REVISITED: Union Horse Reunion Rye & Union Horse Reserve Bourbon

I’d like to thank the producer and their PR team for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

It has been two thousand six hundred and forty-four days since I last reviewed Union Horse Reunion Rye and Reserve Bourbon. Just over seven years. It was one of the very first review samples I accepted, and I mostly did it because I got an interview filled with reader questions out of the deal. At the time I stated of the rye:

This is one where it had to grow on me. In my initial tasting, I felt it tasted a bit young. After spending almost a month with it, I've warmed up to it. This certainly is a unique whiskey and is outside the normal American Straight Rye flavor profile, which threw me at first. But I've come around.

And of the bourbon:

I am not a fan of smoky whiskey. I can appreciate it, but seldom like it if it is too pronounced. In this case, the smoke flavors are just light enough that it doesn't bother me too much. My wife on the other hand likes this a lot and has been the primary consumer of the bottle above.

I can tell you right now that in the intervening years, one of my reservations about the whiskeys has been addressed. They are no longer two years old, instead landing in the four- to five-year-old range. It looks like they still use no malted grains in the mash, instead using commercial enzymes to accomplish the starch-to-sugar transformation (which I think is pretty cool). And the bottles still look very nice.

But most importantly, do they taste better than they did seven years ago? We will start with the Rye first.

Union Horse Reunion Straight Rye Whiskey

Purchase Price: This review sample was provided at no cost by the producer for review purposes. The suggested price is $45.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.00

Details: 100% Rye. 46.5% ABV. 4-5 years old. Batch 43. Barreled at 110° proof

Nose: Cedar, cinnamon, mint, and just a hint of smoke.

Mouth: Cedar, mint, cinnamon, ginger, clove, honey, caramel, and a hint of cocoa.

Finish: Warm and on the longer side of medium length. Notes of chocolate, cedar, and cinnamon.

Thoughts: Vibrant, sweet, complex. I'm really enjoying this. It needs no water and I’m enjoying the heck out of it neat. It also makes a mean Sazerac.

Union Horse Reserve Bourbon

Purchase Price: This review sample was provided at no cost by the producer for review purposes. The suggested price is $41.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $2.73

Details: 46% ABV. 4-5 years old. Batch 64.

Nose: Cinnamon, maple, cedar, and toffee.

Mouth: Cinnamon candies, cedar, clove, toffee, and dried grains.

Finish: Medium length and warmth. Notes of cinnamon, clove, and cedar.

Thoughts: Spicy and flavorful with a lot of baking spices. The finish has a nice burn but isn't hot by any means. It doesn't have your stereotypical bourbon flavor profile, but that's kinda what I like about it. And even better, at least for me personally, I detect almost no hint of smoke, even though it is listed in their official tasting notes.

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Bernheim Barrel Proof, B923

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

I’ve been very into jigsaw puzzles lately. Last year, while on vacation, I spent many an evening in a National Park with a drink, a little music, and a puzzle to fill the time between our last venture out into the local sights and bed. And then, I picked up one from the airport and spent the next couple of months putting it together (it was very hard) only to find that one of my guest pups had eaten the final piece.

This year, I grabbed a couple from the airport to shove in my bag to sort of extend the vacation feeling. I tell you what, a glass of whiskey, a record on the player, and a partially completed puzzle have become my favorite way to spend an evening with my wife. It’s low-tech, it’s relaxing, and honestly, it’s fun.

And what whiskey might I be pouring these days? Well on at least a couple of evenings, it was the predecessor to tonight’s whiskey. I’d stashed the bottle of A223 that we reviewed in February so that when the second release came out, I’d have something to compare it to. And now that we are here, that bottle has become the go-to pour.

As far as specs, not much has changed between the two. A223 was 118.8° proof. B923 is 120.6° proof. Other than that, they use the same mashbill, they have the same non-stated age range, and are aged in the same locations. So, let’s see what Heaven Hill has to say before we dig into the important part of how it tastes.

The Bernheim Barrel Proof Kentucky Straight Wheat Whiskey mashbill consists of 51% wheat, 37% corn and 12% malted barley. This is the same mashbill used in the Bernheim Original Wheat Whiskey. Aged between 7-9 years in Heaven Hill's traditional open rickhouses, this edition is bottled at 120.6 or 60.3% by volume.

Bernheim Barrel Proof, B 923

Purchase Info: This bottle was provided by the producer for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $64.99

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.33

Details: 60.3% ABV. Mashbill: 51% Wheat, 37% corn, 12% Malted Barley. 7 to 9 years old (per the press release).

Nose: Caramel, chocolate, and leather.

Mouth: Caramel, chocolate, cinnamon, nutmeg, and oak.

Finish: Long and spicy with vibrant notes of Cinnamon Red Hots candy.

