Other Whisk(e)ys

New Releases – August ’10

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

I’m a little late with August this month. Life outside of Whisk(e)y Apostle has been a little hectic. Here’s what we heard about in August.

Parker’s Heritage Collection, 4th Edition
Timeframe: September 2010
ABV: 65.6%
Price: $79.99
This is the newest release in the acclaimed Parker’s Heritage Collection. This year’s release is a 10 year old wheated bourbon. Heaven Hill began distilling wheated bourbon back in 1999 after they acquired the Old Fitzgerald portfolio. 52 barrels totaling 4,800 bottles are being released so get yours while you can.

Buffalo Trace Experimental Collection
There are two releases this year, both 15 years old. One was aged in new toasted French oak casks and the other was aged in used charred American oak casks seasoned with toasted oak chips.
Timeframe: Fall 2010
ABV: 45%
Price: $47/375 ml
I should also note a couple of things about these releases. First, these were both fully matured, not just finished in their respective casks. Second, because these weren’t aged in new charred oak casks these can’t actually be called bourbon. However, they still sound tasty to me!

Canadian Mist Black Diamond
Timeframe: Fall 2010
ABV: 43%
Price: $14.99
This is a new release from Canadian Mist that is supposed to be “a richer, more robust blended Canadian whisky.” Is this CM’s answer to Crown Royal Black?

Glendronach Grandeur
Timeframe: Now
ABV: 45.8%
Price: $700
This is a new 31 year old release from Glendronach. Bottled at cask strength, this looks very interesting if you have the means to afford the bottle.

Glendronach 33 Year Old
Timeframe: Now
ABV: 40%
Price: $379.99
This one is another release from Glendronach and is matured in Spanish Oloroso sherry casks. I’m not sure why the 31 year old is twice the price of the 33 year old but either way they look to be interesting luxury drams.

The Balvenie Peated Cask 17 Year Old
Timeframe: September 2010
ABV: 43%
Price: $129.99
This is the latest release in Balvenie’s annual 17 year old releases. This one is finished in casks previously containing exceptionally peaty whisky. Didn’t Glenfiddich do this with Caoran?

The Balvenie 14 Year Old Caribbean Cask
Timeframe: September 2010
ABV: 43%
Price: 59.99
This is a new line extension from Balvenie with their lovely whisky finished in Caribbean rum casks. They’ve had a Golden Rum finished Travel Retail Only bottling at 14 years old for a while. I wonder if this is the same thing released to the masses?

That’s it for August. Balvenie, Glendronach, and Buffalo Trace led the way this month. I also heard about a couple of Benromach releases in their Origins line but no word yet on whether they are coming stateside. As always, if I missed anything please let me know.

Drink wisely my friends,

Richard

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Woodford’s Pipeline

/ / Bourbon, Other Whisk(e)ys, Richard's Blog

I don’t make a habit of swiping content from another blog but if the information is just too cool to leave alone I will lower my standards for the greater good of the whiskey community. That said, I will give credit where credit is due. Woodford gave whiskey writer Chuck Cowdery and Whisky Magazine an exclusive list of what they have in the pipeline for their Master Distiller’s collection. The Maple Finish will be this year’s release which I mentioned yesterday. The coming pipeline is quite diverse and there is no specific year for each of the others. They will all be released over the next nine years whenever they are ready. Without further delay, here’s the list:

Maple Finish (2010) Mature Woodford Reserve bourbon finished in toasted sugar maple casks.
Wine Finish Mature Woodford Reserve bourbon finished in used wine casks (wine type to be announced).
Tequila Finish Mature Woodford Reserve bourbon finished in used Herradura Tequila casks.
Rum Finish Mature Woodford Reserve bourbon finished in used rum casks.
Straight Rye Whiskey, Low BEP (Barrel Entry Proof) Whiskey made from a 100 percent rye mash with an 86° BEP (43% alcohol), aged in new charred barrels.
Straight Rye Whiskey, Historic BEP Whiskey made from a 100 percent rye mash with a 99.8° BEP (49.9% alcohol), aged in new charred barrels.
Rye Mash Whiskey, Low BEP Whiskey made from a 100 percent rye mash with an 86° BEP (43% alcohol), aged in used barrels.
Rye Mash Whiskey, Historic BEP Whiskey made from a 100 percent rye mash with a 99.8° BEP (49.9% alcohol), aged in used barrels.
Straight Malt Whiskey Whiskey made from a 100 percent barley malt mash with a 124.8° BEP (62.4% alcohol), aged in new charred barrels.
Malt Mash Whiskey Whiskey made from a 100 percent barley malt mash with an 86.6° BEP (43.3% alcohol), aged in used barrels.

