Calumet Farm 10 Year Old, Single Barrel Selection by Total Wine Kentucky

November 20, 2018 Eric Burke

IMAGE: Calumet Farms, Private Single Barrel Selection for Total Wine Kentucky.

Last week, I mentioned that upon entering a Louisville total Wine, I had been surprised by an expanded line of Calumet Farm bourbons. And that after much deliberation I had gotten the Private Selection over the batched versions. It was a good choice because, as it turned out, I wasn’t able to get the Private Selection at home, but ended up having the rest of the line available for purchase.

I also teased that the only reason I picked up the 10 year old Single Rack Black was because I had this one in the closet and wanted to see how they compared. This is the second part of the Calumet Farm “series” and the review that I teased last week.

Calumet Farm 10 Year Old, Single Barrel Selection by Total Wine Kentucky

Purchase Info: $68.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine-Paddock Shops, Louisville, KY.

Details: 10 year age statement. 46% ABV. Barrel 225. Barreled on date: March 2006.

Nose: Wintergreen, artificial cherry flavor, and tobacco.

Mouth: Warm and tingly with mint, baking spice, fruit and a touch of tobacco.

Finish: Gentle at first with a blossom of heat after. Lingering baking spice and tobacco.

Thoughts: This is obviously from the same source as the batched version as it has a very similar flavor profile. Fruit, spice, mint, and oak flavors dominate. In this version oak shows as tobacco instead of wood. In the Single Rack Black the fruits were less generic in flavor and the oak on the finish is more tannic.

I like them both. And I’d probably pick this up over the Single Rack Black if they were evenly priced. But since this is priced more than $15 higher at the same store, I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to pick it up again. The difference isn’t that big (unless you are super sensitive to tannins). And, in my experience of Total Wine private selections, that is pretty much par for the course. They are seldom much, if any better, then the original.

BourbonGuy.com accepts no advertising. It is solely supported by the sale of the hand-made products I sell at the BourbonGuy Gifts Etsy store. If you'd like to support BourbonGuy.com, visit BourbonGuyGifts.com. Thanks!

Calumet Farm 10-year-old Single Rack Black Bourbon

November 15, 2018 Eric Burke

I try to keep my nose to the happenings in the whiskey front. I read and listen to whiskey news, blogs, and reviews. I used to be on twitter to follow such things (not so much anymore, Twitter can be a vile place). But sometimes, things slip through the cracks, and I get surprised at the liquor store. I mean, if the company doesn’t send me the press release, it’s not like I’m out searching for them. I’m a storyteller, not a journalist.

Take tonight’s whiskey. Apparently, this was introduced earlier this year. In researching it, I found a press release for its 12-year-old brother dated April of 2018. Looking at the archive.org snapshots of the Calumet Bourbon website show that images for this bourbon showed up on their site around the same time. But when I walked into a Total Wine in Louisville back in September, I knew none of this. I saw that they had a Private Selection of a 10-year-old Calumet and picked it up. It wasn’t until I got back home that I realized that there were bottles of 10- and 12-year-old Calumet bourbons on local shelves.

Knowing that I thought the standard “small batch” Calumet was fine, but that I felt it was overpriced, I wasn’t in a real big hurry to grab another bottle from the line. But, of course, I did have that Private Selection in the closet, and I was a fan of the Bird Dog 10-year-old released from the same company. So, yeah, I pulled the trigger and picked this up.

What does “Single Rack” mean? Apparently, that is a descriptor that the company is using because each batch of bourbon is created using the barrels from a single rack (19 barrels) in the rickhouse.

Calumet Farm 10-year-old Single Rack Black Bourbon

Purchase Info: $52.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Details: 46% ABV. 10 year age stated. Rack C0505.10. 19 barrel batch.

Nose: Bubblegum, mixed berries, a hint of soap, cinnamon, and light oak.

Mouth: Nice spice, with cinnamon, ripe fruits, mint, and oak.

Finish: Warm and of decent length. Lingering baking spice, ripe fruits, mint, and oak.

