Rabbit Hole Distilling, Bourbon and Rye

December 27, 2016 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. Rabbit Hole Distilling provided me with two media kits, each with a logo Glencairn glass and a 1.5-ounce sample (one was rye, one bourbon). I'd like to thank them for providing the sample with no strings attached.

It's the first post after Christmas, and it's only fitting that I review a couple of whiskeys that I received for free. Both of these are from Rabbit Hole Distilling in Louisville, KY. Since their founding in 2012, they have been using a combination of contract distillation and sourcing to get the liquid for their whiskeys. Contract distillation for their rye and bourbon and sourcing for their "Fingerprint Series." In October 2016, they broke ground for a 20,000 barrel-per-year distillery in Louisville.

Tonight I'll be looking at their rye whiskey and their bourbon. Both are two years old and were created by a team of distillers. Cameron Tally, formerly of Brown-Forman and Wild Turkey, Larry Ebersold formerly of Seagram's and Pernod-Ricard, Dave Scheurich, formerly of Brown-Forman and Randy Allender, formerly of Jim Beam. The Rabbit Hole Rye is a 95% rye mash bill, which through me for a loop until I realized that Mr. Ebersold was Master Distiller at the distillery now known as MGPi (which is most well known for the 95% rye whiskey they sell to many producers). The Rabbit Hole Bourbon has a unique mash bill of 70% corn, 10% malted wheat, 10% malted barley and 10% honey malted barley.

Rabbit Hole Bourbon

Purchase info: I received a review sample, but this is retailing for $41.99 at Total Wine in Louisville, KY.

Details: 47.5% ABV. 2 years old. Aged in #3 char barrels from Kelvin Cooperage. Barrel entry proof was 110° proof. Mash bill of 70% corn, 10% malted wheat, 10% malted barley and 10% honey malted barley.

Nose: Very young and heavy on the grain. Mint and floral notes predominate with cinnamon underneath.

Mouth: Floral grains, mint, and cinnamon candies.

Finish: Short to medium with lingering floral grains and cinnamon candies.

Thoughts: Due to the intriguing mash bill, this was the whiskey that I was most interested in trying. And while it isn't ready yet, it shows a lot of promise. Give this a few more years in the barrel, and I'll probably be bringing some home with me when I visit Kentucky. For now, though, I'd have a hard time recommending this except as a novelty or if you are a fan of very young bourbons.

Rabbit Hole Rye Whiskey

Purchase info: I received a review sample, but this is retailing for $49.99 at Total Wine in Louisville, KY.

Details: 47.5% ABV. 2 years old. Aged in #3 char barrels from Kelvin Cooperage. Barrel entry proof was 110° proof. Mash bill of 95% rye, 5% malted barley.

Nose: Mint, cedar, hints of pickle and vanilla.

Mouth: floral mint, cedar, vanilla and baking spices.

Finish: Minty and warm. Of short to medium length.

Thoughts: Like many rye whiskeys, this shows better at a young age than the bourbon did. It's similar to a young MGPi rye, not surprising due to its mash bill and pedigree. It's still really young, but worth a look if you are a fan of young ryes and are ok with a $50 price tag.

EDIT: an earlier version of this post claimed that the ABV of both whiskies was 95%, I forgot to do math and didn't convert the proof to ABV. That has been corrected.

For some reason, people never know what to get me for Christmas, and so they give me money. If you are like me and got a little money for Christmas, maybe check out my Etsy store at BourbonGuyGifts.com. From now until January 31st, 2017 we are celebrating the New Year with $20.17 off of any purchase of $100 or more. Just use the code HAPPY2017 at checkout. Or if you'd rather just donate to the site, visit patreon.com/arok to become a monthly patron. Thanks for reading!

A Photo Tour of the Bulleit Experience at Stitzel-Weller

October 27, 2016 Eric Burke

In light of recent allegations made by the daughter of Tom Bulleit of his homophobia and mental and physical abuse toward her, I have made the decision that BourbonGuy.com can no longer endorse products bearing the Bulleit name. An update has been added to reflect this change in policy.

I'm not going to say bad things...I'm not going to say bad things...I'm not going to say bad things...arghhh!

Ahem. Oh, hi.

