If you’ve ever been to southwest Michigan, you may have noticed that there is no shortage of breweries or wineries. Among that crowded crowd of spirits, though, one name stands out: Journeyman. Located in the village of Three Oaks, the Journeyman distillery boasts a restaurant, event space, and even a large putting green at its facility — and all of this in addition to a Cracker Barrel-esque gift shop for those of us who love whiskey.

Needless to say, I didn’t leave that shop empty handed.

History

On the history page of the Journeyman website there is a lot of detail about Three Oaks, Michigan — originally called Chamberlain Siding and later renamed for the trees that acted as a landmark for train engineers along their route. However, I’m going to start our historical review back in 2000 when Bill Welter made a visit to Scotland.

Initially drawn by the ancient Scottish golf courses, it was in Scotland where Welter met Greg Ramsey, a Tasmanian with a passion for Scotch. The two formed a friendship over whiskey, and later when Ramsey turned an old grain mill into a distillery in Bothwell, Tasmania, Welter made sure to come visit. One visit turned into several, with Welter gaining valuable distilling experience along the way.

To further hone his distilling skills, Welter turned to the master distiller of Chicago’s Koval distillery, Robert Birnecker, and made his first batch of rye whiskey. Things move quickly from there, with Welter and his father, Chuck, acquiring part of the old Featherbone Factory in 2010. The factory is the former production site of the Warren Featherbone Company, a company that produced a product primarily in the stays for women’s corsets to replace whalebone. 

A year later, in 2011, Journeyman Distillery open its doors.

The space continued to expand as the distillery acquired additional space in the former factory building.  In 2015 the Staymaker Restaurant was opened, distillery space expanded, and as a result the distillery gained the capacity to host large events with catering. In 2018, aligned with Welter’s love of golf, Welter’s Folly was added. It was the largest putting green in the world not affiliated with a golf course, allowing guests to sip and putt the day away.

Continued expansion continues even now, with the 2023 opening of a similar complex in Valparaiso, IN. Much like its Three Oaks counterpart, the American Factory is a distillery, restaurant, and event space combination. (It even boats a brewery called Sea of Monsters.)

Product

• Learn More: What Is Bourbon Whiskey?

All of the spirits that come out of Journeyman start with locally sourced, organic grain from the Midwest and untreated water from an underground aquifer. The goal is to encapsulate the feel of the small village of Three Oaks.

Featherbone Bourbon is named in honor of the stays for women’s corsets that were once manufactured in the same facility over 100 years ago. To make this whiskey, Journeyman uses a mashbill of 70% corn, 25% wheat, and 5% rye. These grains are milled and placed into a cooker along with water sourced from the local underground aquifer to create a sugary mix. After cooking, yeast is added to the mash allowing it to ferment and convert those sugars into alcohol. 

It’s not clear what is used to distill this whiskey, as the distillery has both a pot still and two column stills. Regardless of the vessel, the whiskey is distilled to a clear strong new make spirit, which is then transferred to a new charred American oak barrel (as per the requirement for bourbon). There is no aging statement listed, so we can’t be sure how long this whiskey stays in the barrel.

Packaging

As is common in smaller distilleries, Journeyman uses a fairly basic bottle. It’s a medium height bottle with a rectangular base and curved corners, as well as a sharp shoulder leading to a very stout neck. Overall, it’s nothing special, but it is very economical — one of my favorite elements of this bottle is the packing density. As I mentioned at the top, I left with several bottles from the gift store and the consistent size and shape made fitting them in a small box easy.

So if each Journeyman whiskey product uses the exact same bottle, how to easily visually distinguish them? The big difference between them all is the color palate of the label and the wax used to seal the top. (Which, since we are mentioning it: I hate the damned wax-dipped bottles. This goes for the OG Maker’s Mark, too. It’s often harder to open, and when you get it open, you’re left with a craggy ring of wax that you have to pour around. Can we just stop this nonsense?)

This Featherbone bourbon uses a creamy yellow color theme. It starts with the (stupid) wax at the top of the bottle and is carried down throughout the label. Ultimately, I would prefer they use a smaller label – this one takes up over 80% of the face of the bottle, and the whiskey itself is lost behind this monstrosity. But while I dislike it, I get it from a marketing perspective. We’ve seen something similar from FEW Spirits – intricate labels are used to help differentiate products in the same bottle… but my understanding doesn’t mean I am a fan. 

