Double Oak Series | 50% ABV

Fanboys and fangirls, we are.

Loving a particular distillery is no different than following your favourite team. With apologies to my non-American friends – though I imagine it’s the same for followers of English rugby teams, Scottish Premiership teams or Australian Rules Football teams – I am a die-hard Cleveland Guardians fan.

I’ve played baseball since I was a tot and then coached it for many years. When I moved to Ohio in the early 1990s, I wasn’t a fan of the Indians, as the Guardians were known then. I’d not lived in Ohio and the Cleveland Indians had been a long-suffering team. Cleveland’s baseball team was perpetually in a state of ridicule and disarray. From my birth year of 1968 until my move to Ohio in 1991, they’d only four fluke seasons with a winning record and no playoff appearances. And then in the early 1990s, the perfect storm hit.

At the time I moved to Ohio the Indians had brought in new leadership and had begun cleaning house. They started bringing up a crop of young and talented players and took baseball by storm with their infectious style of play and great personalities. Northern Ohio was starved of a winner and the fans’ passion was infectious. As a baseball fan, I was hooked. Since the early 1990s, Cleveland baseball has been a perennial playoff team and has twice come close to winning the World Series. It’s been a great ride seeing their continued commitment to bringing young and talented players into the mix while keeping the standards of good baseball in the forefront.

My almost-blind adherence and adoration for all things Cleveland baseball – the true definition of a fanboy – seems aligned with being a fanboy of a whisky distillery.

As for Scottish distilleries, there’s no mistake I have my favourites; Bunnahabhain and Bruichladdich will always bring a smile to my face. And yet, there is a difference between having an affinity for something and being a fanboy of that same something. I’ve an immense affinity for those two Islay distilleries, yet I’m a fanboy of Old Line Distillery in Baltimore, Maryland.

I’d direct people to my review of Old Line’s cask strength single malt from last year. In a nutshell, finding Old Line was a bit of a fluke. I was visiting a buddy who lives near Baltimore and he asked me what we wanted to do when I came to visit. I had my list of distilleries that are members of the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission (ASMWC), and when I glanced at it, I saw that Old Line Distillery was a member and had its operations in the heart of Baltimore.

The trip to Old Line in 2022 was fantastic. I met Charlie Stein, Old Line’s brand ambassador, as well as briefly meeting Mark McLaughlin, one of the co-founders. As you may pick up from last year’s review, their story is fascinating and I fell in love with the people and the whiskey. The distillery and the liquid are young but you can see the passion and quality as clear as day. 

I bought a few bottles there and have enjoyed them. Over the past year I’ve kept in touch with Charlie and have read about the new steps the distillery was taking. Charlie volunteered to host my whiskey club’s January meeting and all our members enjoyed the four expressions that were sent up. With this in mind, my club’s first 2023 excursion was to Baltimore.

On our Saturday in the city we had two distillery tours and tastings scheduled. First was Sagamore distillery at noon. Sagamore specialises in rye whiskey and are also a large, corporate, and well-oiled machine. Its distillery is in the south of the city right on the water of Winans Cove and its campuslooks like a polished small college. We enjoyed our time at Sagamore immensely and also liked the rye. Following the visit, we made the trek over to Old Line.

I had warned the whisky club members that Old Line was very different from what we’d just experienced at Sagamore. Our Uber driver made his way through some industrial areas and I remembered the neighbourhoods and the route from last year. Good thing I had as I had to direct the driver to the side street where we would find Old Line.

The distillery is housed in a former commercial laundry building in an industrial-zoned section. There are no manicured lawns, no campus and no water view. Old Line is the real deal - it’s purely about whiskey. 

After chatting with staff and sampling some of their whiskey, Charlie treated us to a personalised tour and tasting with co-owner, Mark joining us.

In the span of a year, the difference in the whiskey is noticeable. Aside from the different cask finishes that have been introduced in the past 12 months, we compared last year’s cask strength single malt to this year’s release. I was excited to taste the evolution of the whiskey. Subtle but fuller flavours, richer and deeper textures. Each year the distillers apply lessons learned and it shows.

