Taste Test: New Liberty's Kinsey Brand 7-Year Whiskey

The New Liberty Distillery is channeling a piece of Pennsylvania’s distilling history in its first line of craft whiskey with their Kinsey Brand 7-Year Whiskey. It might carry a familiar name for some, but New Liberty’s whiskey is taking a path all its own to becoming a favorite of the local craft spirit crowd.

The first thing you notice when you take a sip is how smooth this whiskey is, even at room temperature. It’s a perfect sipping whiskey to drink neat while relaxing after work or while sitting around with friends.

Huge vanilla flavors hit you next along with a nice smokiness that balances well with the otherwise sweet character of the whiskey. However, this is also where I found my biggest problem with this whiskey. While the vanilla notes were very vivid, they somewhat masked the rest of the flavors until the very end of the taste. That knock doesn't stand too large over the drink however, because every new sip unmasked a new angle to the oaky vanilla notes as the whiskey warmed.

I believe this is a whiskey best enjoyed with no frills. All you need is a glass and some free time. Adding ice would just muddle the flavors and cost the drinker the adventure of the warming whiskey.

But, as delicate as the whiskey was, I was happily surprised how well it worked in a classic Old Fashioned. The addition of sugar, bitters and an orange peel really seemed to bring out the floral notes in the whiskey, giving it that extra bit of complexity it’s missing on its own. The spirit’s smoothness is only improved with these welcome additions. If you’re not careful, you might find yourself downing three or four without even feeling the slightest burn.

New Liberty’s 7-year-aged Kinsey Whiskey is simple and clean, and it does those things incredibly well. It’s complex without trying too hard. It genuinely lives up to its promise of “a classic for modern times.”