MB Roland Single Mash Whiskey: Mixed Grain

Paul and Merry Beth of MB Roland are my friends. Because I might be biased, I have decided to disclose that bias so that you can decide how much to trust the review. In the spirit of the upcoming holiday season, I am reviewing a bottle that they gave me as a gift. This was not intended by them as a review bottle, but I like it and wanted to share.

I had originally intended this to be Tuesday night’s post. But, then I went ahead and got sick. Not sure with what, but I’ve got a Covid test ordered just in case. After feeling great yesterday, I backslid today and feel pretty rough. So I’m going to keep this pretty short.

This was a gift from my friends at MB Roland. It wasn’t intended as a review bottle, they are just nice people. For ethical reasons, I only review things that friends make with a disclaimer stating it was made by my friends so that you can use that to weigh how biased I am. And I only do it when I really like something. That said, when this arrived on my doorstep a couple of months ago, I knew after the first sip that I wanted to let everyone else know how good it is. In fact, I walked right over to the edge of my yard with the bottle and two glasses and invited my neighbor to try it as well, knowing he has a sip of whiskey now and then.

He also enjoyed it, in case you were curious.

MB Roland Single Mash Whiskey: Mixed Grain

Purchase info: This was a gift from my friends at the distillery and was not intended as a review bottle. But I can’t help wanting to brag about my friends and how much I like this particular bottle that they made.

Details: Mash bill: 32% white corn, 32% wheat, 31% rye, 5% malted barley. 55.3% ABV.

Nose: Caramel, dried grain, wheat bread, coal fire smoke.

Mouth: Cinnamon, candy bar notes of caramel, nougat, and chocolate.

Finish: Medium length and warm. Follows the mouth with cinnamon and candy bar notes, as well as hints of the coal fire smoke without being "smoky."

Thoughts: This is such an easy drinking 110° proof that I almost never have it with ice. It's sweet, spicy, thick, and rich. It somehow has hints of coal fire smoke without actually being smoky. The grain shows through but it also has lovely caramel notes. I just really like it.

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Kamiki and Umiki Japanese Whisky

I would like to thank Kamiki Whisky for providing tonight’s samples with no strings attached.

As I write this, it is election day in the United States. Theoretically, election season will be over after tonight. But since I was still getting emails and texts from people either asking for money or threatening me with a loss of “Law and Order” as of 15 minutes ago…I’m not convinced that this is the end of anything. All I can say is that over the course of the next week, I hope that half of you get what you want and that half of you do not. All the while, knowing that almost half of you don’t care one way or the other.

God, I love how statistics can be both accurate and complete nonsense at the same time.

Anyway, on to something that has nothing to do with the election, or even the United States: a couple of Japanese Whiskies. In this case, provided by Kamiki Whisky. Just so that we have it all out on the table, I know next to nothing about Japanese Whisky. Over the years, I’ve gathered that it is closest in style to Scotch whisky.

“But wait,” you are asking, “don’t you hate Scotch whisky? Why are you reviewing this then?”

Well, no. I don’t hate Scotch whisky. I’ve just found very few that I enjoyed. But I requested these samples mostly because I have tasted whiskies from Japan that I didn’t mind, and I thought the finishing on these sounded interesting. Both Kamiki and Umiki are malt whiskies that have been finished in casks made of non-standard wood. According to Master of Malt, the Kamiki is “a unique blended malt whisky made using Japanese malts whiskies combined with specially selected malt whiskies from around the world.” That blend is then finished in Japanese Cedar casks. Umiki, on the other hand, is cut with purified ocean water and then finished in Japanese Pine casks. Never having had the opportunity to taste a whiskey finished in either pine or cedar, I requested samples when they sent me a press release.

Let’s see how this goes.

Umiki Japanese Whisky

Purchase Info: Kamiki Whisky graciously provided this sample for review purposes. They do not list a suggested price, but Total Wine in Denver, CO lists it for $45.49

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.07

Details: Blended malt using purified ocean water for dilution and Japanese Pine casks for finishing. 46% ABV.

