Cedar Ridge Rye and Bottled-in-Bond Rye Whiskeys

This week, we’re offering two reviews for the price of one as we examine a couple of rye whiskeys from Cedar Ridge Distillery in Iowa. Since tomorrow is a holiday, and yesterday was crazy with work, I thought I’d combine both posts into one, as it seemed thematically appropriate.

So first, my bias. I am not a native Minnesotan, but I have lived here for almost twenty years. The reason I live here has more than a little to do with my time in college at the University of Minnesota. It wasn’t the main reason I moved here, but it didn’t hurt that I’d spent a particularly enjoyable part of my youth in the state. And as a Gopher, I am duty-bound to hate all things Hawkeye, which includes the state they live in and all things associated with it. I mean, the Hawkeyes can get fucked. (If you know how college football rivalries work, you’ll understand that last bit. Don’t worry, I feel the same way about my birthplace of Wisconsin due to my hatred of the Badgers, too.)

So now that I’ve disclosed that my bias is a mild dislike of all things Iowa based on the fact that I hate their Big Ten college football team, let’s move on to the whiskeys.

While I did the tastings for these, I was under the impression that they were the same whiskey with different ages and proofs. But I was excited to learn that these are completely different mashbills. The Straight Rye that we will be looking at first is 12% corn, 51% malted rye, 34% rye, and 3% malted barley. The Bottled-in-Bond leaves out the unmalted rye and uses 85% malted rye instead. That’s very cool. For a long time, it was hard to get rye whiskey from a big distillery. Jimmy Russell used to say that Wild Turkey spent one day per year distilling all of the rye they put out. But these guys have at least two mashbills of rye that they produce. As a rye whiskey lover, this is a good time to be a fan.

Let’s start with the Cedar Ridge Straight Rye Whiskey, part of their core lineup.

Cedar Ridge Straight Rye Whiskey

Purchase Info: $37.99 for a 750 mL bottle at South Lyndale Liquors, Minneapolis, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $2.53

Details: 3- years-old. 43% ABV. Mashbill: 12% corn, 51% malted rye, 34% rye, 3% malted barley

Nose: Cinnamon, cedar, mint, and stone fruit.

Mouth: Cedar, cinnamon candies, and stone fruit.

Finish: Medium in length and warmth. Notes of dried grains, mint, and cedar.

Thoughts: I'm not a fan of this one. It tastes a bit too much like dried grains for my tastes. I know that there are very good rye whiskeys on the market that are even younger than this, so it isn't an age thing per se. I'm guessing it's a combination of age and climate. The average high in this part of Iowa is over 10°F lower than it is in Kentucky for most of the winter, which could lead to aging taking longer unless they use climate-controlled aging spaces. I don't know for sure how they age their product, so that's only a guess. All that said, this isn't a bad whiskey. It just doesn't align with my palate, mostly due to the very grain-forward nature of the finish.

Now let’s do the Limited Edition Bottled-in-Bond Rye.

Cedar Ridge Bottled-in-Bond Rye

Purchase Info: $49.99 for a 750 mL bottle at South Lyndale Liquors, Minneapolis, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.33

Details: 50% ABV. 4-years-old. Mashbill: 12% corn, 85% malted rye, 3% malted barley. DSP-IA-15001

Nose: Cedar, cinnamon, dried grains, and biscuits.

Mouth: Caramel, stone fruit, cinnamon, cedar, and oak.

Finish: Medium length and warmth. Notes of cinnamon, mint, and cedar.

Thoughts: It's amazing what another year, a bit more proof, and the elimination of non-malted rye will do for a whiskey. This has a nicer mouth feeel, is sweeter, and shows more barrel influence than the 86 proof. And even though I don’t usually care for malted rye in a whiskey, I like this one. This particular Iowa whiskey is better than any of the Minnesota ryes I’ve tried.

See I can say something nice about Iowa.

