This Brand Is Trying to Age Whiskey in Days Instead of Years, and Derek Jeter Is a Believer

Jonah Flicker
Updated ·4 min read
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Bespoken Spirits, the startup whiskey brand backed by Derek Jeter, just announced the relaunch of its portfolio with three new whiskeys anchoring the core lineup. But can this California-based disruptor really compete with traditional distilleries, given that it mostly forgoes barrel maturation and “ages” its whiskey in just a few days using tiny wood staves? As it turns out, that’s a hard sell.

Baseball Hall of Famer, retired Yankee, and whiskey fan Derek Jeter is an investor in Bespoken Spirits, along with Silicon Valley entrepreneur T.J. Rodgers. The key to the brand’s identity is that it bypasses the usual maturation stage of whiskey production in which new make spirit is put into oak casks to rest for anywhere from a few years to decades—a key part of the process that is considered by most experts to be the main source of whiskey’s flavor. The new lineup of Bespoken whiskeys are initially distilled at MGP in Indiana, the distillery that is the source of so many other brands (as well as its own excellent bourbon and rye). The new lineup consists of three core whiskeys: bourbon (75 percent corn, 21 percent rye, 4 percent malt), rye (95 percent rye, 5 percent malt), and American whiskey (79 percent corn, 21 percent mesquite smoked barley). The first two whiskeys spent a brief amount of time in barrels—which is why the bourbon is allowed be labeled as such—while the American whiskey did not. According to a rep for a brand, Bespoken has always used a combination of aged and un-aged distillates.

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Wood stave finishing is a technique used by other brands—Maker’s Mark is perhaps the most famous example with its Maker’s 46 and Wood Finishing Series. But the difference is that normally staves are inserted into whiskey that has already been matured in oak barrels for a few years. Bespoken inserts toasted “microstaves,” or tiny shards of wood, into un-aged (or very minimally aged) distillate in a process that it calls Tailored Wood Finishing. The liquid is then put into the brand’s “activator” where heat and pressure are applied to essentially condense several years of aging into a few days. In addition to releasing its own products, Bespoken will finish or rectify whiskey for other brands—if a distillery isn’t happy with its aged whiskey, throw it in the activator and you might be able to fix the flavor.

In the whiskey world tradition is a valuable commodity, and most distillers will argue that you can’t improve on the tried and true practices that have been used over centuries. Robb Report had a chance to blind sample some of the Bespoken whiskeys last year against other traditionally made whiskeys. And, not to excessively flex, but we were able to pick out Bespoken’s products nearly every time. That’s because the whiskey just doesn’t taste quite the same as a traditionally aged product, it lacks the same depth of flavor and reads a bit immature. However, there are many who would disagree—the brand has won numerous awards from 2019 to 2022, including Double Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition and a Gold Medal at the New York World Wine & Spirits Competition.

“This represents the launch of a portfolio from a modern craft brand that delivers award-winning whiskeys while striving for sustainability,” said Bespoken CEO Peter Iglesias in a statement. “We are proud to say that our approach to sustainability has not compromised the quality of our spirits—it has only enhanced it, allowing us to create unique and complex flavor profiles.” Sustainability is a source of pride for the brand, which says it uses less wood, water, and energy than barrel aging does. There’s also no angel’s share, or the natural evaporation that occurs as whiskey ages in a barrel, so there’s a financial benefit as well. Still, the saying “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” may be a cliche, but there are times when it holds true, and this might be one of them.

The best way to decide if Bespoken Spirits is for you is, of course, to try it for yourself, and you can order a bottle or two from websites like ReserveBar or Drizly. Set up your own blind tasting to see if you can flex your the power of your palate and tell the difference.

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