From the BourbonGuy Archives: Making Bitters Using a Sous Vide Cooker

Hello Friends! Sorry about the lack of posts last week, I injured my back a few weeks ago, and it had flared up to the point where I spent the week on Prednisone and muscle relaxers. So, no drinking and, by extension, no tastings. I know. Bourbon is much more fun than the nausea that muscle relaxers gave me. So I’m reaching into the archives for this week and pulling out an article from 2020 that has been on my mind lately. Mostly because I need to make more bitters here soon. Anyway, enjoy!

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A long time ago, I found a set of instructions online that detailed how you could make infused vodka in an afternoon instead of in weeks. It was written by a bartender at what seemed to be a high-end bar. Now you might wonder why anyone, much less a skilled bartender, would want to make an infused vodka. Today, that might be a good question, but flavored vodka was a big thing at the time. And, hopefully, there will always be a certain kind of establishment that will take pride in offering a house-made product to discerning patrons.

But back to those instructions. I found these so long ago that they are no longer available online. But they were so stupidly simple that I never had to go back to look for them again. Now, I didn’t know this at the time, but the instructions were describing a large industrial-grade Sous Vide cooker. I didn’t know what Sous Vide was, but I could understand the concept behind it. Keep a water bath at a precise temperature for a determined length of time. Easy peasy. Using a very large stockpot, a thermometer, and a quick hand on the stove controls, I used those instructions to make a lot of infusions. I was mostly just playing around, but the lemon peel infusions were the first step in some mighty tasty limoncello.

Now, being the kind of guy who likes to make things for myself, I’ve been making orange bitters at home for years. I even wrote about it way back in 2014. Originally, I used the Orange bitters recipe in Brad Thomas Parsons’ book Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All. But these days, I’ve modified the recipe some.

A couple of years ago, I bought my first Sous Vide cooker. I love to cook, I’m a gadget guy, and heck, Sous Vide cookers were finally available for less than $100. I’ve made the best steaks I’ve ever tasted using that thing.

This year, I finally realized that I could put these two things together. Instead of waiting for three weeks for my bitters to be done, I could use the Sous Vide cooker to easily make warm-infused bitters. Now, the warm infusion method doesn’t work for everything. Just like a cold brew tea and coffee taste different than a warm brew, using the warm infusion method will change the flavor. If you are infusing fruits, the result will taste more like cooked fruit than it will fresh fruit. But in some cases, this is actually beneficial, so just keep that in mind.

And since this experiment worked so nicely, I thought I’d share my recipe with you.

Spicy Blood Orange & Tangerine Bitters

Ingredients

• 2 Cups Old Grand-Dad 114

• 2 oranges

• 2 tangerines

• 2 Blood oranges

• 4 Whole cloves

• 1/2 star anise

• 8 green cardamom pods, cracked

• 1/2 tsp cassia chunks (or broken cinnamon stick)

• 1/2 tsp gentian root

• 1/4 tsp Black peppercorns

• 1/4 tsp coriander seeds

• 1/4 tsp whole allspice

• 1 cup of water

• 1 ounce rich (2 to 1) simple syrup

Equipment 

• Sous Vide Cooker 

• Food Dehydrator (optional)

• Y-shaped fruit peeler

• 2 mason jars

• Measuring spoons

Instructions

1. Read all the directions and gather your equipment. 

2. With a Y-peeler, zest 1 orange, 1 blood orange, and 1 tangerine. Make them a nice, thick zest and don't be afraid to get some pith on them. Give the zest a rough chop with a large knife. Keep the pieces kinda big as they will shrink.

3. Dry your chopped zest. I use a food dehydrator, but you can also use a baking sheet in a 200° oven.

4. After your dried zest is finished, zest your other three citrus fruits. I avoid the pith on this step, but it won't hurt if some comes along for the ride, you are making “bitters” after all. A little extra bitterness isn’t the end of the world.

5. Place your fresh zest, 1/4 cup of dried zest, and all your spices in a quart-sized Mason jar. Add 2 cups of Old Grand-Dad 114. Close the jar and give it a shake. Make sure all the ingredients are covered, if not add more bourbon and close tightly.