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Still Austin Cask Strength

I am jumping right into the description of the whiskey tonight as my wife is away for work and will need to proofread all of this via text message. She really doesn’t need to know that, at least so far, I’m doing just fine on my own after one day alone. We’ll wait until next week to mention any of that—when I’ll be forgetting to shower and eating over the sink like a smelly bachelor.

So, Still Austin Bourbon. This is a brand that I’ve seen mentioned online by people in the Austin, Texas area but that I never paid much attention to because I am not now, nor do I plan to be, in Texas anytime in the foreseeable future. I really don’t like the heat that much. No matter how much I complain about it, I’m much better suited for northern climates.

Still Austin is a craft distillery located in oh-so-hot Austin, Texas. It was started by a father-and-son team about a decade ago. They also employ independent Master Blender Nancy Fraley to help craft their whiskeys—one of the best in the business.

I was curious about making whiskey in the Texas climate. I know that early on in the craft distilling movement, there were stories of barrels completely evaporating away in the heat. When I saw that this bottle had a two-year-old age statement, I was a bit nervous that I was going to get something that was both over-oaked and yet immature when I cracked it open. But the company website addresses that, so I thought I’d quote that below:

SLOW WATER REDUCTION

As the Texas weather works its magic, as much as 15% of the spirit in the barrel can evaporate in the first year alone. To keep our whiskey in proper balance, our distillers employ an ancient process called slow water reduction or ‘elevage.’ This deeply complex process was developed in the brandy-making regions of Cognac and Armagnac in France and brought to us by our Master Blender, Nancy Fraley, who spent years in this region learning from masters of their craft. During this process, over the course of several months, we constantly monitor and add very small amounts of water to aging barrels to help reduce the impact of smokey phenolic compounds and break down more soluble sugars from the oak.

If, like me, you’d never heard of this dilution technique, Alcademics touched on it in a cognac blog post back in 2020.

Let’s see how this two-year-old cask-strength bourbon tastes, shall we?

Still Austin Cask Strength Bourbon

Purchase Info: $49.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.33

Details: 2 years old. 59% ABV. Mashbill: 70% White Corn, 25 % Rye, 5% Malted Barley.

Nose: Caramel, oak, and mint.

Mouth: Caramel, bubblegum, allspice, and cinnamon.

Finish: Hot and of medium length. Notes of caramel, bubble gum, mint, and cinnamon.

Thoughts: I'm extremely impressed by this two-year-old whiskey. It focuses mostly on sweetness and spice without the rich depth of older whiskeys aged in a more forgiving climate. But in no way does this taste green or of new make. It is really good, if a touch uncomplicated. I'm very happy with this purchase.

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Jack Daniel’s Single-Barrel Barrel-Proof Rye Whiskey

I’m a big fan of serendipity. Most of my most interesting experiences in life have been completely unplanned. Take tonight’s whiskey. I’d been sitting on a bottle of Jack Daniel’s Bonded Rye for months before it finally came up in the editorial calendar. Later that week, I was wandering through the liquor store to see if anything caught my fancy when I saw its barrel-proof big Brother, for the first time. My closest Total Wine is set up very similarly to many others across the country. They have the extra-wide whiskey aisle with bourbon up one side, things they are trying to push down the center and Canadian, Flavored, “American” whiskey, and then Rye down the other as you make your way toward the front of the store.

I went up the bourbon section without seeing anything. There were a bunch of boxes of Spirits Direct crap down the center. I turned the corner to go down the other side. Glaced at the Canadian and didn’t see anything that interested me. I walked past the flavored section without stopping. I looked at most of the American Whiskey and Rye without seeing anything when, on the second-to-last shelf on the final facing, I saw this bottle of Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Barrel Proof Rye. It was the only one there. And knowing that I hadn’t covered it prior, it was in my cart before I even looked at the price.