Thoughts: This is much more vibrant than I would have expected. There is a lot of barrel influence with the chocolate and leather notes. Plus, there is a ton of cinnamon on both the mouth and finish. It's quite warm in the mouth, but it takes a splash of water well. I really like it.

Comparison to A223: Very similar on the nose. B923 has a much stronger cinnamon focus and is quite a bit hotter in the mouth than the previous release. Both are quite delicious, and I don't think one could go wrong with either. If forced to choose, I'd probably have to flip a coin as there are only subtle differences that could only be noticed in a head-to-head.

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Remus Repeal Reserve VII, 2023

I’d like to thank ByrnePR and Ross & Squibb Distillery for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

Ladies and gentlemen, today's whiskey review comes to you with a twist, as I find myself under the weather and unable to fully indulge in the delightful experience of tasting Remus Repeal Reserve Series VII. But fear not, as I've enlisted the help of artificial intelligence to guide you through this introduction and provide you with a glimpse into what makes this particular bourbon so intriguing.

Remus Repeal Reserve Series 7 is the latest installment in a prestigious line of bourbons that pays tribute to George Remus, a legendary figure from the Prohibition era. Known for its exceptional craftsmanship and a commitment to recreating the essence of that bygone era, this series has consistently captivated whiskey enthusiasts with its unique blends. This seventh edition promises to continue that tradition, offering a carefully curated blend of aged bourbons that promise a symphony of flavors and aromas.

Though I may not be able to savor the nuances of this whiskey today, I'm excited to embark on this virtual journey with you. Join me in exploring the legacy and craftsmanship behind Remus Repeal Reserve Series VII, as we delve into its history, tasting notes, and what makes it a notable addition to the world of bourbon. Cheers to the power of technology and the enduring spirit of whiskey appreciation!

Yeah…that’s right. I have a massive headache brought on by either a minor cold or severe allergies. No clue as to which, so I asked ChatGPT to write the intro to this one. If you want to read a more in-depth history of the brand's namesake, George Remus, look no further than the review of the initial release of Remus Repeal Reserve back in 2017. I think it still holds up.

This 2023 edition of Remus Repeal Reserve is a medley of five different bourbons from the MGP stocks. These come from both their “21% rye” bourbon mashbill (75% Corn, 21% Rye, and 4% Barley Malt) and their “36% rye” bourbon mashbill (60% Corn, 36% Rye, and 4% Barley Malt). The five bourbons include:

  • 6% “21% rye” bourbon distilled in 2007

  • 26% “21% rye” bourbon distilled in 2013

  • 21% “21% rye” bourbon distilled in 2014

  • 26% “36% rye” bourbon distilled in 2013

  • 21% “36% rye” bourbon distilled in 2014

And luckily for you, I came down with whatever this is (gestures broadly at his head) after I did the tasting for this week. So let’s dig in and see how this one tastes (or more accurately, tasted earlier this weekend before I got sick).

Remus Repeal Reserve VII, 2023

Purchase Info: This sample was provided by the producer for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $99.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $6.66

Nose: Brown Sugar, allspice, vanilla,

Mouth: Caramel, cinnamon, allspice, green apple, leather, and oak.

Finish: Medium in warmth and length. Notes of leather, oak, cinnamon, and green apple.

Thoughts: As usual, this is delicious. I’m really digging the baking spice notes. The green apple that came out during the tasting in Glencairn glasses is not nearly as prominent out of a rocks glass, which I actually like. It was just a bit too prominent in the original tasting. It's still there, but it's much better integrated. All in all, this is a delicious release. Aside from last year’s, I’ve reviewed every edition right back to the beginning. And this is right up there quality-wise with all the rest. If you’ve liked it in the past, you probably still will. I know I do.

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Rossville Union Bottled in Bond Straight Rye Whiskey, 2023

I’d like to thank ByrnePR and Ross & Squibb Distillery for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

Well, hello there, neighbor. I was just sitting down to learn more about Ross & Squibb’s latest rye. Would you like to learn about it, too?

Ok, that’s enough with the Mr. Rogers thing. So, I’m still working my way through the massive number of samples that arrived while I was on vacation, and the next on the docket is one of a couple from Ross & Squibb, formerly known as the retail brand portion of MGP.

Rossville Union Bottled-in-Bond is a six-year-old Bonded Rye distilled in March 2017. It uses their 51% rye / 49% malted barley mash bill. They produced 3,000 6-bottle cases. And the suggested retail price is $49.99. Quoting from the Press Release:

“I’m proud to continue Ross & Squibb’s tradition of creating high-quality rye whiskey that dates back to 1847. Since that time, we have worked to perfect our craft, giving our rye whiskeys unmatched character,” said [Master Distiller Ian] Stirsman. “For our Rossville Union Bottled in Bond Straight Rye Whiskey we combined our industry leading rye expertise with a new high malt mashbill to create something truly special.  We then let the barrels mature for a minimum of 6 years, resulting in aromas of sweet malt, dark chocolate, raisin and saddle leather with tasting notes highlighted by caramel and mocha with a rich, candied-fruit body, followed by a slight green-apple, malted-chocolate and cinnamon finish.”

