Road Trip: Bardstown KY 2013 - Friday

Back in February I wrote a piece on the soap opera called Old Weller Antique.  This past Friday our group settled in at 10:00 a.m. to taste through 12 samples of OWA.  As I mentioned in previous posts, our group was offered a younger OWA for this tasting which turned out to be 6 year 4 months old.  My feeling was that this was an opportunity to try the BT wheated mashbill at a younger age and and see how it compares to our

previous picks that were older by as much as 18 months.  BT again accommodated our request for samples to be pullled and proofed at 107 so we could sample at bottling strength....so, thank you Beau Beckman.

As we began tasting the samples, it was clear, at least to me at the time that we were afforded another set of very nice samples.  I tuned in on three specific samples that really stood head and shoulders above the others.  Other samples exhibited short finishes, thin mouthfeel or dry and tannic entries and those were quickly dismissed on my list.  The top three I identified exhibited great noses, big sweet entries of rich caramel, candied fruit, creamy mouthfeel and long lingering finish.  After all were done tasting we tallied up the votes (again, silent voting so there would be no undue influence) and my top pick, barrel #12 was the #1 pick of the group so it clearly was a favorite. 

My hat is off to Buffalo Trace for again taking the time to host our group and also provide some great bourbon for sampling.

We spent the afternoon grabbing a bite to eat and then visiting the Getz Museum.  If you have been to Bardstown or have plans to visit at some point, I would encourage a visit to the Museum.  It has some great examples of old bourbon, bourbon history and some very nice displays.  I ended up buying their book "Whiskey; An American Pictorial Book".  If you do visit, please make sure you give a small donation as the museum is free.

Road Trip: Bardstown KY Spring 2013 - Thursday

It's a brisk morning with a high of 41 and we're milling around outside the gate of Cox Creek.  After a few moments the security guard opens the gate and asks if we know where to go and of course we do.

We head to the bottling house and upon entering see the tasting stations set up with 8 glasses at each station.  Because of the size of our group, we have to double up so we can't be too concerned with cooties.  Next to the tasting stations are 8 barrels lined up bungs facing upwards ready for sampling.

Master Distiller Jim Rutledge arrives and we waste no time popping the bungs off the barrels and using the whiskey thief, begin pulling samples from the barrels.  As we start nosing the samples it

quickly becomes apparent that these barrels show great promise with some profiles showing fruit and cream.  We take our time rotating through each sample making notes as we go along attempting to narrow down the top three.  We're supposed to keep our impressions to ourselves as this is a secret ballot and which ones each person likes but looking around the tables quickly tells who likes what by facial expressions and the fill level of some glasses.

After the votes are tallied we picked two barrels that were clearly the favorite of the group; an OBSO at 9.5 years old and a OESO at 10.5 years old.  We don't know the proof of either just yet.  The OBSO was a first for us as we've never picked this particular recipe and the OESO is our second.  The third favorite was an OESV at 9 years old.  Quit a bit of discussion was generated around this barrel after we left and it looks like we'll end up picking up that barrel as well.  That OESV was the sweetest Four Roses I've ever tasted.

We leave Four Roses and head to Buffalo Trace up in Frankfort.  After lunch we arrive around 1:00 and head to Warehouse H which has the tasting room.  We walk in and 10 barrels of Elmer T. Lee are

lined up in pretty fashion and BT had already pulled samples into two sets of glasses for each barrel; one glass at barrel strength and one glass at bottling strength.  I'll have to admit that I have not been a fan of Elmer T. Lee over the years finding the flavor profile not to my liking.  Now, since the ETL is a single barrel offering there are going to be variances in drinking experience but my own experience has been more miss than hit.

I don't bother sampling the barrel strength as it won't be a factor in determining what we pick so

focus on the samples cut to bottling proof.  As I make my way through each sample I'm having difficultly finding one that really stands out.  In fact, there were a couple of barrels that were pretty much undrinkable.  In the end, for me, I really didn't find anything that I would want to pull the trigger on but since the process was to vote on your top three, I provided those that I thought were the best of the eight. I will point out that Beau Beckman from BT does a very nice job putting together the tastings and we always enjoy visiting (and purchasing) from BT.

