Background

It’s been over the year since I’ve checked in on the Stagg line, and that store pick did not really land for me. Most of my Stagg (formerly Jr) experiences prior to that pick have been absolutely knock out offerings, I enjoyed Batches 14 through 17 with startling consistency. But these being not exactly the easiest bottles to obtain, my run-ins with Stagg (Jr) and reviews have come in fits and starts. I’ve been itching to compare another store pick to one of the main batches.

So here we have two offerings, one Batch 22A and the other a 2022 store pick from Liquor Barn. By the way, apparently Stagg batches kind of jumped the shark. The internet tells me Batch 22B was released before batch 22A, and then we dropped a numbered order and just went by year. I can't wait for some bourbon historian in 2053, assuming we’re all not roving a climate change induced wasteland fighting for gasoline, to try and figure out what happened to batches 20 and 21 only to find out they never existed. Anyways, two Stagg offerings, both released in the same year. Both shall enter, one will emerge victorious…

Background

It’s your resident Peerless shill here back for another review! One of the best things about Whiskey Row in Louisville is that the proximity of everything means you can just pop into distilleries and see what's up. You never know what bottle releases or distillery-only tastings you might find, and so stopping by Peerless on the way to our recent Old Forester pick was a no brainer.

And credit to Peerless, they did not disappoint! Not only do they consistently have new distillery only single barrels, they recently launched a new “express tasting” option. Perfect for an awkward amount of time between more formal tours and tastings, you can now swing by for a 15-20 minute tasting where you’ll pick two pours from a lineup of current offerings (was six when we were there). Before this review gets to be a longer read then the tasting itself, let’s get into the notes!

Background

Much like Eminem with Dre, it’s time for the Batman to my Robin to return for another joint review. Jonathan Glover is back (back again) and this time we’re tackling last weekend’s Jack Rose Wild Turkey tasting. Same deal as last time, we are going to get right into the notes since it’s double trouble on each pour. Gobble, gobble!

Background

It’s time to check in on the latest and greatest from Seelbach’s Private Reserve series! Back in April, I took a look at Batch 004, which is a 9 year Amburana finished bourbon. The short summary is I really enjoyed it, even though I’ve been pretty mixed and/or out on the deluge of Amburana finishes that are so hot right now.

Seelbach’s churns out some pretty radical experiments under this line. Batch 003, for instance, was finished in Triple Sec & Pinot Meunier Champagne barrels, and this batch is no exception. To start, they sourced four year bourbon from Bardstown… which we can guesstimate came from Heaven Hill based on the location and the mashbill (78/10/12). Those barrels traveled down to Florida where they spent an extra six months aging in the fourth circle of hell. Ten barrels were then blended together, and from that blend two toasted French Oak barrels and two ex-bourbon maple syrup barrels are filled (with the rest of the blend being saved for a future project). After 3 months of finishing they put together the final blend, which ended up being a 60/40 ratio of bourbon French Oak to maple syrup. Ok, clearly Seelbach's worked hard on this so let's reward that effort with some notes!

Background

Thanks to my Colorado based brother in law, this will be my first time tasting and reviewing anything from Stranahan’s. Before we dive into notes from this offering, let’s start with some background info:

• Stranahan’s American Single Malt whiskey is 100% grain to glass made exclusively in Colorado. They use 100% Rocky Mountain barley and Rocky Mountain spring water during distillation.

• Their flagship single malt whiskey enters the barrel at 110 proof. It is then aged a minimum of four years in #3 char, American Oak barrels.

• For this release, they take that flagship whiskey and tack on 3 extra years of aging in used, Bushmills Irish Single Malt barrels.

I’ll be honest, I feel an odd guilt and/or FOMO at jumping straight into this offering without trying the flagship American Single Malt first, but whatever trying things is fun and I’m excited to see how this experiment ends up.

