Rye Influx - Spring 2013

Back in March I posted about some tastings in preparation to our April pilgrimage to Kentucky.  We added a rye whiskey to our selections and we had anticipation of tasting and buying some good rye whiskey.

Back on June 5th, the first of our barrels picks showed up; Jefferson Rye 10 year. I was pretty excited to get this bottle as I don't have many ryes in the bunker so this was a nice addition.

First, it's a little odd that the packaging for the Jeff Rye shows a silhouette of Jefferson, a great American icon...but in the bottle is good 'ole Canadian Rye.  Who cares.....what's it taste like?

First off, lots of flavor for a 94 proof whiskey.  Christmas spices, sweet rye, and maybe a touch of mint.  Nice mouthfeel....not overly coating but enough body to carry the finish quite nicely.  This rye is right in my wheelhouse; it's an easy drinker with lots of flavor.  Now I wish I had asked for a higher allocation cause the bottle I have open is about 2/3 gone with three remaining in the bunker.

I'm expecting our Old Weller Antique picks to arrive early next week. 

Thank you Elmer T. Lee

I've been absent a while due to work stuff in addition to a couple deaths in my family this last month so there's not been much time for blogging or even imbibing. 

As many of you may be aware, Elmer T. Lee passed away this week; a great loss to the bourbon community and to the history of bourbon.  BT's President Mark Brown released the following:

Dear Friends,
It is with a very heavy heart that I share with you that our beloved Master Distiller Emeritus Elmer T. Lee, 93, passed away July 16, 2013 after a short illness.

In the world of making really fine whiskey the role of Master Distiller is pivotal, but Elmer’s meaning to those he met, came to know, and worked with closely extended far beyond that of a Master Distiller. Elmer defined, in the simplest terms, what it means to be a great American – hard working, self-made, courageous, honest, kind, humble, and humorous.

Elmer was born in 1919 on a tobacco farm near Peaks Mill in Franklin County, Ky. He graduated from Frankfort County High School in 1936 and worked for Jarman Shoe Company until December 1941. He then served with the U.S. Army Air Force in World War II as a radar bombardier on a B-29. After flying missions against Japan through 1945, Elmer was honorably discharged in January 1946. He returned home and studied engineering at the University of Kentucky, where he graduated with honors in 1949.

In September 1949 Elmer began working in the engineering department of the George T. Stagg Distillery in Frankfort. In 1966, Elmer was promoted to plant superintendent, responsible for all plant operations and reporting to the plant manager. 1n 1969, he became plant manager.

But it was in 1984 that Elmer’s contribution to the bourbon industry gained him the most notoriety, when he introduced Blanton’s, the world’s first Single Barrel Bourbon. Elmer retired in 1985 but continued to serve as an ambassador for Buffalo Trace, and in 1986 he was honored with his very own single barrel bourbon, Elmer T. Lee. Of course, for those of us who knew Elmer, he never really retired. Every Tuesday we could see Elmer making his rounds at the Distillery in his trademark cap, signing bottles, posters, and other memorabilia at the Gift Shop, visiting his friends in Blanton’s Bottling Hall, and tasting bourbons (for quality control purposes!) in the lab.

Elmer was always ready to offer advice, and was a wealth of information that many of us relied on, myself included. Harlen Wheatley would inquire with Elmer when stuck on a mechanical problem, and any historical questions about the Distillery always went to Elmer, who, with his razor sharp memory, could invariably answer. To all of us, Elmer was a friend, a mentor, and a trusted advisor.

Elmer was known through the bourbon industry for his expertise and knowledge about bourbon whiskey and he received numerous awards and recognition, including induction into the Bourbon Hall of Fame in 2001, the Lifetime Achievement Award from Whisky Advocate in 2002, and the Lifetime Achievement Award and Hall of Fame induction from Whisky Magazine in 2012.
We have lost a wonderful friend today, and he will be missed terribly.

Services for Elmer T. Lee are pending and will be announced shortly.

I think I'm turning Japanese.........I really think so

Yah yah...I know...this is bourbon dork and here I am getting ready to talk about Japanese whisky.  My interest in other whiskies has definitely expanded outside American selections but I think that's a good thing.

This doesn't mean I won't talk any less about bourbon or rye but the blog will have to share space with other great selections.

Back in 2011 I picked up my first two Japanese whiskies; Yamazaki 12 and 18 year.  The 12 year is a very solid pour but the 18 year is quite stellar.  Both of these were easily found back then but now, forget about it.  In two short years Japanese whisky has really taken off and I know this because my fellow bourbon enthusiasts are all over Japanese whisky and it's getting very difficult to find any Japanese selection on the shelves.

This year while attending Julio's Go Whiskey Weekend, I picked up two more selections; Hibiki 12 year and Nikka Yoichi 15 year.  A couple months ago K&L Wines offered two different Karuizawa expression.  Interesting note that the Karuizawa has never been sold in the U.S. and K&L is the first to get two single barrels with one at 12 years old and the other about 30 years old.  I picked up two of the 12 year old and expect them to arrive sometime in August.  A couple weeks back a buddy of mine from Texas picked up two Suntory Hakashu 12 year for me.

