Filmland Spirits presents Moonlight Mayhem Bourbon

I’d like to thank the producer for providing this sample for review purposes with no strings attached.

As you might be aware, yesterday was Halloween. Possibly the best holiday of the year. I love Halloween. Before I moved to Minnesota, I lived in a neighborhood with a ton of kids. We had Trick-or-Treaters from 4 pm until almost 10 pm. Non-stop. And we went all out. My wife and I designed and built a graveyard in the front lawn, complete with spooky lights, fog, tombstones, and a mummy lying in state on an altar. We were all in costume all night long. At times I’d hide out in the graveyard, appearing from there to give the kids their candy. It was great.

But then I moved to a neighborhood of mostly retired folks. No kids. I’d get maybe a dozen Tick-or-Treaters total. Last night we had ten kids. So, since we don’t have to buy quantities of candy anymore, we buy quality. Yept, I’m one of the growing number of houses that give out full-sized candy bars. Costco had thirty bars for $18 yesterday. So I jumped on that.

Of course, the best part of Halloween is not the candy or the spooky decorations. It is seeing the kids in their costumes! It’s honestly my favorite part. They are all so adorable. My kid is grown, and I don’t have any grandkids yet, so I live vicariously through the few parents in my neighborhood. Of course, there is always one kid that sees a big, tall, bearded man and gets nervous. Which always makes me sad. I try to get down on their level and let them take the candy. It usually works.

Last night, however, it did not. He was a tiny little guy. Dressed as a dinosaur. I opened the door, and his eyes got as big as saucers. I guess I looked a little too much like the Big Bad Wolf to him. His sister took a candy bar, and I got down and offered him the bowl. He was too busy looking at me with his now giant eyes to notice. It was super cute. Eventually, his big sister took his for him and put it in his bucket. Even as they walked away, he was walking backward, staring. Once I closed the door, I noticed his parents taking a photo of him in our driveway with his candy. I guess I wasn’t too traumatizing.

But as it is the first post after Halloween, I thought that tonight’s bourbon was especially appropriate. It is Moonlight Mayhem by Filmland Sprits. The bourbon itself looks to be MGP’s 21% Rye Bourbon. Distilled in Indiana and bottled in Kentucky, this bourbon has a mash bill of 75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malted barley. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like me some MGP bourbon, but I didn’t get this bottle for the juice inside. No, I’ve admitted to being a design snob, and sometimes, I just like to reward good artwork. That’s the case here.

Each label from Filmland Spirits is designed as a pulp B-movie poster. And I’m here for it. Here is what the producer has to say about it:

Unlike most whiskey bottles on your back bar, Filmland Spirits is truly unique down to the artwork on the label itself. The labels serve as original movie posters in pulp-style art that align with the expression’s story synopsis on the back of each bottle and carry the B-movie genre throughout the brand’s visual aesthetic. Consumers who yearn to learn more about each expression’s story can head to Filmland's website to read snippets of the script, view storyboards, and even watch an animated trailer!

These folks look like they had a lot of fun putting this out. But, it isn’t worth buying a pretty bottle if what’s inside doesn’t stack up. So let’s see what it tastes like, shall we?

Moonlight Mayhem Bourbon by Filmland Spirits

Purchase Info: This bottle was provided for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $54.99. It is available for purchase in Kentucky, California, and online where allowed.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.67

Details: 47% ABV. 75% Corn, 21% Rye, and 4% Malted Barley. Distilled in Indiana. Bottled in Kentucky.

Nose: Caramel, mint, oak, and a touch of hops.

Mouth: Gentle. Notes of cinnamon, mint, almond, and red fruit.

Finish: Medium length and Warmth. Notes of caramel, cinnamon, almond, and much more oak than I'd have expected.

Thoughts: Not bad, not bad at all. If you want a fun bottle, this is one to look at. The bourbon inside is good, but not the star of this production. This is a bottle I will happily finish and then use as a fun decor for my home bar afterward. And if you want to watch the trailer, download the “movie poster,” or read a portion of the script check out their website at FilmlandSpirits.com.

