Yellowstone Limited Edition 2020

I’d like to thank Common Ground PR and Limestone Branch for providing a review sample to me with no strings attached.

If you aren’t from Minnesota and you want to know what the “normal” weather is like in the fall, just know that we got a foot of snow at my house last week and that last year I was sitting out on the deck with a drink during the same timeframe. That is to say, there is no “normal” fall weather in Minnesota. It may snow, you might be in shorts (even if those shorts are protesting the fact that you really shouldn’t be wearing shorts any longer).

But, in the words of the great Pauly Shore in the classic film Encino Man: “That’s boring dude, normal.”

I guess that’s what I like about many of the limited releases I get sent. There is no “normal” to them. They tend to change every year. Take the Yellowstone Limited Editions, in the past three years, there have been editions finished in wine casks, bourbons with no finishing and this year’s Armagnac cask finished bourbon. Here is what the distillery has to say about this year’s release:

“When I began working on this limited edition, I knew I wanted to finish our bourbon in a cask and I was looking for one that would add complexity and a dimension that expands the flavor profile,” says Steve Beam, master distiller at Limestone Branch Distillery. “Armagnac is a rustic, full-bodied spirit that contributes dark fruit notes, complementing the vanilla notes in the bourbon. Just like a chef adds spices to enhance flavors, I believe cask-finishing should be similar, where it simply enhances the natural flavors in the bourbon.”

Yellowstone Limited Edition 2020

Purchase Info: This sample was generously proved to me for review purposes by Common Ground PR and Limestone Branch Distillery. Suggested retail price is $99.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price Per Drink (50mL): $6.67

Details: 50.5% ABV. Finished in Armagnac casks. 7 years old.

Nose: Spearmint, almond, nutmeg, and oak.

Mouth: Nice cinnamon spice, almond, oak, honeydew melon, and brown sugar.

Finish: Long and warm with lingering notes of spearmint, melon, cinnamon spice, and floral herbs.

Thoughts: This is delicious. I really like the light touch that they've used on the Armagnac influence. If I wasn't looking for it, I might not have noticed it, showing up mainly on the finish for me. Regarding the price, my wife (the accountant) says that if she sees one of these, she is buying one. $100 is a lot of a bottle of bourbon, but if you have the means to splurge this one is one to splurge on.


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Blood Oath Pact No. 6

I’d like to thank Common Ground PR and Lux Row Distillers for providing a review sample to me with no strings attached.

Welcome to the 2020 BourbonGuy.co…

What? Excuse me, I’m getting a note…ok. really? Ok. No, no that’s fine. Sure.

Sorry about that folks, it seems that for the first time in six weeks, we are not doing a bracket competition tonight. Wow. I’m not even sure what to write in an actual review anymore. Well, never mind that let’s just do what I always do: jump in and wing it!

While I was off doing fun brackety-type competitions, I had a few samples delivered to the house. The first one we will look at is the sixth edition of the annual Blood Oath release from Lux Row Distillers. As usual, Pact No. 6 is a combination of three different bourbons, blended together by Head Distiller and Master Blender John Rempe. Quoting the Press Release:

For Pact No. 6, Rempe chose a 14-year ryed bourbon with notes of oak and leather, melded with an 8-year warm toasty ryed bourbon and complemented them with a 7-year ryed bourbon rested in cognac casks. The memorable combination brings caramel notes and hints of spice, along extra flavor from the cognac barrels.

When I got the press release, I was interested by the Cognac-finished component bourbon. Last year’s rum-finished bourbon component was masterfully handled. It had a subtle but noticeable impact on Pact No. 5. So I was curious to see if the Cognac-finished one was handled similarly. In my own blending experiments, I’ve found that Cognac and Bourbon work well together due to their similar barrel influences. You do need a light hand, however, as the fruit notes can quickly become overpowering. So as an amateur blender, I’m always curious to see how a Master handles it.

Blood Oath Pact No. 6

Purchase Info: This sample was graciously sent to me for review purposes by Lux Row Distillers via their PR agency. The suggested retail price is $99.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 ml): $6.67

Nose: Salted Caramel and chocolate chip cookies (vanilla, chocolate, sweetness, and hints of baking spice).

Mouth: Salted caramel, baking spice, ripe fruit, and a touch of dried grains.

