Kentucky Bourbon Festival 2017: Bottled in Bond Fire

September 21, 2017 Eric Burke

I state in my Statement of Ethics that if I am reviewing something that I didn't pay for, I will disclose it at the beginning of the article. I received media passes to this event for both myself and my wife

Warm and sunny. The perfect late summer Kentucky day. It's too bad it was our last day in Bardstown because it's days like those that make me never want to leave. And I was extremely excited to go to the Bottled in Bond Fire event that night. It seemed like it would be the perfect end to the trip.

Historically, Saturday night was reserved for the Gala, a formal event. And since the last time I was voluntarily in a tux was my wedding day 20 years previous, let's just say I am never going to be covering the Gala. Not my speed. I'm a bourbon around the fire sort of guy. Not a bourbon in a rented outfit sort of guy.

So yes, when they introduced the Bottled in Bond Fire event last year, I was pretty stoked. I didn't go, as it was introduced after I had purchased my tickets, but I was pretty sure I wanted to go this year. And as things worked out, I got media credentials to the event.

The Bottled in Bond Fire event is held at Wickland, Home of Three Governors. Wickland is an old Bardstown home (oddly the home of three different Kentucky Governors) which is available for tours and events. I had never visited before and was excited to see some of the details of the old house. When we first entered we were greeted by the check-in station and the food line. The event was serving barbecue, beans, and slaw. Perfect food for a bonfire.

Off to the right was a sitting area. Comfortable chairs and the featured speaker of the evening, Susan Reigler, Prsident of the Bourbon Women. Ms. Reigler was around to answer any bourbon questions that guests might have.

Bottled in Bond Fire, Buffalo Trace Selection

Off to the left of the main entrance was the Bourbon Room. Here, four distilleries were pouring mostly bonded bourbons. Buffalo Trace brought Colonel E.H. Taylor Small Batch and Single Barrel, Both Bottled in Bond.

Heaven Hill table at Bottled in Bond Fire

As is to be expected, Heaven Hill brought the most options to an event featuring Bonded products. They even brought one surprise...

I wasn't really expecting to see their Bonded Brandy, Sacred Bond, being poured at a Bourbon Festival. But it was and I tried it. It was fine, nothing to write home about.

Barton was only pouring Very Old Barton Bonded. Which is fine by me. VOB Bonded is my go-to bourbon for the hotel room or cabin when I'm in Kentucky.

Four Roses table at Bottled in Bond Fire

Four Roses was a bit of a surprise for me. Seeing as they have no bonded products. There were no representatives there, but they did have Small Batch and Single Barrel on hand.

Obviously, the fires were outside. There were also tables to eat at, bean bag toss and live music.

Fire pit just as it is being lit with the band in the distance.

The live music was provided by The Echoes, a Louisville trio. I enjoyed the music. It fit the mood of the event perfectly. I really hope someone thought to bring them a bourbon or two.

Indoor crowd at the Bottled in Bond Fire event

Since I had never been there before, they were nice enough to let me wander the house and go upstairs. Knowing that they offer ghost tours of the place, I was curious to go take a look. I didn't see any ghosts, but the empty old rooms in the light of the twilight were certainly a bit creepy. On the way down, I got a better view of the food and entrance area.

It wouldn't be a bonfire without s'mores. And although I'm guessing that liability concerns wouldn't allow people to toast their own, my wife tells me the desserts inspired by them were a very tasty substitute.

So, final verdict. I thought it was a decent event. My wife loved it. It was fun, the people were talkative, the bourbon was tasty, and the music was entertaining. Everything that you would want. All in all, I will probably drop the $75 to go as a paying guest next year so that I can enjoy myself a little more (hard to really relax when everyone thinks you work there due to the press credentials around your neck).

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Rebel Yell Small Batch Reserve

September 7, 2017 Eric Burke

I'm in the process of packing for a much-needed vacation tonight, so I'm going to keep this kinda short. Not as short as the last post, but short none-the-less.

I've had a love/hate relationship with Rebel Yell for a very long time. The standard, entry-level, release was one of the first bourbons that I truly disliked. I used most of the bottle for years as a prop whiskey. I'd empty a bottle, which I planned to review, without taking its photo. Instead of shooting an empty bottle, I'd add a little visual interest by pouring my prop bourbon into the bottle, shoot the photo and then pour it back into the Rebel Yell bottle. After a while, I stopped pouring it back in and started dumping it out. And, of course, started adding other whiskeys that I didn't want to finish to the bottle. Oddly after all of that, it made a decent cocktail whiskey, so I started a new prop bottle.