In future posts, I'll do an Exam-o-Dram on each of these expressions.  Just as a heads up, I'm digging every one of these. 

Buffalo Trace Shortages

Buffalo Trace announced about a week ago that they are experiencing shortages on some of their bourbon, specifically, bourbon that feeds their house brand and Eagle Rare.

The fact that BT's parent company, Sazerac, issued a press release is noteworthy.  During past shortages, news of something like this came by word of mouth through enthusiasts with inside knowledge or via distributors advising retail clients of shortages.

This happened around spring of 2008 when Weller Special Reserve went missing for a period of time.  I couldn't find any locally but managed to happen upon a country store in rural Maryland that had two bottles sitting on the shelf for $15 each so of course I grabbed them.  During this same timeframe, Binny's Beverage Depot purchased two barrels of Weller 12 (which was actually a 14 year) and in my conversation with their manager he indicated that BT told him he would not be able to purchase any more barrels for a while due to some shortages.  Now, it could have been true or a PR stunt to increase awareness and demand.  In any case, the shortage was noted in many markets for multiple labels.

Going forward what should we expect to see?  I don't know as my crystal ball isn't working but historically, BT has dropped labels in efforts to consolidate or support more popular labels.  I don't see BT dropping their house brand but Eagle Rare....who knows.

Baltimore Dusty Hunt

Last summer I did a little dusty hunting in D.C. with some friends.  I ended up bringing home some nice selections.  We decided to schedule another day of hunting but this time we traveled north and hit Baltimore.

Rather than simply drive around looking for run down liquor stores we put a little strategy and planning into the day.  We were able to pull a listing of all retail Class A stores that registered for a liquor license in Baltimore.  I used this file to upload the location data into Microsoft Streets and Trips.  I then exported the map to a GPS Exchange Format (GPX) file.  I created a new map in Google maps and uploaded the GPX file in order to plot all the liquor stores in Baltimore.  Doing this enabled us to map a specific area of Baltimore and systematically work our way through a quadrant of the city.  I know....dorky.

Dorky or not, we hit 25 of 247 stores and found some very nice things.  My goal today was to find some age stated Wild Turkey and even though I only found one bottle....I'm ok with that.  The total haul was split among 4 of us and included:

 1965/1970 Old Forester Bottled in Bond
1970/1975 Old Forester Bottled in Bond
1972/1977 Old Forester Bottled in Bond
1987 Old Forester Bottled in Bond
1992 Old Taylor 6 year (32 200ml bottles) 80 pf
1990 Old Taylor 6 yr 80 pf
1986 Old Taylor 6 yr 86 pf
1988 Pikesville Supreme 80 pf
1990 General Lee Bottled in Bond
1969 JTS Brown 86 pf
1968 Old Overholt 86 pf (PA rye)
1990 Wild Turkey 8 yr 101 pf

What's interesting is the difference in finds between D.C. and Baltimore.  I've not found any Old Fitz in Baltimore (or Maryland for that matter) while D.C. historically was a hotbed of Old Fitz.  It was
also interesting today that we found some bottles that were quite old.  Most stuff I've found in D.C. has been 80's and 90's vintage but looking at the list above, we found some items distilled in the 60's and the fill levels were all very impressive.

The day started off slow but we had a strong finish.

Lovin' the Turkey

It's not a big secret that I love Wild Turkey.....especially the older stuff from the 80's.  The current NAS Turkey 101 bourbon is a decent pour and in discussions with Jimmy Russell a couple years ago and through other sources, the bourbon in the current release is a blend of six to eight years old.  Not too bad for a bourbon that runs around $20 a 750ml.

The current Rare Breed I believe is around 108 proof and during my recent trip to KY, the rumor mill was spinning about a proof increase for this label to 114.  Rare Breed is another WT offering that's a pretty good pour so that news was encouraging although at the time, unconfirmed.

Back last year Wild Turkey Rye 101 proof did a disappearing act from retail shelves and there was speculation that the rye was going to be discontinued.  Chuck Cowdrey dispelled that myth stating that supplies were low across the rye spectrum and Wild Turkey was no exception.

As bourbon enthusiasts, there are some that like to troll the online site for the Government entity known as the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.  In essence, any label a distillery wants to use must pass through the doors and receive approval from the TTB.  

Recent submission by Campari (Wild Turkey Parent Company) were for both Wild Turkey Rye and a new proof of Rare Breed at 112.8.  Good news on both and the proof increase on the Rare Breed is official.

So, keep your eyes peeled, especially for the Turkey Rye as rye in general is in limited supply.

Get off my lawn!!!!

.....as Clint Eastwood would say and I guess the same could be said of Robert Parker from Wine Advocate.  K&L recently posted a blog where Mr. Parker reviewed bourbons....his first foray into this relm.  Well, I didn't think the reviews were particularly well done and while I was going to post a more lengthy respone to Parkers bourbon tasting prowess....I decided to leave that to Tim over at Scotch & Ice Cream. 

Take it away Tim....... http://www.scotchandicecream.com/2013/05/07/taking-the-bait-git-offa-our-property-parker/