Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond, Fall 2021 edition

I’d like to thank Heaven Hill for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

RAIN!

We finally got rain last night. As you may know, much of the country is experiencing drought conditions and, well, my house is no exception. To give you just one example of how dry it has been here, I’d like to point to the fact that I haven’t mowed my lawn since the middle of June. It’s been too dry for it to grow. So I was pretty happy when I woke up to the sound of a sustained downpour this morning. I was even happier when I saw that the rain gauge showed over 2 inches had fallen overnight and into the morning. My lawn is already greening up. Which means mowing probably isn’t far behind. But heck, at least I won’t have to water the garden this week. That’ll help the ol’ water bill.

And while I wait for the grass to grow, I might as well go ahead and preview the newest bourbon that Heaven Hill has sent over. This is the Fall 2021 edition of Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond. It was distilled in the Spring of 2010 and bottled in the Spring of 2021, making this an eleven-year-old release. According to the press release, it spent those eleven years resting in rickhouse EE. As with all Bottled-in-Bond products, this was bottled at 100° proof and is the product of one distilling season.

Let’s see how it tastes.

Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond, Fall 2021

Purchase Info: This sample was sent to me by Heaven Hill for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $110 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $7.33

Details: 11 years old. 50% ABV. Aged in Rickhouse EE.

Nose: Vanilla, caramel, oak, red fruit.

Mouth: Spicy with notes of baking spice, caramel, vanilla, and almond.

Finish: On the longer side of medium with notes of almond, caramel, and cooling mint.

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Thoughts: Baking spice and almond are the notes that stand out to me for this one. I tried it next to the Spring 2021 edition and I think I like Spring better, even though it was only 8 years old compared to this edition’s 11 years. I much prefer Spring 2021’s caramel notes to Fall 2021’s almond, and Spring 2021 had more spice to it. But, don’t get me wrong, this is a very good bourbon. I'm just not sure I'd be willing to drop $110 on it, I am a freelancer after all. That said, I would happily accept a glass if you were pouring.


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Basil Hayden Toast

I’d like to thank BeamSuntory and the Basil Hayden team for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

IMAGE: A bottle of Basil Hayden Toast flanked by two crystal glasses of the same. Image Courtesy Basil Hayden.

I’ve heard it said that after you hit the age of 40, you need to either take up World War Two history or smoking meat. Well, I’m a history buff, but I’d much rather read about history that happened 500 to 1500 years ago than history that happened 75 to 85 years ago. Which, if that adage was to believed, left me smoking meat as my only option going forward.

Which is why, while I write tonight, I’m eating a generous slice off of the fatty end of a smoked brisket. And once I finish it, I will be moving on to a pour of tonight’s whiskey. I don’t usually like whiskey with food but I do enjoy it after food. I prefer to let the fatty flavors settle a bit and then have an after dinner drink instead of pairing one with the other

The drink I will be pouring tonight is the newest permanent release from the Basil Hayden line of whiskeys: Basil Hayden Toast. This new bourbon uses brown rice as the flavoring grain instead of rye or wheat. Basil Hayden Toast is a “mingling” of both finished and unfinished bourbon. Some of the brown rice bourbon is finished in toasted barrels. That finished bourbon is then mixed back in with unfinished brown rice bourbon to create the final product.

So now that I’ve finished my supper, let’s see how it tastes. Note, the notes below are not from tonight, but I am having a pour of Basil Hayden Toast to confirm my thoughts from this past weekend.

Basil Hayden Toast

Purchase Info: This sample was provided by the producer for the purpose of this review. The suggested retail price is $49.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.33

Details: 40% ABV. Made with brown rice as the flavoring grain.

Nose: Vanilla, caramel, nutmeg, and a hint of mint.

Mouth: Brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, hints of mint and dusty oak.

Finish: Very gentle. Lingering brown sugar sweetness, baking spices and oak.

Thoughts: This isn't bad. It's pretty gentle, like most Basil Hayden releases, but tastes pretty good. I like it. That said, I’ll be honest, it isn't going to be something I buy. I’m a freelancer on a freelancer’s budget so for $50 I want a bit more oomph in my bourbon. But this wasn’t created for me. This is for the novice bourbon drinker who may be intimidated by higher proof releases and I think it will work beautifully in that market. As I said, I like the flavors of this a lot, it’s just too gentle for me to want very often.


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Remus Repeal Reserve Series V

I’d like to thank ByrnePR and Lux Row for providing the review sample with no strings attached.

Thanks to the magic that is Comixology Unlimited, I’ve found myself reading a lot of old comic books lately. For as long as I remember reading, I remember reading comic books. I’ve always read a wide variety of books. From novels to history textbooks, the fantastic to the non-fiction. I just love stories. I love reading them and I love writing them. It’s one of the reasons I start these reviews with as many personal anecdotes as I do. But comic books were always there in the mix of my reading choices. Lately, I’ve been digging deep into DC’s Vertigo lineup from the late 1980s and early 90s. I was too young to read these when they came out, but I was introduced to the Sandman in college and have revisited it periodically over intervening decades. Sometimes it’s nice to revisit something that you just know is going to be good.