Since the time that I reviewed Rebel Yell, Luxco (the brand owner) started revamping the look of the brand and introducing other extensions to the Rebel Yell line. Flavored ones of course, but also a Straight Rye and a blend of Rye and Bourbon. The latter of which I reviewed quite favorably. And then they released the Rebel Yell Single Barrel, a ten-year-old, wheated bourbon. And it was fantastic!

Which made me wonder if I need to go back down and try the Small Batch Reserve that I had walked past for years due to how I felt about the standard Rebel Yell.

Want to read more about the Rebel Yell brand history, check out my buddy Peter's take on it. He does a lot more fact checking and research than I feel like doing sometimes...

Rebel Yell Small Batch Reserve

Purchase Info: I honestly have no idea, I thought I bought it at Total Wine, but when I went back to check the price on their website, they said they don't carry it in my state...but I see Ace Spirits has it for a little under $27.

Details: 45.3% ABV

Nose: Corn bread, mint and honey.

Mouth: Brown sugar, mint, banana, baking spice and dried grains.

Finish: Short to medium in length with lingering banana and baking spice.

Thoughts: I've had more than a couple of glasses of this during the weeks it has been on the shelf. It isn't bad in a tumbler, nothing special, but it gets the job done without being offensive.

I really think it works well in a cocktail with Campari and Ramazzotti Amaro. It's a riff on a Black Manhattan, and I use two ounces of Rebel Yell Reserve, half an ounce of Campari, half an ounce of Ramazzotti and a few dashes of bitters. I like how the sweet of this bourbon offsets the bitter of the Campari and Amaro. So I'm giving this a like on that fact alone. On its own, it straddles the line between meh and like.

Evan Williams Single Barrel, 2009 Vintage

September 5, 2017 Eric Burke

I've had an odd sort of relationship with Evan Williams Single Barrel over the years. It isn't really a love/hate relationship as much as it is a like/meh one. In my experience, they are never really bad, not even in an off-year. Instead, they are just sort of...meh. Not bad. Not great.

I used to really like them. I'd pick one up every year. But then we had a string of forgettable ones. So much so that even though I liked 2006 (the last one I bought), I forgot to try 2007 or 2008. But it is quite amazing what seeing a good price on the sign will do toward reminding you, especially when there is an open spot on your shelf just begging you to fill it.

Evan Williams Single Barrel, 2009 Vintage

Purchase info: 19.98 for a 750 mL bottle at Ace Spirits, Hopkins, MN

Details: 43.3% ABV. Barrel #: 367. Barreled on July 30, 2009. Bottled on January 31, 2017.

Nose: Honey, wintergreen, sugar cookie, and almond.

Mouth: Nice thick mouthfeel with vanilla, ginger, wintergreen and sugar cookie.

Finish: Warm with a medium length. Lingering spice, mint, and sweetness.

Thoughts: I like this one a lot. It's very tasty, especially for the price. I may have inadvertently taken a break from this product, but that will have to stop. Good solid bourbon at a good price is nothing to take for granted these days.

Black Powder Bourbon

August 31, 2017 Eric Burke

I am so excited right now. You see, tonight is the football season opener for my beloved University of Minnesota Golden Gophers and their new head coach, PJ Fleck. He's a high-energy guy with a great philosophy. And even though I'm not expecting a lot out of the season (when you are a middle to lower-tier program it never goes as well as you hope during a coach's first year) I can't help but be optimistic. I'm an unrepentant homer of a fan. Even though I've been disappointed in the past, I always think that this year will be the one where things start to turn around.

And this optimism extends to all facets of my life. Especially bourbon. I'm aware that, for many bourbons, I probably shouldn't be optimistic. Especially when I know that it is only three years old. But since I've had a couple of young bourbons that I did like, I keep thinking to myself: "Maybe this will be another one of those. Maybe this one will be good." And so I take a flyer on yet another Total Wine exclusive label. I mean, heck, they are less two bucks per 50 mL bottle to try.

Black Powder Bourbon

Purchase Info: $1.59 for a 50 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN.

Details: 40% ABV. 36 months old.

Nose: Dried corn and mint plus a touch of vanilla and nutmeg.

Mouth: Warmer than expected with the fiery heat of youth. Dried corn sweetness follows.

Finish: Medium and on the bitter side. Lingering dried corn mint and vanilla.

Thoughts: While not my cup of tea, I wouldn't fault people who enjoy young bourbons for liking this. A lot of dried grain flavors and nothing off-putting. It works ok in a cocktail too.

Jefferson's Very Small Batch Bourbon

August 24, 2017 Eric Burke

It wasn't fair. In fact, you could say that—intentionally or not—it was set up to fail. You see the first time that I tried Jefferson's Bourbon it was part of a tasting that included the entire Four Roses line. Including that year's edition of the limited Small Batch (then called the Mariage). It was the night that I fell in love with Four Roses and the last time I tried a Jefferson's that was under $99 and 18 years old. It's not that I didn't think about trying it again, I just never did.