I love history. I love bourbon. And on those occasions where the two intersect, I normally get very happy.

Normally.

There are times and places where people have decided to make money off of the historical presence a place has. I have no problem with that. Then there are times where people know what history is in a place and choose to ignore it. It makes me sad, but I can't find my way toward being upset with them. But when you co-opt someone else's history, make up a bunch more and then toss in a heaping helping of deception? Then I get upset.

I'm not going to go into the details (because Diageo is a big company with probably more lawyers on staff than people I know). Well, except to say that after I heard the tour guide say that the black fungus that grows on all distilleries was just "active alcohol" that had settled on the trees and buildings and that you couldn't take photos near the still or in the rickhouse because it was against the law...well, I decided to watch the time between truths. At one point I made it almost a half hour between accurate statements. And while they didn't explicitly say that all of Bulleit on shelves was distilled with one pot still (that you couldn't photograph), they did strongly infer that it was the case.

But, as a person who loves history and knew which things were right and which were wrong, I still enjoyed being there, wandering around and seeing all the buildings. And so, here are photos from the parts I enjoyed. I'd say read Sally Van Winkle Campbell's book, visit the gift shop and then decide if you can put up with all the BS you'll hear on the tour. If you can, take a tour. If you can't then just enjoy being there.

Hey look! Actual old history...with a curiously named newer building in front of it. This is the view from outside the gift shop.

The campus as viewed from the first stop on the tour. the gray building is where "their still" is. The warehouse behind it is the one you get to step into. You can see almost the entire tour from here.

If you've heard of Stitzel-Weller and the Old Fitzgerald Distillery, you've heard of this sign.

Inside the gray building. You can't take photos of the still room, but just outside of that are pieces of the old distilling setup. It's like a small museum where almost everything they tell you has been made up on the spot by tour guides.

I read in "But Always Fine Bourbon" about how all of those windows were open every morning and closed every evening by hand.

You could take a photo from outside the doorway. For your safety and because it's "against the law" to take one from four inches farther in. Sure it is. I'm sure it has nothing to do with whose name might be on the barrels that you can't see from th… — You could take a photo from outside the doorway. For your safety and because it's "against the law" to take one from four inches farther in. Sure it is. I'm sure it has nothing to do with whose name might be on the barrels that you can't see from the doorway...anyone else notice that it looks like these have been sanded on the ends?

The tour to this point. The building on the right is the gift shop. Tour started there. The black buildings in back are more warehouses. That was the first stop where we "learned" what the black fungus...err..."active alcohol?" was. The brick and gr… — The tour to this point. The building on the right is the gift shop. Tour started there. The black buildings in back are more warehouses. That was the first stop where we "learned" what the black fungus...err..."active alcohol?" was. The brick and gray building to the left is where "their still" is.

The cooperage. I wonder how many hours it took a set designer to decide just where to put that barrel. It would have been an "ah HA" moment to behold when the inspiration came to lay it on its side.

The tour ended in the same building it started in. This time you got to walk in through Pappy's...I mean Tom Bulleit's...office. Then the tour guide makes fun of him, says how much she loves him and we do a tasting. It's fine.

2019 update:

As stated above I have made the editorial decision that I can no longer endorse or recommend products from the Bulleit family of labels. This is an extension of the policy in my Statement of Ethics where I do not allow homophobic comments. In this case I’d rather not continue to help enrich a man alleged to have physically abused his own daughter over her sexuality. The review has been left intact for transparency’s sake.

BourbonGuy.com accepts no advertising. It is solely supported by the sale of the hand-made products I sell at the BourbonGuy Gifts Etsy store. If you'd like to support BourbonGuy.com, visit BourbonGuyGifts.com. Thanks!

Black Eagle Bourbon

July 14, 2016 Eric Burke

You’re sitting in a meeting. You’ve run out of things to say. Everyone is looking at you. You know you have to say something, but you’re not sure what. It’s awkward. You just sit there looking around. Thinking to yourself that eventually maybe someone else will say something.

The silence get longer. It gets more awkward. You’re starting to fidget now. People around you are looking out the window, trying not to stare as you just sit there.

Finally you squeak: “Individually barreled?”