Thoughts: This tastes like it has more than its fair share of Heaven Hill juice in the batch. But, it also reminds me a bit of something from Jefferson’s. This ain’t half bad. It’s a nice “change-of-pace” bourbon as it sits solidly between the typical bourbon flavor profile and the fruity fringes of the bourbon flavor profile. I’m going to say this one will not be for everyone, but I like it. And I like it more after I’ve spent some time with it than I did when it was first opened.

You might be asking that since I felt that the “regular” small batch release was overpriced for what it was, what about this one? I’d like to say that a $50+ price point for a 10-year-old bourbon is high, but we all know that is no longer the case. So in light of that, I’m going to say that the price is on the higher side of acceptable for me but still within tolerances.

Yellowstone Limited Edition 2018

November 13, 2018 Eric Burke

I’ve reviewed the yearly release of Yellowstone Limited Edition for the last couple years now. I’ve always liked them enough to recommend them at retail purchase prices. But this year, we took the bold step of paying above retail prices for it.

No, we didn’t start playing the secondary market. At least, not really. Instead we picked this up at the yearly Master Distiller’s Auction to benefit the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History in Bardstown, KY. The auction is held during the Kentucky Bourbon Festival each September and we’ve been attending every year since a friend of mine suggested I check it out. We have a good system. My frugal wife holds the number and does the bidding while I, the competitive one, tell her (before the auction) what I’d be willing to pay for the things I’m interested in.

The auction is the main source of revenue for the Oscar Getz museum and since we enjoy visiting (especially now that they have started to update the exhibits) we like to try to buy something in order to support them. While I will probably never have the budget to go after some of the high ticket items like a bottle of Willett Family Estate Single Barrel whiskey ($700), an antique bourbon from 1941 ($1,100), Pappy 15 year old ($2,000), a private tour and tasting at Willett with Drew Kulsveen ($2,000) or a bottle of Pappy 23 year old ($3,600), I do try to save at least a little of my Kentucky budget for the auction.

This year the auction raised $29,930 for the museum. Of which I, and my bottle of Yellowstone, contributed $150. Was it worth it? The way I see it, I gave a $150 to a museum I enjoy and got a bottle of nice whiskey tossed in. So, yeah. It was worth it. But how does it stand up for people who are happening upon it at retail?

Yellowstone Limited Edition 2018

Purchase Info: $150 for a signed 750 mL bottle at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival Master Distiller’s Auction to benefit the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History.

Details: 50.5% ABV. The press release states this is a blend of bourbons that range from 4 to 12 years old, including some Limestone Branch distilled bourbon. Regarding the barrels used for finishing, the release quotes Steve Beam: “In 2016, we finished our Limited Edition bourbon in specially selected new wine barrels, which lent their special flavor to that year’s celebrated bourbon, but their journey had barely begun. Later that year, after the bourbon was dumped and bottled, the same 28 barrels were lightly charred and we filled them with our 2017 Limited Edition bourbon. This year, we took the very same barrels – now rich with complexity – and deeply charred them before filling them with our 2018 Limited Edition.”

Nose: Brown sugar, tobacco, tart cherry.

Mouth: Baking spices, brown sugar, salty leather (think about chewing on the laces of your baseball glove when you were a kid).

Finish: Warm, long and very flavorful. Cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and tart cherries linger.

Thoughts: Yum. This is delicious. I would certainly buy this again and since this is their last barrel finishing experiment in this line, I’m looking forward to what they try next.

Jim Beam Repeal Batch

November 8, 2018 Eric Burke

Last year, on a particularly cold negative twenty degree (Fahrenheit) night, I put a glass of 80° proof whiskey out on the deck to see how it would react to the extreme cold of a Minnesota winter and if it would start to freeze. Mostly, it did nothing. It got a little syrupy but it’s not like it started to crystalize or anything. I was a little disappointed but only a little. I started my college education, way back in the pre-commercial internet days, studying science so I am well versed in the idea that a hypothesis (especially one that is backed by scant actual info) often doesn’t stand up to experimental trials.