Nose: Clean and fresh with dried apples and malted grains.

Mouth: Cinnamon, dried fruit, and malted grains.

Finish: Medium length with a gentle heat. Cinnamon, malted grain, and just a hint of smoke linger.

Thoughts: I'm of two minds about this whiskey. While on one hand, I think that I would happily drink this all night if I was with a friend that wanted it, I also think that it won't be one that I reach for very often. It isn't quite to my palate. But I still kinda like it.


Kamiki Japanese Whisky

Purchase Info: Kamiki Whisky graciously provided this sample for review purposes. They do not list a suggested price, but Total Wine in Madison, Wisconsin lists it for $65.99

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.40

Details: Blended malt made using malts from Japan and around the world. Japanese Cedar casks for finishing. 48% ABV.

Nose: Antiseptic and metallic. Sugar sweetness underneath.

Mouth: Sweet, antiseptic, Caramel and malted grains.

Finish: Sweet and long. Antiseptic and metallic notes dominate.

Thoughts: I do not like this one. And it is for the same reason I don't like many Scotch Whiskies. I don't like antiseptic or metallic flavors. There is also a numbing sensation to this that I'm not thrilled with. I can accept that there are many people in the world that may love this. However, I am not among them.

Did you enjoy this post? If so, maybe you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee in return. Go to ko-fi.com/bourbonguy to support. And thank you, BourbonGuy.com is solely supported via your generosity.

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, and more.

Jack Daniel's Sinatra Select (Travel Retail Gift Pack 2019)

I’d like to thank the folks at Jack Daniel’s PR for providing this sample to me with no strings attached.

Holy shit am I feeling my age lately. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not OLD. But I am solidly into middle age. The gut that started to show up a few years ago is getting harder and harder to keep in check. Yearly physicals now come with the phrase: “well, you are getting older” somewhere in them. And to top it off, I had to converse with my optometrist about bifocals. Bifocals! And the worst part is, I think she may have been right.

So yeah, I feel old this week. Luckily for me, I got a little something to cheer me up. Though because of the fasting/no alcohol requirements of preparing for bloodwork this week, I didn’t get a chance to try it until last night. Yeah. Paying close attention to your bloodwork is a cool part of getting older too. Of course, it is just going to get worse, soon there will be routine colonoscopies too. And those are no fun at all.

But for now, the worrying about bloodwork and unpleasant camera intrusions are done for the year. Now is the time to turn to more pleasant thoughts. Things like the upcoming holidays, delicious food and drink, and the previously mentioned package that was dropped off last week.

You’ve probably seen Sinatra Select sitting on a high shelf or behind glass at your local liquor store. It was introduced in 2012 in order to celebrate Frank Sinatra’s famous love of Jack Daniel’s. According to the initial press release, a portion of the whiskey is aged in grooved barrels to allow more contact with the wood and greater extraction of the wood flavors. That portion is then blended with the standard Jack Daniel’s before being bottled at 90° proof.

On December 12th, Frank Sinatra would have celebrated his 104th birthday. (And I thought I felt old.) To commemorate this, for a limited time, Jack Daniel’s is doing something a little special with their Sinatra Select product. Recently Tina Sinatra, Frank’s daughter, found an old flask that her dad used to carry his Jack around in. It was engraved with the phrase “Ole Jack,” a reference to his nickname of Ole Blue Eyes, I’m guessing.

For a limited time, Jack Daniel’s is offering a special Commemorative Flask Set when you purchase Sinatra Select at travel retail. They will also have the flask set available at the distillery bottle shop. Jack Daniel’s sent me a bottle of Sinatra Select as well as the flask set and let me tell you, this is a lovely set. So lovely that my wife immediately stole it from me. The set comes in a leather case and contains the flask shown above and four metal jiggers. My mother-in-law tells me that her father had one very similar to it while he was alive.

