Summer is here and All But Drams tradition dictates we take a look at a non-alcoholic whisky alternative to see if any of them are worth mixing with cola, as a base for your favourite cocktail, or even bold enough to be a neat serve. The journey has been a mixed bag so far with only Three Spirit’s Nightcap and Crossip Dandy Smoke coming off well.

Enter Spirits of Virtue with their Sobour Doublewood, an alternative to Bourbon that set us back £21.95 for a bottle. Being from the same people behind the dreaded Glen Dochus I didn’t have high hopes, but wanted to give them another fair shot with a different style of product. The presentation is great off the bat. Doublewood evokes Woodford Reserve and Jim Beam with its naming, whilst the bottle is serving SirDavis. The other improvement over Glen Dochus is immediately apparent when you open the bottle – the smooth  pop of a stubby synthetic cork rather than the grinding and dripping of a glass and rubber closure.

Nosing the neat liquid is unfortunately familiar. There’s notes of digestive biscuits, cheap chocolate, and vanilla. This is everything I had in Glen Dochus but it objectively isn’t as bad. There’s apples and ripe bananas coming through now instead of the same old vanilla and caramel. I am damning with faint praise here unfortunately, this still isn’t something I really want to drink.

Sobour Doublewood is not meant to be drunk neat but I tried it anyway. It’s like a sugar free caramel syrup on the palate, leading into a bitter finish that lingers and renders it undrinkable. Trying it in an Old Fashioned it’s serviceable. The nose is believable that you’re drinking an alcoholic cocktail but I suspect the orange bitters used are doing the lifting there. Again, its better than the other products from Spirits of Virtue. Oak and biscuit notes pair well with the spices and orange notes. However, the alternatives that lean more spiced like Crossip and Three Spirit are just so much better here that I cannot recommend Sobour Doublewood over them if your goal is to make Old Fashioned cocktails.

Long drinks are a little better.  Popped in some cola you get the wood and the caramel, you could convince someone this is just a very stingy joke pour of Jim Beam and cola. Glen Dochus meanwhile was a grim experience that I ended up pouring down the sink at this point. A highball with a splash of syrup is good too.

Overall, Sobour Doublewood is a workable alternative to bourbon for cocktails and mixed drinks but still pales in comparison to other products on the market. With a stylish bottle and better flavour profile than its sister product Glen Dochus, it gets a lukewarm reception from us. If you absolutely cannot stand the thought of ginger, cinnamon or light chili notes in your whisky alternative and want to stay as close to tradition as possible then this is the best option I’ve tried, but I certainly won’t buy another bottle.

This bottle was purchased from The Alcohol Free Drinks Company. All But Drams has no sponsorship from or relationship with this retailer, but we highly recommend their selection for non-alcoholic beers!