6. Fill your stockpot (or whatever you use for sous vide cooking) with water, set your cooker to 160° F and float your mason jar in the stockpot. There should have been enough headspace in the jar to allow it to float upright. Once the water comes to temperature let it cook for an hour and a half, shaking occasionally. After the cook is complete, do not empty your water bath unless you are finished for the day. You will need it again. 

7. Strain the solids out through a piece of cheesecloth. Set the infused bourbon aside. 

8. Place the solids and one cup of water in a second Mason jar and float in your water bath. Set temp to 160° F and let infuse for 45 minutes. 

9. Strain the solids out through a piece of cheesecloth. Give the solids a squeeze to remove as much liquid as possible. Discard solids.

10. Combine the infused bourbon and infused water together. Add rich simple syrup. Let run through a coffee filter to remove any sediment. Let cool.

11. Decant into small bottles. It is natural for more sediment to settle out, just give it a shake before using. If something starts to grow in the bottle, please discard it. For best flavor, use bitters within a year or so. 

So, right after I finished this, I realized that I didn’t have any bottles. I’d been reusing the same old Angostura bottles for years and had finally tossed them, thinking that I’d easily have emptied more when the time came to need them. Well, I did. But then I tossed them too, not remembering that I needed to save them. After some searching online, I found out that they were called Woozy Bottles and are the same bottles used in hot sauce. The smallest amount that I could get from Amazon was a case of twelve. Needing only four, I wondered to my wife what I would do with the other eight. It was then that she said the most mind-blowing thing: “You know, you could always make other kinds.”

I’m going to be honest with you, that thought had never crossed my mind. So I set out to think of what other kinds of bitters I might want to make. Well, my wife likes cherry bitters in her Old-Fashioneds, so that was a no-brainer. And I knew just the thing to base it on: my Orange-Spiced Cocktail Cherries. These have been a big hit with everyone who has tried them ever since I developed the recipe. And, since I already had many jars of these cherries in storage, I could even use them to make the bitters. Once again I got out my trusty food dehydrator and got to work sucking the moisture out of them.

Spiced Cherry Bitters

Ingredients

• 2 Cups Old Grand-Dad 114

• 1/2 Cup Dried Orange-Spiced Cherries

• 1/4 cup Orange-Spiced Cherries

• 1 TBSP Dried Orange Peel

• 1 TBSP Gentian Root

• 1 TBSP Cassia Chunks (or broken cinnamon stick)

• 1 TBSP Whole Allspice Berries

• 1 TBSP Juniper Berries

• 1 Star Anise (broken up slightly)

• 1 cup of water

• 1 ounce rich (2 to 1) simple syrup

Equipment 

• Sous Vide Cooker 

• Food Dehydrator

• Small knife

• 2 mason jars

• Measuring spoons

Instructions

1. Read all the directions and gather your equipment. 

2. With a small knife, cut about a cup of Orange-Spiced Cherries in half. Dry your cherries in a food dehydrator (I got impatient and pulled mine out when they were about three-quarters dry, they still worked great).

3. Place your dried cherries, 1/4 cup of non-dried cherries, and all your spices in a quart-sized Mason jar. Add 2 cups of Old Grand-Dad 114. Close the jar and give it a shake. Make sure all the ingredients are covered, if not add more bourbon and close tightly.

4. Fill your stockpot (or whatever you use for sous vide cooking) with water, set your cooker to 160° F and float your mason jar in the stockpot. There should have been enough headspace in the jar to allow it to float upright. Once the water comes to temperature let it cook for an hour and a half, shaking occasionally. After the cook is complete, do not empty your water bath unless you are finished for the day. You will need it again. 

5. Strain the solids out through a piece of cheesecloth. Set the infused bourbon aside. 

6. Place the solids and one cup of water in a second Mason jar and float in your water bath. Set temp to 160° F and let infuse for 45 minutes. 

7. Strain the solids out through a piece of cheesecloth. Give the solids a squeeze to remove as much liquid as possible. Discard solids.

8. Combine the infused bourbon and infused water together. Add rich simple syrup. Let run through a coffee filter to remove any sediment. Let cool.

9. Decant into small bottles. It is natural for more sediment to settle out, just give it a shake before using. If something starts to grow in the bottle, please discard it. For best flavor, use bitters within a year or so. 

Of course, since I’d gone this far, it’d be silly not to do an Aromatic Bitters as well, right?

