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Jefferson’s Reserve Single Barrel Bourbon
What better bottle to review on Independence Day than a bottle named after the man who wrote the document declaring America’s independence….Jefferson’s Reserve Single Barrel Bourbon.
Pinhook High Proof Bourbon “Bourbon Heist” 2021
Pinhook is a newer brand that I have seen on the shelves for the past couple of years but never purchased a bottle. I relented a few weeks back when one of my local stores sold me a bottle of Weller Special Reserve for a whopping $30 and then pointed out this Pinhook Bourbon Heist, so I felt obligated to pick it up….
Old Forester 1910 “Old Fine Whisky”
For the next review, we will revisit another Old Forester release from the Whiskey Row Series, the 1910 Old Fine Whisky. I really like Old Forester and previously reviewed a couple of 1920 Prohibition Style, but this will be the first time I’ve sipped the 1910…..
Old Elk Straight Bourbon 5 Year (store pick)
Next up is an Old Elk Straight Bourbon Whiskey 5 year old store pick from @thewhiskyguys at Gordon’s Wine in the Greater Boston area. This bourbon has a high amount of malted barley compared to rye, so I am intrigued….
Penelope Bourbon Toasted Barrel Series Barrel Strength
This next review is for Penelope Bourbon Toasted Barrel Series Barrel Strength Whiskey which already gives us a lot to unpack just from the name. This is a new label which is blending and bottling MGPI Bourbons. I had a lot of strong feelings about this one…
1792 Single Barrel Bourbon
The 1792 Single Barrel Bourbon is a “Limited Edition”, not to say that these are one-time releases, they’re just not as readily available as their staple, the Small Batch Bourbon. All of the 1792 bourbons have a nice little color coded band on the neck of the bottle to help you easily identify them, which I am thankful for as it can be hard to distinguish which is which when you have multiple types way back in the old booze cabinet. The Single Barrel is an off-white/cream color. …
Wilderness Trail Small Batch Bourbon Bottled in Bond
The next review for Bottle Kill Week will be for Wilderness Trail Small Batch Straight Bourbon Bottled in Bond. I wrote quite a bit about the distillery last time on my website, so I will spare you with the extensive preamble, but this particular bottle came from Batch 16D01. As a BiB release, it is 100 proof (50% ABV).
Eagle Rare Bourbon 10 Year Old
I don’t know how I have done this many reviews and I’m just now getting to Eagle Rare Bourbon. The Eagle Rare 10 year, like the Stagg Jr. I recently reviewed, is the younger sibling of a Buffalo Trace Antique Collection release (Eagle Rare 17), but unlike the Stagg, this one is readily available year round….or rather, it used to be…..
Stagg Jr. Bourbon (Batch 17)
Stagg Jr. Straight Bourbon Whiskey is the younger sibling of George T. Stagg Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. Unfortunately, older brother George took a sabbatical in 2021. Luckily, Stagg Jr., which is rumored to be aged 8-9 years, had 2 releases (as usual) in 2021. The one I will be reviewing is Batch 17, which was the last release in 2021 and is said to be the last that will carry the “Jr.” in the label.
Maker’s Mark 46 Cask Strength
The Maker’s Mark No. 46 Cask Strength is a Limited Release which, in my opinion, benefits from both the No. 46 stave profile as well as the higher-octane proof point. Don’t get me wrong, I like the traditional Maker’s as well, but I have found myself gravitating towards the No. 46’s more often.
Bib & Tucker Small Batch Bourbon Whiskey Aged 6 Years
Since in the last review we did a “newer” big-distilery bourbon release, today we will do a newer small-distillery bourbon release. I had read some good things on Bib & Tucker’s 6 year old small batch bourbon so I figured I would pick up a bottle and give it a go. I don’t know much about Bib & Tucker but they seem to want to be a “brand” as opposed to a distillery. With a lot of the smaller start-up distilleries, they source product while they build up their own stocks….
