Song Dog – Small Batch Bourbon Review

About Song Dog Distillery

Song Dog Distillery is a true farm-to-glass operation tucked into Montgomery County’s 93,000-acre Agricultural Reserve. Eleven years in the making, the distillery officially opened its doors in October 2025 on a 29-acre working farm in Boyds, Maryland — bringing grain, fermentation, distillation, aging, and hospitality together under one deeply agricultural vision.

Founded in 2014 by husband-and-wife team David Harris and Megan Draheim, with Kristian Naslund as Head Distiller, Song Dog’s path was anything but linear. Early plans in Rockville were derailed by COVID, prompting a pivot that ultimately defined the project: relocating to farmland and fully embracing sustainability, terroir, and long-term whiskey making. What began as a setback became the foundation of the brand.

Everything alcoholic poured at Song Dog is made in-house and kosher, guided by a rigorous farm-to-glass philosophy. Grains are grown onsite and sourced from nearby farms, groundwater is recycled back into crops, and spent grain is returned to local livestock. Their barrel program — built around four custom Independent Stave Company profiles and a deliberate balance of high-char/low-toast and low-char/high-toast barrels — aims to build texture and depth earlier in the aging process without sacrificing balance or drinkability.

That philosophy shows clearly in the glass. Song Dog’s 4–5 year whiskeys already display a maturity and density beyond their age, shaped by thoughtful blending, custom barreling, and an operation now fully transitioned to its intended in-house model. With open fermentation underway and barrels aging onsite, this is only the beginning of Song Dog’s most defining chapter.

For a deeper look at the distillery, people, and process, you can read my full visit recap here → [A Visit to Song Dog Distillery – Boyds, MD]

Song Dog Bourbon is highly approachable and unapologetically sweet, yet more layered than its age might imply. The density and cohesion suggest careful blending and thoughtful barrel management — techniques that appear to subtly replicate some of the textural polish often associated with the Lincoln County Process (without formally claiming it).

For fans of cherry-forward bourbons or Tennessee-adjacent profiles, this is an easy-drinking, crowd-pleasing pour that overdelivers for its age bracket.

Presentation

Song Dog Bourbon arrives in a uniquely shaped bottle that gently widens toward the neck, giving it a grounded, almost agricultural silhouette that feels intentional rather than ornamental. The bottle is topped with a custom faux-wood stopper adorned with the Song Dog logo, reinforcing the brand’s connection to land and craft.

A glass-inset emblem on the bottle adds a premium, tactile touch, while the label itself carries an almost holographic sheen that shifts subtly in the light. Dominating the design is a large, stylized ear of corn—an unmistakable visual cue to Song Dog’s farm-to-glass ethos and its reliance on locally grown grain. Altogether, the presentation strikes a thoughtful balance between modern polish and rural authenticity, clearly communicating where this whiskey comes from before the cork is ever pulled.

Distinctiveness

While Song Dog Bourbon shares some DNA with cherry- and caramel-forward Tennessee whiskies, it remains a distinctly regional product. There are low-simmering, herbaceous notes reminiscent of Maryland rye — an influence tied directly to local grain sourcing — but the similarities stop there.

Song Dog’s production choices, from its aging environment to its use of multiple custom Independent Stave Company barrel profiles, go beyond marketing language and clearly register in the glass.

The true small-batch nature of the blending further separates it from the pack. Built through a semi-solera-style approach — starting with a nine-barrel blend, split and recombined with additional barrels in successive stages — no two batches will ever be identical. That variability, paired with intentional blending, adds a layered depth that feels thoughtful rather than experimental.

Transparency & Value

Transparency is where Song Dog Distillery truly shines. Grain sourcing, distillation methods, barrel specifications, and even blend composition down to barrel count and char/toast levels are openly shared — exactly what you hope to see from a grain-to-glass producer.

From a value perspective, the bourbon lands near the widely cited “$10 per year” benchmark. Considering the true small-batch scale, farm-to-glass production, batch-to-batch variation, and overall quality — especially for a distillery that has only recently brought its full vision in-house — this represents a strong value proposition in the craft bourbon space.

Buy if:

• You enjoy cherry-forward, caramel-driven bourbons with a soft, polished texture
• Tennessee-style profiles appeal to you, but you want something distinctly regional
• Transparency in sourcing, blending, and barrel strategy matters to you
• You appreciate small-batch variability and semi-solera-style depth

Skip if:

• You prefer high-proof, aggressively oaked, or heavily spice-dominant bourbons
• You’re looking for extreme age statements or bold experimental finishes
• Consistency between batches matters more to you than character and evolution

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