Honestly, I’m most excited to see what Woodford can do with rye and malt whiskey. I guess we’ve got a few years to wait to find out.

Drink wisely my friends,

Richard

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New U.S. Releases – July ’10

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

July was pretty heavy on the American whiskey announcements. This is to be expected leading up to the Kentucky Bourbon Festival in September. Here’s what I heard about in July.

Evan Williams Cherry Reserve Kentucky Liqueur
Timeframe: September 2010
ABV: 35%
Price: $14.99
This is a marriage of extra-aged Evan Williams Bourbon and natural cherry flavor. Apparently the Evan Williams Honey Reserve that came out last fall was pretty popular. So much so that they are coming out with a Cherry version. Look out Red Stagg!

Four Roses 2010 Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon
Timeframe: September 2010
ABV: 55.05% or 56.2% (i got conflicting information)
Price: $75
Four Roses is replacing their annual Mariage releases (there were actually only two) with an annual limited release small batch. It gives them a little more flexibility by using more whiskeys and it gives their annual releases marketing consistency with the Limited Edition Single Barrel releases. For you whiskey geeks out there (who isn’t?) this will be comprised of three different recipes: 15 Year Old OBSV, 11 Year Old OBSK, and 10 Year Old OESK.

Parker’s Heritage Collection 4th Edition
Timeframe: Fall 2010
ABV: 63.9%
Price: $80
This year’s release will be a 10 year old barrel proof, unchillfiltered wheated bourbon. 4,800 bottles will be released in total so get it while you can.

Redemption Rye
Timeframe: Now in select markets
ABV: 46%
Price: $26
This is a new two year old rye whiskey made of 95% rye. It’s always exciting to see new ryes coming onto the market!.

Woodford Master Distiller’s Collection Maple Wood Finish
Timeframe: Fall 2010
ABV: ?
Price: ?
We’re still short on details but this sounds pretty yummy to me!

Knob Creek Single Barrel
Beam is short on details with this one. All I know is that they are targeting January 2011 for a roll out.

Cardhu 12 Year Old
Not really a new release but Cardhu had been absent from the U.S. market for some time. It’s coming back and can already be found in certain markets. $42.99 and 40% ABV.

That’s it for July. Let me know if you know of anything that I might have missed.

Drink wisely my friends,

Richard

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Bunker Boys

/ / Bourbon, Irish Whiskey, Other Whisk(e)ys, Richard's Blog, Scottish Whisky

As you might guess, I frequent a lot of discussions about whiskey both online and in person. One thing that always struck me as old is people who “bunker” large numbers of the same bottle. What is bunkering you ask? It’s when you buy more than one bottle of a given whiskey and store it instead of drinking it. People do this for many reasons.

I can understand that if you REALLY like this year’s 2000 vintage Evan Williams single barrel that you might buy another bottle because the whiskey is different every year. What I don’t get are people who go into their local store as soon as the truck delivers the year’s Buffalo Trace Antique Collection and buying every bottle they can carry. Again, people do this for many reasons. However, I find none of them acceptable. Let’s look at them in turn:

1. “I bought all six bottles of George T. Stagg that were allocated to my local store because I love it and it’s my favorite.”

Fine, I get that you like it…alot. But what about all the other great whiskeys out there that you may be missing out on while you drink nothing but Stagg for the next year?

2. “I bought all six bottles of George T. Stagg that were allocated to my local store because they are collectible and will increase in value.”

I know some whiskey collectors. Personally, I’m not a fan of the practice because whiskey is intended to DRINK. It’s not intended to store away from the light of day hoping to cash in five to ten years down the road.

3. “I bought all six bottles of George T. Stagg that were allocated to my local store because I plan to trade them for other super spiffy whiskeys.”