Arok’s Aromatic Bitters

Ingredients

• 2 Cups Old Grand-Dad 114

• 1 TBSP Molasses

• 1 TBSP Gentian Root

• 1 TBSP Cassia Chunks (or broken cinnamon stick)

• 1 TBSP Blade Mace

• 1 TBSP Whole Allspice Berries

• 1 TBSP Dried Orange Peel

• 1 tsp Green Cardamom Pods (cracked)

• 1 tsp Whole cloves

• 1 Star Anise (broken up slightly)

• 1/2 tsp black peppercorns

• 4 pieces Dried, Sliced Ginger Root

• 4 Orange-Spiced Cherries

• 1 cup of water

• 1 ounce rich (2 to 1) simple syrup

Equipment 

• Sous Vide Cooker 

• 2 mason jars

• Measuring spoons

Instructions

1. Read all the directions and gather your equipment. 

2. Place your molasses, cherries, and all your spices in a quart-sized Mason jar. Add 2 cups of Old Grand-Dad 114. Close the jar and give it a shake. Make sure the molasses is dissolved and all the ingredients are covered, if not add more bourbon and close tightly.

3. Fill your stockpot (or whatever you use for sous vide cooking) with water, set your cooker to 160° F and float your mason jar in the stockpot. There should have been enough headspace in the jar to allow it to float upright. Once the water comes to temperature let it cook for an hour and a half, shaking occasionally. After the cook is complete, do not empty your water bath unless you are finished for the day. You will need it again. 

4. Strain the solids out through a piece of cheesecloth. Set the infused bourbon aside. 

5. Place the solids and one cup of water in a second Mason jar and float in your water bath. Set temp to 160° F and let infuse for 45 minutes. 

6. Strain the solids out through a piece of cheesecloth. Give the solids a squeeze to remove as much liquid as possible. Discard solids.

7. Combine the infused bourbon and infused water together. Add rich simple syrup. Let run through a coffee filter to remove any sediment. Let cool.

8. Decant into small bottles. It is natural for more sediment to settle out, just give it a shake before using. If something starts to grow in the bottle, please discard it. For best flavor, use bitters within a year or so. 

So there you have it. Four bottles each of three different kinds of bitters, all in one afternoon. Not too shabby. If you’re curious, I sourced all my spices from my local Penzey’s Spices location, except for the Gentian Root, which I ordered from Mountain Rose Herbs. Neither of them is a sponsor, I don’t take sponsors, I just like these stores. Oh, and the labels above are original Eric Burke designs cut out using a Cricut. I told you I like making things myself.

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Traveller Whiskey

For a long time, people have been making whiskey that was a little less robust than… well, whiskey. And as part of the Federal Government’s quest to keep people from being bamboozled when they make a purchase the tax rolls safe, they came up with a bunch of tiny, neat boxes to put every different kind of spirit into for legal and taxation purposes. For example, you may have heard of this little product called Vodka. I hear there was an entire era where people hated this guy so much they created a cavalcade of ultra-sweet, sugary drinks specifically designed to cover up its flavor. I believe it was called the 1980s. But what is Vodka, really? Here is what the Federal Government has to say:

Vodka: Neutral spirits distilled or treated after distillation with charcoal or other materials so as to be without distinctive character, aroma, taste or color (Neutral spirits being defined as: Spirits distilled from any material at or above 95% alcohol by volume (190 proof), and if bottled, bottled at not less than 40% alcohol by volume (80 proof)).

Why bring that up? Well, neutral spirits are one of the many ways people make their whiskey taste less like whiskey. Back in the early 1900s, Prohibition decimated whiskey production in this country. After booze became legal again, stocks of aged whiskey had dried up—sometimes literally. To stretch what little aged stock they had, producers added either young whisky or neutral spirits to the blend. Many of them were trying to make it taste as close as possible to the whisky people were used to while working within their limitations.

Of course, some—like the head of Seagram’s—actively believed in combining whiskey and neutral spirits. Seagram’s famously bought Four Roses and converted it from a Straight Bourbon to a Blended Whiskey. And since Scotch and Canadian whisky were both lighter (than, say, Bourbon) and popular at the time, who’s to say he was wrong? Seagram’s did end up a pretty big company.

