Blood Oath Pact No. 4

April 5, 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 Common Ground PR for providing this sample to me with no strings attached.

Image: Blood Oath Pact No. 4 sample bottle

Today I had 5 dogs in my house.

So, ok, this isn't terribly unusual for me. In addition to being a freelance designer, occasional paid writer and guy with an Etsy store, I am also a dog sitter. I never really intended to be a dog sitter. What I actually wanted was a third dog. A proposal which my wife opposed. Instead, she suggested that I sign up on Rover.com to watch other people's dogs. Not only would this give me extra dogs in my life, but it could also bring in money.

My accountant wife is a big fan of paying the bills while also having enough left over to support the whiskey habit.

So, I never intended to be a dog sitter, but I've found that I really enjoy it. Sometimes the dogs are easy and I barely notice they are there. Other times, they are like today. 120 pounds of playful baby Great Dane and two other guest dogs that oscillate between playful and in my lap. Neither of these is conducive to me getting the real job of freelance designer done.

But here's the thing, I wouldn't have it any other way. I love dogs. All dogs. It doesn't matter if they are playful babies that are just under half my weight or little three-pound old lady dogs that are super sassy. Dogs are my jam.

So what does this have to do with whiskey? Other than making me want one? Nothing. I just wanted to share that I have a house full of dogs and you don't. Well, let's see, there is a small connection that could be made, though it may be stretching a bit. I also never intended to be a fan of Blood Oath. The first time I bought it, I regretted it. I thought that Pact 1 was very meh and not worth the $100 asking price. So much so that I skipped trying Pact 2 when I saw it at an event for FREE. But then I relented and got a sample of Pact 3 last year. I really enjoyed it. So much so that I went out and bought a bottle when I saw it on the shelf. And so when I saw that a sample of Pact 4 was available, I jumped on it. Let's see if the taste they gave me makes me want to drop another Benjy on this year's version.

Blood Oath Pact No. 4

Purchase Info: Common Ground PR provided this sample. Suggested retail price is $99.99.

Details: 49.3% ABV (98.6° proof, just like blood in Fahrenheit, get it?) finished in toasted oak barrels.

Nose: Caramel, vanilla, oak and cinnamon.

Mouth: Cinnamon and nutmeg bring some heat to the party followed by sweetness and oak.

Finish: Spicy and warm with sweet caramel and citrus.

Thoughts: This was a sample, but once again, I'll be on the lookout for a bottle at retail. I'm really digging this. I think I may like this just a little less than last year, but that could just be a glitch in my memory as well since this is pretty tasty.

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Bottom-Shelf Bourbon Brackets 2018: The Championship Rounds

April 3, 2018 Eric Burke

Image: The four finalists: Old Grand-Dad, Ezra Brooks Rye, Old Forester, Two Stars

Well, it's finally here. The championship rounds. This year was an interesting one for me on a couple of levels. For one, it was the first year that had guest judges. I have an idea that I may expand it further next year. This feels like it could be a fun party game for whiskey folk, provided the sips are restricted and everyone has a driver. Secondly, it is also the first year that I didn't restrict the competition to bourbon. I included corn whiskey and rye whiskey and sort of expected that corn would fold and rye would reign supreme. I was sorta right on the corn whiskey, it was a little too delicate to win against the flavorful rye, but it was no pushover.

So now here we are. We are at the Last Four (Final Four being a registered trademark of a very litigious entity, there is no way I will use those two words together in a bracket post...): Old Grand Dad Bonded vs Two Stars and Old Forester vs Ezra Brooks Rye. Three bourbons and a rye. Let's see if rye reigns supreme or if bourbon can hold on to the odds.

Division 1, Round 2: Two Stars (A) vs Old Grand-Dad Bonded (B)

Nose: Whiskey A is drier with more grain present while whiskey B is sweeter but shows a bit more alcohol. Winner: Draw.

Mouth: Whiskey B is sweeter but also shows a lot more grain notes. Whiskey A is more of a well-integrated whole, though it is a tad more delicate. Winner Whiskey A.

Finish: The finish on Whiskey A is a bit harsher and drier. Whiskey B is really good though and it has no obvious plusses or minuses to it.Winner Whiskey B.

Thoughts: I'd say that Whiskey B wins this one on the strength of a better mouthfeel and a much tastier finish. Old Grand-Dad Bonded is moving on.

Division 2, Round 2: Ezra Brooks Rye (A) vs Old Forester (B)

Nose: Whiskey A has a spicy ginger note while Whiskey B is pretty generic with sweet caramel. Winner: Whiskey A.