This is how I picture the label meeting going for Total Wine’s Black Eagle Bourbon. I mean when you describe your bourbon as “Old-style, individual barreled bourbon whiskey, distilled from only the finest ingredients for a genuine full-bourbon character” you know someone somewhere was wracking their brain trying to come up with something nice to say on the spot.

I find this label to be hilarious. So much so that I had to buy this bottle immediately. I mean, no matter the size of the barrel, it is going to be an individual. And what the hell is full-bourbon character?

I guess we’ll find out.

Black Eagle Bourbon Whiskey

Purchase Info: $11.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN.

Details: 40% ABV. 3 years old.

Nose: Lightly fruity with delicate floral and mint notes

Mouth: Grain forward with light notes of baking spice and mint.

Finish: Short and grain forward.

Thoughts: When I saw this I expected something pretty bad. I mean the marketing people literally couldn’t say anything nice about it. When even marketing people can’t find a superlative that feels right to describe something you know that there’s nothing to say about a product. And though there isn’t much going on here, what is going on isn’t bad. It’s just sort of meh. To be honest this reminds me a lot of Old Crow. An ok well bourbon should you need one, but otherwise something to avoid.

I’ll probably use the rest of mine in the Cherry Bounce recipe from Michael Dietsch’s cocktail book Whiskey that I reviewed a while back. After three months soaking up cherry juice, it probably won’t matter what I used to begin with.

My Wandering Eye: Dusty Cognacs from the 1970s

June 28, 2016 Eric Burke

This post is only part of the My Wandering Eye series as a tangent. It wasn’t cheap. It isn’t readily available. But it was inspired by the exploration of other aged spirits that I conducted as part of the My Wandering Eye series. You see I was trolling eBay looking for photos of old bottles for a project that I’m working on when I happened across a listing from Canada that was offering old miniature bottles from the collection of the seller's deceased parents. In that lot were bourbons, scotches and cognacs. To be honest, the price wasn’t bad…until I got into a bidding war with another person. At which point emotion took over and I ended up dropping about $100 for 15 minis from the 1970s. Of which nine were still full and sealed.

I’ve already reviewed the Wild Turkey I received in the lot, but I was really interested to see what the cognacs in the lot would taste like. I’ve had good brandy and I’ve had terrible brandy. But when I was a kid, cognac in a snifter was visual shorthand for wealth. I was a kid in the 1970s. The fact that these were from that timeframe (even if they were possibly the lower shelf versions) was interesting. So let’s get into it.

Courvoisier V.S.

Details: Pre-1975 is as close to a date as I can figure. The top was dipped in paraffin by the previous owner. Sealed. 80 proof.

Nose: Dried, dark fruit (raisins or figs), sweet baked goods. Basically this has the nose of a Fig Newton.

Mouth: Sweet and rich with a ton of fruit present. There are some baking spices on the back end.

Finish: Short with lingering fruit.

Thoughts: Overall, this is ok. Nothing to write home about and I wouldn’t seek out another, but it was interesting to taste a bit of history. It is sweet and fruit forward. A bit too sweet for my tastes.

Marnier-Lapostolle Cognac

Details: Sept 1972 is printed on the back of the label so I’m going with that for an age. Sealed. 40% ABV

Nose: Birdseed, rubber and a hint of spoiled fruit juice.

Mouth: Sugar sweet with an unpleasant spoiled fruit undercurrent to it.

Finish: Short with lingering spoiled fruit.

Thoughts: There are two options here. One is that maybe there is a reason that, here in the US, Marnier-Lapostolle is known more for their Grand Marnier liqueur than they are for cognac. Maybe they aren’t good at this whole unflavored spirit thing. The other option is that this little bottle has seen some hard times over the last 44 years and the juice just didn’t hold up. I don’t know which it is and am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt since, of it’s 40 plus years of history, I only know that this bottle was made in France and ended up in the collection of a Canadian collector before coming to me. But wow. This is downright bad.

Hennessy Fine Cognac

Details: Pre-1975 is as close to a date as I can figure. The top was dipped in paraffin by the previous owner. Sealed. 80 proof.

Nose: Ripe peaches along with floral and oak notes.

Mouth: Very sweet. Caramel, dried flowers and hints of baking spice.

Finish: Fairly short with lingering dried fruits.