Background

The last time I took a look at honey cask finishes, I bemoaned my inability to try the Holy Grail of them - Belle Meade Honey Cask. Now to be clear, I made my peace with that likely never happening. It’s an absurdly difficult bottle to obtain, carrying a steep ~$1k secondary price. It’s also not exactly sitting on many bar shelves waiting to be ordered by the pour, and since Belle Meade Honey Cask is now Nelson Bros Honey Cask, I figured that was that. So when an opportunity to review a sample of this 2020 release presented itself, I jumped on it.

Now before we get to the notes, some quick details on how Belle Meade put this together. First, they send their empty MGP sourced bourbon barrels to TruBee Honey Farm in Tennessee. They then use those barrels to produce barrel-aged honey. TruBee sends them back, where Belle Meade fills them back up with some delicious, double digit aged MGP juice for finishing an extra 6-8 months. Let’s taste through this end result!

Background

Coming to you live, and by live I mean two weeks late, from the Jack Rose High West Tasting! Honestly, it's pretty tough to beat the cost of this one. $25 to taste through five whiskeys, not a bad way to spend a random Tuesday evening! We even got to take home a High West Glencairn, so big thanks to the Jack Rose team for putting this on. Will keep it short and sweet in the intro since all five whiskeys are reviewed below!

Background

Heaven Hill Select Stock, the elusive distillery only release from Heaven Hill. Typically available through their You Do Bourbon experience, this is Heaven Hill’s primary way of getting experimental releases to the market. Which is ironic given these two releases are arguably two of the less experimental options released! Here we have:

• A 14 year old bourbon, aged in tapered stave barrels. What’s a tapered stave barrel? Well, if you can find a picture of it let me know but for once, extensive Googling has failed me. The staves are apparently tapered down to end up with a barrel that’s slightly more diamond shaped and has about half the capacity as a normal barrel. Credit to redditor u/Old_Riff_502 for the prior review that laid a bunch of this out!

• A 14 year old wheat whiskey. You know that Bernheim Barrel Proof Wheat Whiskey that Heaven Hill launched as its own product line this year? Instead of 7-9 years aging, this release cranks it up to 14 years.

How will these compare? Let’s dig into each and find out!

Background

u/mothlight64 and I are activating our Wonder Twin powers in the form of a joint review of the most recent Jack Rose Willett tasting! Fun fact: we did not share notes before writing this. We merely set up a shared Google doc and dumped our notes in, so it was fun to see the overlap and differences. Not going to waste any more time on the intro since below you’ll find BOTH of our notes for each of the six whiskeys in the tasting.

Background

“For more than 65 years, aging our whisky for a decade-plus wasn’t something we did. It’s not that we didn’t believe in it; we simply hadn’t found a way to do it that didn’t compromise on our taste vision – until now.” - Rob Samuels. Naturally this begs the question, how did Maker’s arrive at a process they felt did not comprise their taste vision? Here's some background on how this new release came to be:

• First, the whiskey ages approximately six years in traditional bourbon warehouses.

• From there, the barrels are moved into the distillery’s whisky cellar for an additional five to six years.

• The 11 and 12 year barrels are then blended, 13% and 87%, respectively, into this year's release.

It’s worth noting that, while this is the blend for 2023, Maker’s makes sure to call out that the maturation process won’t change moving forward, but the blend of aged whiskey might. It's interesting to take a moment and parse this choice, as it allows them to take an approach similar to Four Roses Limited Edition, where the blend changes annually and gives enthusiasts a chance to compare and contrast vintages. Maker's could have simply gone with "Maker's X Year" and put the age front and center, but instead they put the focus on the craft while noting the age. We will have to wait another twelve months to start to see how this shakes out, but it leaves the door nicely open for variance. Now, onto the review!

Background

Oh Arby’s, you beef and cheddar purveying svengalis you! I’ve had my share of unfortunate road trip bowel movements after being drawn in by your advertisements. A not too long ago drive to Florida comes immediately to mind, but give it another year or two of being bombarded by your meat sweaty commercials and I’ll be ready to get hurt again.

