Savage & Cooke Howling Mob Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon Whiskey 100 Proof 750ml

There are 31 barrels of Howling Mob in the world. When they are gone, they are gone — a singular release that will not repeat due to extreme low yield. That is not marketing. That is the specific agricultural reality of what happens when a master distiller decides to build a Bottled-in-Bond bourbon around an ancient heirloom corn variety that is notoriously low-yielding and susceptible to weather.

The corn's name is as specific and as historically particular as the whiskey it produces. Howling Mob is an heirloom corn variety — ancient, open-pollinated, grown on a plot of California farmland 35 miles from the distillery. The variety dates back to the 19th century, cultivated for flour and cornmeal before industrial agriculture replaced it with higher-yielding commodity hybrids. It survived in the hands of heirloom seed preservationists and small-scale growers. Jordan Via found it. The Howling Mob corn strikes a balance between decadence and elegance.

The mash bill is the most radical and the most specifically unusual of any Bottled-in-Bond bourbon in the Blackwell's section: 86% Howling Mob heirloom corn and 14% malted barley. No wheat. No rye. In a category where secondary and tertiary grains are considered essential to flavor complexity — where wheat bourbons and high-rye bourbons are defined specifically by those secondary contributions — Howling Mob eliminates both and makes the corn do all the work. The malted barley provides the enzymatic activity that fermentation requires. Everything else is Howling Mob.

The Whiskey Wash: "for a four-year craft bourbon, it is one of the best at this age I've ever had." The Whiskey Shelf: "the best whiskey I've had from Savage & Cooke, and it's not close — it feels mature and complex with dusty bourbon vibes." Drinkhacker's Christopher Null awarded B+ and described "complex and expressive but refined — toasted corn quite mild for a four-year-old, allowing more exotic notes of toasted coconut, cinnamon, and sandalwood to dominate." Every reviewer who tried both Savage & Cooke Bottled-in-Bond expressions preferred the Howling Mob. There are 31 barrels.

Origins & Craftsmanship

Savage & Cooke was founded in 2018 by Dave Phinney — the creator of The Prisoner, the Napa Valley blended red that sold to Gallo for a reported $300 million — on historic Mare Island in Vallejo, California, a former naval shipyard whose brownstone buildings and proximity to Napa Valley and San Francisco provide the specific combination of history, scale, and geography that Phinney's distilling vision required.

The Howling Mob Bourbon is made entirely at the Savage & Cooke Distillery on Mare Island — all of the grains, water, and barrels sourced from their region, a true grain-to-glass protocol that every element of production confirms. The Howling Mob heirloom corn is grown on California farmland 35 miles from the distillery. The water comes from Dave Phinney's own Alexander Valley mountain property spring. The barrels are supreme quality Seguin Moreau char #3 — the premium French cooperage's most respected American bourbon barrel specification.

The mash bill of 86% Howling Mob heirloom corn and 14% malted barley is what The Whiskey Wash identified as the most technically significant production decision: this high-malt bourbon, lacking wheat or rye as the secondary grain, is a rarity — the distinct malted vanilla note that the malted barley produces alongside the heirloom corn is genuinely unlike anything that standard bourbon mash bills deliver. Without wheat's softening sweetness or rye's spice signature, the bourbon's character is governed entirely by what the Howling Mob corn deposits through four years of Seguin Moreau char #3 contact and what the malted barley contributes as the only secondary grain.

Only 31 barrels were produced — a singular release that will not repeat due to extreme low yield. The Howling Mob corn's agricultural fragility — low-yielding, weather-susceptible, the specific vulnerability that makes heirloom grain production both noble and impractical at commercial scale — means there will never be another release of this expression. When these bottles are gone, Howling Mob Bottled-in-Bond is finished.

Critics Reviews

The Whiskey Wash (Nino Kilgore-Marchetti): "This is a bourbon to approach with careful thought and consideration, and for a four-year craft bourbon, it is one of the best at this age I've ever had. Well done. The combination of super rare heirloom corn, a secondary grain (and the only other one) that's malted barley, a higher-end cooperage's barrels, and hitting the bottled-in-bond mark make for a unique expression."

Nose: "A rarity on the nose, with a distinct malted vanilla note. The sweetness is very subtle, joined by notes of sugar plums, oak, a bit of toasted almond, and some caramel."

Palate: "Slightly akin to drinking candy corn in that there's a distinct vanilla sweetness, but it has more of a confection-type sweetness to the palate."

The Whiskey Shelf: "The best whiskey I've had from Savage & Cooke, and it's not close. After reviewing both Bottled-in-Bond expressions, I strongly prefer the Howling Mob. It feels mature and complex with dusty bourbon vibes."