So, they mention that this is a new mash bill. Looking back on past reviews that I’ve done for Rossville Union, I see that I mentioned this mash bill, as an aside, back in 2018 when I reviewed my first bottle from the brand. But I no longer see it on the MGP product sheet, so either they stopped making it and are using up the stocks or pulled it for in-house use. After tasting it, I’m guessing the latter, but that is just a guess.

Now onto the important part, how does it taste?

Rossville Union Bottled in Bond Straight Rye Whiskey, 2023

Purchase Info: This sample bottle was provided by the producer for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $49.99

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.33

Details: 50% ABV. 6 years old. Mash bill: 51% rye, 49% malted barley.

Nose: Cedar, spearmint, and a touch of vanilla.

Mouth: Sweet and spicy with notes of spearmint, caramel, oak, stone fruits, apple, and cinnamon.

Finish: Sweet, warm, and long with notes of spearmint, cinnamon, and stone fruit.

Thoughts: With just rye and malted barley, I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one. Corn can help add a nicer mouthfeel to a rye, and I wondered if this would be an issue here. But nothing to worry about in that respect. This is a pretty damn good rye! I'm enjoying the heck out of it. It’s sweet and spicy with a very prominent spearmint note. It has really nice fruit notes. If you like a well-balanced rye, pick this one up. $50 for a limited release is a pretty good price.

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Garrison Brothers Cowboy Bourbon 2023

I’d like to thank the folks at Garrison Brothers for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

A reminder that I am on vacation to the Pacific Northwest this week. If things go as planned, as you read this, I should be hanging around Mount Rainier National Park or relaxing in my cabin outside of the park. Obviously, this was written ahead of time.

Garrison Brothers is not a distillery I know much about, having never purchased their product before. Mostly because the cheapest bottle that Total Wine has is about $90 per 750 mL bottle, with the highest-priced bottle being above $200. That’s a bit too high for me to take a flyer on. But when they offered me a sample of their upcoming 2023 Cowboy Bourbon, I knew I needed to experience this 140°+ proof monster.

2023’s Cowboy bourbon will be releasing Saturday, September 23rd, at a distillery event in Hye, Texas, with the remaining bottles landing at retailers starting the first week of October. The suggested retail price is $249.99.

Here is what the company has to say about this bad boy.

Cowboy Bourbon® is Garrison Brothers’ most elite expression offering the truest taste of Texas terroir on the market. The release comes from what Master Distiller Donnis Todd calls his “piggy bank” of barrels that are just too flavorful on first taste to bottle. He patiently saves and collects these specific barrels as he finds them during his daily, monthly and yearly taste tests, if he deems them of having Cowboy Bourbon® potential. Years later, he takes these barrels out of the already incredibly harsh Texas climate in which they are aging and puts them to the ultimate test: more Texas heat. The already incredibly high-proof barrels continue to age, with some ending up completely empty. Those that remain are collected and married together to make the legendary Cowboy Bourbon® bottled at cask-strength, uncut and unfiltered. Every barrel used in this year’s release was at least six years old.

So, how does it taste?

Garrison Brothers Cowboy Bourbon 2023

Purchase Info: This sample was provided by the producer for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $249.99.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $16.67

Details: 6 years old. 70.45% ABV.

Nose: Maple, mint, cinnamon, leather, and oak.

Mouth: Holy Fuckballs that's hot! Notes of oak, leather, maple, campfire smoke, and cinnamon.

Finish: Hot and long with notes of cinnamon, maple candy, leather, wintergreen, and oak.

Thoughts: This is a very tasty bourbon. Super fucking hot at 140.9° proof, but no one but internet tough guys would try to sit down and drink a glass of whiskey at this proof without water or ice. Well, not if they wanted to taste anything later that is. My taste buds are blown right out after this tasting. Luckily it takes water well, retaining the flavor but taming the heat. Give me this with a large cube/sphere of ice on a hot evening and I'll be happy as can be. It's quite good.

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Celtic Honey Beekeeper’s Blend

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

A reminder that I am on vacation to the Pacific Northwest this week. If things go as planned, as you read this, I should either be walking along an ocean beach, enjoying rainforests, driving, or relaxing in a room at Lake Crescent Lodge in Olympic National Park. Obviously, this was written ahead of time.

Though I’d never heard of Celtic Honey prior to this post, the press release assures me that it has been around for long enough that the bottle you see in the photo above is both reformulated and has had a packaging update. When I saw the email come across my desk, I thought, “This could be a delicious addition to a whiskey cocktail.” But I didn’t ask for a sample. I wasn’t sure if it would appeal to you guys, being a liqueur and not even one made from bourbon. But when the PR guy came back explicitly asking if I wanted a sample, something made me say yes. I mean, the worst that would happen was that I would have a sample of honey liqueur to find a use for.