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Uncle Nearest Uncut/Unfiltered Straight Rye Whiskey

This review sample was kindly provided by the PR team for Uncle Nearest Whiskey with no strings attached.

Holy shit, y’all! I’m back! Did you miss me? I missed you. Not quite as much as I missed my taste buds and breathing normally, but you were at least top three…five. Top five, for sure.

You have no idea how happy I am right now. And not just because I can actually taste and smell the whiskey I’m writing about tonight. No, last night I had just about the best date night I can possibly imagine. My absolute favorite musical artist, Butch Walker, was kicking off his tour last night up in Dinkytown (the area around the northern edge of the University of Minnesota campus), and my wife got us tickets. I’ve been beaming since the show ended. I can’t hear anything because my old deaf ears take longer to recover from the noise of a loud and raucous rock show than they did when I was younger. But I don’t even care. It was worth it.

Add to that fact the opportunity to talk about whiskey, and I’m just in heaven right now. Though I’m going to warn you right now, the flow of this post may suffer tonight. I’m taking frequent breaks to sing along with the Spotify playlist I made that has the songs that were played at the concert. I’ve been doing it all day. Needless to say, it’s been quite the bouncy day for me.

Anyway, we are talking about whiskey, not music. Though if you give me even a sliver of opportunity, I’ll talk music all night. So I’m really trying hard to reign myself in tonight…

Right, yes. Back to whiskey. Tonight we are taking a look at the latest offering from Uncle Nearest. It is a distillery exclusive that holds promise for more widely available releases in the future. Uncle Nearest Uncut/Unfiltered is a rye whiskey sourced from Canada and then aged in New York and then Tennessee. It is bottled at whatever strength that the batch was when the barrels were all dumped. It says “Uncut” right in the name. This batch ended up at 119.7° proof, but I’m going to guess if they have future batches that, they will be at least a little different. If you are curious about what the PR Firm has to say about it, here is the summary I got from them:

To create its uncut/unfiltered rye whiskey, Uncle Nearest sourced its rye from Canada and raised it in New York for four years. Once it was ready, the Uncle Nearest team brought it back to Tennessee to rest and finish in its barrels before being bottled. The new expression reinforces Master Blender, Victoria Eady Butler’s ability to create the highest quality whiskeys possible even when moving away from the filtration process that was created by her great-great-grandfather. Uncle Nearest’s inaugural rye whiskey is available as a distillery exclusive offering available for purchase ($149) at the Nearest Green Distillery in Shelbyville, TN.

As I mentioned, this seems to be just the beginning for Uncle Nearest and their experiments in the world of Rye whiskey. According to the details I got from the producer: “For those unable to make it to Shelbyville, there will be more Rye to come from Uncle Nearest in the coming months, including Straight Rye and Single Barrel Rye.” As a lover of both Rye and Canadian whiskey, this is good news for me.

But most importantly, how does it taste?

Uncle Nearest Uncut/Unfiltered Straight Rye Whiskey

Purchase Info: This sample bottle was kindly provided to me for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $149.

Price per Drink (50 ml): $10.00

Details: Distilled in Canada, Aged in Canada, New York, and Tennessee. 59.8% ABV. Batch 001.

Nose: Caramel, black tea, mint, chocolate, and a hint of bubble gum.

Mouth: Very hot. Caramel, chocolate, and black tea.

Finish: Long and very warm. Notes of toffee, chocolate, cinnamon, and mint.

Thoughts: This is a pretty good rye whiskey. You can taste the Canadian origin. Lots of caramel/toffee and black tea notes. It's very sweet but as hot as one would expect something that's almost 120° proof to be. Just a tiny splash of water does wonders to tame the heat and bring out even more sweetness. This is a "dessert rye" if I've ever tasted one. I think I like the standard Tennessee Whiskey Uncle Nearest releases better, but this is a very interesting change of pace when it comes to rye whiskey. If it were in a store, I doubt I’d want to pay $150 for a bottle. But if I was at the distillery and it was going to be a souvenir, well, then all bets are off. I’ve paid much more for worse whisky as a distillery exclusive in the past. It has made me decide to keep my eyes open for the other Ryes that will be coming along in the fairly near future, though.