Of course, if you are not going to make it down to Lynchburg, Tennessee and you have no plans to travel internationally, you still have a chance to get your hands on one of these sets. Quoting the press release now:

From November 29 through December 11, friends of Jack will also have a chance to win a commemorative “OLE JACK” flask. Visitors to the Jack Daniel’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages can submit to win one of the collector’s items, with seven winners to be announced on Frank’s birthday, December 12.

Jack Daniel's Sinatra select

Purchase info: This product was graciously provided by Jack Daniel’s PR for review purposes. Suggested retail price for Sinatra Select with the flask set is $179.99.

Price per Drink (50 ml): $9.00

Details: 45% ABV

Nose: Almond, cinnamon candy, delicate mint,

Mouth: Nice spice, almond, mint and a touch of banana.

Finish: Medium length and heat. Lingering banana bread notes.

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Thoughts: This is a delicious whiskey. Initially minty and cool in the mouth, as it moves back the spice and the viscosity increase until upon swallowing it feels almost syrupy. If you are a Jack Daniel's fan you owe it to yourself to try a pour of this somehow. And if a loved one (who you really like) is a Jack fan, this would be a great gift.

Did you enjoy this post? If so, maybe you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee in return. Go to ko-fi.com/bourbonguy to support. And thank you, BourbonGuy.com is solely supported via your generosity.

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, and more.

MB Roland Kentucky Straight Wheat Whiskey

Paul and Merry Beth of MB Roland are my friends. Because I might be biased, I have decided to disclose that bias so that you can decide how much to trust the review.

It had been five years since I last visited my friends Paul and Merry Beth at their distillery. We’d met up in Bardstown a few times during the Kentucky Bourbon Festival where we hung out and had a lot of conversations (and on a few occasions a lot of drinks). But it had been too long since I went to visit them at their place. I was excited to see what had changed and learn about how things were going.

I met Paul and Merry Beth just as I was starting to explore distilled spirits. I hadn’t even started my bourbon journey yet as I was still playing with cocktails using inexpensive clear spirits. I was more interested in the flavors you could add to alcohol and how they worked together at that point than I was those flavors that were already there. As an example, I had a small refrigerator filled with tinctures (infused vodkas) of everything from fruit and fruit peels to herbs to spices. I even had a black pepper tincture at one point.

It was in this setting that I tasted my first bottle of whiskey. Not drank my first bottle, tasted. I mean, I did go to college after all. The flavors were amazing. And yes it was from MB Roland. Sure, it was a young whiskey, but I didn’t know better. I was just amazed that you could get all this flavor from a barrel. At that point I determined that I was extremely interested in whiskey. (In fact, it wasn’t until I started making my own house-made bitters for my whiskey cocktails that I remembered my interest in the flavors you could add to a spirit and that helped rekindle my love of cocktails.)

So since I made the trip to visit them, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to grab a few of their products that had come out since the last time I’d been down there. And there were a lot. The first one I opened was a straight wheat whiskey. Since I am taking the time to review it, you already know that I like it, but I should probably share my notes as well.

MB Roland Kentucky Straight Wheat Whiskey

Purchase Price: $54.99 for a 750 mL bottle at the distillery gift shop.

Details: Mashbill: 69% red winter wheat, 26% white corn, 5% malt. Barrel: New with a #4 char level. Batch 5, 55.8% ABV.

Nose: Clean hay, cooked cereal

Mouth: Cinnamon, Milky Way candy bar (milk chocolate, caramel, and nougat)

Finish: Medium length and heat. Lingering cinnamon and Milky Ways.

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Thoughts: I really like this one. The Milky Way candy bar notes make this just like liquid candy. As to be expected with a two-year-old whiskey this does have a few "young" notes but they are mostly on the nose and tend to be pushed into the background of the mouth and finish by the high proof.

