For too many years, bourbon refused to innovate, so when someone comes around and tosses some 10-, 12-, or 14-year-old liquid into rum barrels for a few months, it’s pretty exciting. And that’s exactly what Puncher’s Chance has done with its Left Cross bourbon.
Puncher’s Chance: The Left Cross Bourbon aged for 14 years in wood rickhouses, then was finished in freshly dumped 12-year-old Jamaican rum casks for two to six months. The result is a balanced and nuanced spirit where natural bourbon characteristics and rum finishing co-exist beautifully.
Produced under the stewardship of Master Distiller Kevin Curtis and Master Blender Stephen Hughes of IJW Whiskey Company, just 70 barrels of Puncher’s Chance Bourbon: The Left Cross are available. Bottled at 48& ABV, The Left Cross starts with a mash bill of 84 percent corn, eight percent malt, and eight percent rye.
Aged in new American oak barrels, the whiskey picks up the flavors of a long-matured bourbon, including vanilla, dark fruit, and warm oak. The rum finishing introduces Jamaican rum’s famous and distinct “funk,” adding rich flavors of brown sugar, ripe bananas, and sweet baking spice reminiscent of Bananas Foster. The finish is long and soft with the slightest hint of rum.
The Left Cross is the second limited-edition release from Puncher’s Chance – a new American Whiskey entry from Wolf Spirit, out of Eugene, Oregon. It comes on the heels of its first-ever limited time offering called The D12TANCE, a 12-year-old bourbon finished in California Cabernet Sauvignon barrels.
The name The Left Cross is a reference to Jamaican heavyweight fighter Donovan “Razor” Ruddock, a southpaw who, with a devastating left cross punch, battled the likes of Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis. The left cross finishing blow became Ruddock’s much-admired calling card.
“Like its predecessor THE D12TANCE, our journey with The Left Cross is about taking an older whiskey and experimenting with unique finishing techniques – in this case dark Jamaican Rum casks,” said Umberto Luchini, founder of Wolf Spirit. “Our objective was to use the rum finishing to coax out more of the existing characteristics from the whiskey while adding a unique hint of sweetness. It’s a special craft to finish such a mature bourbon, but the masters at IJW Distillery have done an exceptional job finding the right balance.”
Just 2,000 bottles of Puncher’s Chance Bourbon: The Left Cross are available at fine spirits retailers and online for $150 per 750ml bottle.
Last year, we sat down with founder Umberto Luchini to discuss how Puncher’s Chance became one of America’s fastest growing bourbons.