Thoughts: This was hands down the best of the three. Mostly on the strength of the nose. Peaches are one of my favorite fruits and that ripe peach note grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. Once it got into my mouth though things fell off and since ultimately the point of the liquid is to be consumed, that’s where I judge it. Once again it was ok. There wasn’t much that would lead me to seek it out again though if a friend were pouring, I wouldn’t turn it down. I will say it was much better than the modern day release of the same that I have on hand for making cocktails.

This was an interesting exercise for me. It’s fun to taste what our parents or grandparents tasted. And it’s good to be reminded from time to time that not everything that comes from prior to the time we were born is necessarily as good as we are sometimes lead to believe...it’s just harder to come by.

Elijah Craig 18 Year Old Bourbon: Pre-Hiatus vs. Post-Hiatus

June 23, 2016 Eric Burke

An Elijah Craig 18 year old bottle that has been empty for 4 years plus a sample from it and a sample from a current bottle that have been empty for 4 days.

I used to work with some amazing people. My wife was going through chemotherapy for ovarian cancer and was suffering from immense bone pain due to it. They put together a collection to get her a night in a hotel with a private hot-tub to help alleviate the pain. It was an immensely nice gesture and very much appreciated.

While we were there I was an attentive errand boy, as I was every time a chemo weekend came up. But there were times when she was sleeping or we were watching tv when I could hop on twitter and spend a little time escaping from the reality we were living by reading about whiskey. And then I read a post from Pops over at Bourbon and Banter that Elijah Craig 18 yer old was going away. I didn’t really care too much. I never cared too much for it, but my wife was very upset. At $45 it was one of her favorite bourbons that wouldn’t break the bank. She likes oak a lot more than I do.

So I did what any good husband would do, I left the hotel to go get two bottles to put away. One I still have, we plan to open it up next year to celebrate 5 years cancer-free. The other we drank pretty quickly, but as always I put aside a few samples in my sample library to have in the future.

It turns out it is now the future. Elijah Craig 18 year is back. It’s almost three times the price, but it has been seen off and on at my local Total Wine. I did not buy it. I didn’t want to spend that much on a whiskey that historically I did not like. But luckily a friend of mine did buy it and knowing that Robin was a fan, gave her a healthy sample. I in turn gave him one of the samples I put away so he could compare. Then I pulled out my other sample so I could compare them as well.

It was a fun tasting. We did it blind in order to gauge which we liked better without any preconceptions being attached. So…is the one we have in the closet better than the one we could find today?

Elijah Craig 18 Year-Old Single Barrel Bourbon Pre-Hiatus Versus Post-Hiatus.

Bourbon A:

Nose: Pear, caramel, oak and baking spices.

Mouth: Light and fruity with lively spices. Pear caramel, baking spices and herbal notes.

Finish: Spicy and warm with lingering herbal and fruity notes.

Thoughts: I would never guess this is 18 years old. It is a lively pour that almost dances across the senses. It is really good. I might even buy this one…if the price was right.

Bourbon B:

Nose: Creme Brûlée, floral notes and dusty oak.

Mouth: A little thin on the mouth feel. Caramel, mint and oak predominate.

Finish: Lingering oak and herbal notes along with a nice burn that sticks around for a while. Much of the flavor comes from the finish on this one.

Thoughts: This is muted and accentuates the oak flavors. It feels old and a bit tired. I don’t know that I’d buy it again based on this bottle. It’s just kinda meh.

So which is which? Can I go buy the energetic, virile, young 18 year old bourbon? Or am I stuck buying a tired, old bourbon at the end of its useful life? Well, I’m happy to say that Bourbon A was the post-hiatus Elijah Craig and that Bourbon B was the pre-hiatus version. And in a rare case of whiskey-math working like regular math, I think the bourbon that costs almost three times as much as it used to, is approximately that much better than it used to be. I’m shocked to say it, but I might even buy one of these if I see it on the shelf. Even at $130. Weird.

Wild Turkey Diamond Anniversary

February 4, 2016 Eric Burke

Ever pay money for an expensive bourbon only to find out that it’s…not bad? I mean one that is fine, but for the price you were kind of expecting…better? The it’s a decent bourbon, but not for it’s price range sort of thing?

