Wolf Spirit releases oldest whiskey expression The Left Cross

Wolf Spirit’s Puncher’s Chance Bourbon has announced the release of its oldest whiskey expression to date, titled The Left Cross.

The whiskey has been aged for 14 years in wood rickhouses and finished in freshly dumped 12-year-old Jamaican rum casks, a rare and unique finish for a bourbon at this maturity. 

Master distiller Kevin Curtis and master blender Stephen Hughes of the IJW Whiskey Company have created the expression which is bottled at 96 proof. The whiskey begins with a mash bill of 84% corn, 8% malt and 8% rye.

The producer has described the whiskey as having notes of vanilla, dark fruit and warm oak on the palate.

Wolf Spirit’s founder Umberto Luchini said on the release: “Like its predecessor THE D12TANCE, our journey with THE LEFT CROSS is about taking an older whiskey and experimenting with unique finishing techniques – in this case dark Jamaican Rum casks. Our objective was to use the rum finishing to coax out more of the existing characteristics from the whiskey while adding a unique hint of sweetness. It’s a special craft to finish such a mature bourbon, but the masters at IJW Distillery have done an exceptional job finding the right balance.”

It's name comes from the Jamaican heavyweight fighter Donovan Ruddock, who had many battles with boxing greats such as Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis. He became known for his devastating finishing blow, which was a left cross.

The Left Cross is available at a variety of fine spirits retailers and online, including in the states of California, Florida, Kentucky, Colorado among several others. Only 2,000 bottles of the expression are available, priced at $150 for a 750ml bottle.

24 November 2022 - Bradley Weir