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Calumet Farm 16-year-old Single Rack Black Bourbon "Citation"

Ok. I can hear you now.

“Eric, the tagline at the top of the page says “The Irreverent Home of Frugal Bourbon Drinkers Since 2012.” Why do you keep featuring whiskeys that cost over $100?”

And to that, I’d like to paraphrase my (can’t believe I’m about to type this) inner Bill Clinton and say that depends on what the definition of is…errr…frugal is to you. To me, being frugal and being cheap are two different things. They are similar, but there is a bit of nuance to my definitions. Being cheap means don’t spend the money. Ever. Being frugal means that you only spend the money if you know that the money is being well-spent. Let me give you an example.

If I were cheap, I would never have spent $138 on a 16-year-old bourbon. But since I am frugal, I did. And I did so because I really (really) enjoyed the 14- and 15-year-old versions of the same bourbon. Or something like that.

So now that we have that out of the way let’s get to the good part. The tasting!

Calumet Farm 16-year-old Single Rack Black Bourbon "Citation"

Purchase Info: $138.99 at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $9.27

Details: Rack number: W4005.09. Batch size: 19 barrels. Non-chill filtered. 53% ABV. Mash bill: 74% Corn, 18% Rye, 8% Malted Barley

Nose: Coffee, instant hot cocoa powder, almond, caramel, and dusty oak. Definitely, a pour that needs time to open up in the glass, though.

Mouth: Spicy and sweet initially. Past that, you will find cinnamon, chocolate, coffee, and oak notes.

Finish: Sweet, warm, and long with notes of leather, caramel, and chocolate.

Thoughts: This is delicious, and I don't in any way regret the purchase. Is it better than the cheaper 14- and 15- year old versions? Well, they still live on my fancy shelf, so let's find out.

Ok, so I tasted them all side-by-side, and yep. That 16-year-old is the best of the bunch, though not by a lot. The 14-year-old is the lowest on the totem pole. It’s sweet but not as rich as the 16-year-old. The 15-year is a close second, with less sweetness and more spice. And the 16-year-old is just ahead of that by combining the spice, the sweetness, and the oak into a delicious whole. But the margins in this are razor thin, so if you see one and feel like you can afford it, these are worth the $120-$140 that I spent on them. They are all very delicious. Big, big fans of all three in this house.

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Michter’s US-1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Almost exactly one year ago, I realized that somehow, even though it was once one of my go-to pours, I had never reviewed Michter’s Rye. Well, a couple of weeks ago, I had a similar revelation about Michter’s Bourbon. Somehow, I just never got around to reviewing it. So as I was wandering through the liquor store looking for an “everyday” bourbon to have on hand, I realized that I could also get a little content out of the purchase if I grabbed a bottle of Michter’s. So I did.

That’s right, I bought this instead of the much less expensive Wild Turkey 101 for you. I hope you are happy with yourself.

I kid. I kid. I grabbed it because I hadn’t purchased it in quite a few years, and I wanted something different that wouldn’t break the bank. Here is a little of what the distillery has to say about it:

Truly “small batch” each batch of our US-1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon is batched in a holding tank sized to fit a maximum of twenty full barrels, leaving no margin for “blending out” imperfection and thus necessitating excellence from every barrel. Reflecting the spirit of the Bluegrass State, Michter’s US-1Kentucky Straight Bourbon is nuanced, mellow and earthy.

Let’s see how it tastes, shall we?

Michter’s US-1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Purchase Info: $46.97 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.13

Details: 45.7% ABV. Batch #: 21F1851

Nose: Brown sugar, caramel, vanilla, and a slight nuttiness.

Mouth: Brown sugar, nutty/toasty notes, cinnamon, and a hint of mint.

Finish: Medium in length and warmth. Sweet. Notes of brown sugar, cinnamon, caramel, and mint.

Thoughts: This is a tasty "everyday" bourbon. Maybe even at the higher end of the everyday quality range. Costs a little more than I'd prefer for an everyday bourbon, but it is tasty enough to drink neat and works well in a cocktail. So I'll give it a little bit of a pass on that. I'd probably pounce on it at $35-40, but the $45-50 I paid is pushing it a bit. That said, I did enjoy the whiskey and finished it off relatively quickly, so there is that.