Jefferson's is a non-distiller producer started in the late nineties by the father and son team of Chet and Trey Zoeller. Regarding the name, Reid Mitenbuler writes in Bourbon Empire: the Past and Future of America's Whiskey that the younger Zoeller says: "I had no marketing budget. I simply wanted a recognizable face associated with history and tradition." The choice is kind of odd when you think about it. Washington was a distiller. But according to the folks at Monticello, Jefferson not only didn't produce whiskey, he also didn't touch the stuff. In any case, since Jefferson's Bourbon is still being produced 20 years late, the name must have been a good choice.

Marketing aside, Jefferson's is doing something that few non-distiller producers are doing these days. They source their whiskey from a variety of distillers and blend them together to create something that is more than the sum of its parts. It's this focus on blending that made me decide to go back and give them another shot.

If they were just buying sourced whiskey from a single producer and dumping it into a bottle, I might have kept walking. But in the age of the single barrel, blending is an underappreciated art. Blending whiskey is hard. I've tried more than a few blending experiments, and in my experience, I make something better than the parts a little more than half the time. You just never know what is going going to play nicely and what isn't. At least not without a lot of experience and hard work. So I appreciate it when people not only do it well but hang their hat on it.

Weirdly, that's also what appeals to me about the other bourbon from that first night.

Jefferson's Very Small Batch Bourbon

Purchase info: $28.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Details: 41.15% ABV. Batch 524. Bottle 09845.

Nose: Light and fruity with vanilla and baking spice.

Mouth: Fruity mouth with cinnamon, caramel, and a nice peppery spice.

Finish: Warm and of medium length. Sweet vanilla which fades relatively quickly to reveal a nice spicy warmth.

Thoughts: This is quite tasty and more complex than I thought an "entry-level" product would be. I like this quite a bit. It's nice as a "change of pace" bourbon as it is pretty different from the other bourbons on my shelf.

Revisiting an Old Review: Henry McKenna Single Barrel Bottled in Bond

August 22, 2017 Eric Burke

It has been fifteen hundred, eighty-two (1,582) days since I last reviewed Henry McKenna Bottled in Bond, Single Barrel. It was only the sixth post of what I consider to be the site's "modern era." It was about a year into the site's existence, and I had just gotten serious enough about it to shoot my own photography and start posting on a regular basis (before that there be just myths and legends with nary a bit of definable truths to be found). In other words, it's time to revisit to see how it (or I) have changed.

At the time I was less than impressed by it. Though at this point, it is hard to know if it was more because of the packaging which looked like a kid's arts and crafts project or because I wasn't all that fond of hot bourbons. I rated it solidly meh. There was nothing wrong with it. It just wasn't right for my palate.

But these days, as I venture far and wide in search of something new to review, I've found that I have developed a taste for high-proof, high-heat bourbons. There are days when that is all I want. Though, conversely, there are also days when I want nothing to do with them too. This bourbon punches above its proof in the spice department, which is nice. I can get my fix for high-proof whiskey and still feel like a second pour isn't off the table should the night call for it.

I like the new packaging too. Though I professed my love for it the first time I reviewed this, I noticed pretty quickly that as I got close to the end of the bottle that I was starting to worry if some of those pieces glued to the bottle might not fall off into my glass as I poured. It was a pretty rickety affair. And though the new label is fairly traditional, it does feel firmly affixed.

Henry McKenna Single Barrel, Bottled in Bond

Purchase Info: $24.99 for a 750 mL bottle, Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Details: Bottled in Bond, 50% ABV, ten years old, barrel number 3325, barreled on 11/20/06.

Nose: Rich with notes of caramel, leather, and oak.

Mouth: Syrupy mouthfeel with a good hit of spice.

Finish: Warm and long with lingering notes of caramel, leather, and oak.

Thoughts: This whiskey is everything I remember, but time has changed how I view it. As I said, back in 2013, I wasn't a fan of big, high-burn bourbons. Now I like them as much as I do other styles of fully matured bourbon. I'm really digging this bourbon. It is rich, spicy, and complex. It just about perfectly captures that stereotypical "bourbon" flavor profile. I'm upgrading my thoughts on this one; it is now very much a "like."

Watkins Select Bourbon

August 10, 2017 Eric Burke

Watkins Select Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

One of the many ways I make money right now is as a dog sitter. I have dogs, so watching a couple of extra is something that isn't too far removed from what I am already doing during the day. Plus, I can do it while working on any other client work I have.

