Richard

Founding Apostle

Buffalo Trace Millennium Auction

/ / Bourbon, Richard's Blog

Would you like the chance to get a little piece of whiskey history and donate to a good cause? Here’s your chance. A silent bid charity auction has started for bottle number 93 of the Buffalo Trace Millennium Barrel. Here are details on the bottling:

On December 31, 1999, the dawn of the century’s turn, one barrel of Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey was rolled into famous Warehouse “V”, the world’s smallest bonded aging warehouse. This one-of-a-kind Millennium Barrel yielded 174 bottles, each bottled by hand and individually numbered. But in addition to finely aged smoothness, each bottle was also destined to lend its value to benefit charitable organizations, making it a truly generous spirit.

Sure to begin bidding wars among bourbon aficionados, each Millennium Bottle comes in a numbered, lined hardwood showcase box that includes a piece of this historic barrel’s charred oak stave.

The current auction runs through October 8, 2011 at 7:00PM EST. All proceeds benefit the Kentucky Employees Charitable Campaign. If you want to get in on the auction you can submit your bid by calling Elly Hixon at 502-564-7250 from 8 AM to 4 PM Monday through Friday or via email at Elly.Hixon@ky.gov. Alternatively, if you want to place an after hours bid you can call 502-330-7889.

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Jefferson’s Presidential Select 18 Yr

/ / Bourbon, Review /

Jefferson’s Presidential Select 18 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Batch 28 Bottle No. 1061
47% ABV/ 94 Proof
$80
Available in select U.S. markets

What the Distillery Says:
Jefferson’s Presidential Select is an ultra-rare, ultra-premium bourbon, bottled from the last year in operation of Louisville’s renowned Stitzel-Weller Distillery. This 94-proof, 18 yr old bourbon is a limited offering with a big robust nose and taste balanced with the trademarked Jefferson’s smooth finish.

Nose: Big vanillas with full character, citrus, apple, subtle caramel and assorted nuts
Taste: Balanced and sultry, English toffee, cinnamon, leather
Finish: Long and rounded

What Richard Says:
Nose: More wood, mellow, a little more coy than the 17 yr, less alcohol heat, caramel
Palate: A little hotter, woodier and slightly sweeter than the 17 yr. A little less cinnamon.
Finish: Pepper, oak, very dry. Vanilla comes through at the end. There’s a not so great char flavor that lingers for a while.
Comments: The flavors of the 18 year are more muted and hidden behind more oak than the 17 year. It’s not worse. It’s just different. They only thing I didn’t like was the lingering char on the finish. That would probably put the 18 year below the 17 year on a comparative scale.
Rating: Must Try

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Jefferson’s Presidential Select 17 Yr

/ / Bourbon, Review /

Jefferson’s Presidential Select 17 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Batch 3 Bottle No. 818
47% ABV/ 94 Proof
$80
Available in select U.S. markets

What the Distillery Says:

Jefferson’s Presidential Select is an ultra-rare, ultra-premium bourbon, bottled from the last year in operation of Louisville’s renowned Stitzel-Weller Distillery. This 94-proof, 17 yr old bourbon is a limited offering with a big robust nose and taste balanced with the trademarked Jefferson’s smooth finish.

Nose: Big vanillas with full character, citrus, apple, subtle caramel and assorted nuts
Taste: Balanced and sultry, English toffee, cinnamon, leather
Finish: Long and rounded

What Richard Says:
Nose: Rich and slightly fruity with a floral sweetness.
Palate: Floral (lavender and rosewater) and slightly astringent. It’s rather woody with a noticeable does of cinnamon on a cherry-type fruit. It kind of reminds me of Big Red chewing gum and Luden’s cough drops.
Finish: Notes of lavender with a big dose of cinnamon and oak. Very dry.
Comments: This is a very nice older wheater. It’s not quite as good as Pappy Van Winkle 20 Year or even the 15 Year from a few years back but it’s close. This is the last of the of old stock from the now closed Stitzel-Weller distillery. It’s really sad to see it go. If you’re a fan wheated bourbon I would put this on your buy list.
Rating: Must Try

Side Note: You’ll notice the bottle reviewed here was from Batch 3. I’ve tried several of the batches from the 17 Year bottlings and personally I don’t get much difference. That’s just me. The 18 Year is also the same stuff but they didn’t start bottling it until a year later. I believe the first 25 or 26 batches were 17 years old and then the 18 Year Old picks up there.

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Bourbon-o-licious!

/ / Richard's Blog

September is National Bourbon Heritage Month. It has been since Congress declared it so in 2007. Bourbon is officially “America’s Native Spirit.” It has been since Congress declared it so in 1964. I’m not going to argue with Congress. They do that enough with themselves these days. So all month long we’re going to clean out the Whisk(e)y Apostle shelves and post bourbon reviews. Buffalo Trace, Evan Williams, Four Roses, and a whole bunch of others. No rye whiskey, no Tennessee whiskey (technically it is bourbon but we’ll give Tennessee their own month of reviews), just bourbon. Stay tuned.