Finish: Medium length. lingering notes of caramel, vanilla, and dark chocolate.

Thoughts: Like last year's rum-finished edition, this Cognac-finished Bourbon shows subtle influence from the finishing barrel. And while I preferred last year's edition to this year's, that is only because I prefer rum to Cognac. This is another very good release in the Blood Oath line.


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.

Four Gate Whiskey Company: Batch 4, Split Stave by Kelvin

I’d like to thank Four Gate Whiskey Company for providing a review sample with no strings attached.

Book review time. And no, it has nothing to do with whiskey.

I just got done reading An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green. I loved it. On the surface, it is a book about a girl who finds a mystery statue on a New York street corner and shoots a quick and silly YouTube video about it. Obviously it is more than it seems and she gets quite famous because of that video.

Now as interesting as the surface story is, that story is not what the book is about.

Let me step back. When I was a kid, I hated trying to find the deeper meaning in a book. I'm of the opinion that even though many authors really do write with an allegorical bent, sometimes a rousing adventure story is just a rousing adventure story. Even today, I doubt that most of what speaks to me in any particular book was put there as some sort of deeper meaning by the author. Mostly because the parts that speak to me, that really make me enjoy a book and not be able to put it down, are usually the side characters or the set dressing. Ther things that help with mood and pace. And sure, the author probably put those things there intentionally but they usually aren't the reason for the book.

That said, I'm pretty sure that An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, is not about giant robots but is actually about fame, specifically internet fame. It is a plea from the author to remember that everyone on the other side of the screen is human. They aren't a talking point or a doll or an alien. They are human with all the problems and complications that come with that. The book is a plea to treat each other better especially online, where it is all too easy to misconstrue the intent behind the words that are typed.

I really needed to be reminded of that right now and as things get more and more contentious, especially here in the US with another election coming up, I think a lot of other people do too. So if you haven't read it, I highly encourage you to do so. It is interesting and exciting enough that I didn’t want to put it down.

But you didn’t come here to read an extended non-whiskey book report or a plea to treat each other nicely (though seriously, we all need to remember that). You came here to find out about that tiny bottle popping up out of the snow in the photo above.

Four Gate Whiskey is a company that is doing very interesting things with barrel finishing. I know that some of you aren’t fans of barrel-finished bourbons, but I find them to be, if not always good, at least always interesting. I found Batch 2 to be in that interesting, but “not for me” category. It wasn’t bad, it was just really weird. But, like I said it was super interesting and so when I saw a sample of Batch 4 arrive, I was pretty stoked to see what they had come up with this time around.

Batch 4, “Split Stave by Kelvin,” is much more in line with a traditional bourbon. Here is what the company has to say about it:

After crafting a series of medium toast casks, then a series of #2 char casks, and finally a third series of #4 char casks, William Hornaday and his team at Kelvin broke all the barrels apart and rebuilt them, alternating between toasted staves and #2 char staves on some barrels, and toasted and #4 char staves on others, they have created the first ever “Split Stave” barrels. To fill them, we blended a 5.5 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon and a 12 Year Old  Kentucky Straight Bourbon and let them rest in our Split Stave barrels for five months. We produced 2,700 bottles from this inaugural release of Split Stave by Kelvin. It is uncut and unfiltered at 115.6 proof.

Four Gate Whiskey Company, Batch 4, "split stave by Kelvin"

Purchase info: This sample was graciously provided for review purposes by the distillery. It was available for purchase in Kentucky and Tennessee starting in December for a suggested retail price of $174.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $11.67

Details: 57.8% ABU. Finished in new, white oak barrels where the staves alternate between a medium toast and a number 2 char or a medium toast and a number 4 char level.

Nose: Initially reminds me of boozy French toast with maple and cinnamon. After a bit, mint, oak, and black tea come to the forefront.

Mouth: Hot and spicy with cinnamon red hots, caramel, mint and oak

Finish: Warm and long with lingering cinnamon, black tea, dark chocolate, and mint.

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Thoughts: This is delicious. It's spicy and hot upfront with a sweet and minty undercurrent. I'm enjoying it a lot. I’d love to get my hands on a bottle, but it’s a little out of my price range. But hey, at least I got a chance to sample it. I really, really like this.


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.