Angel’s Envy has been synonymous with wine barrel finishing pretty much since launching in 2010, with their Bourbon Finished In Port building the cornerstone for the proud Kentucky label. Now as the brand approaches its 15th anniversary, they unveil their 14th Cask Strength iteration—a landmark release introducing the brand’s first age statement.
This 10 Cask Strength 10-year statement is noteworthy for Angel’s Envy’s distinctive approach to defining “age.” Unlike traditional bourbon, where age refers solely to the time spent in new, charred oak, Angel’s Envy includes the duration of the crucial second finishing period for the total maturation. For instance, some components in this latest Cask Strength feature a seven-year bourbon with a three-year port finish, while others are nine-year bourbons with a one-year finish. Angel’s Envy Master Distiller Owen Martin reveals to Maxim the majority of the liquid in this release is actually 11 years old, with only about one-third being 10 years old—reflecting the youngest component in the blend, as is legally required.
“This is the 14th year of it, so what’s on my mind is how do you continue to progress the conversation with something that’s already been around for a little bit, and how do you keep it new and fresh?” the he shares when asked why he considered this specific expression to be the first Angel’s Envy worthy of having an age statement. Martin—only Angel’s Envy’s second Master Distiller after the passing of co-founder Lincoln Henderson in 2013—adds how he’s been working on the base components for the better part of two years. Some of the barrels tapped for this expression were among the first he ever poured upon joining the company. “So it’s kind of been a good full circle release for me,” he adds, “and one that I’ve got to really see from start to finish—as far as the curation of barrels, filling of liquid and then final blending.”
As opposed to their core portfolio expressions, each annual Angel’s Envy Cask Strength release aims to offer a unique experience, making them highly coveted by bourbon fans worldwide. “We want every year to taste a little bit different,” Martin explains, “we want there to almost be like a collectability angle to it.” This allows the blending team the prerogative to go in whichever direction they choose, sometimes leaning into “port bombs” and other times letting the bourbon take the driver’s seat—as is the case with this particular release, where Martin discloses the focus was on showcasing the aged bourbon. “If we’re going to do our oldest, and our first ever age-statement release,” he says, “in my opinion, I think we really wanted that bourbon to show.”
“We want every year to taste a little bit different, for there to almost be a collectability angle to it.”
Angel’s Envy Master Distiller Owen Martin
Although founded in 2010, the Hendersons did not complete their distillery in downtown Louisville until 2016—meaning their oldest in-house distilled barrels are currently turning nine years old. Given the 10-year age statement, this release necessarily incorporates sourced liquid: Kentucky straight bourbon closely matching their signature 72-percent corn / 18-percent rye / 10-percent malted barley mash bill created by Lincoln himself. So while this Cask Strength 10 uses mostly sourced bourbon, this is all about to change for future versions.
“In the next couple of years, as we put a 10-year age statement on it, we’re not that far away from having it be if not all our own distillate, at least a significant amount,” Martin reveals. This landmark release therefore serves as a bridge, showcasing Angel’s Envy’s blending prowess while signaling a future dominated by their own aged distillate.
Bottled at a potent 61.3-percent ABV (122.6 proof), this makes Cask Strength 10 the highest proof point for any Angel’s Envy release since 2018—a “throwback to some of the stuff we’ve done previously that were at fairly high proofs,” Martin explains. With only approximately 24,000 bottles produced, Cask Strength 10 remains a relatively small release in terms of volume, yet its symbolic significance for the Louisville label is substantial. Find it at its $250 SRP.
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