Old Line is still in its infancy and opened its doors in 2017. Though it’s certainly not an apples-to-apples comparison, this is not completely dissimilar to our Dougie Crystal and his love of Ardnamurchan. He introduced himself to the distillery before its bottles were widespread and has been a fanboy watching the distillery’s growth and development.

I am not saying Old Line is the American version of Ardnamurchan, but it’s wonderful to have joined this distillery early on, watching Old Line begin to blossom. I’m hooked.

The people are tremendous, gracious with their time and knowledge and humble. The backstory is fantastic and being able to experience and chart their lovely liquid’s upward trajectory is great to see. Fanboy, I am.

Review

Old Line American Single Malt, Double Oak Series Moscatel Cask, 6yo, one year finish in ex-moscatel, 50% ABV
$65 paid, distillery only currently. (£51)

The first inescapable aspect of this whiskey is the colour. There’s no added colour here, which makes the deep, reddish hue amazing. Swirling it in my Glencairn leaves long legs down the glass. It’s a lovely presentation.

Nose

RIch, earthy, and sweet. Dark chocolate and plums. Orange zest. Toasted croissants. The virgin, white oak barrel leaves its mark.

With a few drops of water, the earthiness fades a bit. More of a plum and red fruit experience. The orange and croissant remain.

Palate

The nose translates to the palate. The sweet, fortified wine notes from the moscatel cask intertwine with the rich and earthy chocolate and plum layer. Mid-palate a spiciness builds. A hint of edge and youth. This is reminiscent of Old Line’s cask strength single malt and the distillery’s fingerprint is clearly evident here. Oak tannins and the barrel profile permeates the liquid, from its five years in virgin oak with level 4 char. Permeates but does not overwhelm. Marzipan. Mulled wine and cherries.

Adding water takes away that edge and youth, mid-palate. The flavours are much more in harmony. The dark chocolate and red fruits play with each other well. The sweet moscatel is a bit more evident. The barrel influence remains but is tempered. Floral notes come forward. Soft leather and tobacco notes appear.

The Dregs

At the distillery I also tried their other, new Double Oak Series, sampling their Cognac, Madeira and port cask-finished expressions. All were delicious and brought different complexities.

I continue to be impressed by the quality of what’s coming from Old Line and also the openness of Charlie and Mark. Their willingness to hear feedback is refreshing. They openly speak of innovative ideas to try and where they want their whiskey to be in the next 10 years.

We’re currently seeing stagnating premium brands losing their appeal with whisky enthusiasts who are hungrily searching for interesting flavours from all-natural bottlings. Stepping into that space are the newer distilleries who are genuinely interested in the drinkers, transparency, colouring outside the lines, and providing great flavour profiles.

The back of the bottle is packed with information and Mark and Charlie are open about their process and willing to talk about all things from the barley they use to the bottling methods they use. Take some time to taste bottles from years past and from today – you can taste and see the impressive line they’re drawing.

Just as Ardnamurchan is one of the UK’s newer distilleries catering to the whisky enthusiast with natural presentation and transparency alongside Lagg, Raasay, Cotswolds as well as many others. On this side of the Atlantic, Old Line is one of these newer distilleries who sit alongside Santa Fe Spirits, Cedar Ridge, Westland and more, bringing great things for us whisky enthusiasts.

I wanted to score this a 7/10. However, when I take my fanboy hat off, I realise that this is a high 6/10 on our Dramface scoresheet. It’s a solid whiskey that’s priced fairly. Unfortunately, this is only available from the distillery. I have hopes distribution avenues will open soon, but if you can, make your way to Baltimore.

It’s good, interesting whiskey that’s getting better each year. It’s whiskey made by whiskey geeks who relish what they do and who they do it for. I’m a fan, and this fanboy is eager to see what the future brings.

Score: 6/10

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. OS

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