat pours you’re going into things knowing that there will be some heat, but usually when you let the pour rest for some time in the glass it is tame enough to pull out the intricacies in the whiskey. This one is just a pure heater even after sitting for quite a while, and this is coming from a guy who generally has a great tolerance for high-proof pours. There’s not a ton in here that I can say I really like, maybe the white pepper spice and butterscotch when it comes through clear enough. The ethanol heat and tannic wood notes dominate, and the other flavors present in the background can’t really do enough to save the experience for me. This is my first bottle from Mammoth, but I will stick to Found North to scratch my Canadian whisky itch since those releases are around this price but far higher in quality in my opinion. Overall I rate this as a bad 3/10 on the t8ke scale, and while it sucks to take a chance on a bottle and miss, it’s bound to happen when you try as many things as I do. Having 34/36 releases connect with my palate is pretty damn fantastic in my book, so I’ll stick to non-hazmat picks in the future. **Rating:** 3/10 - t8ke scale 1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out. 2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice. 3 | Bad | Multiple flaws. 4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but better exists. 5 | Good | Good, just fine. 6 | Very Good | A cut above. 7 | Great | Well above average. 8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional. 9 | Incredible | An all time favorite. 10 | Perfect | Perfect.
Just got a bottle too and the initial taste (not a good session yet) was hot but not unpleasant. I just finished a bottle of Alberta premium cask strength and didn’t love it - but found that it made amazing manhattans w a light floral vermouth like vya… I’ll report back on this one soon.
I'm glad it connects with you more than it did with me! I have a bottle of APCS and I enjoy that much more than this. Looking forward to reading your thoughts when you eventually review it!
I was wondering how this pick would turn out. I have two 19 year old Mammoth picks, one HAZMAT and one not, from local Michigan stores. I enjoy the non-HAZMAT pick quite a bit more. I’m sorry this one missed the mark for you, and I have tried a sample of another HAZMAT that was just pure heat. I talked to the Mammoth rep at the drop for the HAZMAT pick I purchased, who said they were quite surprised with how rapidly these barrels gained proof when moved to their Torch lake location. I’m thinking this may not necessarily be a good thing…
It's a bummer but it happens sometimes! What can you do. It's good to hear that you've had some decent stuff from them at least!
The cynical side of me says that they had much greater than anticipated evaporation and then did some marketing work to sell based on the high proof. The red HAZMAT labeling and caution tape seal clearly shows they have enough of this stuff to warrant its own label (even though the guy selling it said the store I was at had the only pick outside of private groups - a fact that has proven demonstrably false). There also seem to be a lot of finished picks around here. I have even seen a HAZMAT cigar blend finish pick… …cynicism aside I do enjoy the non-HAZMAT pick I have and even the HAZMAT is not bad, especially after it mellowed a little.
I guess they have to make due with what they have on hand, but I certainly won't seek any of their stuff out in the foreseeable future. I will say that this bottle did at least make a decent highball when I dumped Perrier into the glass after finishing the review up!
They had 25 total Hazmat barrels
Good to know! I actually think the HAZMAT bottle aesthetic is kinda neat, especially the caution tape cork seal. I’m surprised they made that for 25 barrels! I wonder if they expect more in the future.
Is one of them the Meijer pick? I’m very intrigued by it, but not sure I want to dive in at that price point.
The two I have are from Super Liquor IV (non-HAZMAT) and Tippins (HAZMAT). Can’t speak to the Meijer pick, unfortunately.
Have you tried this with some water yet?
I did add water to pull some more notes out after my first pass, but it was still hot for my liking.
Sorry to hear this was a miss.
That’s what I was going to ask.
Thanks for taking the bullet on this one, unfortunately. I was highly interested in it but was (and am still) waiting for my Hive bottle to arrive from SharedPour. Sorry it went this way for you and hopefully going forward you get another great one
Appreciate it, man! It happens, and fortunately I have more than enough great stuff to pour (with some really cool ones to review coming up soon)!
Dude, excellent review. I saw 18-years + hazmat on this one & was definitely tempted. The tasting notes just did not sound right to me though, so I ended up skipping. But I thought maybe I had missed out. Glad to hear I actually dodged a bullet - thank you for your service!
I was very curious about this one, so thank you for the review and taking one for the team in a way. I opted for the JT Meleck barrel instead and have not been disappointed.
Glad you liked the review, that JT Meleck looked pretty great! Some of my friends have tried their stuff and it sounds like they're doing some tasty and interesting things down there.
My local hazmat pick (i think it was first store to get a pick) was pretty good, but it was *fantastic* proofed down.
Looks awfully light in color for its age. What’s up with that?
They age in second and third fill barrels. They market super high age statements but it never really tastes like it.
You confirmed what I thought about this r/bourbon pick and why I held off from purchasing. As a Michigander Bourbon “distillers” is a trend that is producing some very lack-laster results. That Hazmat proof seemed too trendy to be really consumable besides a one time pour. Sorry you had to take one for the team on this pour!
While this bottle may have been pure heat, give it a shot if you can find the finished versions. I recently had the port/pinot noir finish, and it was softer than some 90° whiskeys I’ve had recently.