Why would I leave a glass of whiskey outside overnight? Well, mostly because I was curious. I wanted to know what happens as alcohol reaches it’s freezing point (roughly -17°F at 80 proof). Especially if that alcohol is bourbon. And since negative twenty doesn’t happen too often I thought that was my chance to find out. Maybe it didn’t get that cold, or maybe alcohol starts to gel before freezing. No idea. But it was interesting to observe. If this winter gets that cold, I’ll probably try again. It would be interesting to try frozen whiskey.

It is that same curiosity that led me to a certain thought when I first saw that Jim Beam was coming out with a non-chill filtered. We’ve all learned that bourbons are chill-filtered because at a lower proof there is the possibility of a cloudiness occurring if it gets too cold. This is deemed to be a turn-off to customers (I’d guess rightly so). And so the producers pre-chill the bourbon to filter that cloudiness out. But, the follow-up thought also says that chill-filtered bourbon also removes some of the flavor. And so it is fitting that, with a limited edition bourbon, a company would skip that step and give geeks what they are clamoring for, even if it is at a lower proof.

Of course, the first thing I thought of was if I could make that cloudiness happen. I’ve never seen it and I would like to. Why? Curiosity, I guess. But then I went and finished the bottle before thinking about it. Maybe I’ll have to get get another one.

Jim Beam Repeal Batch

Purchase Info: $17.99 for a 750 ml bottle, Liquor Barn Jefferson Commons, Louisville, KY. Available locally starting at $18.99 for a one liter bottle.

Details: 43% ABV. Non-Chill filtered.

Nose: Peanut Brittle, dried leaves

Mouth: Peanut, baking spice and a hint of mint.

Finish: Gentle with a long lasting unsalted peanut note.

Thoughts: This is a limited edition whiskey. Is it worth grabbing instead of other Beam products? To find out, I picked up a little Beam White label and Beam Black label. It found that this has a nose that is more similar to Beam Black than it is to Beam White, though not as woody as Black Label. The mouth is a sweeter and smoother version of Beam White. It doesn’t show the sharp wood flavors that Beam White often does. I’d say that if you were to view the difference between Beam White and Beam Black on a spectrum, that this would fall somewhere on the one quarter mark (on the Beam White side).

Should you buy it? If you are a Beam fan, yes. Even if it is just for curiosity’s sake. In a vacuum, it is pretty meh. But it is a better version of Beam White and due to the price, I might pick up a liter for use in cocktails. Or for experimentation’s sake.

Bourbon Justice: How Whiskey Law Shaped America by Brian Haara

October 30, 2018 Eric Burke

I state in my Statement of Ethics that, if I ever discuss a product that is produced by one of my friends, I will disclose it at the beginning of the article. I also state that I will disclose if I received a review copy. Brian Haara is a friend of mine. I did buy the book to support his work, but I also received a review copy prior to the publication date as well. All opinions on the work are my own, but it won’t hurt to keep in mind that I might be biased.

IMAGE: A copy of Bourbon Justice: How Whiskey Law Shaped America by Brian Haara and a glass of bourbon to enjoy with it.

I had been reading SippnCorn.com (now housed on BrianHaara.com) long before I met its author in real life. It was, and is, a great resource into bourbon history. I interviewed Brian Haara, lawyer and the proprietor of the site back in 2015. In it, he let loose the secret that he was starting to write a book and ever since that time, I have been eagerly waiting for it to arrive.

Back in April, it finally hit Amazon as a pre-order. I immediately placed my order, without even knowing the publication date, and settled in to wait for my copy to arrive. Interestingly, the publisher reached out to me to see if I wanted a review copy of the book. Since I was anxiously awaiting the book, I decided to accept so that I could read it early.

Let me tell you, Bourbon Justice: How Whiskey Law Shaped America is a great book! Brian Haara tells us the fascinating story of how many very litigious bourbon folks ended up, often accidentally, crafting a new and different American commercial society that is still with us today. Lawsuits that started with bourbon ended up affecting industries as far reaching as women's lingerie and mouthwash.

Brian covers topics such as the development of Trade Mark and Brand Name rights, advertising and "puffery," consumer protection, and truth in labeling. And along the way, he delves into the history of many familiar Bourbon brands and distilleries. He even included topical tasting notes. In the end, you will learn something about bourbon, you will learn something about business, and you will learn something about the less talked about history that made America the country it is today. I highly recommend that you run right out and buy it.