Of course, then I looked at the price and was relieved that it was well under a hundred dollars. So, what is this newish release from the Tennessee Behemoth of American Whiskey? Well, it’s something that we’ve kinda looked at before. Back in 2020, Jack Daniel’s released a limited edition Single-Barrel Barrel-Proof Rye. About a year ago, they announced that it would become a permanent ongoing addition to the Single-Barrel lineup—a very welcome addition, in my opinion.

Like the other Jack Daniel’s Rye Whiskeys, this uses their standard rye mash bill of 70% rye, 18% corn, and 12% malted barley. Bottles will range between 125° proof and 145° proof. The suggested retail price is $59.99, though it was quite a bit more than that here in Minnesota at $75.

So let’s see how it tastes.

Jack Daniel’s Single-Barrel Barrel-Proof Rye Whiskey

Purchase Info: $74.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $5.00

Details: 65.25% ABV. Barrel House: 1-09. Barrel Number: 24-02588. Bottling Date: March 12, 2024

Nose: Spearmint, caramel, cedar, and circus peanuts (candy).

Mouth: Sweet and as hot as you'd expect 130° proof to be. Notes of Cinnamon, spearmint, caramel, and oak.

Finish: Medium length and hot. Notes of cinnamon, oak, banana, and caramel.

Thoughts: It is very sweet and very hot when neat. Luckily, a touch of water tames the heat without eliminating the sweetness or spice notes. This is delicious—absolutely delicious. Is it worth almost twice the price of the Bonded Rye? Well, that's up to you. All I’ll say is that I’m reaching to pour this one even though both are on my shelf next to one another. And honestly, I'd buy it again if I saw it at the store. Tasting them side-by-side, they taste pretty similar. As you might expect. But the added proof is quite tasty. When it comes to Jack Daniel’s, the less water they add, the more I like it.

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Heaven’s Door Exploration Series I - Calvados Finish

All the cards are on the table here. I’m getting old. I’m almost 50, and the number of years behind me is probably greater than the number ahead of me. However, I’m not so old that I grew up being aware of Bob Dylan. I first heard Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door (this brand’s namesake) as a Guns N’ Roses song. A live version was in heavy rotation on MTV in the late 80s, or so I remember. And being a youngster, as far as I was concerned, it was their song. I’d never heard of Bob Dylan.

Of course, as I got older, my music tastes changed. Being quite the curmudgeon even then, in response to the rise of Grunge and Alternative Music, I got really into Classic Rock (which at the time was defined as late ’60s through ’70s rock music; let’s not talk about how it is defined these days…). This was when I realized that Bob Dylan was “that dude on the radio that really couldn’t sing that well, yet everyone seemed to like.” Which may be harsh and reductive, but I was young and more inclined to judge things harshly and reductively. I’m still more of a fan of Dylan's songs performed by other people than of his songs performed by himself, except as a member of the Traveling Wilburys. But I now understand the appeal and why he’s a part of our shared musical history.

So all that is to say that, unlike most Minnesotans of a certain age, I don’t hold any particular reverence for this one of our famous sons. I thought it odd when he put out a whiskey brand, but I also thought: “Heck, a lot of other celebrity brands have come and gone over the years. Why not Bob Dylan?” I reviewed their Trilogy 3-pack of 200 mL bottles back in late 2020. And then didn’t really give them another thought.

But then it did the darndest thing happened. The brand stuck around. Unlike a lot of other celebrity brands, it didn’t go away, which says to me that they must be doing something right. And so when I saw an email come across my desk highlighting a new expression that the brand was releasing, I was intrigued. And when I saw that it was a bourbon finished in Calvados casks, I was interested enough to go to the Heaven’s Door website and order myself a bottle. I love apple brandy. And from the first time I bought a bottle of apple brandy, I’ve been mixing it with bourbon. To me, the flavors go together extremely well.

Now, let’s look at this specific bourbon, shall we? We already know that it is a straight bourbon finished in Calvados casks. Calvados, if you were unaware, is an apple brandy from the Normandy region of France. Hence the brandy talk above. The bourbon is five years old and, well, let’s let the marketing folks from the brand describe this for me. They get paid more to write than I do.

