Cleveland The Eighty Bourbon

Good things come from being impatient.

The technology of today can sometimes be so overbearing that we forget about balance and how to enjoy life at the same time. But Tom Lix of Cleveland Whiskey – a serial tech entrepreneur – figured out a way to combine the two. The age-old problem of aging Whiskey just a good a little less problematic. Let technology do the work and we can go back to enjoying (the water of) life.

What does that mean? Well, you see, Lix found a way to age Whiskey faster. Much faster. After the traditional mashing and distilling, the Whiskey is aged in new charred oak barrels for a little while, before the screws come loose. Figuratively and literally. The barrel is cut into pieces and placed WITH the Whiskey in a special pressurization chamber that increases and decreases the pressure. Whoa, baby. And then? Well, the technology makes the wood “breathe” the distilled spirit in and out, mimicking the natural, seasonal aging process that normally takes years. With Cleveland Whiskey it takes less than a week. Ta-da!

The end result is a Bourbon that looks and more importantly tastes much older than it is. Cleveland The Eighty is a prime example of the ingenuity and capacity of Cleveland’s time machine. Named for its proof level, the Eighty is made of mash containing 51% corn and secret portions of rye, wheat and barley. It’s not the age in the spirit, but the spirit in the age that matters and preconceived notions aside – this is a damn fine Bourbon. Good things do come from being impatient.