Probably Pass

Very Special Old Fitzgerald

/ / Bourbon, Review / ,

Very Special Old Fitzgerald Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 12 Years Old
45% ABV
$40
Website
OldFitzgerald12yo
What the Distillery Says:
An historic brand, which dates back over 120 years, Old Fitzgerald Bourbon enjoys a nationally recognized reputation as an award winning whiskey with a tradition of extra-aging.

Made with a “whisper of wheat” instead of the more traditional rye grain, Old Fitzgerald offers a unique and well-loved taste profile. Today, Master Distillers Parker and Craig Beam have preserved the traditional formula and techniques, while adding the benefits of seven generations of Bourbon distilling expertise.

What Gary Says:
Nose: Anise, light cigar paper, subtle sweetness.
Palate: Light, wood smoke with some spice, but balanced nicely with a cereal honey note.
Finish: Medium, but uninspiring.
Comments: I actually like the nose on the BIB better than this, but the palate here is more complex. The age shows better there, where on the nose for me I think the wood hides some of the sweeter notes (while not being what I would call a real “oaky” nose). Overall, I think this is a small step up, but priced like it should be a giant leap forward.
Rating: Probably Pass

What Richard Says:
Nose: Licorice, crisp apples drizzled with wildflower honey, and vanilla custard.
Palate: This is a really odd palate. When you first sip it’s like the whiskey reaches out, grabs your tongue, and pulls you in. But quickly that aggressiveness passes and you are left with a light, almost bland bourbon reminiscent of Honeycomb cereal and old wet toothpicks.
Finish: Bland, dry, and woody.
Comments: The distribution for this has been scaled way back. Now you can only buy it in a handful of states, of which Georgia is not one. I grabbed my bottle at the visitor’s center in Bardstown. I was kind of geeky excited to find and buy it but I’ve been pretty disappointed with it. If there was ever a bourbon in the 12 and under age range that typified being over oaked this might just be it. Heaven Hill’s wheated bourbon doesn’t seem to take as well to long time in the wood as Buffalo Trace. If you are interested in Heaven Hill’s wheated bourbon I recommend you skip the four Old Fitz versions and go for the terribly drinkable Larceny.
Rating: Average

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I.W. Harper

/ / Bourbon, Review /

I.W. Harper Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
41% ABV
$35
Website
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What the Bottler Says:
Beginning with a subtle nose, I.W. HARPER Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey leaves traces of caramel and vanilla on entry before melting into velvety bursts of wood and spice. The finish is sweet and pleasant with subtle fruit notes.

What Gary Says:
Nose: Light corn, hint of licorice, a bit dry and thin.
Palate: Thin, sweet corn and caramel apple, slight herbal/vegetative note I can’t pin down.
Finish: Finish? Sorry, I must have missed it.
Comments: The distillery’s description includes words like “subtle” and “traces”, which I think is pretty accurate. This whiskey left me wanting something else on pretty much every level. It didn’t have anything that I found objectionable necessarily, but more like the absence of things I look for in a whiskey. At the price point, this is an easy pass for me.
Rating: Probably Pass

What Richard Says:
Nose: Nice and rich with burnt vanilla cream and caramel notes but it clears out quickly so catch it if you can. What remains when it opens up more is candy corns and grain alcohol.
Palate: Seriously light and thin. A little crisp apple sweetness but it’s pretty dry and unimpressive.
Finish: The slightest wood hint, there and gone.
Comments: For those that think Basil Hayden’s is a watered down thin shadow of aged Old Grand Dad this makes it seem like a robust National Distillers Old Grand Dad 114. It’s actually so thin that the flavor can’t stand over the (relatively) minimal proof. It actually tastes more and more like alcohol as it opens up in the glass. At $35 I find this to be borderline offensive.
Rating: Probably Pass

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Kinnickinnic Whiskey

/ / Other Whisk(e)ys, Review / ,

Great Lakes Distillery Kinnickinnic American Whiskey
43% ABV
$45
Website
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What the Distillery Says:
Kinnickinnic: [KIN-I-KUH-NIK] An Ojibwe word meaning “what is mixed”.

Our Kinnickinnic Whiskey is a blend of Straight Bourbon we have sourced from one of America’s finest distilleries and a Malt whiskey and a Rye Whiskey we produce here at Great Lakes Distillery. We bottle it at 86 proof and we don’t filter it so we can ensure ALL the very best flavor is making it into the bottle.

American Blended Whiskeys are typically a mixture of a little Whiskey and Neutral Grain Spirit (essentially vodka!). Rest assured, there is no Neutral Grain Spirit in Kinnickinnic. It’s 100% Whiskey, and possibly the only American Blended Whiskey made this way on the market.

About the name- On the south side of Milwaukee we see Kinnickinnic everywhere- there is a main street through the Bay View neighborhood and a river named for it and several businesses include it in their name. To keep it quick and simple for locals and outsiders alike, many abbreviate it “KK” in writing and conversation. Kinnickinnic is an Ojibwe word meaning a blend or mix of tobacco and other plants. (There’s a good description on the Wisconsin Historical Society site).

What does this have to do with whiskey? Well, we think there are some pretty good analogies- Bourbon is often described as having a fresh tobacco like flavor, and like those Native Americans we found blending our “tobacco” with another plant (in our case malted barley and rye) produced a truly unique and delicious spirit. In our own experiments we have also determined this whiskey which is spectacular neat or with a few ice cubes is great mixed too!