I honestly hope you haven’t. Unfortunately, I have. Numerous times. And I’ve shared them with you. Numerous times. And it saddens me to say that tonight I’m going to be doing it again.

Wild Turkey Diamond Anniversary is a bourbon that I think people were excited about trying before it came out. It was an Wild Turkey expression made up of 13 and 16 year old bourbons. It was put out honor a legend’s 60th anniversary in the business. Everything was set up for this to be a special release.

Then it came out. The reviews were nice, but less than stellar with most of them being something along the lines of what I described above. I decided early on that I wasn’t going to be purchasing it. The MSRP was out of my price range and though I love almost everything Wild Turkey has put out, I had to pass.

Then my wife got auction fever. We were at the Oscar Getz Museum Master Distillers Auction during BourbonFest 2015 when this bottle came up for bid. It came with a set of four nice tumblers. No one was bidding on it and she felt bad. She ended up getting the bottle and the tumblers for $140. A little below MSRP once you toss in the price of four glasses. We figured that it was for charity and any bottle that wasn’t sold wouldn’t help the museum. So she waited until it fell below MSRP and pounced. She was the only bidder.

Wild Turkey Diamond Anniversary

Purchase Info: $140 at BourbonFest Master Distillers Auction (with 4 glasses included), Bardstown, KY

Details: 45.5% ABV. A blend of 13 and 16 year old whiskeys.

Nose: Kind of flat on the nose with sweet fruit and oak.

Mouth: Sweet. Brown sugar, oak and baking spice.

Finish: Lingering oak and caramel flavors. Slight heat and spiciness.

Thoughts: This is a whiskey that either fits your palate or doesn’t. I find it flat and uninspiring while my wife really likes it. Neither of us are looking to buy a second bottle though, not even when Total Wine put it on sale for $89.

To be honest, if I’m going to spend a lot on Wild Turkey, I’d go with Master’s Keep. I actually picked up a second bottle of that when I saw it for $130 (I also saw it all over the place for around $150). If I’m not trying to spend a lot, I like the Rare Breed better than the Diamond and it is less than one third the price. Both of them tend to be more energetic in the mouth than Diamond, which is something I like about Wild Turkey normally.

Diamond is not a bad bourbon. It’s actually quite good. It’s just not $90 to $130 good. For the price and the pedigree, I expected a lot more.

Woodford Reserve Master's Collection 1838 Style White Corn

January 12, 2016 Eric Burke

Once a year, Woodford Reserve releases a new whiskey in its Master’s Collection Line. Each release is a an expression of curiosity and experimentation. Woodford likes to tout its “five sources of flavor: (water, grain, fermentation, distillation and maturation).” In each release of the Master’s Collection they change one of those five things. Previous years have mostly included changing either the grain or the maturation, though there was one year where they did a sweet mash fermentation instead of the typical sour mash.

I’d love to see them come out with a version where they change out the water. Not because I’d want to buy it, necessarily. But I’d love to see every pundit on the internet explode when they release the Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection: Bardstown Water edition for $100.

After changing the maturation last year with a Pinot Noir finish, this year they are continuing the Tick-Tock of changing grain and maturation by changing the grain from yellow corn to white corn. This is exactly the type of experimentation I like. It is a seemingly minor change that may or may not make a huge difference.

Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection: 1838 Style White Corn

Purchase Info: $89.99 for 750mL bottle at McDonald’s Liquors, Minneapolis, MN.

Details: 45.2% ABV

Nose: Juicy tropical fruits which transition to dusty, earthy corn and oak.

Mouth: Dusty corn and oak, cayenne, tropical fruits and baking spices.

Finish: More tropical fruits and then a slightly bitter dusty corn along with a lingering gentle heat.

Thoughts: This isn’t terribly different than the normal release of Woodford Reserve. It’s a little rougher around the edges. It has a bit more earthiness and funk to it. It is certainly more interesting, though in this case that isn’t exactly a good thing since I find the regular release tastier in its understated way.

This is a whiskey where I find my opinion changing as the conditions I’m drinking it in change. I liked it the first time I had it in a normal rocks glass. When I did the tasting notes, I hated it. I wrote things in my notes like: “it’s hard to pay $100 for interesting when you realize you need to choke down the rest of the bottle.” As I normally do, I’m having a little more as I write about it (drinking not tasting) and my opinion has swung back toward my initial reaction.