In the interim, I find myself staring down this sample of Arby’s Smoked Bourbon. I’ll be honest, I’m a sucker for a good gimmick. My friends and I got good and drunk off an entire suite of (mostly terrible) celebrity whiskeys. So when a buddy offered to pour me some Arby’s bourbon to review, of course I leaped at the opportunity. If you want to know anything actually important about this whiskey, I suggest you read Bourbon Culture’s excellent review breaking down the sourcing and process that went into crafting this salacious smoky sipper. Otherwise, bust out your curly fries, saddle up your horsey sauce, and let’s get into the notes!

Background

Almost a year ago exactly, curiosity killed my wallet (but blessed my palate) and I was finally able to review two entries of WhistlePig’s famed Boss Hog series, VII and VIII. One of the goals of that review was to see how the whiskey stacked up against WhistlePig’s five promises for its Boss Hog series:

• Single barrel

• Bottled at proof

• Distinctly unique from anything they’ve done before

• “Powerfully complex”

• “It will be stupendous” 

As noted in my last review, three of those are pretty tangible. This is a single barrel (31), bottled at proof (103.4), and checks notes WhistlePig hasn't put out a Greek Fig Nectar & Tentura finished rye before (more on those finishes in a second). The last two, however, are totally subjective so let’s dig into them!

Simply looking at the process for Boss Hog IX, it’s hard to say they didn't at least swing for the fences. Let’s start with something of an elephant in the room- the fact that this is dubbed a “well aged rye.” Naturally you might think “how well aged?” Great question, hypothetical reader! For the first time in the series, WhistlePig won't tell you. The writing was on the wall here with Boss Hog VIII, where they dropped the age from the bottle but disclosed it on a hidden page you could only get to once you registered your bottle. They take that “well aged rye” and slumber (their word not mine, but god I love how decadent their copywriters are) it in casks that previously held Greek Fig Nectar and tentura they made themselves. If it’s your first time seeing the word "tentura”, don’t worry, it’s mine too so I’ve Googled it for us: “a traditional liqueur from Patras, Greece. It's made by infusing brandy or rum with herbs and spices, such as cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and citrus fruit.” Ok that’s the process, let’s now judge the end result…

Background

Jim Beam week from me! Earlier this week covered some excellent, extra old releases from Beam, and this review tackles a big wine and sherry month straight from the Jim Beam Barreled and Boxed program! First up, we have Legent Yamazaki Cask Finish Blend, and man is this one a PROCESS. To hear the back of the box tell it:

• Fred Noe sends bourbon to Japan (the “forested hills of the Yamazaki Distillery”, to be exact).

• Shinji Fukuyo finishes some of the bourbon in French oak wine casks, some in Spanish oak sherry casks. This is similar to the original Legent, which used the same finishes and blended it with a third part straight bourbon.

• Fred and Shinji select ex-Yamazaki sherry casks and use them to finish a third portion of bourbon.

• All three finished bourbons are blended together with a FOURTH part straight bourbon, leading to the bottle we have here.

Ok obviously a fair bit of wine influence involved in the crafting of Legent Yamazaki, and the same can be said about the third Distillers’ Share release. This is a blend of bourbon finished in red wine and Oloroso sherry casks. Unlike Legent though, this is just a straight forward, four year old blend of the two finished bourbons. With that, let’s get into the notes!

Background

Welcome to an unofficial Jim Beam week from me! I had planned to review these two for a while now, and then serendipitously my next Jim Beam Barreled and Boxed delivery just arrived as well. Later this week I’ll continue my running review series covering each of those shipments. But for now, let’s jump right into some background on these two whiskeys: Jim Beam Lineage and Hardin’s Creek: Clermont.