But one of you won't have to do that! Remember how I said I had preordered it, but that I ended up with a review copy? Well, I like supporting my friends so I wanted to make sure that I still bought a copy. But as you might expect, I do not need two of the same book. My purchased copy is set to arrive on Monday and as soon as it does, I'd like to ship it off to one of my readers. If you'd like an opportunity for that to be you, enter below! The winner will be drawn on November 7th, 2018 and notified via email. I’m sorry, but I can only ship this to addresses in the United States and Canada due to international shipping costs. Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Old Ezra Barrel Strength, 7-year-old bourbon

October 23, 2018 Eric Burke

I state in my Statement of Ethics that if I accept a review sample, I will disclose it at the beginning of the article. Please consider it disclosed. I’d like to thank the folks at Common Ground PR for providing this sample to me with no strings attached. As always, all thoughts are just my opinion.

IMAGE: the front label of Old Ezra Barrel Strength. Aged 7 years. The bottle had Lux Row Distillers on the shoulder.

I fear I might have made a grievous error. Last week I wrote a post that ended up with my wife getting a little miffed at me. My mistake was not in writing or in even posting said article. She is my proofreader, after all, and she agreed it was an apt description of the whiskey in question. No, my mistake was in telling...basically anyone that would listen...the story of how I got her to let me put that story on the internet. Which naturally included a repeat of the story itself.

In what I am assured is an entirely unrelated set of circumstances, my HoneyDo list for the weekend grew immensely. For example: the leaves needed to be raked and bagged, the lawn needed to be mowed, the floors needed to be scrubbed, the bathroom tub needed to be recaulked, the shower needed to have the grout cleaned and the tiles resealed, a bit of broken trim needed to be fixed, the carpet needed to be shampooed, the gutters cleaned, the siding washed, the walls, pictures and surfaces dusted...

You get the idea.

But now after a long weekend where the chores lasted from the time I got up in the morning to the time I went to bed at night, my penance has been paid...I mean, all those things that "just happened to need finishing" are done. I can finally sit down, relax and think about a whiskey.

And a decent whiskey at that. Recently, I received a sample of Old Ezra Barrel Strength, 7-year-old bourbon. You might be familiar with Old Ezra 101 proof, 7-year-old bourbon. Well as you might expect, this is a barrel proof version of that.

Old Ezra 101 proof has long been a favorite in my house. Even as the price was gradually increasing in my area, I still found it to be an excellent value. That was until I could no longer find it at all. I'd noticed it slowly disappearing from local store shelves. And at some point, it clicked that no one had it anymore.

Once I received this sample, I asked them if the Barrel Strength was a replacement for the 101 proof. Their answer: "We stopped producing Old Ezra 101 last summer and have been selling through the remaining bottles before releasing the new package this fall with the new bottle and barrel proof."

So I wasn't crazy. 101 was gone. I got sad momentarily, but then I remembered that the barrel proof version exists and that 117 proof is higher than 101 proof. After that all was right with the world.

Old Ezra Barrel Strength, 7-year-old bourbon

Purchase Info: This sample was generously provided for review purposes. Suggested retail is $39.99 per 750 mL bottle.

Details: 58.5% ABV. Age stated at 7 years old.

Nose: Oak, cloves, nutmeg, vanilla, and brown sugar

Mouth: Nice and warm with vanilla, brown sugar, nutmeg, cloves, and an oak sharpness.

Finish: Long and very warm. Lingering notes of oak and baking spice.

Thoughts: This is delicious. The proof bump does really well for this whiskey, allowing more concentrated flavors to come through. It’s a very nice step up from the previous 101 proof version. Unfortunately, the price has also taken a nice step up. But when I compare this to other barrel proof bourbons, I think price is more than fair.

In an era where other companies are removing age statements from products or discontinuing those age stated products altogether, it’s nice to see a company relaunch a product with both a proof bump while also keeping the age statement. And keeping it prominently displayed across the bottle at that.

