Review #766 - Driftless Glen Sauternes Finished Bourbon - r/bourbon Pick

Written By Me, My Wife & Whisky

Driftless Glen, a distillery based in Wisconsin, makes a variety of spirits. Using a column still and a pot still, they produce gin, brandies, vodka, and several types of whisky such as bourbon, rye and malt whisky. Their grains are sourced locally, making this a 'grain to glass' distillery, a growing trend in recent years.

Driftless Glen uses a couple of different mashbills for their bourbon. The first, a ryed bourbon, is comprised of 60% corn, 20% rye, and 20% malted barley; that amount of rye falls in the middle of the range in modern bourbon mashbills, making this borderline 'high rye.' Their other bourbon mashbill uses wheat: 55% corn, 35% wheat, and 10% malted barley, which should make it a relatively sweet distillate.

This single barrel pick for the r/bourbon community was aged for a bit more than 4 years in a traditional new oak barrel before it was finished for a little under a year in a Sauternes wine cask. That wine cask is likely to add some lighter, sweeter flavors - let's see how that interacts with Driftless Glen's grain-forward spirit style.

Driftless Glen Sauternes Finished Bourbon - r/bourbon Pick

USA - Bourbon

Price: USD 65 (2026)

Age Statement: 4 Years

Strength: 53% ABV

Cask Makeup: New American oak, finished in a Sauternes wine cask

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 2 months from a sample. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes

Nose: Grain-forward: dusty grains, corn sweetness, a bit of sage or rosemary possibly hinting at rye. It's lightly floral, too, and we get some orange and a bit of grain funk. Butterscotch and golden apples bring a sweeter side; the oak builds over time, adding leather, licorice root, and pepper. The oak also has a definitive crafty side to it, a bit starchy and funky.

Palate: A medium mouthfeel, and the first flavors are peppery, drying, and tannic. Anise, golden wheat grains, caramel, dusty and spirity; sharp orange peel and orange oil come with some dill, licorice, and tart apple. We get an occasional unusual note of olive oil, and it's a bit dank.

Finish: Starchy grains, sour yellow apples, hints of peppery oak, hay, even a hint of vinegar. Clementine orange and a bit of sweet peach do pop up at times, showing the Sauternes finish, and we get rye-like notes of spearmint and rosemary in the aftertaste. It's a medium-long finish.

Final Note: There's definitely a 'house style' that a lot of Driftless Glen products have, and this one follows that. It's grain-forward, a bit funky, a bit dry and spicy at times. Some of those classic 'crafty' notes do show, especially in the oak flavors, but we enjoyed the licorice and orange aspects of this bourbon's flavor profile. Overall, though, it was just okay to us, not one of our personal favorites.

Value is a bit below average just because of the way we calculate it based on our rating; this wouldn't be our first choice for spending $60 or so, but if you enjoy the grain-forward, more crafty side of the bourbon landscape, you might enjoy this one a bit more.

Our Rating: 5.0 / 10

In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.

Value Rating: 4.97

About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.

Me, My Wife & Whisky
Previous

Review #767 - Driftless Glen 7 Year Single Barrel Bourbon - r/bourbon Pick
Next

Review #765 - Isle of Raasay Na Sia Single Cask - Peated Chinkapin Cask