The series’ debut is deeply rooted in French influence, with carefully incorporated elements of product, wood, and technique. Its foundation is comprised of Heaven’s Door’s award-winning Tennessee Straight Bourbon whiskey finished inside freshly dumped Calvados Brandy casks. We then introduce an additional layer of complexity through medium-heavy toasted French oak staves.

Calvados, an apple brandy from Normandy, France, matures for at least two years in the French oak casks before being filled with our Tennessee Bourbon. This imparts sought-after characteristics like fresh apple cider and baked apple brandy. Our new, medium-heavy toasted French oak staves, sourced from Quercus Petraea trees, offer excellent aroma, medium ellagitannins, and high oxygen permeability. 

Let’s see how it tastes.

Heaven’s Door Exploration Series I - Calvados Finish

Purchase Info: $79.99 for a 750 mL bottle from the Heaven’s Door Website.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $5.33

Details: 54% ABV. Finished in Calvados casks and toasted oak staves. 5 years old.

Nose: Apple blossoms, honey, and baking spices.

Mouth: Caramel, vanilla, cinnamon, baked apple, honey, and oak.

Finish: Medium length and warmth with notes of baking spice, floral apple, almond, and oak.

Thoughts: If you do not like apple brandy, you probably won't like this. However, as I'm a fan of apple brandy, I do like it. It reminds me of some of my home blends, where I'd mix apple brandy and bourbon, which means that the finishing was worthwhile and not just a gimmick. The bourbon isn’t as hot as I'd have expected a triple-digit proof bourbon to be. In other words, it can easily be consumed neat without water or ice. All in all, I like it, though $80 is a little expensive for me to want to buy another bottle when I usually have both bourbon and apple brandy on hand.

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If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.

Jack Daniel’s Bonded Rye

It is easy to get caught up in the negative side of any story. I mean, after two solid years of drought, 75% of my yard is currently flooded. I could be super unhappy with that. But, since we were able to get our garden in before all the rain, we shouldn’t have to water it for a while. And since our garden doesn’t like city water, it’s good that we won’t need to use it as soon as usual.

Or take tonight’s whiskey. I bought this 700 mL bottle of Jack Daniel’s Bonded Rye for $34.99 back in March. However, Jack Daniel’s Bonded Rye recently replaced Jack Daniel’s Straight Rye, which I reviewed back in November 2017 for $29.99 for a 750 mL bottle. That’s an additional five bucks for 50 milliliters less whiskey. And sure, I could be mad if I focused just on that. However, the proof went up along with the price. And honestly, if you look a little deeper and do the math, the price increase is slightly less than the difference in inflation since that time.*

So, I guess what I’m saying is that we got a higher-proof whiskey for the same effective price, which if you focused only on the negative items, you might have missed. Now, while I wander around the house singing a song from Monty Python’s The Life of Brian, let’s let the press release from Jack Daniel’s have a word.

Jack Daniel’s Bonded Rye has a grain bill of 70% rye, 18% corn, and 12% malted barley and is charcoal mellowed before aging in new, handmade American white oak barrels. It opens with notes of dried fruit followed by lingering hints of toffee, imparting a bold, complex, and balanced taste with a rye spice finish.

Alright, I’m back. Let’s see what the BourbonGuy household thought of this one, shall we?

Jack Daniel’s Bonded Rye

Purchase Info: $34.99 for a 700 mL bottle at South Lyndale Liquors, Minneapolis, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $2.50

Details: 50% ABV. Mash bill: 70% rye, 18% corn, 12% malted barley.

Nose: Cedar, cinnamon, and chocolate.

Mouth: Zesty spices of cinnamon candy and clove, vanilla, citrus zest, cocoa, and oak.

Finish: Medium length and warmth with notes of oak, almond, baking spices, and just a touch of banana.