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Old Pepper Single Barrel Rye

James E. Pepper was a pre-Prohibition whiskey man with quite the whiskey pedigree, at least if you define pedigree as the people he was associated with. His father, Oscar Pepper started a distillery near Versailles, Kentucky that is today’s Woodford Reserve Distillery, hired James Crow as his distiller and by all accounts made some pretty good whiskey. Very probably because James Crow (of Old Crow Bourbon fame) was the developer, or at least the popularizer, of the sour mash fermentation method that is used in making most American Whiskey to this day. After Oscar died, James inherited his distillery but was deemed too young to run it so it was managed by his court-appointed guardian Col. E.H. Taylor (of Old Taylor fame). Taylor did the young Pepper the favor securing money to expand the distillery, but then also ended up losing it in bankruptcy proceedings. The distillery was then sold to Misters Labrot and Graham, whose name still graced bottles of Woodford Reserve up until pretty recently.

Now this is speculation on my part based solely on hindsight of the eventual outcome, but I’d say that the court may have misjudged who should be running the distillery as going bankrupt and losing the business might just be the worst outcome that could have happened to a business. Of course those were turbulent financial times in the US so James Pepper might have faired even worse. Hard to tell from almost 150 years away.

But, regardless, it seems that James may have learned a thing or two about making whiskey through all of this as he, along with a business partner, decided to try again. This time in nearby Lexington, Kentucky. That distillery lasted beyond James’ death in 1906 until Prohibition shut it down. The James E. Pepper brand and distillery passed to Schenley and then to United Distillers during various mergers and acquisitions. According to bourbon historian Michael Veach, the James E. Pepper distillery was shut down in the late 1960s and the brand “disappeared from the market by the end of the 1970s” only to briefly reemerge in the early 1990s as an export-only brand before being abandoned for good.

Which takes us out of the past and brings us to tonight’s whiskey. In 2008, the abandoned trademark for the James E. Pepper brand was acquired by Amir Peay. He and his team started by bottling MGP juice under the 1776 brand name while they got a new James E. Pepper distillery going on the site of the historical James E. Pepper distillery. Here is what the company has to say:

The Story

In 2017 we completed the multi-year project to rebuild the historic Pepper Distillery, which had been abandoned in 1967 for over 50 years. This label is a celebration of that project and where we showcase our single barrel picks, small-batch bottlings, or limited specialty finishes.

Technical

Age statements and bottling proofs are on the labels. Bottled by hand at the Historic James E. Pepper Distillery, using water from the historic limestone well to cut whiskeys to proof. Distilled at various distilleries, including ours (DSP-KY-5), the Lawrenceburg Distillery in Indiana (DSP-IN-15023), and the Bardstown Bourbon Co. in Kentucky (DSP-KY-20037); relevant details can be found on the labels.

My bottle was distilled in Indiana and is 4 years old. Let’s see how it tastes.

Old Pepper Single Barrel Rye

Purchase Info: So, I lost the receipt for this. No idea what I spent on it. But Total Wine sells it for about $40 in Michigan and $53 in Kentucky. So it was probably in that range somewhere.

Price per Drink (50 mL): (based on the figures above) $2.67 - $3.53

Details: 4 years old. Cask 1126. 55% ABV. Distilled at DSP IN - 15023. Bottled at DSP KY-5.

Nose: Cinnamon candies, spearmint, and brown sugar.

Mouth: Very hot. Lots of cinnamon candy right off the bat. following that are notes of cedar, mint, and nutmeg.

Finish: Warm and of medium length. Lingering notes of spearmint, cedar, and cinnamon.

Thoughts: This is a very tasty rye. Very cinnamon forward until it gets to the finish when the mint takes over. It is very hot, but takes water well. A little water brings out a sweet malt note. All in all, I like this one. Tastes good neat and works really nicely in a Sazerac cocktail as well.