It’s ok. It’s interesting. It’s also overpriced since it tastes like a rougher and less refined version of the regular release. But for all of that, it is mildly recommended if you like seeing the results of experimentation. Because I think this will tend to be a like it or hate it sort of whiskey, I’d try it in a bar first. It’s too pricey to just flat out recommend.

Blood Oath, Pact No. 1

October 8, 2015 Eric Burke

Bourbon is big business. And even though it has a reputation as a cheaper option to scotch, it always has been. People throughout most of the history of this country have made a very good living distilling, aging, buying and selling this whiskey that we all love so much.

For a long time, bourbon was cheap. Nobody wanted it. Whiskies aged to extreme age often just got redistilled into something else, vodka or fuel. Bourbons of middling age, six to eight years old, regularly made it into products that were nominally around four years old. It was good if you were a bourbon drinker, but in honesty almost no one was. You could barely give the stuff away.

Not to worry though, those days are firmly in the past. These days everyone wants bourbon. The more expensive, the better. Some days it feels like taste doesn’t matter nearly as much as price. And like good businesses, producers have given the folks what they want. Sure, most of the old value labels have stuck around, but almost everyone has gotten into the Ultra-Premium game. Wild Turkey has it’s $150 Master’s Keep, Diageo has it’s Orphan Barrels, And now Luxco, makers of Everclear and bourbons such as Ezra Brooks and Rebel Yell has taken a turn at bat.

Even though Blood Oath felt like it was trying a bit too hard (it’s proof is blood temperature after all), I had some hopes that Blood Oath would be a decent bourbon. I’ve been a fan of a lot of the labels in Luxco’s Ezra Brooks line and even liked one of the new brand extensions for Rebel Yell. They obviously spent a decent amount on the new packaging. It is beautiful. They were trying something new by blending wheated and rye bourbons. All signs that a company is ready to make something special. Tossing a brand new bourbon out with a $100 price tag is a statement that they think people will want to buy it.

Blood Oath, Pact 1

Purchase info: $98.95, 750 mL bottle. Blue Max Liquors, Burnsville, MN.

Details: A blend of two rye bourbons and a wheated bourbon. 49.3% ABV.

Nose: This has a very sweet nose, leading with maple and clove. That is followed by wet, old wood and a slight fruitiness that balances things out nicely.

Mouth: This tastes almost nothing like it smells. Where the nose was sweet and a light, the mouth is heavy and on the dry side. The descriptor I immediately think of is “dusty.” It has the feeling of an old, closed attic where things have been stored for too long. It’s not a wet attic since there is no mildew, but rather old boxes and dust. After that I get maple, cocoa powder, a slight fruitiness (that isn’t nearly enough to balance the overpowering dust) and a good bit of heat.

Finish: Warm and of medium length. The maple and slight fruitiness are carried over from the palate and transition to more dusty cocoa.

Thoughts: After tasting this, it feels like Luxco was making a cash grab. Wow! Disappointing. The nose takes me one direction and the palate takes me directly in the opposite direction with few notes overlapping. As I stated above, I’m a fan of the various bourbons in the Ezra Brooks line because they are tasty and a good value. This has neither of those things going for it. I found it heavy, closed, dusty and flat. For the price I paid for it, I can’t recommend it. It was an interesting idea, but is way overpriced and honestly just not that good. Hoping that a little oxygen might help this, I tried it at various times along a two month period until now when my last few pours yielded the review samples. No real change.

In short, the bottle says that “this rare whiskey shall never again be made.” To my palate that’s a good thing. For the price I expected amazing. Instead, it’s one of the few bourbons I’ve regretted buying.

Blog

Rabbit Hole Bourbon

Rabbit Hole Rye Whiskey

2019 update:

Black Eagle Bourbon Whiskey

Courvoisier V.S.

Marnier-Lapostolle Cognac

Hennessy Fine Cognac

Elijah Craig 18 Year-Old Single Barrel Bourbon Pre-Hiatus Versus Post-Hiatus.

Bourbon A:

Bourbon B:

Wild Turkey Diamond Anniversary

Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection: 1838 Style White Corn

Blood Oath, Pact 1