Thomas S. Moore Kentucky Straight Bourbon Finished in Chardonnay Casks
Thomas S. Moore Kentucky Straight Bourbon is a newer whiskey on the market from Barton 1792 Distillery, sister distillery of Buffalo Trace, all under the Sazerac umbrella. This newer series released three Bourbons with an “extended cask finish” in Port, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Chardonnay wine casks. According to the labels, these bourbons were aged “many years” and then finished for “several more years”. Typically, you see “finishing” for 6-12 months, so having something finished for “many years” should impart more of the wine cask elements to the final product. We will be reviewing the Chardonnay finished version of this series. While I do love me a nice port finish, I wanted to try something new, and Chardonnay finished bourbons are not that common. So here we go.
Blanton’s The Original Single Barrel Bourbon Whiskey
Blanton’s is one of the most recognizable bourbon brands in the market. It used to be very accessible, but in recent years as premium bourbon has become more coveted, it is harder to find and far pricier than even 6-7 years ago.
Redwood Empire “Pipe Dream” Bourbon Whiskey
Redwood Empire is a Sonoma County, CA, distillery which produces 3 sourced products and 2 that are 100% made in house. I will be reviewing the “Pipe Dream”, which is one of the sourced whiskeys. The mash bill is 75% Corn, 21% Raw Rye, and 4% Barley…
George Remus Single Barrel Cask Strength
George Remus Single Barrel Cask Strength Bourbon is a newer brand from a distiller you have been drinking for decades, MGPI, the Lawrenceburg, IN distilling behemoth. After supplying many of the craft distillers early on in their respective operations (including the George Remus brand), MGPI acquired the brand back in 2016 and expanded its distribution. The mash bill isn’t marketed, but given the spice level, it’s MGPI’s bourbon mash bill with either 21% or the 36% rye.
New Riff Single Barrel Bourbon
New Riff is a newer distiller/brand out in the market and one of my first forays back into craft distilling since taking a break from it for the past 6-7 years. Why take a break? Well earlier in the craft movement a lot of brands were putting out really young whiskey, which I get, because you need to convert inventory to cash in order to continue to operate. Unfortunately, a lot of it was at a premium price ($50 7-10 years ago was a premium!) and it wasn’t very good. New Riff seems to have had the wherewithal to be patient, keeping their products aging until they are a minimum 4 years of age. Their whole schtick is that they are a new riff on the old sour mash tradition so let's see how they did.
1792 Small Batch Bourbon
Apologies dear reader, I inadvertently have been reviewing some higher priced bottles, so I will focus my next few reviews on lower price point whiskeys as while I enjoy nice bottles, I love finding undervalued gems even more.
1792 Small Batch Bourbon is made by the Barton distillery which is owned by Sazerac who also owns Buffalo Trace and all of their great whiskeys. The Small Batch Bourbon is the core product for 1792, but they also have a slew of other “Limited Edition Expressions” including Sweet Wheat (I’ll be reviewing that in the near future), Single Barrel (same), and Full Proof (same), as well as Bottled in Bond, 12 Year Old, High Rye, and Port Finish, each of which I would love to review once I get my hands on them.
Four Roses Small Batch Select
Four Roses Small Batch Select is a bourbon made from 6-7 year old barrels using both of Four Roses’ mash bills and three of their proprietary yeast strains (V, F, and K), making this a blend of 6 different flavor profiles. Look through the pictures with this post to see a breakdown of the mash bills and yeast strains and the target flavor profiles for each.
Stellum Bourbon “Lyra”
Stellum is a newer label created by the folks behind Barrell Craft Spirits, blending whiskeys from IN, KY, and TN. You would have to ask them about their strategy, but it seems they want to add a more consistent staple product at a lower price point than the unique batch release strategy of the sister business.
Old Forester 1920 Prohibition Style Old label vs. New label Showdown
For this review, I'll be comparing two versions of Old Forester 1920 Prohibition Style bourbon. Old Forester recently rebranded a lot of its bottles and it was rumored that the juice inside the bottle changed as well. To give credit where credit is due, I came across this "rumor" on a video review by @bourbonjunkies who have a great YouTube channel. If you're interested in some video reviews/content, I highly recommend it. I won't tell you their verdict, you'll have to watch for yourself.