Daviess County Straight Bourbon

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

I recently got an email from Lux Row Distillery that started with the following statement: “To pay homage to the rich distilling tradition of Daviess County, Kentucky, Lux Row Distillers is re-launching Daviess County Kentucky Straight Bourbon – an ultra-premium family of bourbons, with three variants.” Now, I had no idea what Daviess County Bourbon was, but I’ve come to trust that Lux Row is putting out some pretty decent whiskeys so I felt pretty comfortable requesting a sample from them.

In the meantime, I got to learning all there was to learn about the history of the brand using my library of whiskey books supplemented by my patented “30 minutes of Googling” method of research. I found some interesting things about the brand and its original distillery outside Owensboro, KY. And in lieu of bitching about the pandemic again tonight, I thought I’d share what I found with you. To begin, I’d like to quote an 1883 book snappily titled: History of Daviess County, Kentucky. Together With Sketches of its Cities, Villages and Townships, Edu­cational, Religious, Civil, Military, and Political History; Portraits of Prominent Persons, Biographies of Representative Citizens. And an Outline History Of Kentucky.

Daviess County Distillery Company (W. S. Harris and John Callaghan). — This distillery was started April 16, 1874, by Cal­laghan & Trigg. Mr. Bell afterward bought an interest in the concern, when the firm name became the "Daviess County Dis­tillery Company." In March, 1879, Mr. Harris commenced, alone, and Oct. 14, 1880, the present partnership was formed. Both these gentlemen reside in Louisville, and their business here is superintended by C. A. Todd, General Agent. The distillery is located about a mile west of town, on the river, and its capacity is 800 bushels of corn per day; it has 720 mash tubs and its engine is ninety horse-power. 

Callaghan & Trigg were located on Main St in Louisville. I can’t find anything about Trigg, but John Callaghan stayed with the distillery in a leadership role along with a rotating cast of partners. Harris & Callaghan was how the records in 1882 listed them. They were listed as Millett & Callaghan in 1886. And in 1888 the distillery was purchased by Richard Monarch, a whiskey man from Owensboro with John Callaghan being mentioned as Vice President and Treasurer of the Daviess County Distilling Company.

As mentioned, Monarch was a whiskey man. A whiskey man from a whiskey family. He and his brothers each owned numerous distilleries. Unfortunately, they didn’t see their current whiskey boom ending soon enough and overproduced throughout the mid-1890s. Shortly after Monarch finished building his lavish house near the distillery, his whiskey stocks were basically worthless and he was forced to declare bankruptcy. His brothers would do the same not too long after. Monarch died in 1900.

Bourbon historian Sam K. Cecil states in his book, The Evolution of Kentucky Whiskey that in 1901 Monarch’s estate sold a portion of the company to George E. Medley (you’ve probably heard of the Medleys, there are still a couple of bourbons out there with their name on the bottle. They were another Whiskey-making Family in Kentucky. Jack Sullivan has a nice write-up on the family over at his site Those Pre-Pro Whiskey Men). Cecil says in 1904 Medley bought the entire company with the help of Dietrich “Dick” Meschendorf.

Meschendorf had a financial interest in multiple distilleries and was considered enough of a whiskey expert that he advised Presidents Roosevelt and Taft on what the definition of whiskey should be. His advice helped lead to the Taft Decision which defined what whiskey actually was and more importantly, what it wasn’t.

Things went smoothly from then on. Well, aside from 1911 when Meschendorf and then two warehouses burning down and destroying $300,000 worth of whiskey (that’s 1911 dollars, it’d be about just under $8 million today). But they rebuilt and expanded. Of course, there was also that little thing called Prohibition that closed the company down and forced them to sell all their stocks to Wathen Bros. Finally in 1928 the distillery was sold to the Field Packing Company.

Ok, not so smoothly then.

However, the brand survived Prohibition. There was a whiskey-ish thing being sold as late as 1980 that had the Daviess County name on it. Josh over at the WhiskeyJug has a review of a 1980 era dusty he found. Sounds like it was…unpleasant. The brand went from the Medley family to the precursor of Diageo to Luxco, who has the brand today. They have apparently decided that the blended whiskey that Josh tried wasn’t the best legacy that this historic distillery could have and so we get back to where we started: “To pay homage to the rich distilling tradition of Daviess County, Kentucky, Lux Row Distillers is re-launching Daviess County Kentucky Straight Bourbon – an ultra-premium family of bourbons, with three variants.”

I’ve received samples of all three, but I’ll only be reviewing the Straight Bourbon tonight. I’ve typed enough for one post, no need to make it any longer.

Daviess County Straight Bourbon

Purchase Info: This was graciously provided by Lux Row for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $39.99.

Price per Drink (50mL): $2.67

Details: 48% ABV. A combination of both wheated and rye-mash bourbons.