Lineage started out as exclusive to Travel Retail, but at some point they started offering it at the distillery gift shop as well. Fortunately, on a recent trip through KY it was available, so here we are! Ironically, I can't even find this release on either the main Jim Beam website or the James B. Beam Distilling website (aka the one clearly marketed to whiskey nerds). I’ll take a brief moment to do my “old man yells at clouds” bit and implore some of these big producers to do a stupid and obvious thing- make stuff easier to find on your website! Anyways, it’s a 15 year collaboration between Fred and Freddie Noe- hence the name Lineage- clocking in at 111 proof. It’s consistently striking to me how much high age statement whiskey Jim Beam must have available, and this is obviously no exception.

Which brings us too… Hardin’s Creek: Clermont. It’s kind of impossible to write about this Clermont release without delving into what Beam has planned for the Hardin’s Creek line this year, all of which can be found on… god damn it a third website! They have another site specific to the Hardin's Creek line. If this review is starting to feel all over the place, it’s because it is, but no more or less so than Beam Suntory’s website organization! While I may be annoyed with Beam on that front, I’m anything but with the direction they are taking the Hardin’s Creek line. This year will see three, separate, 17 year releases under the Hardin’s Creek label: Clermont, Frankfurt, and Boston. Each represents a different Jim Beam campus, with a goal of exploring the terroir created by the various microclimates between them. This one, of course, comes from the Clermont campus. A minor note that I appreciate, this Hardin’s Creek release takes the busy label first displayed with Jacob’s Well and makes it more of a feature than a bug. It is adorned with facts about the region, such as the average humidity, wind speed, latitude, longitude and more. Ok, enough website complaining and release facts, onto the reviews!

Background

Getting to know Westland better has been high on my 2023 to do list. With the legal definition of American Single Malt imminent and a trip to Seattle already booked, the timing aligned perfectly for a tour and tasting! Touring Westland, what immediately jumps out is how deliberate and distinct every step of their process is. Various cask experiments and different malt types can be seen front and center throughout the distillery, and the output are whiskeys with very distinct flavors. The desire to shape American Single Malt and instill a Pacific Northwest footprint on it (almost literally- there is a bootprint on their still) is everywhere. It's exciting to see in person, and it’s also front and center on their website.

You’ll start the tour walking through six different malt types, then through the vast majority of their production process- I think the only thing we did not see is barrels being filled or dumped/bottled. Throughout the tour you’ll hear tons about their Washington state and Pacific Northwest sourcing methods, everything from the peat to the local tap (not reverse osmosis) water. Solum, notes on it below, even uses local peated malt. Post tour, we rolled into tasting through four* delicious whiskeys, notes on which are below!

Background

Time to check in on another excellent Jack Rose tasting, this one covering Beam brands new and old… kind of! Quick note that National Distillers, which produced these 1970s Old Crow and Old Grand-Dad offerings, was acquired by Beam in 1987. Beam owns these brands now, but didn't at the time these two of the 6 whiskeys we're reviewing were produced. Rather than an extended background into, let's get into the notes for each pour and I've layered in some fun facts gleaned from the tasting and/or just about the the bottles throughout!

Background

We’re back with more Jack! I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect to spend my summer crushing a bunch of Jack Daniel’s rye, but honestly it’s July, we have the 4th, fireworks, cookouts, and JACK DANIELS. ‘Murica. My previous two looks at Jack Daniel’s covered their 10 and 12 year releases, and, just last week, Special Release Rye vs Single Barrel Barrel Strength Rye.

These two offerings come from Jack Daniel’s “Distillery Selection Series,” which is a pretty self-evident title. Available only within Tennessee, this is JD’s way of rolling some experiments out to the market. Previously called “Tennessee Taster’s”, past releases include unique offerings such as a Red Wine and Hickory Smoke finished Tennessee Whiskey. Let’s redo a fun game I started in my 10 and 12 year JD review: find a list of these Distillery Selection offerings on JD’s website…

On their Limited and Special Edition Products page, you’ll see a bunch of Tennessee Tasters, then a Distillery Selection Series tile that only notes the Toasted Pecan Wood Chips finished Tennessee Whiskey. Come on Jack Daniel’s! Let’s devote like, .01% of whatever the marketing budget is from premixed Jack and Coke cocktails to get this page in order. Anyways, the two we’re reviewing here are the rye finished in high toast oak barrels (selection # 009), and the rye finished in high toast maple barrels (selection # 008). Let’s see if these hold up to precedent set by the barrel proof ryes!