Mouth: Whiskey A is spicy and fun but a bit thin. Whiskey B is sweet and spicy with a nice mouthfeel. It is close but the Winner is Whiskey A.

Finish: Whiskey A shows ginger and citrus while Whiskey B is sweet and fruity. This comes down to personal taste. Winner: Whiskey A.

Thoughts: This one is tough. I adore the fun aspects of Whiskey A. I think it is bright and vibrant and I'm digging the citrus notes. On the other hand, I really like the sweet flavors, the nice mouthfeel, and the fruity finish of Whiskey B. Gun to my head? Winner: Ezra Brooks Rye.

Championship Round: Old Grand-Dad Bonded (A) vs Ezra Brooks Rye (B)

Nose: Whiskey B is a spicy soda, Whiskey A is a dusty rickhouse. Winner: Draw.

Mouth: Whiskey A is sweet with a lovely mouthfeel. Whiskey B is spicy with a ginger ale flavor. Winner: Draw.

Finish: Whiskey A is long with more sweetness. Whiskey B is also long, but is spicy. Winner: Draw.

Thoughts: Sometimes the tasting notes of bloggers make it look like we value the individual parts of a whiskey more than the whole. Though these two whiskeys are different, I liked them both, just in different ways. I like the spiciness of Whiskey B and I like the lovely mouthfeel of Whiskey A. There was a draw on every indiviual metric. And, though it was really close, when taken as a whole the Winner is Old Grand-Dad Bonded.

Image: Championship bracket illustrating winners

Lessons learned

So was I shocked by anything this year? Not really. I was surprised that Old Forester beat Four Roses for every participant, but not enough to call it shocking. I was mildly surprised that a four seed beat a one seed, but when you notice that it is rye vs corn whiskey it is less surprising. Going into the final rounds I had guessed that Old Forester could very possibly be my winner, but wasn't shocked that a rye whiskey beat a bourbon. Even if it was only two years old.

Overall, I thought that there could very possibly be five winners in the initial grouping. I wouldn't have been surprised at any of Old Grand-Dad, Old Forester, Four Roses, Ezra Brooks and I thought that Mellow Corn had an outside shot. Because I worried that the seeding worked against them I went ahead and tried an alternate seeding. I put all the bourbon on one side and matched corn vs corn and rye vs rye on the other. Ezra Brooks beat Old Overholt and Mellow Corn defeated Hirsch, with Ezra Brooks rye still advancing to the finals. On the Bourbon side, Old Grand Dad beat Four Roses on the strength of a good mouthfeel and Old Forester beat Two Stars. Old Grand Dad then defeated Old Forester and advanced to the finals where the result was the same. Overall, I'm satisfied that the best whiskey (for my palate)won.

Bottom-Shelf Brackets 2018: Other people's brackets

March 29, 2018 Eric Burke

Old Forester, Mellow Corn, Hirsch, Old Overholt, Four Roses, Old Grand-Dad, Ezra Brooks Rye, Two Stars

So one of the things I did this year to shake things up was to introduce more judges to this project. In the past, it has been just my wife and I and if we disagreed, I'd overrule her due to the fact that I do all the writing. Now I was not able to get everyone together in time to get started on these so I was unable to use their input in the initial rounds.

And now that I think about that, I think this is a good thing. This is a blog that is run by my wife and I and it reflects our palates. Plus, as you will see, everyone so far has chosen a different winner. But, there are a few commonalities in the results that I think you will find interesting. So let's begin.

This is the bracket of my friend Dave. He was the inspiration for this experiment because he asked if he could be a part of it. He knows almost nothing about whiskey that I haven't taught him but he is an enthusiastic amateur. I did the pouring for Dave's bracket. So one interesting thing that I think you will see is that Old Overholt was Dave's winner. I've described Old Overholt as one of the gentlest rye whiskeys that I'd found. And I think that it makes sense that an inexperienced whiskey drinker would like a whiskey that wasn't overly hot and aggressive. In fact, you'll notice that most of the whiskeys that made it to his last four were fairly nonaggressive whiskeys. A corn whiskey beat a rye, a low proof beat a high proof on a couple of occasions, and then there is Old Forester where he had a hard time choosing between the two.

This is the bracket of one of my dog sitting clients, Jeff. Jeff is a guy who likes whiskey but mostly sticks to the brands he knows. Jeff administered his own test which is why everything is labeled with a letter instead of a name, all the seeds are in the same location though. In this case, Old Grand-Dad beat Old Overholt, Two Stars beat Hirsch Corn, Ezra Brooks Rye beat Mellow Corn and Old Forester beat Four Roses. I haven't finished my bracket yet, but so far mine matches this one. And if you were to ask me how I thought my bracket might finish out, I can see similarities between his and mine. I'm a bit shocked that Two Stars beat out Old Grand-Dad, but hey Barton/Sazerac makes some pretty good juice. Oh, and for Jeff, Old Forester won.