Overall a good day and I think we picked some of the best Four Roses to date.

Road Trip: Bardstown KY 2013 - Wednesday

Does anybody else hate flying?  The process used to be fairly simple and straightforward.  Now it's an exercise in patience.

Visiting the Blue Glove Brigade at Dulles Airport wasn't too bad as I made it through security in about 20 mins.  Since I had an hour to burn, I met up with two flying companions for a beer and light meal before the flight.  Ok, no problem so far.

Flight gets called and we wait........wait.......wait......we finally board and wait......wait.....wait.....we taxi to the runway and wait.....wait.....wait.  Our wheels up time was about the same time we were supposed to be landing in Louisville.  I killed time on the plane reading through every page of  an Imbibe magazine.  My first time reading through this particular periodical and I'm not impressed.  Lots of advo's and not enough content.

We finally arrive at the hotel around 9:00 and check-in.  The hotel has always treated us well and provides a small meeting room for us to set up our bourbon table and have a place to socialize.  It was good seeing familiar faces as well as new members.

Fun kick-off evening with my very enjoyable pours consisting of Elijah Craig Cask Strength; not too sweet, big profile of barrel notes and semi bitter chocolate, moderate heat.  I actually liked this more than I thought I would.  Next up Wild Turkey Russell's Reserve 10 year 101; a favorite of mine....nuff said.  Following the Wild Turkey a dusty Fighting Cock 103; very tasty, viscous and wish I had some of my own.  Fourth pour was a 1970 Old Fitzgerald Prime 7 year; how I wish  they made bourbon like this today....oh well, a highlight of the evening with that classic Stitzel Weller Toffeenut and Cherries.  For the last pour of the evening, we grabbed a dusty ND Old Grand Dad 86 proof and retired to the patio for an evening cigar.  About 8 of us ended up outside in the brisk evening smoking cigars, picking on each other and sipping some good old school bourbon.

Tomorrow 9:00 we'll be at Cox Creek tasting through Four Roses.

Destination: Bardstown

This Wednesday I'll be boarding a flight to Louisville and then driving to Bardstown.  The schedule is set for this years convergence on Bourbon Mecca. 

Besides tasting through a god aweful amount of bourbon at the distilleries, we each also bring a bottle to share in the evenings.  Last years theme was "only damn good bourbon"  and boy did we have some fine bourbons show up.  Old, new, you name it, we had it.  I brought along a Rock Hills Farms that Julio's Liquor did back a number of years ago; it was a big cherry bomb and it got hit pretty hard over the course of 4 days. 

This years theme is a play on last years; "only damn fine malt".  That's right, all of us bourbon dorks are sliding to the dark side.  The list is pretty impressive and I'm excited to hit a number of those bottles as most of the selections are ones I have not tried.  Originally I was going to bring along a Springbank 12 year finished in a Claret cask (and cask strength to boot) but there were already two other Springers on the list so I changed my offering to a 2006 Arran Malt Cask finished in a Gonzalez Byass Cream Sherry cask.  There's no age statement but it's a terrific Scotch with a profile of apples and tropical fruits.  It drinks fantastic at cask strength. 

It will be a busy schedule with the first distillery being Four Roses first thing Thursday morning.  Nothing like drinking bourbon at 9:00 a.m.  That afternoon we hit Buffalo Trace and then BT again most of Friday as we're tasting through a number of various selections.  Saturday we'll be visiting Drew Kulsveen at Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (KBD).  Saturday afternoon we'll converge on a friends house for an afternoon and evening of BBQ, beer, bourbon, malt and cigars. 

I hope to come back home on Sunday with a sense of what we should expect in delivery come this summer.  The two that intrigue me this year is the OWA and Jefferson Rye.  The OWA will be younger than previous years so it will be interesting to see if we find something top shelf.  I've already tasted through the Jefferson Rye samples and there's some winners in the bunch so I confident we'll be picking at least one barrel of the Rye.

