Dogfish head brewing is one of the most well known and well respected breweries on the planet. Over the years they’ve built up a reputation for putting out uniquely off center beers that always manage to be fantastic and enjoyable. They’re beers like 120 minute IPA and World Wide Stout are legendary in the beer world and both undoubtedly raised the bar for their respective styles. but one thing I’ve always wondered is if a brewery can also make exceptional spirits? 

Dogfish Head’s venture into the world of spirits had already given us several whiskeys. Prior to Let’s Get Lost I’ve only tried 1 of those offerings and I remember it being a very enjoyable pour. When I was offered a chance to try their new whiskey I was definitely excited. 

Putting Let’s Get Lost in a glass I was intrigued with the color.  This whiskey poured a beautiful deep copper color and just slightly clinged to the glass.  Let’s Get Lost spent 3 years in a new charred oak barrel and it pulled a really nice color in that time.  

When I’m sampling a whiskey I like to do two passes on the nose first before really diving into the spirit. The first is right out the bottle fresh in the glass looking for as much intensity as possible. The second would be after 5 to 10 minutes once the whiskey has had a moment to breathe and open up. 

On my first pass Immediately i was picking apple on the nose of Let’s Get Lost.  What’s fun is I got both a fresh apple, like that of an apple from a local orchard, but then it was followed with a candy apple note that paired nicely. Aside from apple I was also finding notes of banana, lemon or orange zest, a very light smoke, and a pleasant clean grassy note.  On my second pass nosing the spirit I was mainly finding the apple and the citrus, still extremely pleasant.  

The flavor profile on this American single malt is absolutely delicious.  Of course the apple that was so prominent on the nose came through in full force for me.  This was not only expected but definitely enjoyable. That flavor profile paired up with baking spices, a malty caramel note, and hints of unsweetened or baking cinnamon. 

I had enough of this precious liquid left to manage a second glass of Let’s Get Lost.  I decided it’d be best to give it a day or so between sampling to see if the whiskey evolves at all once the bottle was opened.  On the nose I’m still getting the same apple and citrus notes, still very enjoyable.  What was dramatically more present on the second glass was the baking spices that were more mellow the first time around. In fact, this time I would go as far to say that the cinnamon note is almost prominent in comparison to the other flavors.  Basically this turned into a delicious 102 proof apple pie in a glass, wonderful!

More often than not when I see a brewery attempting spirits I usually set my expectations pretty low. Dogfish Head is definitely setting themselves apart with this. Let’s Get Lost is a fantastic whiskey that is friendly and approachable while still providing a complexity and depth that is sure to intrigue any whiskey lover. Unfortunately for me, Let’s Get Lost is not available in my market. Luckily for me, I am making a trip east in a few weeks and I can promise I’ll be on the hunt for a bottle of this beautiful whiskey to add to myself.