So now that I’ve mentioned the dreaded B-word, let’s define it:

Blended Whisky: Whisky produced by blending not less than 20% on a proof gallon basis (excluding alcohol derived from added harmless coloring, flavoring or blending materials*) straight whisky or a blend of straight whiskies and, separately or in combination, whisky of any type or neutral spirits

That’s right—a blended whiskey can be up to 80 percent vodka. Fun, huh? But producers can go even lower: down to 5 percent whiskey and still put “whiskey” on the label. That is called Spirit Whiskey (Whisky produced by blending neutral spirits and not less than 5% on a proof gallon basis whisky, straight whisky or combination of whisky and straight whisky provided the straight whisky is used at less than 20% on a proof gallon basis).

Of course the other way to make whisky taste less like whiskey is to make Light Whiskey (Whisky produced in the U.S. at more than 80% alcohol by volume (160 proof) [but less than 95% alcohol by volume (190 proof)] and stored in used or uncharred new oak containers). Science tells us that above 160 proof flavor compounds start to break down, and at 190 proof they’re essentially gone. So the higher the distillation proof, the less flavor in the distillate. But since Light Whiskey is still aged in a barrel, you will get more flavor out of light whiskey than out of blended whisky. And if you want to get really crazy you can add some straight whiskey to your light whiskey and make Blended Light Whiskey (Light whisky blended with less than 20% straight whisky on a proof gallon basis).

Okay, so why the giant tangent about whiskey that doesn’t taste as much like whiskey as it could? Well, tonight’s whiskey is a Blended Whiskey. The last time I covered a Blended Whiskey was in 2017. I still get comments on that post, taking me to task. I’m just leaning into it.

Traveller is a collaboration between Musician Chris Stapleton and Buffalo Trace. It is another in a long line of vanity whiskey brands for musicians. We’ve covered a bunch of them over the years.

From the Press Release:

“Buffalo Trace Distillery’s Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley and Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and musician Chris Stapleton today unveiled Traveller Whiskey, a new, premium blended whiskey that represents a first-of-its-kind collaboration of collective artistry. Proudly blended and bottled at the World’s Most Award-Winning Distillery under Wheatley’s expert supervision, Traveller is the result of countless hours of testing, tasting and dedication to craftsmanship that have produced powerful songs and world-class whiskeys…Traveller is a completely unique combination of whiskeys hand-selected from The Sazerac Company’s award-winning distilleries.”

Ok. So, how does it taste?

Traveller Whiskey

Purchase Info: $1.99 for a 50 mL bottle at Liquor Barn, Louisville, KY. Suggested retail price for a 750 mL bottle is $39.99

Price per Drink (50 mL): $1.99 (mini); $2.67 (750 mL SRP)

Details: 45% ABV

Nose: Vanilla, dried grains, wintergreen, a hint of baking spice, and a citrus-like tanginess.

Mouth: Vanilla, cinnamon, wintergreen, 1980s Topps Baseball Card bubble gum (an unwrapped stick of hard bubble gum that has been slightly flavored with cardboard and ink due to the close proximity they were kept in, if you are too young to have had it), and a citrus-like tang.

Finish: Short to medium, on the gentle side of warm; notes of 1980s Topps Baseball Card bubble gum, cinnamon, and wintergreen.

Thoughts: Not a fan. I’m guessing “guy who’s critiqued bourbon for a decade-plus” wasn’t the target market here. In fact, I’d say “serious bourbon drinker” wasn’t the target at all—it really doesn’t taste much like bourbon. (Even Buffalo Trace Master Distiller Harlan Wheatley hints at this in the press release: “If you’ve tried whiskey before and been turned away by the burn – we think you’ll take one sip of this and think, ‘OK, now this I can do.’”) To me, it tastes like a low- to mid-range Canadian Whisky or a very light Light Whiskey. In fact, I had such a negative reaction to this one that my wife suggested that I put it aside and give it a try another day. Which I did. I gave it multiple tries across multiple days, and my opinion didn’t change: I just don’t like it. Good thing we only bought a tiny bottle each, I suppose.

Don’t let that stop you from loving it, though. We all have different things we like, and that’s great. It just gives us something to talk about. And as another postscript, if you wonder why I bounced back and forth between Whiskey and Whisky? It’s just due to who I was quoting. The Feds use Whisky (no e), and Buffalo Trace uses Whiskey with an e. It’s just one of the quirks of American English that we use both and use them interchangeably based on two different countries of origin. Isn’t American English fun?