I feel that way about tonight’s bourbon too. I’ve reviewed every iteration of Remus Repeal Reserve and I’ve liked every single one. MGP makes fantastic whiskey, even if their choice of namesake leaves a bit to be desired. (Speaking of rereading old content, I wrote about George Remus way back in 2017 during the first release of this product. I think it was pretty good. If you haven’t read it before, give it a look.)

Series V of Remus Repeal Reserve is a medley of two different MGP produced bourbons, their 21% Rye recipe (mash bill: 75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% barley malt) and their 36% Rye recipe (mash bill: 60% corn, 36% rye, and 4% barley malt). They use a combination of ages of these recipes in order to make the final product. And as usual, they give you the percentage breakdown right on the front label. Series V is made from 9% 2005 Bourbon (21% Rye), 5% 2005 Bourbon (36% Rye), 19% 2006 Bourbon (21% Rye), 13% 2008 Bourbon (21% Rye) and 54% 2008 Bourbon (36% Rye).

Let’s dive in and see how it tastes.

Remus Repeal Reserve Series V, 2021

Purchase price: This sample was graciously provided by the producer for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $89.99. Releases September 2021.

Price per Drink (50mL): $6.00

Nose: Green apple, clove, caramel, nutmeg, and oak.

Mouth: Nice and spicy. Cinnamon, oak, caramel, and almond.

Finish: Spicy and long. Nutmeg, almond, black tea, oak, and caramel.

Thoughts: This is one to keep an eye out for. I've been a big fan of most editions of Remus Repeal Reserve, and I'm fully aware this might be recency bias, but I think this might be the best yet. This one is getting a heart. I love it and I'm really hoping to get my hands on another bottle when it releases in September.


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Orphan Barrel: Copper Tongue Bourbon

I’d like to thank the PR folks working for Diageo for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

First things first. You all still have all of your fingers, right? I love Independence Day, but I do worry about folks. Pretty sure my neighbors spent their paycheck on illegal fireworks and combined their ignition with copious amounts of alcohol. And having had more than one close call before I liked to consume alcohol…well…I just hope everyone still has all their extremities.

But since multiple neighbors had such a large display of explosive celebration, I ended up spending my 4th inside with the curtains drawn and the music cranked. As you might know, one of my businesses is a dog sitting service. And after a few years of doing this, I’ve found that rock music inside the house helps camouflage the scary noises outside the house. Plus if you really like the songs you are playing, the singing along with the songs and the dancing with the pups allows them to be distracted.

Believe it or not, I had fun though. I may not have been able to see most of the displays, and I might have had a shaking sheepdog on my lap at times, but I had fun anyway. It just goes to show that you never really know what you will think of things until you experience them yourself. I was dreading having a bunch of scared pups, but it turned out to be a really fun night as we had ourselves a rockin’ party.

The same can be said for tonight’s whisky. I haven’t gotten an Orphan Barrel sample for three or four years now, mostly because I really didn’t care for the ones that I had gotten. But when I saw that the newest one was a 16-year-old bourbon coming out of Cascade Hollow Distillery, home of George Dickel, well you can believe that I very quickly shot off a note to see if I could get on the sample list.

Older Dickel is some of my favorite whiskey out there, a fact that I was reminded of in my Sample Roulette tastings while on vacation. Add in the fact that it is Cask Strength and was developed by Nicole Austin? Well, that was just icing on the cake. Ms. Austin is the force behind the delicious yearly George Dickel Bottled-in-Bond releases and the very exciting, just-announced George Dickel 8-year-old bourbon. Yes, bourbon. And she has been doing a great job as far as my taste buds are concerned.

One thing that surprised me about Copper Tongue is that, while it is cask strength, it is only 89.8° proof. I find that fascinating. It isn’t unheard of to find an old bourbon barrel that is of a lower proof, but it is pretty unusual to sell it. I can really only think of one other and that was the first edition of Wild Turkey Master’s Keep. But since I liked that one, I tried not to let the surprise bias my tasting.

Orphan Barrel: Copper Tongue Bourbon

Purchase Info: This sample was graciously sent by the producers for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $100 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50mL): $6.67

Details: Cask Strength at 44.9% ABV. 16 years old. Bourbon.

Nose: Brown sugar, clove, cinnamon, leather.

Mouth: Follows the nose with brown sugar, clove, cinnamon, leather and adds red fruits and melon.

Finish: Warm and sweet with lingering spice notes.

Thoughts: I really like this. The mouthfeel is a bit thinner than I expected, even at the low (for cask strength) proof, but the flavors make up for that. It is sweet and has just the right amount of spice to it. The press release describes it as “surprisingly delicate [and] sophisticated.” That sounds like an accurate description but it is working for me. For once, I think I'll be keeping my eyes open for an Orphan Barrel release. Though for the price, it’ll be going on the special shelf should I find it.


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Of course, if you want to support BourbonGuy.com and get a little something back in return, you can always head over to BourbonGuyGifts.com and purchase some merch. I’ve made tasting journals, stickers, pins, posters, and more.