Nose: "Dark honey, dried cherry, roasted oak and cinnamon, red apple peel, orange peel, and clove." Palate: "Honey, fresh apricot and cherry, vanilla, orange peel, roasted oak, fennel, mint, and some earthy caraway seed, pine, and wood varnish in the back." Finish: "Honey, apricot, cherry, roasted oak, and caraway seed with lingering gentle toastiness, dried cranberry, caraway seed, mint, and toasted coffee."

Drinkhacker (Christopher Null) — B+: "The nose is complex and expressive but refined, the notes of toasted corn quite mild for a four-year-old whiskey, allowing more exotic notes of toasted coconut, cinnamon, and sandalwood to dominate."

Whiskey & Horror: "Gorgeous and aesthetically pleasing bottle with great tactile details on the label. Intense depth and rich flavor profiles. One of my newest favorite recommendations."

Savage & Cooke official tasting notes: "Rich amber hues with bright aromas of fresh orange zest and Madagascar vanilla bean. Smokey charred oak mid palate finishes with cinnamon bark and ground peppercorn. Full bodied and balanced."

Tasting Profile

Nose Rich amber with warm copper highlights — four years in Seguin Moreau char #3 barrels producing a genuinely mature-looking color for a four-year-old. The nose opens with the quality that every reviewer identified as the Howling Mob's most immediately surprising and most specifically unusual quality: a distinct malted vanilla note that is genuinely rare in the bourbon category. Bright orange zest arrives alongside Madagascar vanilla bean in the official tasting characterization. Dark honey, dried cherry, roasted oak, and cinnamon build the deeper complexity. Red apple peel and clove add brightness and spice. Then the most exotic register — toasted coconut, cinnamon, and sandalwood — the notes that Drinkhacker found most surprising and most specifically memorable for a four-year-old bourbon. Sugar plums and toasted almond add secondary depth. No rye spice. No wheat sweetness. Only Howling Mob heirloom corn, malted barley, and char #3 American oak.

Palate Nicely fruit-forward, followed by roasted oak, and then spice and earthiness — the Whiskey Shelf's most accurate palate sequence description. The entry delivers the confection sweetness that the Whiskey Wash found most specifically memorable: slightly akin to drinking candy corn with a distinct vanilla sweetness — the heirloom corn's specific natural sugar character at full bourbon concentration, genuinely different from the corn sweetness of commodity grain bourbons. Fresh apricot and cherry carry the most enthusiastically praised quality across every review — vivid, slightly tart, and entirely fruit-forward. Honey deepens alongside vanilla. Orange peel and roasted oak add brightness and structure. Fennel and mint add the most specifically herbaceous and the most specifically Howling Mob-distinctive secondary qualities. Earthy caraway seed, pine, and wood varnish add the most complex and the most intellectually interesting secondary dimension. With patient chewing: creamy honey, apricot, cherry, and dark fig, then vanilla, roasted oak, caraway seed, cinnamon, lime peel, mint, and darker caramel nougat. The dusty bourbon vibes that the Whiskey Shelf identified — "a slight connection to the amazing bourbons of old" — is the single most specifically collector-resonant palate characterization for any California craft bourbon.

Finish Long, fruity, and caraway-warm. Honey, apricot, cherry, and roasted oak carry the close most persistently alongside lingering gentle toastiness and dried cranberry. Caraway seed and mint add the most enduring earthy complexity. Toasted coffee adds the darkest and the most satisfying final note. Cinnamon bark and ground peppercorn add the warm spice close. No grainy or earthy youth — the finish is mature, complex, and entirely confirming the Whiskey Wash's most enthusiastic endorsement of any four-year craft bourbon.

Quick Overview

Serving & Occasion

Neat at room temperature — the malted vanilla, honey, and heirloom corn character are most vivid without dilution, and the 100-proof Bottled-in-Bond delivers the full concentration without aggression. Allow 10 minutes of air for the exotic coconut, sandalwood, and caraway notes to develop from the initial orange zest and vanilla opening. A few drops of water opens the apricot and cherry fruit notes dramatically. Outstanding alongside dark chocolate, dried fruit and nut preparations, and any occasion where 31 barrels of California heirloom grain history deserve to be properly honored.

Cocktail Suggestions

Howling Mob Old Fashioned (the natural home) 2 oz Howling Mob BiB · 1 tsp Demerara syrup · 2 dashes Angostura bitters · 1 dash orange bitters · expressed orange peel. Stirred over large ice. Orange bitters amplify the orange zest leading the official tasting note — vanilla and honey carrying through the format with the heirloom corn's natural sweetness providing depth that commodity bourbon cannot approach.

Grain-to-Glass Manhattan 2 oz Howling Mob BiB · 1 oz sweet vermouth · 2 dashes Angostura bitters · Luxardo cherry. Stirred over ice, served up. The fresh apricot and cherry fruit-forward character bridges sweet vermouth in a Manhattan that is simultaneously more fruit-forward and more specifically grain-character-driven than rye-dominant Manhattans.