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Sources:
bourbonveach.com: Brand History – James E. Pepper
bourbonveach.com: Lexington Kentucky Distilleries – James E. Pepper
Those Pre-Pro Whiskey Men: James E. Pepper: Was His Whiskey Revolutionary?
JamesEPepper.com: Old Pepper - Single Barrel & Small Batch

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WhistlePig Old World Rye, Aged 12 Years

Tonight we look at the final bottle out of the “Piglets” 3-pack of WhistlePig Canadian Ryes. This one is the oldest of the bunch and the most expensive if you were to buy a full bottle. It is also the lowest proof of the bunch at 86° proof. But even though it is the lowest proof, it is certainly the one that I was most excited to try. I mean, this is a sourced Candian whisky. I love me some Canadian whisky, but I don’t usually like to pay too much of a premium for it. Delicious, 18-year-old whisky from Wiser’s can be had for around $70 and you can get a cask strength version of Alberta Premium at my local corner liquor store for even less.

Coincidentally, way back when WhistlePig first debuted on the scene it was an open secret that the source of their whisky was Alberta Distillers, the same folks that make Alberta Premium (and sell that same juice to a lot of Non-Canadian brands here in the States). No idea if they are still sourcing from Alberta these days, but the point still stands that I can get really good Canadian whisky for a lot less than what WhistlePig is asking.

But getting back to why I found this one more interesting than the others. This one is barrel-finished so it isn’t “just” Canadian whisky. In this case, they used three different types of finishing barrels. Here is what the producer has to say about it:

This whiskey is the marriage of three finishes, each with their own distinctive flavor profiles. After maturing for 12 years in New American Oak, the spirit is divvied into one of three barrels –Madeira (63%), Sauternes (30%) and Port (7%).

Let’s see how it tastes and if my interest was well-placed.

Whistle Pig Old World Rye

Purchase Info: $26.99 for the WhistlePig Rye Whisky Piglets multipack of three 50mL bottles at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN. Retail for a full bottle locally is between $130 and $165.

Price per Drink (50ml): $9.00

Details: Aged 12 years. 43% ABV. Wine Cask finished (63% in Madeira Casks, 30% in Sauternes Casks, and 7% in Port Casks).

Nose: Oak, vanilla, red fruits, and a hint of nutmeg.

Mouth: Soft in the mouth. Notes of red fruit, vanilla, oak, and cedar.

Finish: Warm and on the shorter side of medium length. Fruity with notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cedar.

Thoughts: This is pretty tasty. I like it. It's the best one out of the multi-pack. Though, it's not something I'd personally buy. It’s good, it just isn't $130-$165 good. However, it is good enough that I'd have been on board if it were priced at about half that so that it was more in line with the price of Alberta Cask Strength or Wiser’s 18-Year-Old. Of course, if any of you want to buy this for me, I'd happily accept. As it is, I'm happy to have tried it and now I know that not everything WhistlePig releases is subpar, even if everything I’ve tried to this point is way overpriced for sourced Canadian Whisky.

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WhistlePig PiggyBack Rye

Folks, there are no dogs in my home tonight that do ordinarily not live here. That means it is a rare date night with my wife tonight so I am going to jump right into this without much back story. Tonight’s whiskey is another one out of the WhistlePig Rye Whiskey Piglets 3-pack. This time is the WhistlePig PiggyBack 100% Rye. Let’s see how it tastes.

WhistlePig Piggyback

Purchase Info: $26.99 for the WhistlePig Rye Whiskey Piglets multipack of three 50mL bottles at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN. Retail for a full bottle locally is around $50.

Price per Drink (50ml): $9.00

Details: 6 years old. 100% Rye. 48.28% ABV.

Nose: Oh. That's spicy. Loads of cinnamon red hot candies. Underneath that are notes of Cedar and butterscotch.

Mouth: Cinnamon, oak, cedar

Finish: Medium length and quite warm. Lingering notes of cinnamon and a sharp cedar note.

Thoughts: I'm a little disappointed by this one. When I first nosed it, I was really excited to see where the strong cinnamon candy note would lead us. The flavors in the mouth were good. But the finish really knocks this one down for me. There is a sharp grain alcohol note along with the cedar that reminds me of the finish you'd find in a handle of bottom-shelf Canadian Whisky (think Windsor Canadian circa 2000, which was the last time I've had it…and at the time at least, it was very bad). Not to say this tastes like a bottom-shelf Canadian Whisky. But, the finish isn’t doing it for me. Might be for you if you don’t have that bad association, but it isn't for me. I'm rating this just meh.

