Jefferson’s Aged Its New Bourbon in Singapore to See How Sweltering Heat and Humidity Affects Flavor

Jonah Flicker
·3 min read
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Jefferson’s Bourbon is known for its unconventional maturation methods (or gimmicks, depending on your point of view), like sending its Ocean series around the world onboard container ships to explore how the high seas and changing weather affects the whiskey. The brand’s latest release, Jefferson’s Tropics Aged in Humidity, is exactly what it sounds like—these barrels were brought to Singapore for a final finish in a sweltering climate.

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The weather in Singapore is a whole lot hotter and more humid than it is in Kentucky, although there are some summer days in the Bluegrass State that might make you question that. Still, a whiskey exposed to extreme temperatures and humidity levels will interact with wood in a more extreme way, and that is exactly what Jefferson’s founder Trey Zoeller was looking for. “After taking barrels to many different locations, it was evident that the hot and humid climates had such a positive impact on the bourbon,” he said in a statement. “Singapore—one of my bucket list travel destinations—was absolutely perfect for this experiment. The result is a remarkable bourbon, one that further reinforces my belief that terroir for whiskey comes from the environment that the bourbon matures in rather than the ground from which the grains are grown.”

That assessment is certainly not one everyone will agree with—for example, Bruichladdich and Waterford Whisky are two distilleries that are focused on the effects of the “ground from which the grains are grown,” as well as the specific grains. But Zoeller is nothing if not effusive and enthusiastic about his whiskey experiments. Don Livermore, the in-house master blender for Pernod Ricard (the company that owns Jefferson’s) explains the tropical maturation like this: “The reason for the increase in wood and flavor compounds was due to the evaporation losses. Ethanol and water will evaporate at a faster pace than wood and flavor compounds. There was a concentrating effect in a barrel over time, thus the Singapore whiskey will be perceived as woodier and more flavorful.”

Tropics kind of started out as an abbreviated Jefferson’s Ocean project—270 barrels of fully “mature” Kentucky bourbon (no specific age is given) were loaded onto a container ship in Savannah, Ga. to sail to Singapore in July of 2019. After a two month journey, they arrived and were kept there for 18 months to soak up the heat and intensify in flavor. The barrels then sailed back to Savannah, which took another two months, and finally Zoeller and his team blended the whiskey and chose the proof (104), resulting in a bourbon with notes of “bing cherry, toffee, sea salt, and a long, textured, full-bodied finish,” according to the official tasting notes.

Jefferson’s Tropics Aged in Humidity is available now at select retailers (SRP $100), although it may be hard to find online at the moment. But you can find the brand’s other whiskeys available to purchase from websites like ReserveBar, including many of the Ocean Aged at Sea expressions, to taste and compare.

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