Let’s say that in a perfect world such activities would be completely legal where you live (for the sake of argument) then why not save your cash and seek out those other bottles on your own? You could even put the money into some type of income earning vehicle and be better off when you got ready to make the purchase you really wanted.

4. “I bought all the bottles of the old bottling of Eagle Rare or Weller I could find because it isn’t made anymore.”

See my responses to 1, 2, and 3.

I’m sure there are a whole host of other reasons people bunker whiskey that I haven’t mentioned. However, what really steams my jeans about the whole process is that you’re keeping every bottle you can and you’re preventing others from discovering these great whiskeys. And you’re usually proud of it.

We here at Whisk(e)y Apostle are all about proselytizing the way of the malt. It says so at the top of the page. It’s kind of hard to tell somebody about a great whiskey they should try when you’ve bought all the damn bottles in the tri-county area. I think it’s selfish and kind of a dick move to be honest. Maybe I’m too handholdly-kumbaya about the whole thing. Yes, it’s a free market and you can buy whatever you want in whatever quantities you want but I just don’t think it’s right when it comes to whiskey. You don’t have to change your dastardly ways all at once. Go slow. Maybe this fall just buy five of those six bottles of Stagg and leave one for somebody else. You may not feel any different but the next guy who actually gets to try Stagg this year might have a really good week. Think about it.

Drink wisely my friends,

Richard

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New U.S. Releases – June ’10

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

I’m trying to be a little more timely with these release summaries as I’ve been slacking off lately. I only heard about five new tipples this month but they all are very interesting.

Iowa Bourbon Whiskey
Timeframe: July 1st
ABV: ?
Price:?
Iowa Bourbon! Five years ago would you have ever thought of such a thing? This is coming to us from the Cedar Ridge Vineyards Winery & Distillery. It was distilled back in 2008 and the first 1,500 cases are being released this year. What’s even cooler is that they are going to use their own used barrels and make a scotch-style single malt to be called Cedar Ridge Single Malt Whiskey in 2011.

George Washington Rye Whiskey
Timeframe: July 1st
ABV: ?
Price: $85/375ml
This was some of the first whiskey made at the reconstructed distillery in Mount Vernon. It was recreated from President Washington’s original recipe found in the archives at Mount Vernon. It was distilled in 2009 and ready for sale next month but only at the distillery.

The Arran Malt, Anniversary Bottling
Timeframe: June 29th release, no word on when it will show up on our shores
ABV: ?
Price: Around $80
This is some of the original malt distilled back in 1999 that was finished for the last two years in Amontillado Sherry Casks. It is being released to mark the 15th anniversary of the distillery.

Glen Breton 15 Year Old “Battle of the Glen” Canadian Single Malt Whisky
Timeframe: ?
ABV: 43%
Price: ?
You have got to love the sense of humor of these guys. They are releasing this special bottling to celebrate their victory in the Canadian Supreme Court against the SWA’s draconian naming laws. For those that don’t know the SWA tried to force the distillery not to use the name because they thought if it said “Glen Breton Canadian” everyone would automatically assume it’s scotch. Congratulations on the victory guys and I can’t wait to try the celebration dram.

The Kilbeggan Reserve Malt
Timeframe:?
ABV: 40%
Price: ?
This is a truely special dram. Just for the simple fact that it is the first whiskey distilled at Kilbeggan in 53 years. It’s a three year old matured in quarter casks by Cooley at the recommissioned Kilbeggan distillery. That gives Cooley two working distilleries now. Kudos for their hand in the resurgence of Irish Whiskey!

Knappogue Castle 12 Year Old Irish Whiskey
It’s not new. It’s the same Knappogue but they are doing away with their vintage releases in favor of a standard 12 Year Old.

That’s it for June. Please let me know if I missed anything that you may have heard of.

By the way, I just wanted to remind folks that these release summaries are for U.S. releases. There are plenty of things that are coming out for travel retail or overseas only that don’t make it on the list. I don’t include them deliberately because it used to frustrate the hell out of me to hear about great new whiskey and then find out that I can’t get it.

And as a reminder…Maker’s 46 should be in your local liquor stores around the middle of July!

Drink wisely my friends,

Richard

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