Richard’s Blog

On Wednesday, March 14th 2012 I was invited to a private lunch at Five Napkin Burger in Midtown Atlanta with Jim Rutledge, Master Distiller for Four Roses. How can a fellow say no to an offer like that? Five Napkin Burger (FNB) is a high end burger joint whose namesake burger is 10 ounces of ground chuck topped with Gruyere cheese, caramelized onions and rosemary aioli. I frequently enjoy bourbon with my burgers and their burger sounded right up my alley. I was not disappointed.

I got to bring along a copilot for this venture and my buddy Sam decided to take one for the team and do burgers and bourbon for lunch with me. We showed up a couple of minutes early and the folks at FNB quickly put Old Fashioneds made with Four Roses Yellow Label in our hands. That is always a good way to start lunch. Their bartender does a great job with an Old Fashioned and even their classic take is a cut above most of what I’ve had around Atlanta. [Side note: I respect the reinvention of classic cocktails by great mixologists but before you start riffing on a classic first learn to make the classic.] While we were sipping and socializing we got to talk to folks from FNB, Four Roses, and the man himself. Mr. Rutledge seems quietly amused by the near rock star status master distillers elicit today. He was just as happy to answer our super geek questions as he was to answer the basic questions of the rest of the group. I don’t want to imply that I was a standing member of the whiskirati among the uninformed. It wasn’t like that at all. Most of the folks there were foodies, food bloggers, and food writer. Sam and I were the whiskey nuts.

After the meet and greet we sat down to a nice meal. We started off with a wide array of appetizers including my favorites, the bourbon glazed wings and potato croquettes. The burgers were as good as advertised and the pecan pie was more of a supersized pecan tart but also great. I would recommend giving FNB a try. Along with the meal we tasted Four Roses Yellow Label, Four Roses Small Batch, and Four Roses Single Barrel. I’ve had them all before and they were all still as great. We also got a sneak peak at the 2012 Limited Edition Single Barrel. It is a 12 Year Old OESK and it was fantastic. It is supposed to be hitting shelves in April. I’ll hopefully get a hold of a review sample before then and do a formal write up for you.

The food and drinks were great but the real draw for me was Mr. Rutledge himself. He’s a very approachable and infinitely knowledgeable man. We talked about topics from the marketing history of Four Roses to the reintroduction to the American market. I found the history of their ten recipes the most intriguing. Originally, when Seagrams owned the Four Roses brand back in the early part of the 20th century they had one yeast strain and two mash bills spread across five different distilleries. As they continued consolidating the distilleries they chose yeast strains that imparted the same or similar flavor characteristics as the different water sources at the different distilleries. That’s how Four Roses ended up with one distillery making ten different bourbons. That kind of history lesson may not be something the average drinker cares about but I find it very interesting and it’s just a small example of the knowledge available if you’re fortunate enough to talk to one of America’s master distillers.

I would like to thank Five Napkin Burger for the invitation and Four Roses for the chance to talk with Mr. Rutledge. Both the burgers and bourbon are great and I fully recommend both.

Drink wisely my friends,

Richard

March is here again.  As is tradition, we focus on Irish whiskey reviews in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day.  First on tap is the new Redbreast Cask Strength on Friday.  We’ll also bring you reviews of Bushmills and Midleton’s whiskeys throughout the month.

Also, if you haven’t noticed we’ve also added some new content to the homepage.  Under “Whiskey Resources” you can now find a list of helpful links including a centralized location for discounts offered to our readers .  We’ve also added a store for Whiskey Apostle Gear if you’re interested.  There are just a few things (t-shirts, iPhone cases, mugs, etc.) out there now but we will continually add more as time goes on.

Lastly, if you’re not a Twitter follower you might want to start. Our tweets have been sporadic at best in the past but that is picking up.  If you’re in the Metro Atlanta area I often tweet when I come across hard to find drams or deals on various whiskeys in and around town.

