🪽The Angels Took My Whiskey... But the Devil Stole More

💥 Every drop that disappears tells a story… and so does the one that stays behind.

Let me tell you something that might just change the way you sip your next glass.

You’re not just drinking whiskey.

You’re drinking what the angels left behind… and what the devil didn’t steal.

There’s a little war going on inside every barrel. One side takes flight, the other clings to wood. And what ends up in your glass? That’s the survivor. The hero. The legend.

📖 The Story

🚪 I remember my first solo walk through a rickhouse.

It was dead quiet—just the soft creak of timber and the hum of Kentucky humidity. Then it hit me: that smell.

Warm oak. Sweet vanilla. Caramel ghosts. Whiskey in the air.

That wasn’t just aroma. That was whiskey leaving.

“Ah,” an old distiller said behind me, like he’d been waiting for that moment. “The angels are taking their share.”

At the time, I thought he was just being poetic.

Turns out, he was telling the gospel truth.

🕊️ When whiskey ages, it breathes.

Barrels aren’t airtight. They’re porous oak—alive, in a way. As whiskey sits, time and temperature pull it in and out of the wood. And some of it? It vanishes.

That’s the Angel’s Share—the part that evaporates, rising like a spirit itself into the rafters.

It’s a sacrifice to time.

• In Kentucky, you’ll lose 5–7% in the first year alone.

• In Scotland, it’s slower—just 2% per year. But over 30–40 years? That adds up.

• Some barrels are half full—or less—by the time they’re ready to pour.

Yes, we lose volume. But we gain depth. What’s left becomes richer, more concentrated, more magical.

😈 And then there’s the Devil’s Cut.

While the angels take their flight, the devil digs in his heels.

Some whiskey seeps into the wood, where it stays trapped deep in the staves. It doesn’t vanish. It lingers—bold, oaky, powerful.

Jim Beam even bottled this concept, using a special method to pull that trapped whiskey back out. Gimmick? Maybe. But the idea? Absolutely real.

• Angel’s Share = the whiskey that’s gone to the sky

• Devil’s Cut = the whiskey trapped in the barrel

• Your pour = what survived both

And that’s the story in your glass: a spirit shaped by loss, heat, time, and tenacity.

It’s chemistry. It’s poetry. And if you ask me?

It’s a damn miracle. 🥃

🥇 The Weekly Pour

Bottle: Heaven’s Door Double Barrel Whiskey
Price: ~$50
Proof: 100
Age: ~6 years (blend of 3 whiskeys aged separately, then finished together)

Nose: Toasted oak, baking spice, vanilla bean
Palate: Caramel, dark cherry, cinnamon bark
Finish: Medium-long, with warming spice and a whisper of charred wood

✅ Finished in toasted barrels for extra depth
✅ Balanced blend of straight whiskeys for complexity
✅ Backed by Bob Dylan’s own brand—story in the bottle, story in the pour

🛒 Buy it now → $47.99 at Craft Spirit Shop

🍹The Art of Mixing

Cocktail: The Heaven & Hell Old Fashioned

A riff on the classic Old Fashioned, this drink honors both the angels and the devil. It’s smooth up front, with a slow-burn finish that leaves a mark. Just like a good story.

Ingredients

• 2 oz Heaven’s Door Double Barrel Whiskey

• 1 bar spoon demerara syrup

• 2 dashes orange bitters

• 1 dash chocolate bitters

• 1 bar spoon mezcal (float)

• Orange peel

• Ice (large cube)

Instructions

1. Add whiskey, demerara syrup, and bitters to a mixing glass with ice. Stir until well-chilled.

2. Strain into a rocks glass over a large cube.

3. Float a spoonful of mezcal on top — the devil’s kiss.

4. Express the orange peel over the glass, rub the rim, and drop it in.

Tip: Light the orange peel briefly with a match before expressing for added smoke — like a whisper from the rickhouse rafters.

🍖 Flavor Pairing Picks

Pair it with:

🍗 Smoked brisket with molasses glaze — The sweet, sticky bark matches the char-heavy heat of this barrel-proof beast.
🍑 Bourbon pecan pie — Rich, syrupy dessert meets spice-forward depth. Perfect holiday pairing.
💨 Arturo Fuente Hemingway — Toasty, balanced, and smooth enough to cool the whiskey’s fire.

🧠 Big Lesson of the Week

Great whiskey isn’t made—it’s earned.
Time takes its share. The devil steals his cut.
But the best of the barrel? That’s what you pour.

🥂 Final Toast

Here’s to the angels above, the devil below, and the barrel in between.

🥃 Repeatable Proverb

“What the angels take, the devil can’t keep—and what’s left is whiskey worth the wait.”

📖 The Whiskey Journal Is Here

For those of us who believe every bottle tells a story worth writing down.

I finally released The Art of the Pour Official Whiskey Tasting Journal—the same one I use to jot down:

🖋️ Tasting notes, barrel picks, and “finally cracked it open” moments
🗓️ First pours with friends
🧠 Thoughts that hit halfway through a good pour

🎁 And because I love a good surprise, I’m throwing in a free printable Whiskey Tasting Wheel—yep, the one folks keep asking about from past newsletters.

Already a subscriber? You’re first in line.
👉 Get the Journal + Free Whiskey Wheel

Now Its Your Turn

Have a bottle that gave up too much to the angels—or one where the devil left his mark?

🍷 Comment below and tell me about it.
⭐ Save this issue if it added some flavor to your week.
📤 Share it with a friend who’s always asking why whiskey changes over time.

Cheers to fall nights, slow pours, and the stories behind every bottle,

Ethan “Neat” Whitmore

P.S. Next week, we talk about “The Bottle That Should’ve Been a Dud”—and how time turned it into a tear-jerker. 👀🥃