Thoughts: This is decent. Like its predecessor, it's not a world-beater by any means, but it's solid. It drinks well neat and works well in a cocktail. The oak is more prominent than I’d have thought for a product from Jack Daniel’s core lineup. It is sweeter than I usually like my rye, but it seems to work in this case. If you loved Jack Daniel’s Straight Rye, this is more full-flavored and isn’t as soft as that. If you really like Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Rye, this has a higher proof, but it reminds me of that. However, Single Barrel is over $50, so personally, I’d buy the Bonded Rye more often for that reason.

Now I need to figure out how to get Always Look on the Bright Side of Life out of my head…

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*$29.99/750 = 3.999 cents per milliliter. $0.03999 x 700 = $27.99. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, $27.99 in November 2017 had the same buying power as $35.44 in March 2024—or slightly more than the $34.99 that I paid for the new bottle. Basically it’s a wash.

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If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.

Penelope Bourbon: Architect Build 10, Barrel Strength Batch 18, and Toasted Bourbon Batch 24-301

I’d like to thank the folks at Penelope Bourbon and their PR team for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

A couple of weeks ago, I got a fun package from the founders of Penelope Bourbon sharing the newest batches of three of their four core expressions. Two of which, we’ve never looked at before. And since we’ve got a lot to cover tonight, let’s skip the usual blathering and jump right into the bourbons, shall we?

Penelope Toasted Series Batch 24-301

Description from the Producer: Our Toasted Series is a testament to the power of serendipity. When we began to explore toasted finishes, we weren’t expecting each barrel to be so different — so we decided to embrace this variety of chars and toasts that make every bottle in our Toasted Series truly one-of-a-kind. After full maturation in charred new American oak barrels, Penelope Bourbon is finished in a new, hand-toasted barrel. While it can be hard to predict the flavor profile of each bottle in our Toasted Series, the deep notes of vanilla imbued by the toasting process add another dimension to our signature flavor profile. Whether you’re into a Heavy Toast or Medium, our Toasted Series truly offers something for everyone.

Purchase Info: This sample was sent by the producer for review purposes. The retail price on their website is $69.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.67

Details: Mash Bill: 75% Corn, 21% Rye, 4% Malted Barley, 50% ABV. Char Level: 5. Toast Level: Heavy. 4 years old.

Nose: Bubblegum, honey, and a faint note of nutmeg.

Mouth: Cinnamon, nutmeg, honey, and bubblegum.

Finish: Medium in length and warmth with sweet notes of honey, bubble gum, and cardamom.

Thoughts: If you are a fan of bourbons that are bubblegum/almond forward you will love this one. I'm reading it as bubble gum and honey with various baking spices. It isn't hot but has a nice flavor. I like this one.

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Penelope Barrel Strength Batch 18

Description from the Producer: Penelope Barrel Strength is bourbon in its purest form. Completely uncut and non-chill- filtered, our barrel strength bourbon is just as delicious and even more powerful than our signature Four Grain blend. Each batch of our Barrel Strength is blended from three bourbon mash bills and aged in hand-selected new American oak barrels, imparting notes of caramel syrup and subtle barrel char and pushing the boundaries of our Four Grain’s balanced flavor profile.

Purchase Info: This sample was sent by the producer for review purposes. The retail price on their website is $65.00 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.33

Details: Mash Bill: 80% Corn, 8% Rye, 9% Wheat, and 3% Malted Barley. Blend of three straight bourbon mash bills distilled in Indiana. 57% ABV. Aged 4 to 6 years.

Nose: Strong caramel notes start you off. Followed by notes of oak, vanilla, red fruit, and cinnamon.

Mouth: Whoo that's warm! Follows the nose though the emphasis is different. This starts with hot cinnamon candies followed by sweet caramel, vanilla, and oak.

Finish: Warm and on the longer side of medium with notes of cinnamon red hots and honey.