What Gary Says:
Nose: The malted barley is most prominent, vegetative and grassy with a subtle sweetness.
Palate: Light, young malt; bran cereal, a hint of corn sweetness.
Finish: Short to moderate; a bit boring.
Comments: For being a mixture of malt whisky, bourbon and rye – the malted barley component is the only one I’m really picking up on. Someone could have poured me this and told me it was a single malt whisky, and I wouldn’t have batted an eye. Not sure what the mixture is, but I wish it had more kick from the rye, and sweetness from the bourbon. I understand these smaller, craft distilleries can’t compete on price point, and I do appreciate their looking to blend other components in – but for the money I would have been disappointed.
Rating: Average

What Richard Says:
Nose: The nose is very corn forward. I would almost call this a Dickel if I didn’t know better.
Palate: Snickerdoodle sweetness with much less corn than the nose. Slightly astringent and a bit hot and harsh after the sweetness fades. Something that reminds me a bit of Ricola cough drops.
Finish: Hot chili pepper and fresh rubbed mint.
Comments: I’m Great Lakes praise for using actual whiskeys instead of grain neutral spirit blended with whiskey as some other bottlers have done. I also give the praise for being up front out the sourcing of their more aged component. Now that all the praise is done I have to say I find this young, harsh, and not really worth the $40+ price tag. Go grab a Buffalo Trace, Rittenhouse, Four Roses, or Evan Williams Bottled-In-Bond for half the price and be much happier.
Rating: Probably Pass

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Jim Beam Signature Craft Quarter Cask

/ / Bourbon, Review / ,

Jim Beam Signature Craft Quarter Cask Finished Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
43% ABV
$35-40
Website
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What the Distillery Says:
Introducing Jim Beam Signature Craft Quarter Cask. Base bourbon finished with a variety of fine quarter cask bourbons, all aged at least four years in smaller barrels. Boasting notes of vanilla, oak, and a hint of caramel, this spirit should be enjoyed neat or on the rocks.

What Gary Says:
Nose: Wood is forward while not overpowering; vanilla/caramel, with an odd pencil-eraser note.
Palate: Creamy, sweet, tapioca pudding and vanilla custard.
Finish: Short to medium length, and a tad on the dry side.
Comments: Who knows how much bourbon that was aged in quarter casks is in the mix, but as it seems that the goal of the Signature Craft series is to not venture too far from the Jim Beam path – I think they got it right. The nose was more woody than Jim Beam white label, but I didn’t get as much of that on the palate. It was plenty sweet, and had a nice mouthfeel. An interesting pour, and again – for fans of Jim Beam, probably worth the extra dough to try something you’re likely to enjoy while getting something a little different.
Rating: Stands Out

What Richard Says:
Nose: Caramelized bananas, cinnamon icing, sweet cornbread, and vanilla.
Palate: Hello woody. It does have a nice creamy corn pudding going on but that’s not what I look for in my bourbons.
Finish: It finishes hot and corny. It’s very much a young whiskey that absorbed too much oak.
Comments: Smaller barrels do not make better or faster whiskey. Done. Let’s move on. No need for folks to keep trying this. Really. I mean it. If this were $20 I would give it an average but at twice that price it’s an easy pass.
Rating: Probably Pass

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Highland Park Dark Origins

/ / Island, Review, Scottish Whisky /

Highland Park Dark Origins Single Malt Scotch Whisky
46.8% ABV
$80 to $90
Website
HP-Dark-Origins-bottle-pack-70cl-1000
What the Distillery Says:
Dark Origins is inspired by the cunning spirit and courageous personality of Highland Park’s infamous founder, Magnus Eunson. This latest addition to the core expressions uses twice as many first fill sherry casks than in the classic Highland Park 12 year old resulting in a naturally darker, richer flavour.

Tasting Notes
Colour: Rich mahogany
Nose: Sherried spice and ripe bananas combine with toasted hazelnuts and baked apple
Palate: Well-balanced, dry peat at first mellowing out to maraschino cherries, warm dark chocolate entices the palate
Finish: Enduring sweet smoke

What Richard Says:
Nose: Sherry for sure. This has a much thicker and meatier nose than standard Highland Park bottlings.
Palate: So if a sherry butt and a peat brick had a fight, beat the hell out of each other, put antiseptic ointment on it and wrapped the whole thing in old Band-aids it would be this whisky.
Finish: Surprisingly sweet on the finish but it quickly fades to a dry soot-like quality.
Comments: I understand where Edrington is coming from. You have a great but under valued malt. You use some of those same great sherry casks that you use for Macallan but not too many. Your malt is a great balance of flavor and finesse with a bit of peat. You kind of missed out on the uber-peak band wagon last decade and now things are swinging heavily sherried. So you don’t have enough aged sherry stock to make a second line like with Macallan but you can bring what you do have together and make a no age statement version for the sherry bomb lovers out there and hopefully capitalize on the sherry wave to bring in some extra profits.

Yeah I get all that but the problem is this sucks. It might be passable if it wasn’t 1) a NAS mystery mix, 2) $80+ a bottle when your 12 year old is around $45 to $50, and 3) a Highland Park that is a bare shadow of the rest of the line. I’ve passed this bottle around and gotten some not negative feedback but if you for some reason value my opinion then I wouldn’t waste your money.
Rating: Probably Pass

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