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Speakeasy Bourbon by Willett

I have an innate lazy streak to my personality. Like, so innate that my mother tells stories of how she was concerned I might not actually be alive when I was in the womb. I just didn’t move much. Fifty years later or so, and that hasn’t changed much. I still have a general inclination toward a sedentary lifestyle. I just don’t like to expend any more energy than I have to in order to get the result I want. If the only way I can get a certain result is to work hard and tire myself out, I certainly will. But if there’s an easier way to get the same result, I’ll take it.

And this is why the modern “speakeasy” concept irritates the hell out of me. Seriously? Why make it harder for me to give you my money? I’ve seen ones “hiding” in gas stations and burger joints. I’ve even seen one where you need to do a math problem to figure out the passkey for a keypad—if you didn’t already know it. This one was a standalone building on a busy street, so it wasn’t hiding.

I get that these places appeal to people who are much less pragmatic than I am. But what are my ultimate goals when headed out to grab a drink with a friend? One, hanging out with a friend, and two, grabbing a drink. If I wanted to hang out at an escape room, I would. But since my goal is a drink, just let me buy it. The easier you make it for me to get what I want, the more apt I am to come back a second time. I don’t need anyone to overcomplicate things.

So now that I’ve gotten out an old-man rant that is only kinda appropriate because of the name of tonight’s bourbon, let’s leave off yelling at clouds and get to the purpose of this review. Speakeasy Bourbon is another bottle I picked up on my way through Kentucky last month. Because I don’t get press releases from Willett, I had never heard of this one. I grabbed it because it’s fun when you find a new bottle from an established producer. Most of the time, it means you aren’t about to waste your money on it.

Before we get into the details, let’s let the folks at Willett have their say, from their website:

Behind false bookshelves and trick doors, parties of lavish extravagance were replete with jazz music and the allure of forbidden spirits. Patrons knew to “speak easy” or softly of their secret watering hole, lest they draw the attention of a prohibition agent. The Noble Experiment failed, but the bold resilience of elegant whiskey drinkers has proven timeless.

Speakeasy is made from a mashbill of 79% corn, 7% rye, and 14% malted barley. It is entered into the barrel at 125 proof, the highest proof legally allowed. After aging, it is cut to 98 proof and bottled. Let’s see how it tastes.

Speakeasy Bourbon by Willett

Purchase Info: $39.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Liquor Barn, Louisville, KY.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $2.67

Details: 49% ABV. Mashbill of 79% corn, 7% rye, and 14% malted barley

Nose: Oak, wax, cardamom pods, cinnamon, and hints of citrus and mint

Mouth: Cinnamon, chocolate, nougat, oak, cardamom, and a touch of both citrus and mint

Finish: Medium in length and warmth. Notes of cardamom, chocolate, nougat, and cinnamon

Thoughts: Not bad, but not great. When I first nosed this, I was struck by the smell of freshly waxed hardwood. Over time, that shifted to more of a cardamom note among others. The mouth follows the nose and adds in "candy bar" notes of nougat and chocolate. The finish is on the gentler side of medium. More of the same notes. The mouthfeel is thick and rich. There are people who will love this, but I’m not one of them. The notes just aren’t hitting for me. I’m neutral on this one. It currently lives among my cocktail supplies, as it is very nice in a cocktail. Which I guess is thematically appropriate for a bourbon named after a place that sold cocktails to cover up the subpar spirits available at the time. But the price is decent for a cocktail ingredient, if on the higher end of the definition of decent. Luckily, the store selling it didn’t put it behind a math problem…

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Maker’s Mark Wood Finishing Series: The Keepers Release 2025

My friends! It’s time for another liquor store find from my recent travels. I saw this one all over Kentucky, but haven’t run across it here in Minnesota yet. That doesn’t really mean much, though—I haven’t been to the liquor store locally for a few months now. That said, I bought this one at Illinois’ Binny’s Beverage on the way home after passing on it a couple of times at various locations in Kentucky. Why did I pass? No idea. Must have found something that struck my fancy more at that particular moment.