Drink wisely my friends,

Richard

January is usually a pretty light month for the new release rumor mill. In both 2010 and 2011 we only had two whiskeys on our list. 2012 looks to break that trend. How about 11 new whiskeys coming our way? Check out our list below and see if something here might help you start off your year right.

Aberlour 12 Year NCF
Timeframe: TBD 2012
ABV: 48%
Price: TBD
Ah, Aberlour my secret little sherry aged dram. Aberlour has been gaining steam lately. They relaunched with new packaging, reintroduced an 18 Year Old, and now they have a new version on their 12 Year Old in the pipeline. This version will be bottled at 48% ABV instead of the current 40% and will be non-chill filtered.

Breakout Premium Rye
Timeframe: Now
ABV: 43%
Price: $35
This is a new 8 Year Old rye coming to market from the Tennessee Distilling Company (ironically from Pewaukee, WI). No word on the sourcing of this new rye but it’s already been seen in California and Michigan.

E.H. Taylor Jr Warehouse C Tornado Surviving Bourbon
Timeframe: Early 2012
ABV: 50%
Price: $70
According to Buffalo Trace (and Glenfiddich) if a storm tears up your warehouse then you need to release a special whiskey to celebrate. I don’t personally think you ever really need a reason so they can use whatever they want. This particular reason is 93 barrels of bourbon that survived the April 2, 2006 tornado strike on Warehouse C built by Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor, Jr in 1881.

Evan Williams Cinnamon Reserve
Timeframe: February 2012
ABV: 70% ABV
Price: $14.99
So apparently this flavored whiskey thing is taking off. While I’m not a huge fan of the category personally I think it’s good to see more whiskey products on the shelves crowding out all that damn vodka. We recently told you about new Red Stag extensions and now Heaven Hill is adding to their Evan Williams Reserve stable with a cinnamon version. This new release will keep their current Cherry and Honey versions company.

Evan Williams Single Barrel 2002 Vintage
Timeframe: Now
ABV: 43%
Price: $25
The roll out of the annual Evan Williams seems to be getting quieter every year. Heaven Hill didn’t even send out a press release this year. They just quietly started rolling out 2002 vintage to replace the 2001 vintage at the beginning of the year.

Glenfiddich Cask of Dreams
Timeframe: February 2012
ABV: 48.8%
Price: $99
Directly from Glenfiddich:
“Cask of Dreams is the celebrated culmination of Glenfiddich’s 2011 Cask of Dreams campaign, a national tour designed to inspire people nationwide to pursue their pioneering passions and dreams and to help bring them to life. Glenfiddich Ambassadors Heather Greene, Freddy May, and Mitch Bechard traveled the country, rolling casks through the streets and landmarks of major cities and encouraged whisky lovers to write their dreams and aspirations on then. The resulting casks were signed by thousands of Americans before their fond farewell to Dufftown to help create Cask of Dreams.

Cask of Dreams is a special marriage of Glenfiddich whiskies taken from a hand-picked selection of American oak casks holding matured whiskies of a variety of ages, with the youngest at 14 Years Old. This whisky was then decanted into the 11 inscribed casks and left to finish in the virgin American oak to bring an intense and powerful vanilla sweetness.”

Glenmorangie Artein
Timeframe: Early 2012
ABV: 46%
Price: TBD
This new 15 year old offering from Glenmorangie is the latest of Dr. Bill Lumsden’s ‘Private Edition’ offerings of finished boutique drams. This release saw time in Italian “Super Tuscan” red wine casks.

Jailers Tennessee Whiskey
Timeframe: Now
ABV: TBD
Price: $23
This is another one from the Tennessee Distilling Company. I have no additional information at this point.

Monkey Shoulder
Timeframe: TBD 2012
ABV: 40%
Price: $30
Monkey Shoulder isn’t new. It’s been around for quite awhile just not here. It’s a blended malt from William Grant and Sons. It’s a blend of three Speyside single malts. While not named, I’m assuming it’s the three that WG&S owns: Glenfiddich, Balvenie, and Kinivie. I’ve never had the pleasure of trying it but I’ve heard very good things. I’m glad to see it finally coming to the U.S.