Most of the dogs I watch are very well behaved, but one of the ones I am currently watching is...well...he pooped on my rug. Twice. On two separate days. Plus he doesn't listen when you try to get him to come in from outside.

He's a sweet boy, only ten months old, and very affectionate. Still, I'm having a hard time getting past the not listening and rug pooping. I'm assuming he doesn't do this at home since I require that all dogs be house-trained. Maybe he does. I guess I'm not there and some people are willing to try to pull a fast one on you.

I'm pretty sure he won't be coming back. That makes me a little sad. He's young, still a baby of sorts. But obviously not well trained, which isn't his fault. But sometimes those are the breaks. You take a chance on something, hope it will turn out as good as others, and then are disappointed.

Speaking of which, Watkin's Select Bourbon is a Total Wine Exclusive that is bottled in California. It isn't a TerrePure whiskey like some of the others, but it didn't come from Buffalo Trace either. I thought I'd take a chance on it. Read on to see if it pooped on my rug.

Watkins Select Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Purchase Info: $1.99 for a 50 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN (a 750 mL bottle runs $16.99)

Details: 36 months old. 40 % ABV

Nose: Grain forward with vanilla, wintergreen, sugar snap peas, and a mineral note.

Mouth: Dried Grain, wintergreen, and black pepper.

Finish: Short and grainy with a hint of residual spice.

Thoughts: There is absolutely nothing wrong with this that more age wouldn't fix. But, as it stands, I find this very meh. If you are a fan of inexpensive, grain-forward bourbons, then you should give this a shot. But if you like a little more age on your bourbon, give this a hard pass.

Orphan Barrel: Rhetoric 23-Year-Old Bourbon

July 27, 2017 Eric Burke

I state in my Statement of Ethics that if I accept a review sample, I will disclose it at the beginning of the article. Please consider it disclosed. I’d like to thank Taylor Strategy for providing this sample to me with no strings attached.

Orphan Barrel: Rhetoric 23-Year-Old Bourbon

On Tuesday we talked about what the Orphan Barrel series was, why I hadn't reviewed any of it yet and what I thought of the 22-year old version of Rhetoric. Tonight we are looking at the 23-year old version that is either out now or will be soon depending on where you live.

Do you know why I generally prefer my bourbon in the six to twelve-year-old range? There is a reason for it, well two actually. These days, the biggest one is the price. But even back when you could find an Elijah Craig 18 year for less than fifty bucks, I still typically left that for my wife to drink. She has always liked older bourbons more than I do. So not including the price the reason I don't care for older bourbons is that they tend to feel over oaked to me. In many of them, you taste oak and not much else. I like the interplay of the flavors that the barrel has contributed and those that the grains and yeast added.

Of course, I don't want to make generalizations. There are plenty of gently aged bourbons out there that reach the upper teens without tasting like you are sucking on a bitter old stick. But when the price has risen as much as it has, making it almost impossible to take the plunge to try them without spending the kind of money that would make my frugal old Grandmother blush, it is hard to justify. Until such a time as my wife becomes independently wealthy, I'll probably just try these as samples and save my money for safer bets.

Orphan Barrel: Rhetoric 23-Year-Old Bourbon

Purchase Info: This 100mL sample was generously proved by Taylor Strategy. I've seen it for sale online between $129 and $180.

Details: 23 years old. 45.3% ABV

Nose: Vanilla and caramel, leather, oak and a generic nuttiness (remember I'm allergic, so I don't nut too much).

Mouth: Vanilla, baking spices, mint, anise and oh so much oak.

Finish: Hot, but the heat fades rather quickly to be replaced by oak. The oak pretty much overpowers anything else and lasts for a nice long time. After that fades, a general sweetness replaces it.

Thoughts: I'm going to come right out and say it. I think this one is over oaked. If you are a fan of such things, grab it. However, I'm going to pass.

Comparison Thoughts: It's really amazing what an extra year will do when a whiskey gets this old. I liked the 22-year-old quite a bit, but the 23-year-old gets a pretty hard pass from me. The oak ramped up quite a bit providing a lot more pronounced bitterness to the finish. In the 22-year-old, the notes were melded together into a well-balanced whole. The extra year's worth of oak extraction allowed the oak to take over and not to the whiskey's benefit. Don't get me wrong, both of these have pronounced oak notes, but one is part of a nice melding while the other trends toward one-note.

Blog

Rebel Yell Small Batch Reserve

Evan Williams Single Barrel, 2009 Vintage

Black Powder Bourbon

Jefferson's Very Small Batch Bourbon

Henry McKenna Single Barrel, Bottled in Bond

Watkins Select Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Orphan Barrel: Rhetoric 23-Year-Old Bourbon