So what are we talking about? That would be the latest release in Maker’s Mark’s Wood Finishing Series. They’ve been doing this for a while now. I saw emails in my inbox about the series going back to 2021—though they’ve highlighted different things over the years. The 2024 and 2025 releases focused on the people who help make the product what it is. According to the press release:

“The Keepers Release was born from our close collaboration with the Maker’s Mark warehouse team, the guardians of our barrels,” said Dr. Blake Layfield, master distiller, Maker’s Mark. Their sensory experience of Maker's Mark is unlike anyone else’s — the aromatic oak at different times of the day, evolving tasting notes of our whisky as it ages over multiple seasons — which provided inspiration and helped us shape the flavors of this release."  

Adding to that statement, according to reporting by The Bourbon Review, this expression starts with fully matured, cask-strength Maker’s Mark aged six to seven years, then finished in two batches with toasted American oak staves—one batch aged an additional five weeks, the other nine—before being blended in equal parts and bottled at 109.2 proof (54.6% ABV).

So let’s get to the important part: how does it taste?

Maker’s Mark Wood Finishing Series: The Keepers Release 2025

Purchase Info: $79.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Binny’s Beverage Depot, Bloomington, IL.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $5.33

Details: 54.6% ABV

Nose: Vanilla, toffee, oak lumber, cinnamon, and a hint of mint.

Mouth: Almond, oak, mint, cinnamon, vanilla, and caramel.

Finish: Medium in length and warmth. Notes of almond, cinnamon, mint, and oak.

Thoughts: This is very good. Nice toffee. Lots of oak—though to me, it doesn’t quite come through as the usual oak notes you’d find in a bottle of bourbon. This oak feels more like the kind you'd find in your lumber pile (you do have a lumber pile of old wood, don’t you? Just me?). But while I might have expected that to be a bad thing, it actually works really well here. It plays nicely with an almond note that trends toward cherry. Big fan of this.

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If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.

Elijah Craig Barrel Select

If the trip to Tennessee and Kentucky was less than successful on the “testing out a tiny camper” front, it was very successful on the “shopping for whiskey” front. I mostly picked up barrel picks from distilleries and stores. They do seem to have a higher hit rate on delicious barrel picks. I’m guessing that is easier when you're that close to the source—especially when they are the source, in the case of distillery gift shops. However, I did grab a few things, such as the bottle pictured above, to save for blog posts too.

The subject of tonight’s bonus post was purchased at the Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience. It’s an eight-year-old Elijah Craig bottled at 125 proof. And boy, do I wish that was the main reason I bought it. Because yes, the tasty bourbon inside was certainly a factor—but come on, that little guy is super cute. There was no way I was walking out of the gift shop without that tiny little barrel of bourbon.

Hey, I’ve been earning a living as a designer for over two decades now. Cool packaging is a weakness of mine.

This is a distillery exclusive, although in Kentucky, there's a law requiring retailers to be able to sell those exclusives as well—so you might find it here and there at retail, too. The cost was $29.99 for a 200 mL bottle. So, not the most affordable per drink. But I was on vacation, and whiskey is my favorite souvenir, so I was happy to spend that on something I couldn’t get at home. Plus, the small bottle size means that even people on a budget can enjoy it if they’re willing to give up a little quantity to do so.

Let’s see how it tastes, shall we?

Elijah Craig Barrel Select

Purchase Info: $29.99 for a 200 mL bottle at the Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience, Bardtown, KY.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $7.50

Details: 8 years old, 62.5% ABV.

Nose: Graham crackers, strong cinnamon candies, honey, and oak

Mouth: Nutty with honey, vanilla, cinnamon candies, and a touch of oak.

Finish: Warm and on the longer side of medium length. Notes of honey, spearmint, and cinnamon.

Thoughts: This is a like rating so close to a love rating it isn’t even funny. It is so good! I should have bought two. That nutty note—at times reminiscent of graham crackers—really makes this shine. I adore this one. Methinks it’ll be enjoyed an ounce at a time to make it last.

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If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, B525

I’d like to thank Heaven Hill for providing this sample with no strings attached.

Headed off to the dentist in a little bit to get a tiny cavity filled before it turns into something worse. I’m assuming my face will be numb and I’ll be miserable afterward, so I’m trying to get this out before I need to leave. And there isn’t much time left, so let’s make this one short.

