We don’t know about you, but it feels like we’re in the midst of a bourbon boom right now. The possibilities contained within this fascinating branch of the whisk(e)y family tree have long been underestimated, but it’s had something of a renaissance over the last few years. A major contributor to this is Angel’s Envy, an ambitious and award-winning Kentucky distillery headed by master distiller Owen Martin, who has elevated the bourbon art form with an unconventional and premium approach to this classic American beverage.
Owen recently sat down with us to discuss the Angel’s Envy philosophy, as influenced by his own journey, which started in his home state of Kansas and has taken him all over the world. His story includes a brief stint studying engineering at Australia’s own University of Newcastle, after which he headed to Scotland to become a brewer. While there, he discovered his true passion was for distilling and ultimately relocated to Kentucky, a move he now looks back on as inevitable for anyone with serious aspirations in the world of bourbon distilling.
Throughout our chat, Owen reveals the ways Angel’s Envy is reframing the conversation around bourbon and how the techniques he learned in Scotland have shaped the brand’s singularly elevated take on Kentucky’s signature whiskey.
From Scotland With Love
Sitting in a dimly lit corner of the Sydney Apollonia cocktail bar, Owen outlines the two competing forces at play within the craft of both whiskey and whisky. While strict rules and disciplines define these dark-spirit siblings, Owen says some rules were made to be broken.
“Whiskey is an umbrella term for spirits distilled from grain and aged in an oak container, but there’s a huge spectrum within that definition,” the master distiller eagerly explains. “You have grain at one end of the spectrum, oak and the barrel on the other, and a distiller’s unique expression emerges somewhere between these two points.”
He continues, “American whiskey itself is far more influenced by the oak. In fact, I sometimes say that bourbon almost provides corn as a foundation on which barrel flavours can express themselves. Scotch, on the other hand, is nearly the opposite. It’s a very grain-focused spirit that’s rounded off by a bit of oak. Given my background on the Scotch side of that spectrum, I ask myself, ‘What other elements can I bring into the equation to ensure I’m not just making such an oak-centred spirit?’ The finishing process is one way to steer that ship.”
For those unfamiliar, finishing is a technique applied after the initial maturation whereby spirits are transferred into different barrels to enhance their flavour profile and complexity. Sometimes referred to as secondary or double maturation, Angel’s Envy’s signature take on this process is done in 60-gallon Portuguese port barrels for up to six months before blending, adding richness and a subtle sweetness.
Owen says he explored finishing techniques during his time in Scotland and this experience helped prepare him for his role at Angel’s Envy. Finishing has been a key part of the label’s offering since its 2006 founding by legendary distiller Lincoln Henderson, although this unusual approach to bourbon caused something of a stir at the time.
“I think Lincoln caught a lot of flack when he set up Angel’s Envy,” Owen chuckles. “I’ve heard (second-hand) that some of the old-school bourbon distillers were saying he’d ‘lost his damn mind’ because cask finishing was considered so radical when we were founded.”
Breaking With Tradition
As Owen explains, the bourbon industry operated within very traditional boundaries when Lincoln Henderson intentionally started colouring outside the lines. For the longest time, the accepted wisdom dictated that the maturation process could only ever use new charred American oak barrels. Once that process was complete, the bourbon would be bottled, and that was that.
“The process of finishing was considered a more Scottish and Irish concept, which had been done there for decades and decades,” Owen explains. “Applying a European whisky production method to American whiskey was seen as radical, and to hang the whole brand identity on that, even more so.”
Despite his detractors, the label’s maverick founder persisted, and, as Owen wryly outlines, he was ultimately vindicated by the passage of time: “Lincoln came from a bourbon tradition that had existed since before prohibition, and I think a lot of the peers who gave him flack when he founded Angel’s Envy are now making finished bourbon or finished rye themselves”
Innovation That Comes Naturally
Lincoln Henderson’s persistence laid a solid foundation that has enabled Owen to continue exploring innovative new approaches to bourbon blending and finishing. However, he’s determined to ensure he remains true to the spirit of what his predecessor created.
“I view myself as a steward of the brand, so if anything, fulfilling that role while respecting those who came before me is very much the goal,” Owen says. ”I don’t want to innovate for the sake of innovating. That’s not a flavour-driven decision. It’s purely a marketing one.“
He continues, “I want what we do to have an authenticity that speaks for itself. So, when I’m innovating, it should feel natural. Cask finishing is so inherent to Scotch and Irish whiskey, so why wouldn’t it naturally fit into the American approach?”
Next Port of Call
Already well established in the States, Angel’s Envy is now on the rise in Australia, and the brand’s signature port-finished bourbon is easy to recommend. Plus, it’ll make a very welcome Christmas gift (if anyone wants to know what’s on our wish list).
With notes of subtle vanilla, raisins, maple syrup, and toasted nuts on the nose; a palate of vanilla, ripe fruit, maple syrup, toast and bitter chocolate; and a finish boasting a clean and lingering sweetness with a hint of Madeira that slowly fades, it’s an extraordinary experience.
When asked how he manages to strike the perfect balance between the original whiskey and the port finishing, Owen reveals, “Even though, by law, we have to use a new charred barrel for maturation, finishing casks can be treated more like a Scotch or Irish whiskey, so we can refill them multiple times.
“The analogy I’ve used is thinking of a barrel like a tea bag. Each time you squeeze it, there’s less colour, less flavour, less intensity. I like that, because we don’t want a huge amount of port influence. If you only place first-fill brand-new port barrels into the mix, the final product will come across almost like a liqueur. But when we fill that port barrel multiple times, we’re getting varying degrees of flavour and colour out of it, which allows us to blend a consistent profile with a nice, light port finish.”
Angel’s Envy has certainly refined this process to an artform in the 18 years since it was established. While it’s a much younger brand than many others in the space, Owen sees this as one of its primary advantages.
“Being a younger company gives us more flexibility,” he reveals. “There are still opportunities to nod toward tradition, but at the same time, we’re not constrained by that. We can take things in a radically different direction more readily than most legacy brands.”
With that, we’re very much looking forward to seeing what form these radical new directions might take for this fascinating whiskey house in the years ahead. In the meantime, we’ll happily luxuriate in our ongoing bourbon boom with a bottle of Owen’s very finest Angel’s Envy.