Thoughts: This is a nice, hot bourbon. Though not nearly as hot as you'd expect a 114° proof bourbon to be. You could drink this neat with little trouble if you are comfortable with triple digit proofs. I really like it. When we looked at this last year, it was batch 14. I was a big fan then and I still am. I’d buy a bottle of this without hesitation.

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Penelope Architect Build 18

Description from the Producer: Architecture is defined as the the art or practice of designing and constructing buildings. Using those same principles, we wanted to build new and distinct flavor profiles that same way an Architect creates new innovative structures. Working in collaboration with Tonnellerie Radoux of France, the market leader in oak barrel manufacturing and innovation, we use French oak staves and their their state-of-the-art OakScan® process to build a truly precise flavor profile within every bottle. After all, the best architecture leaves no room for error. (Editorial note: OakScan is a process used to measure the tannin level of a particular piece of wood that was developed by Tonnellerie Radoux.)

Purchase Info: This sample was sent by the producer for review purposes. The retail price on their website is $65.00 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.33

Details: 75% Corn, 15% Wheat, 7% Rye, and 3% Malted Barley. Straight bourbon whiskey finished with two different types of French Oak Staves. Delicate Stave (low tannin content) and Intense Stave (medium tannin). 52% ABV. Aged 5 years with 6 weeks of finishing.

Nose: Dried grains, toffee, bubble gum.

Mouth: 1980's Baseball card bubblegum, floral vanilla, allspice, and oak tannins.

Finish: Medium in length and warmth. Notes of baking spice, toffee, vanilla, and oak.

Thoughts: Are you too young to know the wonderful flavor of baseball card bubblegum from the 1980s? Think hard bubblegum mixed with a little wax and cardboard. Sounds terrible, right? But weirdly I always enjoyed it. I've gotten this note on other whiskeys before but in this case, I'm not sure it is working for me. There is nothing wrong with the bourbon. It just isn't hitting right for me. I'm going to give this a neutral rating.

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If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.

Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond, Spring 2024

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

I have been a hurtin’ unit the last couple of days. Spending nine hours shoveling mulch and moving it with a wheelbarrow will do that to an old guy like me. And speaking of wheelbarrows. I noticed something about myself as I was tiredly pushing that wheelbarrow on Sunday. I can’t actually say the word wheelbarrow. Instead, I say wheel-barrel. Even in my head, it’s more like a whiskey container with wheels than the yard and garden implement.

I don’t know if this is an Eric thing, a Northern Wisconsin thing, a redneck thing, or some combination of all three. But it was a weird thing to notice about myself. I’m guessing it is a family thing, which honestly would be a mix of all three. My family has a long habit of making up weird pronunciations for words. My dad would “trace” things instead of chasing them. His mom would ask me to make her a “hand sammich” when she went camping with us (instead of a ham sandwich). I guess I come by it naturally.

Anyway, let’s move over to tonight’s bourbon, shall we? Tonight we are looking at the most recent release in the Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond series. One of the few bottles that are over $100 that my wife would probably purchase just for the bottle. This is really weird to me as we have an empty bottle of the vintage design that these were based on. Of course, you don’t get really tasty whiskey with that vintage empty, either, so maybe that’s why.

Quoting from the press release now:

“Heaven Hill's stewardship of the Old Fitzgerald brand over the past quarter century has honored the legacy of John E. Fitzgerald," said Heaven Hill Master Distiller Conor O' Driscoll. "The Spring release showcases the premium quality and craftsmanship of Old Fitzgerald which has been cherished by fans, not just for decades, but for generations.”

These are usually really tasty, so let’s see if this one stacks up.

Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond, Spring 2024

Purchase Info: This 200 mL sample was provided at no cost for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $139.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $9.33

Details: 50% ABV. 10 years old.

Nose: Oak, caramel, cherry, vanilla, and hint of mint.

Mouth: Caramel, vanilla, chocolate, nutmeg, and oak.

Finish: Warm and of medium length with a lot of baking spice notes.