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Calumet Farm 14-Year-Old Single Rack Black Bourbon

About four years ago, I did the first-ever site redesign for BourbonGuy.com. It was mostly cosmetic improvements that would improve the mobile reading experience. I’m an old fogey and read stuff on either my desktop or my tablet. I almost never read on my phone. But I knew that I was in the minority so one day, on a whim, I redesigned the entire site and relaunched it. When I did so, I trusted that most people would want to view the most recent posts. I mean the vast majority came to the site from a Google search and then bounced.

But after a request from a reader this week, I was forced to wonder if most of the people that Google in and bounce do that not because they don’t want to read more, but because I’ve really given them no option to explore further than the page they came in on. It was an interesting thought and honestly, after 10 years of not really paying attention to that, I didn’t have a good way of incorporating it. But, if I really didn't take exploration of the site all that seriously back when I started it, I did always tag each post with its subject matter.

So as of today, you can go into the navigation bar (or menu if you are on mobile) and click on the drop-down menus for reviews and for articles. There you will find links to all articles on recipes, history, projects, reviews, etc. The reviews can be viewed either by producer, rating, or spirit type. There will be some overlap as I tag most posts with multiple tags, and some tags will produce pages and pages of content. But it is something I can do to help you, the reader, get more out of the site. Of course if you are looking for something specific, you can always try the search function at the bottom of each page, but since the Squarespace search function is almost useless, you are probably better off using an outside search engine. It’s what I do.

Well, that was fun. Now with that out of the way, let’s get down to tonight’s whiskey. I recently noticed a bottle of 14-year-old Bourbon from Calumet Farms. I’ve had a bottle of the 15-year-old on the fancy shelf since I reviewed it last July. The fancy shelf is out of the way and behind something so I often forget to look there when I look for a pour. It helps to keep me from finishing the delicious, expensive, stuff too quickly. And in this case, it did its job well. As I really, really enjoyed that one, I decided to make a splurge and pick up its younger brother as well.

Calumet Farms’ 14-year-old Single Rack Black Bourbon is a product of Western Spirits Beverage Company. Much like the 10-year-old Bourbon I reviewed back in 2018, and the previously mentioned 15-year old from 2021, each 19-barrel batch is created from the barrels aging on one rack in the aging warehouse. It is non-chill filtered and barreled at 96.2° proof. The mash bill is 74% Corn, 18% Rye, and 8% Malted Barley. It is bottled by Three Springs Bottling Company in Bowling Green, Kentucky. You can read more about the bourbon on their website.

So how does it taste?

Calumet Farm 14-Year-Old Single Rack Black

Purchase Info: $119.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $8.00

Details: 48.1% ABV. Rack# S3319.07. Batch Size: 19 Barrels. Mash Bill: 74% Corn, 18% Rye, 8% Malted Barley.

Nose: Oak and mint with caramel notes underneath.

Mouth: Caramel, almond, oak, and baking spices like cinnamon, anise, nutmeg, etc.

Finish: Warm and of medium length. Notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, almond, caramel, and tobacco.

Thoughts: Beautiful mouthfeel. thick and very rich. Good "Bourbon" flavors. Lots of oak and caramel with spices make it interesting. This one is going to sit on the fancy shelf to be doled out a drink at a time on special occasions.

Speaking of Calumet Bourbons that have sat on the fancy shelf for a while, let’s see how this compares to the 15-year-old version we did last year. The 15-year-old has more oak on the nose, which is impressive considering that the 14-year-old had a lot already. In the mouth, both have a very nice mouthfeel-The 14-year- old is sweeter and smoother while the 15-year- old is much spicier. At the end of the day, both are delicious and if you are lucky enough to have the choice you can't go wrong either way. You just have to decide if you want sweet or spice more. For me, I think I like the 15-year- old just a hair more, but it's really too close to make a firm judgment on that.

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