The Story

We’ve been geeked about CraftCo.’s brands being from our home state of Michigan, so when Fox & Oden Whiskey popped up it was kind of a big deal for us. A cool new whiskey brand in our backyard? Hell yes.

So it stands to reason that the first thing we did when they released their Batch 1 Straight Bourbon Whiskey was to go out hunting for it. Because it was distributed easily within our state it didn’t take long to locate, and we happily grabbed it. We popped it open without delay and did a video and write up review for it. And it hit every note we wanted from it. It was exactly what we had hoped for.

Then one day while perusing the social medias, we came across someone selling their newest incarnation: a Double Oaked expression. One of our favorite ‘finishes’ (so to speak) is a double oak finish. If you aren’t aware of the term, it just means that the aged whiskey is then put into another new, charred oak barrel and aged even further. The benefit of this is that you enhance the notes that you would get from the barrel aging process – which can translate into smoky notes, tobacco, leather and much more. It’s a fantastic style of whiskey and we have always been partial to it.

We didn’t just want to get this bottle; we needed it. So first chance we got, we snagged one from one of our local retailers in anticipation of a review, which is what brings us to today. Fox & Oden’s Double Oaked Straight Bourbon Whiskey is 99 proof, with no age statement on the bottle. Also there is no indication for how long the whiskey is finished in a second barrel. We reached out to the Fox & Oden team and didn’t get an answer, so we’re flying blind as to some specs on this one. But the liquid inside should tell us everything we need to know.

So let’s get into it!

Nose

The nose is pleasant with some sweet oak, brown sugar, caramel and maple syrup.

Palate

Those notes ring true on the palate as well, but are muted by prominent barrel funk, white pepper spice and dry oak overtones.

Finish

The finish does provide some pleasant and interesting flavors including tart cherry, cinnamon, and spearmint.

Verdict

For a brand we have liked thus far, it pains us to say it, but this one just doesn’t hold up to its price tag.

We really wanted to like it, but you’re getting a much better deal by grabbing a Woodford Reserve Double Oaked or Old Forester 1910. In fact, when we tasted this one we put it head-to-head with both of those as well as a craft brand with a double oaked expression and this one came in last of the four. The value as a double oaked simply isn’t there.

We don’t mind barrel funk; in fact we welcome it as there are a handful of bottles in our collection that have barrel funk in them. This one was a bit much, however. Those barrel funk notes did surface as the prominent note on the palate, before subsiding and turning into nicer notes on the finish. But it dominated too much of the palate for our taste.

As a regular Straight Bourbon, it’s totally fine. However, we think F&O’s Straight Bourbon is much better. If you’re interested in giving F&O a try, absolutely go that route instead. We did a review on that bottle and it got good marks, scoring a 7.8. This one is almost a full point below, for the exact same price. At $99.99, the value is just not there. We would put this in the $50-$60 range value-wise for a craft bourbon, considering what it offers.

For these reasons, we’re going to rate Fox & Oden Double Oaked Straight Bourbon Whiskey a 7.0/10.

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Cheers friends!