Neat

Given the high corn content of this bourbon, I am not surprised to get strong sweet aromas coming from the glass. It subtly reminds me of a Reese’s cup — and not in a Skrewball whiskey way, but in an actually good way. There are tones of chocolate and a nutty flavor that my nose automatically associates with the chocolate and peanut butter of a Reese’s.

I am a little surprised as how bold the first sip comes across, seemingly in contrast to the sweetness of the aroma. It’s definitely sweet, but the chocolate is not as strong as it was on the nose — it’s more along the lines of a caramel flavor. It’s very spicy, however, giving notes of frosted flakes cereal, baking spices, and roasted peanuts.

It has a slight burn on the finish, but not at all in a bad way. 

Overall, I am not wowed by this bourbon, but I don’t dislike it either. It’s feels very middle-of-the-road. I first tasted this bourbon in a cocktail at the distillery and had a very positive first impression, so the lackluster tasting notes when I started a proper review were a surprise. But it makes me interested to see how this develops through our testing.

On Ice

A little ice goes a long way to tame the spiciness of this bourbon. Like the corners of the bottle, the rough spicy edges get smoothed down into a gentle curve.

You get a lot more of the sweetness in this bourbon now — including some hints of the chocolate that I picked up on the nose. I still get caramel and baking spices, but the roasted peanut is much more subdued on the rocks. I also start to pick out some more fruity notes, which remind me of a dull citrus or sour apple.

I enjoy this much more on the rocks than neat, and it’s not even close. Tasted neat, this bourbon reminds me of a hyperactive child that still has not found solid footing. Adding some ice starts to mellow the whole thing down. It makes me wonder how much help a little more time in the barrel could do (not that we know how long it sits in the barrel today), as that could mellow the flavors and provide more of that balance I’m hoping to taste.

Cocktail (Old Fashioned)

I first had this bourbon in a cocktail called Blood Pressure while dining at the Staymaker restaurant. It was served in a smoked glass and mixed with allspice-dram, simple syrup, bitters, and a blood orange ice cube. It was a bit much, but it was delicious. I am happy to say this whiskey is just as good in a traditional old fashioned without all that hullabaloo.

Depending on how you make this, I could see this drink quickly becoming too sweet. I used about half of the normal amount of sugar when I made this old fashioned, and even with that adjustment it’s still a sweeter cocktail, but not overly so. You can still pick out the notes of chocolate, caramel, and baking spices. The peanut flavor is overwritten with the angostura, and that citrus note is enhanced by the orange zest.

This bourbon makes a solid old fashioned – it’s not going to wow you, but it will still be enjoyable. 

Fizz (Mule)

If we started this review with a low note (sipping this neat), then apparently we must also end it on a low note because this is where it all falls apart.

The introduction of a bright and effervescent ginger beer overwhelms the bourbon. For starters, the chocolate notes and the ginger beer do not play well together at all — this is all just bitter and conflicting flavors. There are some caramel notes to be found, but they are lost and without true contribution to the cocktail. 

To be completely candid, I could not finish this cocktail. It was condemned to the sewers, and my rinsed glass was filled with ice and bourbon: the best way to drink this bottle. 

Overall Rating

This bottle was not great neat, and truly terrible in a Kentucky mule — but it was good on the rocks and in an old fashioned (and old fashioned derivative cocktails). It’s solidly middle-of-the-road but was a great rocks sipper as you relax, maybe sitting around the fire on a Michigan summer evening.

The problem is that it’s a $50 bottle of bourbon – and for that price point, I expect something with a little more style and something more interesting to say.    

The good news is that I also had a whiskey flight while visiting and tasted some very promising whiskey. (Hence the shopping spree at their version of the “old country store”.) So stay tuned for future reviews as we slowly sip our way through all of my Journeyman purchases.

All reviews are evaluated within the context of their specific spirit classification as specified above. Click here to check out similar spirits we have reviewed.

Overall Rating: 3/5
Best served on the rocks — because this bourbon gets better once it cools off and stops trying so hard.