Overall, there should be no reason to not have this be the barrel proof bourbon you keep on your home bar. Inexpensive enough to use in cocktails. Rich and complex enough to drink on its own.

Smooth Ambler Big Level Wheated Bourbon

October 16, 2018 Eric Burke

IMAGE: nighttime shot of a bottle of Smooth Ambler’s Big Level wheated bourbon.

Have you ever had this experience?

Someone uses the restroom in your house when you really gotta go. I mean you gotta go so bad that once the door is opened and your wife (or whomever) comes out, you dodge them and rush through the doorway. Immediately upon entering, you are hit with the smell. It’s like walking into a wall. A wall that wants to slap your nose across the face.

Your head rocks back and you make a noise that sounds like a strangled: “wheeeew!” At which point, your wife (or whomever) exclaims: “Oh, it’s not that bad!” All the while you are just trying to relieve yourself, wash your hands and get out of there as quickly as you can.

You can’t really blame them. They spent too much time with it. They don’t know how bad that thing they made really is. They started with nothing and worked it up into something…different. But they did it gradually. It didn’t just hit them all at once like it did you. They had time to get used to it.

Ever had that experience? Maybe it’s just me.

Smooth Ambler Big Level Wheated Bourbon

Purchase Info: $54.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Details: 50% ABV. This is a wheated bourbon recipe. Non-age stated. Batch 16.

Nose: Herbal mint, dried grains, and green lumber.

Mouth: Spicy heat, dried grains, mint, and black pepper.

Finish: Warm and of medium length. Dried grain notes lend a bitter aftertaste, along with herbal mint and black pepper. A lingering tingle on the tongue.

Thoughts: I’m not going to sugar coat it, this straight up isn’t ready yet. It is very young tasting. I remember tasting their “Yearling” bourbon (which in my bottle was 1.67 years old) and this reminds me a lot of how I remember that. Which is too bad. At the time I reviewed Yearling, I’d said I was looking forward to tasting that when it had grown up. I’m guessing that I’ll need to wait longer. This is highly disappointing, especially considering the price it sells for.

Buffalo Trace Antique Collection 2018

October 4, 2018 Eric Burke

I state in my Statement of Ethics that if I accept a review sample, I will disclose it at the beginning of the article. Please consider it disclosed. I’d like to thank the folks at Buffalo Trace for providing this sample to me with no strings attached. As always, all thoughts are just my opinion.

IMAGE: Shattered sample bottle of Sazerac Rye 18 year old

I recently got samples of this year’s Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. This post will be long enough, so tonight I’m going to forgo all the extremely witty banter I normally provide before the review and instead jump straight into the reviews.

But first, a moment of silence for my sample of Sazerac Rye 18 year old. I knew something was wrong when the box UPS handed me was wet. Not being one to cry over spilled whiskey, I posted the photo on Instagram and got a few likes. I thought briefly about tasting the foam padding but decided that a tongue full of glass probably wouldn’t taste all that good, even though it smelled delicious. I guess sometimes the Whiskey Fairy just wants a dram for herself.

Eagle Rare 17 Year Old

Purchase Info: This sample was generously provided by Buffalo Trace for review purposes. Suggested retail is $99.99 per 750 mL bottle.

Details: 17 years old. 101° proof (up from previous years’ 90° proof). Distilled in the Spring of 2000. Aged on floors 1, 2, and 5 of Warehouse C.

Nose: Caramel candy, allspice, cinnamon candies, and almond.

Mouth: Nice mouthfeel with floral, caramel, leather and oak notes.

Finish: Nice and long. Ripe berries and floral notes transition to oaky notes of tobacco and dark chocolate.

Thoughts: I like this, but I don’t love it. I’m not a huge fan of bourbons once they reach their lower- to mid-teens. I am loving the floral notes on it, but there is a bit too much oak on this for my palate (my wife loved it though, she’s a fan of old oaky bourbons).

William Larue Weller

Purchase Info: This sample was generously provided by Buffalo Trace for review purposes. Suggested retail is $99.99 per 750 mL bottle.

Details: 125.7° proof. Distilled in Winter 2006. Aged in Warehouses C, I, K, L, M and Q.

