Hirsch The Cask Strength Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Hirsch The Cask Strength is a bold, high-impact bourbon built for serious sipping. With robust proof and thoughtful wood finishing, it offers deep richness, intense flavor layers and a textured finish. If you’re looking for a bourbon that delivers intensity and character in one pour, this is it.

Origins & Craftsmanship

Produced under the Hirsch Selected Whiskeys banner in Kentucky, this expression uses a mash bill of approximately 72% corn, 13% rye and 15% malted barley. It is matured in new charred American white-oak barrels, then finished in 30-year-old Hine Cognac XO oak casks (French oak previously holding cognac) for an additional period, adding layers of complexity and nuance. The “cask strength” designation means it’s bottled at barrel proof without dilution, giving you the whiskey as the barrel intended. This release is bottled at 112.6 proof (~56.3% ABV).

Tasting Profile

Nose: Deep, dark cherry and plum fruit Merge with charred citrus peel and rich baking spice. Beneath that lies creamy vanilla, toffee and subtle almond/almond-paste woodiness derived from the cognac-cask finish.
Palate: Full and robust. Caramel and brown sugar sweetness lead into dried stone-fruit (fig, date) and dark chocolate. Rye spice (white pepper, clove) surfaces, tempered by oak tannin and the soft influence of the cognac barrels—hints of grape must or port-like richness.
Finish: Long, warm and layered. The sweet fruit fades into dry oak, cedar and faint leather or tobacco leaf. A measured heat remains from the high proof, but it carries rather than overwhelms, leaving a sophisticated, persistent echo.

Quick Overview