This is my wife's bracket. She and I disagreed on whether Mellow Corn should beat Ezra Brooks Rye so I had her finish her bracket based on her scenario. Once again I administered the contest for her. As you will see, there are some similarities between the previous three, Everyone likes Two Stars more than the Hirsch Corn whiskey and Everyone liked Old Forester better than Four Roses. In fact, Old Forester was in the championship for every one of these three. It sort of makes me wonder if my bracket will follow suit? I guess we will see next Tuesday.

Now, this last one is from Pat, one of my wife's coworkers. Pat also administered his own test. And Pat went a different way than anyone else. Unbeknownst to Pat, he seems to be a fan of rye whiskey. And he found this fascinating since he hadn't had very much rye before. From what I understand, he is going to be remedying that in the future. Even so, I can see the Ezra Brooks Rye winning this. It is a good and flavorful whiskey that even at two years old, brings a lot of flavor to the party.

So I hope you found this as fascinating as I did. I liked seeing the trends among people. All of us liked Old Forester over Four Roses, which I didn't expect from me much less anyone else. It was split evenly between those who preferred Mellow Corn and those who preferred Ezra Brooks Rye. Only one person thought that the Hirsch Corn was better than Two Stars. And yet even with that, they all chose a different winner. I'm very curious now to know which one will win on my bracket.

Bottom-Shelf Brackets 2018: Round 1c: Ezra Brooks Rye vs. Mellow Corn

March 22, 2018 Eric Burke

Round 1c of the 2018 BourbonGuy.com Bottom Shelf Brackets features number 1 seed Mellow Corn Bottled in Bond Corn Whiskey versus Number 4 seed Ezra Brooks Rye.

Mellow Corn is a product of Heaven Hill Brands. It is a bottled-in-bond product, meaning it is the product of one distilling season, bottled at exactly 100 proof and was aged for at least 4 years. As this is corn whiskey, it is made from at least 80 percent corn in the mash recipe and was aged in either uncharred or used barrels. It is a number one seed due to its high proof.

Ezra Brooks Rye is a product of Luxco. It is a sourced whiskey that is assumed to have been distilled at the MGPi distillery in Indiana. It is a two-year-old rye. It is the youngest whiskey in the contest and as such is a number four seed.

These were tasted blind in the following order. My thoughts on each are from before the reveal.

Mellow Corn

Purchase Info: $11.88 for a 1L bottle at Blue Max Liquor, Burnsville, MN

Details: 50% ABV, non-age stated.

Produced by: Heaven Hill Brands

Nose: Buttery popcorn, spearmint, a touch of cinnamon, and after a while strawberry oatmeal.

Mouth: Warm and spicy. Cinnamon and honey.

Finish: Medium and warm. Lingering dried grain notes. A touch of bitterness.

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: Nice and warm. Good spice. Only slight knock on it is a slightly dried grain note on the finish that doesn't agree with me.

Ezra Brooks Rye

Purchase Info: $17.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Eagan, MN.

Details: 45% ABV.

Produced by: Luxco (Assumed MGPi)

Nose: Strong mint and ginger ale.

Mouth: Thinner in the mouth than the last one. Mint and ginger spice.

Finish: Flavorful finish. A "Blossom" of flavor after swallowing. Mint, cinnamon, and ginger.

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: Just the opposite of the last one. This has a pretty mild mouth, but a fun finish.

Who wins?

So, Mellow Corn is sweet baked good on the nose while Ezra Brooks Rye is a spicy soda. This is a draw on the nose. Mellow Corn has a nicer mouthfeel while Ezra Brooks Rye has a more pleasantly flavorful finish. This is the hardest matchup in the contest. These are both good and to be honest my wife and I both chose a different winner. After sitting on this for most of a week I have to declare a winner based soley on the finish. Winner: Ezra Brooks Rye.

Yellowstone Limited Edition 2017

November 30, 2017 Eric Burke

My wife has been sick lately. The kind of cold that kills your taste buds. As such, she missed out on doing the tasting for tonight's review (and the latest sample that the Whiskey Fairy dropped off). Don't get me wrong, she hasn't stopped drinking whiskey. But since she can't taste the difference between the cheap stuff and the good stuff right now...yeah she's been getting the cheap stuff.

