Whiskey Review: Stillman’s Sonder 10-Year Bourbon

Introduction

Today, we’re checking out Stillman’s Sonder 10-Year Bourbon from Dancing Goat Distillery. This is the first product we’ve tried from Dancing Goat, and right out of the gate, the name gave us something to talk about.

“Sonder” is a relatively new word describing the realization that all the people around you have deep, intricate, meaningful, complicated lives of their own. As Dancing Goat puts it, the name Stillman’s Sonder reflects both craftsmanship and perspective: “Stillman” speaks to patience, process, and precision, while “Sonder” captures that awareness of the complexity of other people’s lives.

The whiskey itself was not distilled at Dancing Goat. It’s sourced from MGP and blended by the team at Dancing Goat. And as we’ve said many times before, sourcing whiskey from MGP isn’t a negative for us. MGP makes incredibly consistent, often delicious whiskey, and we don’t consider sourcing a ding against a producer.

Stillman’s Sonder is a 10-year-old bourbon aged in both North American oak and South American Andean oak barrels before being blended together and bottled at 94 proof. We didn’t have a mash bill available during the review.

At 94 proof, it’s a little lower than some of the whiskeys we’ve been drinking lately, particularly for a 10-year expression. But ultimately, proof only tells us so much.

This review is taken from our episode "The General / Stillman's Sonder Bourbon." Click the link to listen to this review in audio format.

Nose

Brad: The nose on this is incredibly pleasant. I found cheesecake. There’s cherry cordial. It’s got a nice caramel undertone. And the longer I spent with it, the more it kind of rounded out. There’s almost like a chai spice going on, kind of a clove-peppery, really nice, interesting nose.

I gave it an 8/10 here. I think they have something going on.

Bob: I think the two dominant notes for me, Brad, are oak—like barrel shavings, basically, like really spicy wood—and cherry cola. And we don’t typically get cherry cola on anything unless it’s like a wheated bourbon.

I don’t have the mash bill for this in front of me, but this reminds me of a Cherry Coke from my childhood on a hot summer day.

I’m really digging this. I wouldn’t say that this is necessarily a complex nose, but it’s really pleasant. It hits all those decadent, caramel notes that I love on my bourbon.

I’m gonna give this an 8/10.

Taste

Brad: I think the palate kind of came down a little bit from the nose. The clove and black pepper and chai spices were really, really present. It was very oaky for me on the palate.

It’s a really good palate. The sweetness wasn’t there. And I thought that the nose was a really nice balance of decadence and spice. And you kind of lose the decadence on the palate.

Still really tasty.

I’m gonna give it a 7.5/10 on the palate.

Bob: A lot of times when we drink something on the podcast, I’ll try it the night before and not take any notes, but just to kind of get acclimated to what we’re gonna drink.

Last night I tried a sip of this in one of those little mini-Glencairns. And today I’m drinking it in a regular-size Glencairn, and it has a completely different flavor profile to what it had last night to me.

As I tipped it into my mouth, the very first note, even before it actually got into my mouth, was like a green apple candy. Almost like those green apple suckers that are half covered in caramel that you get at Halloween time.

It reminds me of that. But it’s that sour green apple hard candy, almost like a Jolly Rancher. And that was the predominant note all the way through for me. It kept that sort of sour candy note.

And I think that as I went to swallow it at the end, that sour note—because my brain associated it with candy—it didn’t lose the sweetness for me.

But if you’re not thinking of that, I think that this experience can kind of turn that flavor profile a little bit bitter, a little bit sour on the palate.

I still like it. It doesn’t have those cherry cola, caramel notes to it. It really does stick in that green apple peel, hard candy kind of note.

Again, not super complex.

I’m gonna give it a 7/10, Brad.

Finish

Brad: When it comes to the finish, it is really oaky again. The only remaining sweet flavor for me was like a black cherry, like a really dark black cherry. There’s some cracked pepper. It’s leathery. It’s an interesting finish.

Once again, I think that nose set me up where I was really excited about the nose, and it just let down a slight bit.

So I’m gonna give it a 7.5/10 on the finish again.

Bob: I think I’m with you. I’m gonna give it a 7.5/10.

It does tip a little bit more oaky, a little bit sour, and just a tad bitter on the finish. Still pretty good. I can see where you’re getting black cherry there as well.

Balance

Brad: I think balance, I’m gonna give it a 7.5/10. I like what they’re doing. I think the flavors are interesting. It just really promised a lot on the nose.

Bob: I’m gonna give it a 7.5/10 on balance.

Overall, it’s a good product throughout. I’m with you in that the nose promised things that weren’t on the palate or the finish for me. And so there is a little bit of variance between the first part of the experience and those latter two parts.

But still a seven and a half.

Value

Stillman’s Sonder 10-Year Bourbon carries a $70 MSRP.

Brad: This is not crazy expensive, but it ain’t cheap either. And I struggled a little bit because I think if I had known that the experience would be a nice, oaky, spicy experience, I think I would have probably been a little higher on this than I was.

As it is, I think this is a really good, interesting whiskey that just doesn’t quite hit the heights I think it could.

So for me, at $70, I’ll give it a 7/10. I think it’s a decent value for what you’re getting. It’s a 10-year-old whiskey that has a lot of interesting flavors, just doesn’t quite have the sweetness I hope for out of a bourbon.

Bob: Every time I want to give it the benefit of the doubt for the price, there’s kind of a “yeah, but.”

It comes from a small operation, but it’s sourced from MGP, right? So I do think that having some of it aged in American oak and some of it aged in South American oak probably ups the price of whatever they had to pay for these barrels.

I do appreciate that they kind of hand-blended these, or picked the blend themselves, and it wasn’t just something they bought off the shelf from MGP.

$70 still seems just a little bit pricey. If this was like $55, I think I’d be much more positive about it. I don’t think they’re gouging you. I just think that there are other 10-year bourbons on the market that are a little bit more affordable that are equally as good as this.

I’m gonna give it a 6/10 on value.

Final Scores

Bob: 36/50

Brad: 37.5/50

Average Score: 36.75/50

Brad: For me, this is a recommend. I think if you’re interested in an interesting 10-year-old, oaky, spicy experience, I think this is a good buy at 70 bucks. I think if you found a pour of it at the bar, it’ll be a good pour that you’ll enjoy.

Bob: We’re coming out to an average of a 36.75, or a 73.5 out of 100. Now, if you look at that on face value, it’s like, “It’s only a 73.” But we start recommending whiskeys at that 35 mark. And if you make it to the 40 out of 50 on average mark, it’s considered like a no-brainer.

So this is right in between “yes, I recommend” and “no-brainer purchase.”

I would recommend this. I like this quite a bit. It is just a little bit—I don’t want to call it rough around the edges, because it’s not a rough drinking experience—but I feel like it could be dialed in just a little bit more.

And for me, the price point was the only thing really keeping this from hitting like a 40 out of 50 mark. So I’m gonna give Stillman’s Sonder a pretty strong recommendation here.

At Film & Whiskey, 35/50 is generally where we start recommending a whiskey—whether that means trying a pour at a bar or considering a bottle for yourself. A 40/50 is great, the territory where a bottle becomes much easier to recommend, while 45/50 is excellent and reserved for some of the best whiskeys we review.

At an average of 36.75/50, Stillman’s Sonder comfortably clears that recommendation threshold. Its excellent nose sets expectations the palate and finish don’t quite match, and the $70 price keeps it from reaching the next tier. But if an oaky, spicy 10-year bourbon with green apple, black cherry, pepper, and plenty of barrel character sounds like your kind of pour, there’s a lot here to like.