We’ve covered these releases many times before, so I think most of us already know what’s going on with them. But if you’re new, here’s the short, short version: Elijah Craig used to be a 12-year-old product. Just before it transitioned to a non-age-stated (NAS) version, a companion “Barrel Proof” offering was released. That product stayed 12 years old even after the NAS transition and became a three-times-yearly release. A few cycles ago, they dropped the 12-year age statement as a standard and now just list how old each particular batch is. Most have been right around 12 years, though at least one has been older. The batch code helps you track it: the letter (A, B, or C) tells you if the bottle in your hands is from the first, second, or third release of the year. The first number is the month of release, and the last two digits are the year.

Okay, now that that’s out of the way, let’s dig in and see if it’s any good.

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, B525

Purchase Info: This sample was sent to me at no charge for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $74.99.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $5.00

Details: 63.1% ABV. 11 years, 6 months old

Nose: Pretty typical Heaven Hill profile: vanilla, caramel, cinnamon, and oak.

Mouth: Hot and sweet with notes of cinnamon, wintergreen, vanilla, honey, and oak.

Finish: Medium length and warm with notes of honey, cinnamon, and oak.

Thoughts: I like the nose on this one. It smells like bourbon—like, if you were making a “bourbon-scented” item, this would be your template. The mouth is as warm as you'd expect at over 120 proof. Nice heat and sweetness. I’m digging the honey notes on both the palate and the finish, and the mouthfeel reinforces that with a thick, rich texture. This is quite good. I really like it.

Oh, and since I was whining about the price of the last Heaven Hill product I covered, I should mention that this one continues to be much more reasonably priced compared to Old Fitz Bonded. It’s only about $6.50 per year of age. Fair is fair, and I don’t want to be called a hypocrite for calling out high pricing without acknowledging the opposite.

Comparison to last time: A125 is much less cinnamon-forward than B525. The mouth on A125 is sweeter and oakier. As always, both of these are very tasty—but B525 has a little extra oomph that puts it over the top for us.

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Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond Decanter Series Spring 2025

I’d like to thank Heaven Hill for providing this sample with no strings attached.

Hello friends! I’m back! Hopefully, you noticed that I was away last week…

Anyway. I was in a very tiny RV, driving to and from Knoxville, TN. Now you may ask: Why Knoxville? There are so many other places in the country to drive a tiny RV to. Why would you not choose (insert your favorite place to drive a tiny RV here)?

Well, the answer to that is basically a giant shrug. I have no idea why we decided on Knoxville proper. We have our usual birthday/anniversary trip planned for September and wanted to test out our probable method of transportation. We had the idea that it would be fun to take a September trip to Northern California in a drivable RV. My wife has always had the fantasy that she’d enjoy the smallest vans made. You know—the super small kind that fits into a parking spot with little trouble. Something cute.

The issue with that is… they’re also super small on the inside. I found that out when I needed to pee, couldn’t actually fit in the toilet area (vertically at all or horizontally comfortably), and had to stand in the “kitchen/hallway” and just aim at the toilet to relieve myself. (I happen to be a very good aim, having had almost 50 years of practice.) Toss in assorted tripping and stumbling hazards and we realized that, if nothing else, the layout was just shit. But also that we really could use a bit more space—and a “lounging area” that wasn’t just the driver’s and passenger’s seats flipped around. After driving all day, those were the last seats we wanted to be in while trying to relax.

Now, as to why Knoxville? First off, there are a couple of National Park Units there. One of them is the second of three units in the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. We visited Los Alamos around this time last year, so picking up the second of three interlocking passport stamps felt like a fun goal. But more importantly, this was a trial run that allowed me to test the various ways we plan to spend our overnights during the September trip. We tried Harvest Hosts, campgrounds, and hotels—just to see how Mr. Tiny would handle itself (that’s what I referred to the RV as in my head, don’t get any weird ideas just because I mentioned peeing earlier). And best of all, if something did go wrong (which it did), we were in a populated area—or at least more populated than Wyoming or the Nevada desert.

But the best part of going to Tennessee? We passed through Kentucky twice and had many opportunities to spend almost as much on bourbon as I did on the RV. We’ll probably have a lot of bonus posts this summer to go through the things I picked up. But for now, let’s get on to tonight’s bourbon—which I did not get while away.

