Broken Barrel Mizunara Barrel Aged Whiskey, California, USA

A blend of American corn Whiskies finished with staves of exotic Mizunara oak.

Infuse Spirits is aptly named. Seth Benhaim started infusing Spirits in his garage in 2012 at the age of twenty-five — becoming the youngest brand owner to ever win Best-In-Show and Double Gold Medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. He’s our kind of guy.

While Infuse Spirits Vodkas and Bitters are infused with natural spices and fruits, their Whiskies are infused with staves from other barrels of a variety of wood types — from Whiskey and Sherry to Wine, Single Malt, and more. They even use exotic woods like Mizunara and French oak. This is how they named their “Broken Barrel” line of Whiskies.

Like the rest of the releases in the Broken Barrel line, Broken Barrel Mizunara American Whiskey starts with a blend of American Whiskies — in this case that means five year-old Indiana corn Whiskey and four year-old Kentucky corn Whiskey. The blended mash bill is 86.5% corn, 6% rye, and 7.5% malted barley. The two Spirits are married and finish in casks with staves of rare Mizunara oak added. This is one of the best ways to get the delightful flavor impact of the notoriously temperamental Mizunara wood. The resulting Spirit is boiled at 50% ABV.

Smartass Corner:
Mizunara oak is an enigma. Native to mountainous regions of the islands of Japan and certain reaches of Mongolia, this wood has both a higher natural water content and more porous fibers making it very difficult for barre-making and charring and prone to leakage. But it has one of the best releases of wood vanillin compounds.