Background

My last look at Jack Daniel’s offerings took stock of their 10 and 12 year releases, and now it’s time to check in on some rye! Roughly three years ago, Jack Daniel’s dropped their single barrel, barrel strength rye on the market as a special release. At that time, it was their fifth dalliance into rye- but their first time putting out a rye at barrel proof. I think it’s fair to say it was an unequivocal success with critics and the whiskey market alike. Secondary for this Special Release has run hot ever since.

This year, Jack Daniel’s announced their Single Barrel Barrel Proof Rye as a permanent line expression. When you take into account Jack Daniel’s formidable production capabilities and the current availability of their Single Barrel Barrel Proof bourbon, I think it’s fair to hope that this will be reasonably obtainable in the near future. All that availability talk aside though, are these even worth (in my humble opinion) seeking out? Let’s get into it!

Background

Every time I see this bottle Duran Duran's "Rio" just auto plays in my mind. I can't help it. It’s on an endless, earworm loop as I write this review even. Oh, Rio, Rio dance across the Rio Grande…

Anyways! Penelope Rio hails from Penelope’s “Cooper Series” which is named after the Founders Son. It’s presumably been a pretty awesome year for Cooper, since I imagine he now stands to inherit a sizeable chunk of MGP change and this release from his eponymous series has gone absolutely gang busters. While MSRP is about ~$90, you can currently find this going for around $250 secondary. Combine two popular finishes into, at least in my opinion, an awesome name/color scheme/bottle design and you have a recipe for the hype train to get rolling. Worth immediately disclaiming, I’ve heard from now two reputable liquor stores that Penelope is stressing that they have batch two in the works and it will be a significantly larger batch.

Personally, my experiences with both Amburana and honey finishes to date have been a touch hit or miss, particularly Amburana. That said, it definitely sounds like quite an in depth process to arrive at this whiskey and I really applaud Penelope for attempting something so creative. To make their Four Grain mashbill, they blend three MGP bourbon mashbills to end up at 75% corn, 15% wheat, 7% rye, and 3% malted barley. The whiskey in this batch is aged 4-6 years (I imagine that’s inclusive of finishing time but it’s not super clear), first getting finished in honey barrels and then new Amburana barrels for a total finishing time of about 2 years. Let’s see how it tastes!

Background

Old Overholt claims to be the oldest, continually maintained brand of whiskey in the country. Originally, hailing from Pennsylvania, Old Overholt established itself as a “Monongahela style” rye. Never heard of Monogahela style? This Whisky Advocate article is worth a read in its entirety, but in short, it’s highly likely a sweet mash of only rye and barley (no corn) was used. Distillers in PA also favored a Three-Chamber Still that’s almost completely fallen out of favor today, until it was revived by Leopold Brothers.

So how did we get from a Pennsylvania distillation/distillate to a Beam Suntory owned Kentucky rye? It’s a long journey that I won’t entirely cover here, again- Whisky Advocate deep dive for those interested, but the original distillery grew and grew and eventually even came under the ownership of Andrew Mellon. You know what a great way to survive Prohibition is? Have your owner be the Treasury Security and secure you a sweet, sweet medicinal license. Mellon eventually sold out to National Distillers because temperance made being in the booze business politically untenable. Rye whiskey would fall out of favor, the brand would change hands a few times, but somehow still be produced in PA (though no one really knows where), before their acquisition by Jim Beam in 1987! Beam Suntory does not disclose the mashbill, though it’s strongly suspected to be a higher corn rye more in the Kentucky rye style. Alright we basically pressed fast forward through a lot of whiskey history there and STILL this is a long intro, let’s get to the reviews!