So what is Celtic Honey Beekeeper’s Blend? According to their website, it is a blend of grain neutral spirit, Irish whiskey, and honey, though the press release mentions the “flavors of native Irish flowers, plants, and trees.” This reformulated version is sold at 80° proof and “is set to reach retail shelves across the country by August at a suggested retail price of $24.99 per 750 ml bottle.”

But how does it taste, and most importantly, should you pick up a bottle?

Celtic Honey Beekeeper's Blend

Purchase Info: This sample bottle was sent at no charge for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $24.99.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $1.67

Details: 40% ABV

Nose: Not nearly as sweet as I would have expected. The main note on the nose is herbal honey, but not super sweet honey.

Mouth: Sweet, but not cloyingly so. Notes of honey, cinnamon, clove, and mint.

Finish: Short and sweet with notes of sweet honey, delicate spice, and a pleasant nuttiness.

Thoughts: I expected this would be a decent cocktail ingredient, but I didn't expect it to be very good on its own. Yet here we are. I plan to finish the tasting glass once I'm done with tastings tonight, something I don’t often do when I’m doing multiple tastings at one time. It's obviously much sweeter than a bourbon, but not nearly as sweet as I would have expected from a product reformulated from a honey liqueur. More than anything, it reminds me of an Old Fashioned where the bitters had been left out. I could easily see myself enjoying this with a dash of bitters over ice or as the sweetener in an Old Fashioned or whiskey sour. In fact, I'll probably try that later and will include the results below.

—

So it’s now the next day, and I can 100% tell you that it makes a wonderful addition to cocktails. My wife loves a whiskey sour, so I made her a riff on that using equal parts fresh-squeezed lemon juice, Maker’s Cask Strength, and Celtic Honey. I shook that with ice with a small squirt of Agave Syrup (because it wasn’t quite balanced without it) and mint and garnished with a mint sprig. She really enjoyed it and asked for another, which I was happy to provide since today is her birthday. I made myself a much simpler drink. Equal parts Maker’s Cask Strength and Celtic Honey with a dash or two of bitters over ice. It was also quite tasty, though I realized later that I could have been even lazier and just left out the Bourbon altogether. When I tried just Celtic Honey and a dash or two of bitters over ice, it was just as good, though quite a bit sweeter.

So, should you pick up a bottle? Well, if all of this sounds good, I would. I’m certainly enjoying my bottle and will continue to as long as my (adult) daughter doesn’t finish it while she’s housesitting for us while we are gone.

Did you enjoy this post? If you want to support the work going on here at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch (tasting journals, stickers, pins, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com.

Remus Highest Rye Straight Bourbon Whiskey

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

Well, I’m officially on vacation. The last pup went home today. The last bit of client work was finished, and tomorrow is that glorious day when I just have to finish the last few thin…oh who am I kidding? The day before vacation is the most stressful time of the entire trip. I don’t know about you, but I can’t help thinking, “What if I forget something?” The rational answer is, of course, “Well…they have stores in Washington, Oregon, and California. You can just go buy something to replace the (probably small) thing you forgot.” But humans, as you might have discovered, are rarely the rational creatures we pretend to be.

But before I head out on vacation, we need to talk about the new bourbon from Ross & Squibb.

Remus Highest Rye Straight Bourbon Whiskey is taking naming very literally. With a mashbill of 51% corn, 39% rye, and 10% malted rye, there is no mathematical way that a bourbon could have more rye in the mashbill and still be bourbon. At 49% rye, it is two percentage points from being a rye whiskey. We talk about the Kentucky-style “barely legal” rye all the time. But this might be my first “barely legal” bourbon. The 109° proof bourbon is a permanent, year-round line extension and will be sold nationwide for a suggested retail price of $54.99.

Now, let’s dig in and see if it is any good.

Remus Highest Rye Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Purchase Info: This bottle was sent at no charge for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $54.99.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.67

Details: 6 years old. 54.5% ABV.

Nose: Mint, almond, and a touch of cinnamon and oak.

Mouth: Sweet with a vibrant heat that sneaks up on you as you hold it in the mouth to tease out notes of honey, oak, mint, and cinnamon.

Finish: Medium in length and warmth. Notes of cinnamon red hot candies, honey, and a sharp oak.

Thoughts: This is a killer bourbon at $55. It is sweet and warm, but even at 109° proof, it is very drinkable neat. I am not picking up much influence from the malted rye, but for me, that's a good thing as I don't really care for the flavor that malted rye usually brings. This will undoubtedly be part of the rotation of bourbons I occasionally pick up after I see it land on local store shelves.

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