Drink wisely my friends,

Richard

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New U.S. Releases – August 2011

/ / Bourbon, Other Whisk(e)ys, Scottish Whisky

August was a big month for new stuff. Here’s the rundown on what broke through the Whisk(e)y Apostle Fortress of Solitude.

Parker’s Heritage Collection 2011 – Cognac Finish
Timeframe: October 2011
ABV: 50%
Price: $85
This annual release is one of a handful I look forward to every year. This year’s release is 10 Year Old bourbon from the Evan Williams recipe that spent six more months finishing in 2 to 3 year old Limousin oak casks used for cognac. You don’t really see that much finishing in the bourbon category compared to scotch and other whiskeys. This should be very interesting.

Cooper’s Mark Bourbon
Timeframe: Now
ABV: TBD
Price: $25
This was an under the radar find. It’s a independent bottling (source unknown) by Fast Forward Brands, LLC out of Englewood Colorado.

Glenfiddich 1974 Vintage Reserve
Timeframe: September 2011
ABV: TBD
Price: TBD
This year’s Glenfiddich Vintage Reserve will be a vatting of 1974 Glenfiddich. This will be the first vatted Vintage Reserve from Glenfiddich. Only 1,000 bottles will be available.

Local 47th Ward Blend Whiskey
Timeframe: Fall 2011
ABV: 47%
Price: TBD
Koval in Chicago is adding a blend to their stable of single grain whiskeys. This will be a blend of four grains: malted barley, wheat, oat, and rye.

Buffalo Trace White Dog #’s 2 & 3
Timeframe: Fall 2011
ABV: 62.5%
Price: $15.99/375ml
The existing White Dog Mash #1 is seeing a couple of stable mates this fall. Buffalo Trace is releasing a wheated bourbon mash and a rye mash for sampling pleasure.

Drambuie 15 Year Old
Timeframe: Fall 2011
ABV: 43%
Price: $56/liter
Have you ever wanted an older, more premium Drambuie? No, me either. However, soon there will be one for you anyway.

WhistlePig “Jr” & White Pig
Timeframe: Spring 2012
ABV: TBD
Price: TBD
Sometime in the next 6 months the folks behind WhistlePig 10 Year Rye hope to release a younger version in the 5 to 7 year old range and a white dog product called White Pig. I still have yet to get my hands on the original WhistlePig So I don’t know how exited I am yet but I’m always for more variety in the whiskey.

Collier and McKeel Tennessee Whiskey
Timeframe: Now
ABV: TBD
Price: TBD
This is a craft distiller operating out of Nashville. They have a new Tennessee Whiskey (and white dog) on the market. They use smaller barrels for aging similar to what we’ve seen at a number of other craft distillers.

2011 Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch
Timeframe: September 2011
ABV: 55.05%
Price: TBD, but most likely in line with the 2011 LE Single Barrel
This year’s release of 3,500 bottles is a comingling of four different bourbons. The component whiskeys will be a 13 Year Old OBSK, 13 Year old OESQ, 12 Year old OESV, and a OESK aged 11 years.

E. H. Taylor Single Barrel
Timeframe: Fall 2011
ABV: 50%
Price: $59.99
This is the second release in the E.H. Taylor line. This release is bourbon aged 11 years and 7 months years in Warehouse C, which was actually built by Col. Taylor in 1881. I never got to try the first release so I’ll be looking hard for this one.

Masterson’s Rye
Timeframe: Fall 2011
ABV: TBD
Price: $79
35 Maple is releasing this 10 year old rye. This is another 10 Year old sourced rye. It will be interesting to see how it stacks up to Jefferson’s and WhistlePig.

Hakushu
Timeframe: October 12th
ABV: TBD
Price: TBD
No word yet on which Hakushu releases will hit the U.S. but it will be nice to see this lightly peated Suntory product on the shelves. Note to the Land of the Rising Sun…more whiskeys please!

Isle of Skye 12 Year Old
Timeframe: Fall 2011
ABV: 43%
Price: TBD
We’ve had the 8 year old for some time but I’m glad to see more EU exclusives making it across the pond!

Forty Creek John’s Private Cask No.1
Timeframe: Fall 2011
ABV: 40%
Price: $69.95
John Hall is a great innovator in Canadian Whisky. What’s even better is that unlike most of his counterparts in our neighbor to the north, he doesn’t keep all the really good stuff in Canada. I can’t wait to try this one!

That is all for August. I can’t wait to see what September holds!

Drink wisely my friends,

Richard

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