The unique blend of aged whiskey and the distinct qualities of Amburana wood casks creates a whiskey that transcends the typical expectations of American whiskey.

The Vaults 2024 marks the latest entry in the brand’s annual journey into wood finishes, featuring select barrels from its exclusive and vintage whiskey collection.

Widow Jane, a craft distillery located in the Brooklyn Red Hook waterfront area, is gearing up for the release of its newest edition in an ongoing series of limited-edition whiskeys.

Launched in 2019, The Vaults series is celebrated for its innovative use of wood finishes, with this year’s offering taking that innovation further by incorporating Amburana wood casks. The Vaults 2024 features a 15-year-old blend crafted from handpicked barrels from Widow Jane’s rare whiskey collection.

Sienna Jevremov, who serves as the head distiller and blender at Widow Jane, takes charge of selecting the casks and meticulously oversees the blending process.

“While choosing the barrels for this year’s edition of The Vaults, I aimed for whiskeys that offer great texture,” Jevremov stated during an interview at the distillery. “The tannins from older whiskey contribute to a mouthfeel I would describe as chewy, resembling sticky dark caramel.”

This particular blend includes whiskeys aged 20 years and 16 years, selected for their harmonious flavor profiles. Jevremov emphasized the blend’s rich flavors, noting deep notes such as dark chocolate ganache and burnt orange caramel, in addition to sweet smoke, spiced heat, and savory herbs.

“My intention was to enhance the earthier spiced notes of the Amburana, moving beyond the more classic ‘cinnamon bun’ appeal,” Jevremov explained.

Widow Jane follows a meticulous production process that encompasses mashing, fermentation, distillation, barreling, aging, blending, warehousing, and bottling, all accomplished at their Brooklyn facility.

The choice to finish the whiskey in Amburana wood casks, also referred to as Brazilian oak, infuses a unique depth into the final product. This particular wood is renowned for its rich, tropical aromas and is harvested from Brazil and northern Argentina, where the trees thrive in tough conditions with scarce nutrients and erratic rainfall.

“Amburana is an exuberant wood teeming with rich, aromatic qualities,” says Jevremov. “My initial aim was to craft a blend that emphasizes the earthy and textural robustness of 15- and 20-year-old whiskeys, while gracefully integrating the Amburana to harmonize with those notes.”

The Vaults 2024 is offered at 49.5% ABV (99-proof) and will see a special release of only 4,000 cases. As is customary with all Widow Jane offerings, the whiskey is non-chill filtered and proofed using pure limestone mineral water sourced from the Rosendale Mines in upstate New York, a method that enhances its distinctive smooth mouthfeel and prolonged finish.

With a price tag of $250 for a 750-milliliter bottle, Widow Jane is clearly aiming to carve out a space for this new offering in the premium whiskey sector. The timing for such a launch is intriguing. Similar to the global spirits industry as a whole, craft spirits have also been experiencing some tough times recently. According to a report by the American Craft Spirits Association, the U.S. craft spirits market recorded its first decline in volume since records began in 2016, falling by 3.6% to 13.5 million cases in 2023 from 14 million in 2022. When looking at value, sales in this market reached $7.8 billion, revealing a growth rate of -1.1%. However, there is a sliver of hope—craft spirits makers enjoyed increased sales in their home states last year, with their market share rising from 48.1% in 2022 to a slightly elevated level in 2023.

Jevremov notes that working with aged whiskeys presents both rewards and challenges, stating that each barrel introduces unique and intense flavors that need to be harmonized in the final blend.

“I chose the Amburana because I appreciate the tropical aromatics it imparts—like fig leaf and cinnamon bark—but I also wanted to test my abilities in blending those elements in a way that doesn’t overshadow the base whiskey’s narrative,” Jevremov mentioned. “Striking the perfect balance is both the joy and the hurdle when working with these ingredients. It’s about recognizing how one barrel can influence the entire blend while maintaining its integrity.”

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