Dancing Goat Distillery Launches Stillman’s Sonder 10 Year Bourbon and American Single Malt
Dancing Goat Distillery in Cambridge, WI has announced the launch of Stillman’s Sonder, a new whiskey brand debuting with two expressions – a 10 year old Straight Bourbon and a 10 year old American Single Malt.
Stillman’s Sonder Straight Bourbon Whiskey was distilled at MGP in Indiana and aged in both Andean and American Oak barrels, with several components of the final blend seeing a double-oaked barrel process. In the 6 months before bottling, barrels were spoon proofed at times with encouraged oxidation through short fills and vatting before bottling at 94 proof (47% ABV).
Official tasting notes for Stillman’s Sonder Straight Bourbon Whiskey follow:
The nose is remarkably expressive, showing evidence of the multiple barrel strategies and layered blending. Most prominent are notes of milk chocolate, ripe strawberry, and chai tea. There is also a curious hint of the outdoors, wet stone and live wood, like a forest stream in autumn.
The palate is sweet and remarkably concentrated. It opens with brown sugar and sweet cream, touched with vanilla bean. The strawberry note is confirmed here as well, though it subsides into a more structured sweet cardamom as the palate evolves.
The finish travels extremely far on the palate. What starts as sweet and inviting meets a robust wall of oak, showcasing the precise use of several different barrel types. In the end, the milk chocolate and berry notes prevail, leaving a sense of complexity with an inviting, long, and pleasant finish.
Stillman’s Sonder American Single Malt was distilled at MGP in Indiana and aged in Wisconsin. After initial maturation, it underwent three rounds of blending, re-barreling, and finishing across a range of casks – including virgin oak, ex-bourbon, Wisconsin brandy, Cognac, and Calvados – before bottling at 96.4 proof (48.2% ABV).
Official tasting notes for Stillman’s Sonder American Single Malt follow:
The nose features a subtle, integrated oak profile, dominated by toasted dessert spices like nutmeg and allspice. Unlike bourbon, vanilla plays a backseat role here rather than taking the lead. The fruit is sweet and stewed — think peach cobbler or baked pear.
The palate is surprisingly soft and slowly evolving, holding its fruit through the mid-palate while the more exotic baking spice notes develop into vanilla bean and caramel apple. The sweetness is viscous yet delicate, like light brown sugar or a balanced custard. As the palate transitions into the finish, the fresh fruit returns, leaving a sensation of Fuji apple and spiced pear.
Stillman’s Sonder’s finish begins late, offering a longer mid-palate experience than most whiskeys. Here, the spices finally transform into a touch of heat, with vanilla bean turning to chai and toasted black peppercorn. The Fuji apple note lingers but merges with more classic, oxidative whiskey tones — showing more as mulled cider or spiced pie. Most notably, the sweetness holds its own against the heat, leaving a balanced, lingering caramel afterthought.
Stillman’s Sonder 10 Year Bourbon and 10 Year American Single Malt are now available for purchase online via stillmanssonder.com and at select U.S. retailers for a suggested retail price of $70 per 700 mL bottle. Limited single barrel selections are also available for both expressions.
Source: Dancing Goat Distillery.