Tonight's bourbon is the latest Limited Edition of Yellowstone. A bourbon name that from all accounts started out pretty good, was sold, became not good, and has now become a pretty tasty bourbon again. Some of that resurgence is probably because the brand has come home to the family that helped it gain it's initial rise to fame. You see, Yellowstone was owned by Luxco back in the bad old days and it seems they wanted it to be more than just a bottom-shelf dweller. So these days Luxco has partnered with Limestone Branch Distillery to produce the brand.

Limestone Branch is a craft distillery in Lebanon, Kentucky and was started by Stephen and Paul Beam. The Beam brothers are descendants of both the historical brand owners and the distillers that made the historical Yellowstone whiskey. Luxco bought part of the distillery, and the brothers now make the bourbon their ancestors made.

Last year, I was a big fan of the 2016 Limited Edition. So much so that I went out and purchased a second bottle with my own money. It was a whiskey created from the vast stocks that Luxco has access to and it was very well done. So I was interested to see what they would do this year. I got even more interested in the 2017 edition when I noticed that in addition to bourbon from the vast Luxco stocks, it is also the first to contain bourbon distilled at Limestone Branch.

Yellowstone Limited Edition 2017

Purchase Info: This sample was provided by Common Ground PR, but the suggested price is $99.99

Details: 50.5% ABV. Finished in charred wine casks. According to the press release, this is made from 7- and 12-year-old sourced bourbon and 4-year-old Limestone Branch distilled bourbon.

Nose: Caramel, leather, tobacco, and baking spices.

Mouth: Baking spice, caramel, black pepper and red fruits.

Finish: Warm and long with lingering notes of nutmeg and red fruits.

Thoughts: Once again, Stephen and Paul Beam have knocked this one out of the park. I liked last year's enough to want more than the 200 mL sample they sent. I think I like this year's enough to want more than the 750 mL bottle they sent me. I have a feeling I will be grabbing this again should I find it for a good price. And on a freelancer's budget, that's saying something.

Rebel Yell Small Batch Reserve

September 7, 2017 Eric Burke

I'm in the process of packing for a much-needed vacation tonight, so I'm going to keep this kinda short. Not as short as the last post, but short none-the-less.

I've had a love/hate relationship with Rebel Yell for a very long time. The standard, entry-level, release was one of the first bourbons that I truly disliked. I used most of the bottle for years as a prop whiskey. I'd empty a bottle, which I planned to review, without taking its photo. Instead of shooting an empty bottle, I'd add a little visual interest by pouring my prop bourbon into the bottle, shoot the photo and then pour it back into the Rebel Yell bottle. After a while, I stopped pouring it back in and started dumping it out. And, of course, started adding other whiskeys that I didn't want to finish to the bottle. Oddly after all of that, it made a decent cocktail whiskey, so I started a new prop bottle.

Since the time that I reviewed Rebel Yell, Luxco (the brand owner) started revamping the look of the brand and introducing other extensions to the Rebel Yell line. Flavored ones of course, but also a Straight Rye and a blend of Rye and Bourbon. The latter of which I reviewed quite favorably. And then they released the Rebel Yell Single Barrel, a ten-year-old, wheated bourbon. And it was fantastic!

Which made me wonder if I need to go back down and try the Small Batch Reserve that I had walked past for years due to how I felt about the standard Rebel Yell.

Want to read more about the Rebel Yell brand history, check out my buddy Peter's take on it. He does a lot more fact checking and research than I feel like doing sometimes...

Rebel Yell Small Batch Reserve

Purchase Info: I honestly have no idea, I thought I bought it at Total Wine, but when I went back to check the price on their website, they said they don't carry it in my state...but I see Ace Spirits has it for a little under $27.

Details: 45.3% ABV

Nose: Corn bread, mint and honey.

Mouth: Brown sugar, mint, banana, baking spice and dried grains.

Finish: Short to medium in length with lingering banana and baking spice.

Thoughts: I've had more than a couple of glasses of this during the weeks it has been on the shelf. It isn't bad in a tumbler, nothing special, but it gets the job done without being offensive.

I really think it works well in a cocktail with Campari and Ramazzotti Amaro. It's a riff on a Black Manhattan, and I use two ounces of Rebel Yell Reserve, half an ounce of Campari, half an ounce of Ramazzotti and a few dashes of bitters. I like how the sweet of this bourbon offsets the bitter of the Campari and Amaro. So I'm giving this a like on that fact alone. On its own, it straddles the line between meh and like.

Rebel Yell Single Barrel, 10-Year-Old Bourbon

June 27, 2017 Eric Burke

I am sorry about last week; freelance work has been crazy busy. Which is a great problem to have. Let me tell you I am not complaining. But it did leave me with little time to taste and write about bourbon. However, the extra passage of time did allow something to happen that makes this article just a little more fun.