Tonight’s bourbon is the latest release in Heaven Hill’s Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond Decanter Series—this one being the Spring 2025 release. As always, this release uses the Heaven Hill wheated bourbon mashbill and meets the requirements to be labeled bottled-in-bond. It is nine years old and bottled at 100 proof.

Old Fitzgerald has a long history. It was the flagship product of the Old Stitzel-Weller distillery (of Pappy Van Winkle fame). After being purchased by Heaven Hill, it eventually slid down the ranks of prestige, having qualified for more than one Bottom-Shelf Bracket back when we adhered to strict pricing rules for that series. A few years ago, though, the bottled-in-bond version was relaunched as a prestige offering. The average price was about $10 per year of age—a big jump from the twenty-something dollars per bottle it had previously carried. These days, the price has increased even more to about $14 per year of age, which is quite the jump.

Disappointing as a frugal person, but not unexpected for someone who follows the bourbon industry. Anyway, let’s dig in and see if this is worth the price.

Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond, Spring 2025

Purchase Info: This sample was sent to me at no charge for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $129.99.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $8.67

Details: 50% ABV, 9 years old.

Nose: Caramel, vanilla, spearmint, and oak.

Mouth: Caramel, vanilla, cinnamon, leather, and oak.

Finish: Medium in both length and warmth. Notes of cacao nibs, vanilla, cinnamon, oak, and just a hint of spearmint.

Thoughts: Though I am not a fan of Heaven Hill deviating from their prior pricing plan of the MSRP being $10 per year aged, if you’re the sort of person willing to pay $130 for a bottle of bourbon, you won’t be disappointed in paying that for this one. If anything could be said to be worth that price, this would be. I’ve had far worse bourbon for more money. Because this is absolutely delicious—it’s rich and thick, and the oak-derived notes of leather and cacao are probably my favorite part of this one. Big fan.

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Jefferson’s Reserve Cask Strength

I’d like to thank Jefferson’s Bourbon and their PR partners for sending this sample with no strings attached.

It’s been a minute since we last looked at anything from Jefferson’s Bourbon. Not for any real reason—I usually like it. But many of their releases have been more of a “change of pace” bourbon for me, as they haven’t always lined up perfectly with my palate. Well, just having bourbon outside of a tasting has become a change of pace for me these days, so I don’t buy or consume nearly enough to warrant a "change of pace" product on the shelf. Because of that, I don’t buy their stuff as often as I probably used to, and as such, I don’t cover it as much either.

That said, they were nice enough to send me a sample to check out, so let’s dig in.

Jefferson’s Reserve Cask Strength is an 8-year-old Kentucky straight bourbon bottled unfiltered at 130° proof (65% ABV). This limited-edition release will be available starting April 2025 at select retailers, restaurants, and bars across the U.S., with a suggested retail price of $69.99 for a 750 mL bottle. Here is what the brand has to say about this release:

“For years, Jefferson’s Reserve has been our flagship bourbon, celebrated for its balance and sophistication. With this cask strength release, we’re peeling back the layers to reveal the whiskey in its most authentic form—untamed, uncut, and packed with intense flavor,” said Trey Zoeller, Founder and Master Blender of Jefferson’s Bourbon. “This is for those  who crave the full experience of a high-proof  bourbon that’s as big as it is drinkable.”

Let’s see how it tastes, shall we?

Jefferson's Cask Strength.

Purchase Info: This bottle was sent to me for review purposes at no charge. The Suggested Retail Price is $69.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.67

Details: 8 years old, 65% ABV

Nose: Strong floral vanilla notes initially, followed by cinnamon, cherry, and oak.

Mouth: As hot as you would expect 130 proof to be. Follows the nose with vanilla, cinnamon, oak, and cherry notes.

Finish: Long and warm, with lingering notes of vanilla, cinnamon candies, and a bit of oak.

Thoughts: Holy shit! This may be my favorite Jefferson’s bourbon yet. It has all the heat you’d expect at 130° proof. Neat, it is thick, rich, spicy, and sweet. A touch of water tames some of the heat and brings out more oak, a little almond, and even more vanilla. Folks, I really like this one. And not just in a “change of pace” manner. If you see this one out in the wild, do yourself a favor and treat yourself — it’s worth the splurge.

BourbonGuy.com will be off next week due to a short vacation. Regular posts will return on May 21, 2025.

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If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.