Thoughts: This is delicious. It's warm and spicy all the way through with a lot of baking spice. It is sweet and tasty. It’s more than I’d want to spend on a bottle of bourbon, but I do like this. A lot.

Somebody get me a wheel-barrel full. Or not. I can’t even imagine what that would cost.

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If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, B524

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

Ok. So I use ChatGPT to write the Alt Text description for the cover images because I am always a bit amazed at what it pulls from the photo that I don’t think about mentioning. I don’t need to count the words, I just say “Summarize this photo in 150 characters or less” and it spits out something that works. (If you were unaware, Alt Text is the short bit of text that is included in the website code so that the image is adequately described for those who use a screen reader. I mean it’s an easy thing to include, why would I want to alienate someone from reading my writing just because they don’t see as well as I do?)

So I was doing that and, as I often do, I asked it to come up with something on the fly. I’m old enough that these Large Language Models are basically magic to me (much like VCRs, personal computers, the internet, and streaming video were before it). Because I will spend much of the weekend moving eight cubic yards of mulch from my driveway to our garden, I asked it to write something lamenting that fact that then transitions into the intro to this review. I didn’t expect the AI to write anything that I would use, but it was the thing on my mind. I learned a long time ago that as a creative person, sometimes you need to work through a bad idea so your brain can give up on it in order to move on to a good one. In my puny human brain, I thought that maybe I could outsource that step to the AI. But then the damn thing wrote a poem. And for some reason, I found that mildly amusing. And so, since we’ve been covering Elijah Craig Barrel Proof three times a year since 2019, I figured, I would share that poem. I mean, you guys know what is going on with this product by now.

A Mulch Mover's Lament

In the sweltering heat of June, I toiled,
Eight cubic yards of mulch, sweat-soaked and soiled.
With every shovel's lift and wheelbarrow's haul,
My weary muscles strained, yet stood tall.

The sun bore down, unyielding in its glare,
Each mound of mulch seemed a mountain to bear.
Blisters formed and my back cried out in pain,
Yet onward I pushed, again and again.

The scent of fresh earth filled the air around,
A bittersweet reminder of the task so profound.
As hours stretched on and shadows grew long,
My strength began to waver, though my will remained strong.

But as the final pile was spread and laid,
A sense of accomplishment gently stayed.
Exhaustion gave way to a quiet pride,
In the garden's transformation, far and wide.

A Well-Deserved Reward

After such a grueling day of laborious care,
A moment of respite was beyond compare.
I reached for a bottle, rich and profound,
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, a treasure to be found.

With its deep amber hue and robust grace,
This bourbon promised a sensory embrace.
At 130.6 proof, it stood bold and tall,
A spirit to savor as evening began to fall.

Join me as I uncork this barrel-aged delight,
And journey through flavors, rich and bright.
From mulch to masterpiece, the day's work now done,
Let's explore this bourbon, sip by glorious sip, one by one.

Ok. See? This shit is weird. Which is why I like to play with it. I honestly didn’t even consider a poem. And by the way, because I drink a lot of bourbon, the pain it references will be there, but muscles standing tall? Not so much.

Anyway, let’s see if this beast of a bourbon is any good, shall we?

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, B524

Purchase Info: This sample was provided at no charge by the producer for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $74.99.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $5.00

Details: 65.3% ABV. 11 years, 2 months.

Nose: Vanilla, caramel, cinnamon, cherry, chocolate, and oak.

Mouth: Vanilla, caramel, cinnamon, chocolate, nutmeg, oak, and a hint of mint.

Finish: Long and warm with lingering notes of nutmeg, allspice, and chocolate.

Thoughts/Comparison to last time: The noses are very similar with A124 showing the same notes, just more pronounced. B524 is sweet, spicy, and very hot. A124 feels almost cool by comparison and shows more cherry/fruit in the mouth. B524 is very "stereotypical bourbon” in the best possible way and I am loving it. Both are delicious but give me B524 if I get to choose.

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