Brother Justus Single Malt American Whiskey 750ml Bottle

Tonight’s dram takes me (virtually) to Minnesota, where the summers are brief and the winters long to the Brother Justus distillery. It opens with vanilla, cinnamon, and green apples, melting into rich buttery butterscotch, toasty oak, and raisins, with a slice of banana bread with nuts in the background. The creamy mouthfeel and thick clingy legs deliver a belly-warming medium-long finish of apple pie (with mealty vanilla ice cream), banana bread, and toasty oak. It is incredibly smooth for a 1-year aged dram. The story of Brother Justice: Brother Justus was a Benedictine monk who lived in Central Minnesota during Prohibition and The Farm Depression of the 1920s. He encouraged local farmers to ignore the rule of the state and obey God’s instead. Because no earthly power could take away their right to make a living from their labor and the fruit of the land. He taught them that, sure, moonshining was illegal, but by no means was it immoral. That good whiskey—honorably made—was a blessing. His copper stills, and commitment to teaching the craft, lifted families out of poverty and made Minnesota whiskey world-famous. We’re here to be that sort of brother to others. Our product is made with a reverence for all creation. Specifically, the natural resources of our home state. Now, we’re not saying God created Minnesota for the express purpose of making whiskey. But you gotta wonder how three distinctive biomes happen to converge here in a way perfect for doing exactly that. The Big Woods, a dense broadleaf forest where white oak thrives on its grassland borders. The Great Plains, with its deep prairie soil ideal for cultivating barley. The Boreal Forest, home to bogs rich with ancient peat. Is all this just some kind of crazy geological coincidence? God only knows. Drink for a good cause… whatever your cause… Drink slow, drink long, drink a variety, drink often.