Dogfish Head Alternate Takes Volume 4 landed on my desk at 43% abv, limited offerings in DE, MD, NJ, NY, WA, , carrying a $54.99 price tag. Here is what I found.
Nose
86 proof or 43% abv, limited offerings in DE, MD, NJ, NY, WA, and HI. $54.99 SRP. Color: Amber Vanilla and brown sugar almost a simple syrup smell. The nose is warm and inviting with delightful, sweet notes. All the best sugars in a baked good. As the sweetness fades you find grain husks of barley, wheat. I liken it to French toast without cinnamon. The nose is the nose. The taste is the taste. This whiskey is warm and light with a soft charcoal backend. Upon successive sips I found pipe tobacco with a flash of pear sweetness hidden in the darker earth tones. Letting it rest the whiskey really opens to reveal more pear and tobacco. The finish is airy and light. It doesnt linger too long but transitions off the tongue well.
Palate
I think this is one of those whiskeys that different drinkers are really going to find different things. The myriad of casks that could be involved here make for endless complexity. I really enjoyed the notes I found, and thought the whiskey did a good job balancing them. Breweries can sometimes struggle to transition from making good beer to making good whiskey – here the whiskey and complex notes are complimentary.
Finish
Editor’s Note: This whiskey was either bought as a sample by Whiskeyful or provided to us as a review sample by the party behind it. Per our editorial policies, this in no way influenced the outcome of this review.
The Bottom Line
Dogfish Head Alternate Takes Volume 4 delivers the goods. It is well-made, genuinely enjoyable, and at $54.99 represents solid value for what you are getting. I would happily buy this again.