Nose: Mint, bubblegum, toasted grain, and a hint of nutmeg.

Mouth: Nutty with mint, brown sugar, nutmeg, and cocoa.

Finish: On the longer side of medium and warm but not hot. Nutty with mint cocoa and nutmeg.

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Thoughts: This is a good bourbon. I like it. The nutty flavors remind me of a good Beam bourbon without going full peanut. The toasted grain on the nose is interesting. It reminds me of the aroma you might get when you lightly toast whole grains before making a granola or a trail mix. And I’m a sucker for cocoa notes in a bourbon. All in all, I’d recommend this one. This isn’t part of the recommendation, but I also love the color blue they used for the label. It’s my favorite color.

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.

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Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, Batch B520

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

May is a weird-ass time in Minnesota. We’ve been blessed with wonderful weather this year. But I noticed in my Facebook memories this week that we’ve had both days over 100° F and snowy days during the time I’ve lived here. I thought about this when I noticed that everyone in my neighborhood is building gardens.

I’ve had a garden for the entire time I’ve lived in Minnesota (and yet, I am just now getting around to building a permanent fence…huh). It’s nice to see other people getting into the hobby. I do feel a little bad for some of them though when I see that they have planted already. We never plant until Memorial Day. The ground is still too cold and you never know when you will get a freak snowstorm coming through.

It’s nice to get a decent May this year though. It’s like the weather said: “Well, you can’t go anywhere so I might as well let you work in the yard.“ An even nicer thing than the weather that is happening in May is the release of the next batch of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof. I’m going to give you a little spoiler: this might be my favorite yet.

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, Batch B520

Purchase info: This sample was graciously provided by Heaven Hill for review purposes. Locally Elijah Craig Barrel Proof sells for as low as $64.99 for a 750 mL bottle when not on sale.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.33

Details: 63.6% ABV, 12 years old

Nose: Brown sugar, caramel, vanilla, cocoa, and oak.

Mouth: Sweet and hot. Caramel, vanilla, baking spice, and a little mint.

Finish: Warm, sweet, and long. Lingering caramel, baking spice, dark chocolate and smokey oak.

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Thoughts: This is thick, rich, syrupy, and oh, so sweet. It's like a glass of bourbon syrup. And boy, is it ever delicious. I was a big fan of the first release of 2020, but I think I like this one even more. I’m loving the dark chocolate and the strong oak notes on the finish. I love the overall rich sweetness of it. This is pretty close to a perfect bourbon for me. I love it. I would recommend a little ice though.

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.

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Four Gate Whiskey Company: Batch 6, The Kelvin Collaboration II

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

For some reason, I’ve been thinking of my childhood lately. Probably because I’ve had a lot of time to think during this enforced downtime. It’s funny how scents can bring back good memories that you hadn’t thought about for years. Tonight’s whiskey did that for me. One sniff and I was reminded of time spent with my father.

My mom and dad divorced when I was young. Very quickly afterward he and his new wife were married and gave birth to my little sister. Needless to say, this caused some issues later on in life when I was an angry teenager and realized what the implications of that timeline were. But at the time, I was just happy to spend time with my dad, even though I hated my new step-mother. I was at his house for two weekends per month. He’d come to get me every-other Friday and on the way to his place, we would stop for supplies at the gas station near his house. He’d get smokes and beer for him and treats for my brother and I. A soda, candy, chips. You know, the sorts of things that were usually forbidden by my mother.

Sitting in the pickup sharing a candy bar with my dad and brother in the gas station parking lot is one of my happiest childhood memories of spending time with my dad. As I get older, I realize that it is the memories of the small “unimportant” events that I cherish the most.

Four Gate Whiskey Company: Batch 6, The Kelvin Collaboration II

Purchase Info: This sample was graciously supplied by the producer for review purposes. Suggested retail price is: $199.99

Price per Drink (50 mL): $13.33

Details: 12-Year-Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon finished in Cognac and Rum Casks. Mash Bill: 74% Corn, 18% Rye, 8% Malted Barley. Non-Chill Filtered. 63.2% ABV

Nose: Oak, tobacco, coconut, and a hint of wood smoke

Mouth: Shows a lot of influence from rum and cognac along with notes of vanilla, baking spice, and coconut. Water opens it up, bringing out more spicy and fruity notes.

Finish: Long and warm with lingering notes of dark chocolate, coconut, and capsaicin-style spice.

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Thoughts: This is absolutely delicious. This might be my favorite of the samples they have sent over. I love the coconut notes. When I was growing up a Mounds candy bar was my favorite treat at the gas station. This reminds me of that. I love this one. Partially for how it tastes, but also for the happy memories it drug up from the depths of my childhood.

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.

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.