Never Say Die
“Goonies never say die”
We all love a great back story to old and new whiskies we discover. The tale surrounding Never Say Die bourbon links Kentucky to the UK like no other with the tagline of ‘Kentucky Provenance, English Character’. This is the first bourbon to be distilled in Kentucky, shipped via an Atlantic ocean vessel and then matured in England. In terms of timelines, it’s barrelled upwards of 4 years in the US, the journey across the pond takes around 6 weeks and the length of time it continues to be maturing at the White Peak Distillery in Derbyshire is not revealed.
The name itself is taken from a Kentucky born horse who won the Epsom Derby at odds of 33-1 in 1954. It was the first American born horse to win this race in over 70 years. Legend has it that a shot of whiskey was poured down the horse's throat after struggling to breathe at birth and it made a dramatic recovery. Another English link is via a woman in Liverpool who heard this tale and took inspiration and bet everything she had on the horse. With her new fortune she founded the music venue the Casbah Coffee Club in Liverpool. The first band to play there was The Quarrymen who later changed their name to The Beatles. Her name was Mona Best, her son’s name was Pete Best, The Beatles first drummer!
Wow, after that really long story, we need a drink! Talking of ‘wow’ the Never Say Die bottle is absolutely awesome. It is a heavy based powerhouse stocky bottle and is used across their current portfolio of 3 different whiskies. There is their flagship high rye bourbon whiskey, a Kentucky rye whiskey and a barrel strength whiskey which we are reviewing below. Never Say Die are now on their 7th iteration of the barrel strength straight whiskey with variations on age and ABV throughout. Our bottle is Barrel No. 4, no age statement so over 4 years of age and comes in at a whopping 61.1% ABV.
A pleasant and typical bourbon nose which gives little clue to its strength. Light oak char, caramel, baking spices, pear and green apples. Definitely opens up over time sitting in a copita glass. Despite its relatively young age, the oak is there alongside black pepper and allspice. A long and earthy smooth finish with plenty of heat which loiters around on the tongue and certainly makes you sit up and take notice. Love to try the other 2 members of the stable. It sits around the £80 mark in the UK, a price where you may want to try a sample before pulling the trigger (an accidental pun, honest).