SinFire Cinnamon Whisky
Timeframe: February 2012
ABV: 40%
Price: $16.99
Cinnamon is a big hit this month. Hood River Distillers is bringing out a cinnamon flavored Canadian whisky. It’s billed as a “unique, sweet yet sizzling experience.”

Woodford Reserve Double Oaked
Timeframe: March 2012
ABV: 45.2%
Price: $50
This new offering is the first permanent line extension from Woodford in its 15 year history. Double Oaked, as you might imagine, spends time in two separate barrels. The first is the standard new charred oak barrel. The second is a deeply toasted barrel with a light charring. The new version is supposed to have additional soft, sweet oak character. Brown Forman was kind enough to send me a sample. As soon as I finally kick this damn sinus infection it will be the first one I’ll try.

That’s all we heard about this month. If we missed anything please let us know. Oh, if you’re looking for that Redbreast Cask Strength 12 Year Old it should start showing up on retailer shelves any day now. 😉

Drink wisely my friends,

Richard

I’m supposed to have a review of Michter’s Straight Rye up for you all today. Well, thanks to a couple of work related flights last week I have a bit of a sinus infection so I’m a little behind on that one. It’s really hard to taste whiskey when you can’t breathe. I should have it up soon along with a new product release from Woodford Reserve. Next month will be Macallan focused and I already have most of those reviews done so we shouldn’t have the same problem in February.

Also, I’ll be at the Burn’s Night Dinner at Mac McGee next Wednesday so if you see a big dark haired guy with a goatee stop over and say high.

Drink wisely my friends,

Richard

As a general rule I don’t offer advice to the whiskey industry at large. While I’ve enjoyed whiskey in all its variations for many years and have a good bit of success helping people get into whiskey I never claim to be an expert in things whiskey related. This is especially true regarding topics of whiskey production. I don’t have 40 years of whiskey making experience. I don’t come from a whiskey making dynasty. Although I do have degrees in higher learning none of them are in brewing, distilling, chemistry, or even marketing. However, despite the aforementioned disclaimers I would now like to offer one piece of general advice to the whiskey industry as a whole.

STOP USING REAL CORKS IN YOUR WHISKEY BOTTLES!

I’ve heard the arguments for using real corks:
“We’re supporting the cork industry.”
“Customers see real corks as a sign of distinction or value.”
“We’ve always done it.”
Blah, blah, blah, blah. Seriously?

Just the other day I was opening a bottle of Michter’s American Whiskey for maybe the third time when the cork broke off in the neck of the bottle. After the requisite expletives I got my waiter’s corkscrew and fished the damn thing out. Luckily I have a few decanters and replacement synthetic corks at home. It’s generally not as bad as corked wine. More often than not the cork breaks and you just have to strain out all the little cork bits but it can have a similar negative influence on the whiskey too. I recently read a post from a fellow over on Straightbourbon.com who got a nasty corked bottle of High West Rendezvous Rye. Imagine for a moment that you’re a producer and you send a bottle of a brand new product that you’ve worked on for years to an acclaimed whiskey reviewer who’s never tasted it before. If that bottle has a rotten cork it may not matter how good your whiskey is. It’s just something to think about. Synthetic corks don’t go rotten you know.

Before the industry tries to completely reset the consumer understanding of age statements or their lack of necessity, not to mention other perceived “problems” the industry is trying to tackle, they really need to get rid of the real corks. Folks, synthetic corks are just fine. Some smaller producers are already on board. Jefferson’s Presidential Select comes with a synthetic cork. Heck, Suntory uses screw caps (gasp!) on their $120 bottle of Yamazaki 18 Year Old. I think we can all take a step forward on this one.

Drink wisely my friends,

Richard