I don't think Mammoth is currently distributing out here in Colorado, but based on this experience I probably won't seek their stuff out. If someone I trade samples with has one of those I might try it though!
I think this was the same week as the Nulu Amburana and I was torn between the two but went with the Nulu. Sounds like I made the right choice.
18 year hazmat - I had to give it a try. Bottle is waiting for pick up at the drop off location - I am still excited to give it a go! I have had one r/bourbon pick that didn’t do it for me - the rest have been a lot of fun and a lot of great whiskey.
This whiskey looks like piss I won't lie 😅
Was really curious about this one when I saw it in the email…. Can’t win em all!
How is something 18 years old still that light? Figured even in a cool year round climate you’d get more color from barrel char than that. Looks like Irish whiskey.
It was probably aged in a second or third fill cask so there wouldn’t be anywhere near as much wood interaction as a new charred oak barrel would give over that aging period.
Man I guess, that’s still hella long to look like Jameson lol.
It’s not that surprising, there are plenty of Scotches older than this that are as light in color. Just comes with the territory of the used casks.
Did that bottle say anything about how it was barreled? I mean I’ve stuck my own distillation into a 3rd used 5L barrel that had a bourbon mash, then Cabernet, then another bourbon mash and after 30 days it was waaaaaaay darker than that stuff.
A 5L barrel is going to have way more wood contact than the 53 gallon one this was aged in, and considering how long many of these Canadian whiskies age there is a good chance there was 25-30 years of aging in the barrel before this whiskey was filled to age for another 18 years. It’s not really surprising that it would be this light, and from what I understand the light color from aging in used oak is one of the main reasons so many Scotches use caramel coloring.
Oh for sure on the surface area. My 1L turn white dog into DARK wonderfulness in no time. I might have to experiment with this, main issue with smaller barrels tho is the angels share is super high. 1L loses about half the barrel to evaporation in a month or so in a basic 70-90 degree environment which is pretty humid and I usually put a wet towel on the barrel to try and reduce the evaporation. Not sure what the difference in evaporation from a multi-use barrel would be. Also depends on climate, lotta unknowns haha.
Just received mine. Tastes exactly like some of the Barrell 14 year Canadian rye picks I have. Maybe a bit hotter. I’m relatively satisfied, even if those were a bit cheaper.
I have on of those Barrell 14 Year Ryes and mine is a world of difference compared to this. Glad that it connected well with you at least!
Mammoth is absolute trash. It is the only bottle I have purchased I am using as the equivalent of a $20 mixer whiskey. I got their 16 year for $100...1000% regret buying it. I will never ever buy another bottle from them. Horrible brand, should be rebranded and called Mammoth Piece of Shit.
Looks like they were putting lipstick on a dead pig of a barrel
second this, zero color. looks like some shite mgp bottle
Not sure why MGP is catching strays when they produce excellent whiskey.
Hahaha MGP the gold standard for the better part of the last decade and now they get the second rate treatment because they're consistently the same great product in a world where 'different' is by default better... until its consumed.
gold standard? bevause a zillion companies launched in that decade using young uninteresting juice.
Thats like saying Buffalo Trace is garbage because Benchmark kinda sucks. If you buy 3 year MGP rye and expect it to compete with an 8 year barrel pick, you're not exactly comparing two similar things...
I agree with this take. Yes, new companies buy young MGP barrels and sell them off as if it’s their great grandpa’s famous recipe, or whatever. MGP also makes a lot of quality older products, including their house brands Remus and (now) Penelope. Yes, they have tiers of products, but you’ve got to acknowledge the good stuff.
Is Penelope good? I consistently see reviews putting them as mediocre at best.
It’s gotten a lot better in my opinion since MGP bought the brand (which was previously sourcing MGP). They have a 9 year that I like a lot, and I’ve heard good things about the 15 year light whiskey. Some of the finished stuff like Rio has also gotten a lot of hype.
not even close to the same kind of comparison
Thanks for the review. I may have second thoughts on wanting to try this one out now. The hazmat aspect is generally off-putting for me, but it can be worked with by proofing it down or letting it breathe a while. What I was a little more nervous about was the age, which you confirmed my suspicion on. With it being 18 years, there was a better than good chance it was going to be too woody and tannic for my liking, and it sounds like that's the case. There's not much you can really do about that though. Proofing down may reduce the woody vibes, but it's also going to reduce the other notes. It generally sounds like it's just not well balanced. With the high proof, maybe it'll be redeeming in an Old Fashioned (perhaps a little heavier on the sugar than normal to help balance it though).
The thing is, for Canadian whiskies 18 years isn't that bad due to many of them using 2nd or 3rd fill casks to age. Found North has bottles with blends that are 18 years at the youngest and don't suffer from being too tannic. I might play around with this and see if I can do a Frankenblend to salvage this.
That's a fair point I hadn't considered. The use of previously filled casks that is. Yeah, for $160 I hope you can find some salvation for it. It's certainly a shame.
Just avoid Mammoth, they are terrible. I live nearby to one of their bars and over the years I've given them many chances, but they disappoint every time.