The Angel’s Envy Cellar Collection Has a New Addition in Time for Father’s Day

Angel's Envy Kentucky Straight Bourbon Finished in Madiera Casks. Courtesy Photo.

Angel’s Envy has added a third limited edition expression to their Cellar Collection, a Kentucky Straight Bourbon finished in Madeira casks.

The brand is founded on father-son tradition, with late patriarch and industry legend Lincoln Henderson coming out of retirement to work with his son Wes on a new standard for finished whiskey. Wes and his sons now run the distillery in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, making bourbon and rye whiskey finished in a variety of wine & spirit casks. Their Cellar Collection releases, including Oloroso Sherry finish, Tawny Port finish, and now Madeira cask finish, are unique barrel finishes that the distillery releases on the whiskey’s schedule, so we never quite know when they’re coming.

This particular release began to take shape over 6 years ago, and bourbon fans are finally getting a peek at the results.

“There’s deep history and craftsmanship involved in the production of Madeira wine, so my sons and I knew we wanted to tap into that to create something special for our Cellar Collection. We took a trip to the island in 2015 and tried more than 30 varieties until we found the perfect casks that would lend both the dryness of a good sherry and the richness of tawny port to our bourbon,” said Wes Henderson, Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer of Angel’s Envy. “This release, like all of Angel’s Envy’s whiskeys, was a family effort, so it feels only right to share this bourbon with our fans in celebration of Father’s Day.”

This blend of bourbons is finished for a full year in Madiera casks, a move the distillery says adds deeper wood notes and an extra layer of complexity. It’s bottled at 100 proof, which seems to be the standard for the cellar collection.

The distillery offers tasting notes of “caramelized banana, brown sugar, raisins, almonds and faint cherry on the nose, as well as notes of oak, grass, smoke, leather, chocolate and dried cherries on the palate. The finish lingers with notes of almond and hazelnut.”

So how can you get your hands on a bottle? If you’re a member of the distillery’s 500 Main club, you have home court advantage.

“Between May 21 and May 25, Angel’s Envy 500 Main members can enter a lottery to win the chance to purchase the release ahead of public sale,” explains the distillery. “A total of 600 bottles will be reserved for the 500 Main lottery; the randomly-selected winners will be notified on May 28. Early purchasers will be able to pick up their bottles beginning on June 3 at ANGEL’S ENVY’s downtown Louisville distillery. Public sale (limit one per customer) will begin on June 6 at 1PM ET, with approximately 400 bottles available at Angel’s Envy’s distillery and limited quantities available at select retailers in KY, NY, CA, FL, TN, IL and TX.”

Angel’s Envy Kentucky Straight Bourbon finished in Madiera Casks will carry a retail price tag of around $229.

Caroline Paulus
Caroline Paulus is the Senior Editor for The Bourbon Review. She lives and writes in Lexington, Kentucky. Follow her on Instagram @misswhiskeyhistorian to keep up with her latest in bourbon news - and a few old finds, too.