Eight & Sand Blended Bourbon Whiskey

I’d like to thank Gregory + Vine for providing this sample to me with no strings attached. All notes and thoughts are my own.

I came to a realization over the course of the last month. In this country, blended whiskey has a bad rep. And for good reason. Most of it is crap. Two things crystalized it for me. The first is that I’ve been getting a lot of comments on an old post that reviewed Kentucky Gentleman. In case you were blissfully unaware, Kentucky Gentleman is a blend of 51% bourbon and 49% Grain Neutral Spirits. Yet, it is labeled as “Kentucky Gentleman Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey.” Sadly some of the commenters didn’t bother reading the next line on the label which describes the components of the blend. Let’s just say they were unhappy with their purchase. On the other hand, I also had people saying I was a snob because I didn’t like it so…yeah.

But the other thing that crystalized the bad reputation that blended whiskeys get was the sample I received of Eight & Sand, a Blended Bourbon Whiskey from the folks at MGP in Indiana. MGP makes damn fine whiskey. Yet, I saw ”blended” on the label and even though the label explicitly said “No GNS or coloring added,” I still felt a moment’s hesitation when I poured my first glass.

Eight & Sand is a Blended Bourbon Whiskey which, according to labeling regulations, means that it is at least 51% Straight Bourbon Whiskey. The other 49% can be almost any other spirit, but is usually GNS. So yeah, it was that other up to 49% that worried me. They must have been expecting questions like this though because when I asked I was very quickly assured that the non-bourbon portion was composed of rye whiskey, corn whiskey and light whiskey (in case you are curious, light whiskey is whiskey that has been distilled to higher than traditional whiskey’s 160 proof limit but lower than the 190 proof limit which would render it neutral grain spirits. It is then aged in used or uncharred new containers). So this is an all whiskey blend.

The Eight & Sand blend creation actually reminds me a lot of the way many Canadian Whiskies are created. Canadian Whiskies often start with a delicate “base whisky” which is similar to US Light Whiskey. To that they blend in “flavoring whiskeys” made from other types of grain: rye, malt, bourbon-style corn whisky, etc. (but never GNS). Our Neighbors to the North rely on (and acknowledge) their blenders to make a particular whisky what it is. They form an idea or feeling they want to capture or evoke and blend the whisky to that. Which is why I say that Eight & Sand reminds me of a Canadian Whisky in some ways. Sure, in Eight & Sand’s case, the base whiskey is bourbon. But they also set out with the idea to showcase their four primary whiskeys (Bourbon, corn, rye, and light) and then blended a whiskey that can show off what can be done with them.

Eight & Sand Blended Bourbon Whiskey

Purchase Info: I was graciously provided a 750 mL sample from Gregory+Vine for review purposes. Suggested retail price is $29.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Details: 44% ABV. Blended Bourbon. No GNS or coloring added. A blend of Bourbon, Rye, Corn and Light whiskeys.

Nose: Mint, cinnamon and caramel.

Mouth: Bubblegum, mint, and cinnamon spice.

Finish: Warm and of medium length. Lingering cinnamon, clove, bubblegum and mint.

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Thoughts: If you had handed this to me with no explanation as to what it was, I would have said it was a pretty tasty bourbon. Knowing that this is a blend, it really shows of the MGP blender’s skill. I mentioned above that the process to create this was similar to the process used in Canadian Whisky. The reason I thought of that is that during our tasting, this reminded me a lot of a really good Canadian Whiskey. I’m thinking something from Wiser’s.

In fact, it shows my biases that when I saw the suggested retail price was roughly $30, I baulked a little. It seemed odd to charge that much for a Blended Bourbon. Yet if someone had handed me this same whiskey and told me it was Canadian, I would have thought the $30 price tag was ludicrously low. I would have bought three or four bottles before they '“wised up.” I guess what I am saying is that you should probably give this one a shot. It is quite good and well worth the asking price.

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