I'll try and post short updates as we progress.  Cheers.

Spring is in the air......and so is Bourbon!

Finally....I think the last snow of the season is behind us and warmer weather is moving in.  Spring is an exciting time not just for warmer weather and leisurely episodes on the front porch, but it also means bourbon.

Each April I make my pilgrimage to Kentucky and pay homage to the Master Distillers at various distilleries in and around Bardstown and taste through some fantastic whiskey.  In preparation, advance samples are received to taste through in order to expedite the process.  This last week I had the opportunity to taste through a number of bourbon and rye samples.  Yes, I said rye and the group is pretty stoked about it.  Rye for the most part has been short supply and hard to come by so getting the opportunity to taste through some rye barrels is generating some enthusiasm for next month.

I tasted the rye samples blind and mixed in a couple shelf offerings.  We had 4 distillery samples plus a Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye, Sazerac Rye (Baby Saz), Dickel Rye and a Jefferson 10 year Rye that the ABC in Montgomery County did last year.  Surprisingly, the Jefferson Rye came out on top for me...even beating out the Van Winkle.  Second on my list was one of the distillery samples (we'll call it B52).  The sample had a nice sweet floral nose, creamy sweet entry and a transition to spice and dark bread mid palate with a finish that was moderate to long.  At 94 proof, it was a solid rye whiskey. 

I also tasted through two different sets of bourbon from two different distilleries.  I won't divulge who the distilleries are just yet but will say one set (3 samples) didn't pique my interest while the second set had some stunners.

A new batch of samples just arrived and I'll be tasting through those next Saturday evening.  Prior to that tasting, I'll be hosting a bourbon tasting at my house for some co-workers who want to try bourbon but now nothing about it.

Welcome Spring....the whiskey is flowing!

Go Whiskey Weekend - The Grand Dram

Snow....and a lot of it was falling on Sunday morning.  The flakes were big, fat and sticking to everything which made driving the short distance from our hotel to Julio's somewhat white knuckled. 

Thankfully they organized the line inside the store this year versus last year making everyone queue outside waiting for noon.  We walked inside and I saw Ryan Maloney, owner of Julio's, running around making last minute preparations.  The bagpipers were warming up and a line was already forming through the beer aisle.  I was with a friend and we stood in line for about 30 minutes until it was time to start hitting the tables.

This year the selections were about the same as last numbering around 265 whiskeys from around the world.  My goal this year was focus on world whiskies looking for offerings I don't currently have sitting in the bunker.  Could be I just don't remember but this year there seemed to be a larger presence of craft distillers; some good, some not so good.

Last year a buddy of mine spammed a bunch of us saying he found a store in Texas offering Aberfeldy 21 year (a Scotch) for $65.  Well, most of us jumped on that price even though I myself had never tried it.  I figured the price was decent for a well aged Scotch.  Fast forward to this years Grand Dram and Dewars is offering a couple of Aberfeldy selections including the 21 year at the tasting.  I tried and liked it very much and even more so when I saw the shelf price of $165 knowing I paid a benjy less than that.  Score!

Both last year and this year High West was present but unfortunately this year Dave Perkins was not able to attend instead sending his rep Troy.  Last year Dave pulled a bottle from under the table asking me and another friend to try and give our impression.  The whiskey was malty, sweet, with  peat and more smoke than I cared for.  My opinion was it was too smoke forward but interesting nonetheless.  That bottle was the precursor to Campfire; a blend of Rye, Bourbon and Scotch Whiskies.  The result?  A very approachable and drinkable world whiskey blend so of course, I pulled a bottle aside for purchase as it drank much nicer than the lab bottle I tried previously.  +1

