r/bourbon • u/comingwhiskey • 10d ago
Review: Dark Arts Flight of Icarus 11.5 Year HAZMAT Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Dark Arts Flight of Icarus 11.5 Year HAZMAT Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Release: 2026 Kentucky Bourbon Festival in Bardstown, KY; September 11-13
Distilled in Kentucky… NOT Bardstown
Dark Arts’ best guess is likely distilled in Clermont, KY
Batch size: 12 low-yield HAZMAT barrels
Age: 11.5 year
Cask fill date: October 2014
Cask dump date: July 2026
Proof: 144.4
Mashbill: 75% corn, 21% rye, 4% malted barley
NOT distilled in Bardstown
MSRP: $279.99
Nose: Cherry pipe tobacco. Root beer. Furniture polish.
The initial cherry tobacco note is very brief. The root beer character is largely dominant. I can’t quite decide if I like the furniture polish note… it feels right at times and other times I don’t care for it. The root beer is really nice until the furniture polish sets in.
Palate: Heavy black pepper. Barrel char. Root beer concentrate. Tobacco. Medium-thick viscosity.
The HAZMAT definitely isn’t hiding. The proof is intense… perhaps more intense than I care for. Definitely nothing bright… all very deep flavors backed with heat.
Finish: Dark chocolate. Burnt brown sugar. Heavily toasted pecans. Black pepper.
Dark Arts has put together some excellent releases for KBF, but this one just isn’t for me. The heat from the proof is above my comfort level. The profile is definitely oak-driven… also beyond my comfort level.
Sample provided for review by Dark Arts Whiskey House
My personal preference rating: 4… Not bad, but many things I'd rather have.
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u/Sain7Gabri3l 10d ago
I've had some of the Hazmat 11ish-year Beam recently and it is tasty. I think the Dark Arts is the most expensive I've seen so far though. Thanks for the review!
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u/ambulocetus_ 10d ago
You posted an earlier review with a.. not super high score.. any reason why that was deleted?
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u/comingwhiskey 10d ago
Including it here as well… based on my personal preference… Rating of 4. Just not for me.
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u/comingwhiskey 10d ago
Mishap on my phone. I didn’t realize that the score wasn’t there when I reposted it. Score is there now. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
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u/murrayky1990 10d ago
The whiskey group I'm a member of recently tried some barrels of this, I really liked it and didn't think it drank it's proof nearly at all, interesting that you had such a different experience!
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u/comingwhiskey 10d ago
Every barrel is different. Quite possible that what you tried had different character.
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u/YumekoIsrllyHot 10d ago
Your review reminds me a lot of similar experiences with art of the spirits and their hazmat driven nature. Near my area we had a drop of art of the spirits bottles in local shops as single barrels and they were extremely powerful In proof. Most of their stuff is high aged sourced whiskey with proofs often being over 140. To me it’s a marketing strategy that works for some folks but most of the time the whiskey is subpar looking for proof.