At the beginning of May, I received a press release announcing the release of the 2017 batch of Rebel Yell Single Barrel, 10-Year-Old Bourbon. Though I had tasted it at an event, I never reviewed last year's batch (and never saw it at retail), so I checked on the availability of samples. Unfortunately, they said that there weren't going to be any review samples this year. Not a problem, I just determined to keep my eyes open for a bottle at the store.

A little while later, a friend of mine texted me from the liquor store that he was picking up a bottle of Rebel Yell Single Barrel. So I asked him to grab me a bottle too. He did, and so I knew I'd have one to review. Except that since we are both busy people, we didn't catch up with each other until this past weekend.

Which is what makes this one fun. See in between my friend grabbing a bottle for me and me getting it; I received a sample of this bourbon as well. And what this allowed me to do was compare barrels of this single-barrel product just to see how big of a difference there is between barrels. I will be comparing barrel number 5043515, provided by Common Ground PR with barrel number 5043517 that I purchased locally.

Rebel Yell Single Barrel, 10-Year-Old Bourbon

Purchase Info: Barrel# 5043517: $45.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine.
Barrel# 5043515: 50 mL sample generously provided by Common Ground PR.

Details: 50% ABV. Age stated 10-years old. Aged since May 2006.

Nose: Barrel# 5043517: Caramel, cherry, mint, and oak.
Barrel# 5043515: Less cherry and more oak.

Mouth: Barrel# 5043517: Sweet with notes of rich leather, caramel, baking spice, and oak.
Barrel# 5043515: Much spicier with a drier oak feel.

Finish: Barrel# 5043517: Long and warm with lingering sweetness and spice.
Barrel# 5043515: Long and spicy.

Thoughts: Both of these are fantastic bourbons. They are similar, as you might expect, though the sample was noticeably spicier and not as sweet.

I like comparing single barrel bourbons. It's fun to experience the variations on a theme. Sometimes, there's little difference. They are so similar that you wonder just how single that barrel was. Rebel Yell Single Barrel does not have that issue. Both are distinct and delicious in their own way. I am really impressed. And even at $50, I think this is worth the money should you have it to spare. For me, this is on the line between really, really like and love. But because I think the price point is just about perfect, I'll just go with I love it.

Blood Oath, Pact No. 3

April 6, 2017 Eric Burke

If you've been a reader of this site for a while now, you will know that when I am really unhappy with a product, I tend not to pull any punches. Whether it is an objectively bad product or just a "meh" product that is grossly overpriced, I will call it out. Sometimes in a sarcastic and amusing fashion (at least amusing to me).

One of these was the initial release of Blood Oath, Pact No. 1. I think I played off of their marketing speak to say something about being very glad it wasn't going to be made again. In fact, I was so disappointed by that purchase that I didn't even take the opportunity to try Pact 2 at an event I was at where it was being served for free.

Well, skipping that opportunity may have been a mistake. Because these days, I am very impressed with the quality of liquid Luxco is releasing in their premium labels. And so, when I saw the opportunity to request a review sample of Blood Oath Pact Number 3. I made sure not to make the same mistake again.

Blood Oath Pact No. 3

Purchase info: Common Ground PR provided this sample. Suggested retail price is $99.99.

Details: 49.3% ABV. Blend of three bourbons ranging from 7 to 12 years of age. Finished in Cabernet Sauvignon barrels.

Nose: Leads off with floral notes. Leather, caramel, and almond notes follow.

Mouth: As with the nose, floral notes leap to the forefront. Following that are peppery spice notes, dried orange peel, leather, caramel, and anise.

Finish: Long and warm with lingering cinnamon, clove, mint and anise notes.

Thoughts: Floral and spicy are good ways to go if you want me to like your bourbon. And boy, do I like this bourbon. If, like me, you were turned off by Pact No. 1 of Blood Oath, consider giving this a chance. I don't often say this, but I think I'm going to pay the $100 price if I see it on the shelf.

Oh, and FYI, I revisited the samples of Pact 1 in my library and I still wasn't impressed. Just in case you were thinking I was going soft.

Blog

Blood Oath Pact No. 4

Division 1, Round 2: Two Stars (A) vs Old Grand-Dad Bonded (B)

Division 2, Round 2: Ezra Brooks Rye (A) vs Old Forester (B)

Championship Round: Old Grand-Dad Bonded (A) vs Ezra Brooks Rye (B)

Lessons learned

Mellow Corn

Ezra Brooks Rye

Who wins?

Yellowstone Limited Edition 2017

Rebel Yell Small Batch Reserve

Rebel Yell Single Barrel, 10-Year-Old Bourbon

Blood Oath Pact No. 3