Next up, I headed over to Campari table to try some Suntory Hibiki.  I was very much interested in Japanese whiskies this year and wanted to try all that was available.  The Hibiki did not disappoint.  The profile consisted of honey and summer fruits like pineapple, mango with hints of citrus.  Nice body on the palate and the finish was very satisfying.  Fantastic expression and this bottle joined the HW Campfire to take home. +2

After my experience with Hibiki, I was looking forward to trying Nikka Yoichi 15 year.  This is another fabulous expression from Japan.  One sip and I was hooked.  Profile consisted of sweet and smoke, gingerbread, baking spice and nuts (walnut?) with a stunning finish.+3

I next headed over to Dickel as I wanted to try the new Rye expression.  I was skeptical as this is not even distilled by Dickel but in fact is LDI distillate.  Well, I was taken aback at how smooth and flavorful this whiskey was especially at only 90 proof.  Since this a new offering, maybe Dickel is being picky about the barrels used for bottling because this was a very nice pour.  +4

Last up,  I made my way through the crowd to the Compass Box table.  I have wanted to try Flaming Heart but I can't find it in my area and when I mentioned it to my buddy, he said "oh, they're pouring that right now".  Off I went and secured a dram.  Once again, another winner of a whiskey.  The peat/smoke were not over done making this one nicely balanced whiskey.  +5

To cap things off for the day, I pulled a couple beers I can't find in Virginia and ended up bringing home:

Alesmith Speedway Stout
The Bruery Sour in the Rye (fantastic brew....highly recommend)
FiftyFifty Eclipse (beer aged in whiskey barrels)

Even with the crappy weather, this was a great weekend and I tasted through some great, good and mediocre whiskies.  One that I was really looking forward to trying was the Balvenie 12 year First Fill.  This one disappointed me as I found it to be a pretty uneventful dram which is too bad because I've really like most of the Balvenie releases.  I'll make an un-honerable mention; Jim Beam Devils Cut.  I couldn't even finish it as I found it to be just plain bad. 

If you live in the New England area, I would recommend visiting Julio's but especially during Go Whiskey Weekend.  It's a great venue allowing you to try a great variety of world whiskies.

Exam-o-Dram - Concannon Irish Whiskey

As a fan of all things whisk(e)y, I'm always stoked about trying a new expression.  Irish whiskey has recently been seeing a resurgence in popularity.  It wasn't too long ago there were only 4 distilleries operational in Ireland but in recent years that's changed along with some boutique bottlers and blenders.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I was contacted by a PR firm in New York representing Concannon and asked if I would review the whiskey.  I accepted the offer to and they sent me a couple of sample bottles.  I only mention this so it's clear there are no expectations that my review be anything but my own and that's the way this review will be represented.

Concannon is a joint venture between Cooley distillery and Livermore Valley-based Concannon Vineyard and John Concannon is the Brand Ambassador and brain child behind this expression.

Concannon Irish is a blend from Cooley aged for about 4 years and then goes through a second fill in Concannon petit Sirah wine casks for about 4 months.  I'm intrigued.....let's see what it taste like.

The color is a very pale-straw like color.  As I swirl the whiskey, the viscosity is limited not really clinging to the glass.  The nose is light and fruity with a definite presence of wine, almost to the dominant.  The grain aroma is there but the wine influence masks the grain to some extent.

The entry is immediately sweet and then some grain and youth pops up at mid palate and continues toward the finish.  The wine notes are present but not as dominant as the nose.  The wine finish amps up the sweetness of the whiskey a bit and at mid palate oak takes a front seat along with bits of vanilla and essence of spun sugar.  There's an off note on the medium finish that I can't put my finger on that's maybe a combination of oak and tannin. After a few minutes I can taste mild grape on the palate which is a little odd. 

This is an interesting expression but not one I would say is great.  It's an easy drinker, approachable and unassuming. The wine presence may put some people off but I think it's an interesting experiment.  For me, I would prefer less of the wine influence and a little more age on the distillate as it needs more body and maturity.

I like the fact that Concannon is thinking outside the box and not just releasing another blended expression and for about $25 or less a bottle, it's a small investment to give it a try if this interest you.