Nose: Very sweet. Chocolate covered cherries, the nougat from a Milky Way bar, vanilla, cinnamon.

Mouth: Cinnamon, vanilla, caramel, oak and campfire smoke.

Finish: Long and warm. Cinnamon and chocolate covered cherries linger.

Thoughts: Nice and warm. Very sweet. I like this one even though I’m not typically a fan of wheated bourbons.

George T. Stagg

Purchase Info: This sample was generously provided by Buffalo Trace for review purposes. Suggested retail is $99.99 per 750 mL bottle.

Details: 124.9° proof. Distilled in Spring 2003. Aged in Warehouses C, H, I, K, P and Q.

Nose: Caramel, rich leather, ripe berries and pipe tobacco.

Mouth: Sweet with caramel, brown sugar, leather and pipe tobacco.

Finish: Long and warm. Very sweet. Lingering smoke and tobacco.

Thoughts: Rich is the first word that comes to mind on this one. Delicious is the second. I really like this one. It’s my favorite of the three bourbons.

Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Rye

Purchase Info: This sample was generously provided by Buffalo Trace for review purposes. Suggested retail is $99.99 per 750 mL bottle.

Details: 128.8° proof. Distilled in Spring 2012. Aged in Warehouses I and L.

Nose: Spearmint, cinnamon, hints of anise and banana bread.

Mouth: Caramel, spearmint, very hot, great mouthfeel.

Finish: Long and warm. Spearmint, baking spices and just a touch of dill linger.

Thoughts: This is my favorite of the four. The bourbons were mostly sweet and this is a nice change of pace from that. It’s very warm, but not overpoweringly so even at full strength. I like this one a lot.

IMAGE: The surviving collection of sample bottles of the 2018 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. Included in color to show the relative colors of each whiskey. Each bottle is as described above.

Thoughts:

This was my first time sitting down and tasting across the BTAC lineup (or, more accurately, 4/5th of the lineup). I’d had most of them in the past, but only one at a time. It was interesting to see how similar the bourbons were, even though there was a difference in proof and mash bill. There is some “Buffalo Trace Flavor” that comes through on each of them. It’s a testament to their quality control that the “house” flavor is present in both the bourbons distilled in our current decade and in the bourbons that were distilled in the decade previous. It means they aren’t messing around with things.

Thomas H. Handy is simultaneously the only one of the line I’d never tasted and the only one of the line I’ve ever seen on a retail shelf (years ago, before this year’s release was even distilled). It is a big, bold rye that has all the minty and herbal notes that I look for in a good rye. I was really impressed with it.

I was impressed with them all in fact. I think they are worth every penny that Buffalo Trace is recommending they sell for. But based on the relative availability and quality of other bourbons in that price range, I don’t know that I would feel comfortable paying inflated retail or secondary prices for them.

UPDATE:

Buffalo Trace was kind enough to ship me a replacement bottle of the 18-year-old Sazerac Rye. My notes for it are below:

Sazerac Rye 18 Year Old

Purchase Info: This sample was generously provided by Buffalo Trace for review purposes. Suggested retail is $99.99 per 750 mL bottle.

Details: 90° proof. Barrels filled in 1998.

Nose: Mint, bubble gum and almond.

Mouth: Follows the nose with mint, bubblegum and almond, then adds cardamom and nutmeg.

Finish: Long and warm with lingering mint, cardamom and almond.

Thoughts: I preferred the Handy Rye over this, as I preferred the relative “brightness” that it’s youth provided. That said, I also like this one a lot. When compared to the others in the range it is in the lower half.

Blog

Calumet Farm 10 Year Old, Single Barrel Selection by Total Wine Kentucky

Calumet Farm 10-year-old Single Rack Black Bourbon

Yellowstone Limited Edition 2018

Jim Beam Repeal Batch

Old Ezra Barrel Strength, 7-year-old bourbon

Smooth Ambler Big Level Wheated Bourbon

Eagle Rare 17 Year Old

William Larue Weller

George T. Stagg

Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Rye

Thoughts:

UPDATE:

Sazerac Rye 18 Year Old