Old Charter 8 year vs Virginia Gentleman: Bottom Shelf Bourbon Brackets, Round 1

Round 1a of the Bottom Shelf Bourbon Brackets features Number 1 seed Old Charter 8 year old versus Number 4 seed Virginia Gentleman. 

Old Charter was brought to my attention in a twitter thread. The chatter was about good, cheap bourbons. This one kept coming up again and again. Not being available in Minnesota, I just sort of stuck that in the back of my head until I was driving through Kentucky on the way back from Virginia and saw a 750 mL on the shelf for $14.35. That price put it in the range for this contest and so I picked it up. This was the number 1 seed and number 1 choice overall as it is one of two bottles with an age statement (and the only one older than 4 years) meaning that, with the way marketing departments work, it is almost certainly the oldest bourbon of the bunch. 

Virginia Gentleman was initially brought to my attention when I was first getting interested in bourbon. I was online looking up something along the lines of “best bourbon under $25.” I was as cheap then, as I am now. I was especially so considering I wasn’t sure yet what I liked and wasn’t sure what I’d be willing to spend to find out. The expression listed was a 90 proof version that is no longer produced and which, sadly, I never got to try. But it put the name in my mind and when I visited Virginia in February I happened to pick up a couple of minis to include in this tasting. This is the number 4 seed.

Old Charter 8 year old

Purchase Info: Liquor World, Bardstown, KY. $14.35 for a 750 mL.

Stated Age: 8 years

ABV: 40%

Produced by: Buffalo Trace (Sazerac)

Nose: Brown sugar and hints of pickle juice mingled with intermittent cherry.

Mouth: Spice cake and cordial cherries.

Finish: Gentle, as might be expected at 40% ABV, yet complex enough to hold interest. Sweet at first and like a mouthful of cloves, this is both numbing and drying. Transitions to lingering bitterness.

Thoughts: I hesitate to say this, but I think this is better than it’s sub $15 price tag would suggest. I could see this becoming a regular on the shelf if it were distributed near me.

Virginia Gentleman

Purchase Info: VABC store, Richmond, VA. (I bought 2 minis for about a buck each, but the VABC price list lists a 750mL for $12.45 or 1L for $14.95)

Stated Age: NAS 

ABV: 40%

Produced by: A. Smith Bowman (Sazerac)

Nose: Light and sweet. Apple candy.

Mouth: Delicate. A light, but not watery, mouthfeel. Lightly fruity with some cinnamon.

Finish: Gentle with a lingering sour grain or silage flavor.

Thoughts: The finish kills this one. That silage/grain aftertaste makes me not want another sip. It might mix ok though.

Winner: Old Charter 8 Year advances to the next round. It’s a bourbon I’ll be keeping an eye out for next time I travel. It also makes me interested in it’s sibling, Charter 101 (NAS). Might have to keep an eye out for both, providing the price stays right. The Virginia Gentleman seems to have deserved it’s seeding. The finish is...not good. Upon giving it another shot as I type this, I’m getting less silage, but more apple mixed with an odd chemical note. Different, but not better.

Five More Four Roses Single Barrels: The OEs

Four Roses. Ten recipes. Three standard releases. Two yearly limited releases.

If you’re like me, that all adds up to a very large amount of happiness. 

I told you last time how, for Christmas, my wife and I bought each other a Private Selection Single Barrel bottle of each of the ten different recipes. and how we spent a nice Saturday tasting our way through my wife’s present: the OB line. 

Well, this past Saturday we finished our project. We tasted our way through the Christmas present my wife gave to me, spending another really nice afternoon tasting the five different OE bourbons. The results are below.

OESK

Age: 9 years, 1 month

Label details: 58.0% ABV, Warehouse KW, Barrel 89-2P

Purchased at: The Party Source

Nose: Maple Syrup, citrus and a hint of ginger

Mouth: Thick and sweet. Honey and black pepper with a generous dose of oak, but not too much.

Finish: Bitter tannins, honey sweetness and a heat that just lasts.

Thoughts: Thick and sweet this is like drinking a spiced honey. Really tasty.

OESV

Age: 10 years, 1 month

Label details: 51.3% ABV, Warehouse ES, Barrel 78-1F

Purchased at: The Party Source

Nose: Delicate. mint, citrus and honey. 

Mouth: Fresh and floral transitioning to bitter as it moves back in the mouth.

Finish: Warm and long. Fades to a pleasant bitterness.

Thoughts: If ever a bourbon asked for the descriptors of “crisp and refreshing,” this is it. I want a deck, a sunset and a glass of this with a little ice. Delicious.

OESF

Age: 11 years, 2 months

Label details: 57.9% ABV, Warehouse HW, Barrel 47-2H

Purchased at: The Party Source

Nose: Sweet pears with cinnamon and brown sugar.

Mouth: Peppery. Sweet brown sugar with just a hint of fruitiness.

Finish: Very long. Warm and sweet.

Thoughts: The nose on this one is obvious in its complexity, throwing up all of it’s aromas at once. The mouth and finish are mostly sweetness and heat. The finish is so nice, I had a hard time finding flavors—I kept forgetting myself and swallowing to savor it.

OESO

Age: 10 years, 3 months

Label details: 57.5% ABV, Warehouse BN, Barrel 30-3E

Purchased at: The Party Source

Nose: Caramel, warm earth, growing plants. Floral perfume.

Mouth: Dry with a hot peppery heat. Vanilla sugar.

Finish: There is a hint of the nose’s floral perfume that fades quickly to a slightly smokey cherry.

Thoughts: This is like a desert. Dry and hot. But somehow also sweet and comforting. It’s good, but I’d probably add a bit of water to tame it when drinking it. It also had an odd note that reminded me somewhat of a Canadian whisky I once had, though I don’t remember which one.

OESQ

Age: 9 years, 5 months

Label details: 58.5% ABV, Warehouse RN, Barrel 85-3N

Purchased at: The Party Source

Nose: Wild and uncontrollable at first. After it settles down a bit: rose petals and warm honey with a delicate hint of ginger.

Mouth: Sweet and slightly sharp. Brown sugar and a floral waxiness.

Finish: JuicyFruit gum fading to a nice bitterness. A pleasant warmth that lasts nicely.

Thoughts: Though I notice the resemblance to the OB version of this yeast, I’m not sure its as distinctive. I might not bat an eye at it’s “interestingness” but I’d drink it all night long and be happy with the choice.

I like all of these. In fact, I might be in love with the first three. The finish of the F, the refreshingness of the V, the sweet spiced honey of the K. Delicious. I’m very happy with the decision to buy all ten. I’m not sure I could choose between them if forced to buy just one.

Five Four Roses Single Barrels: The OBs

It’s really no secret that I love Four Roses Bourbon. They initially grabbed my attention when their social media person sent a note of encouragement to my wife on her first session of chemo a few years back. It meant a lot to her and we’ve had a soft spot in our hearts for the brand ever since. The fact that they also make kick-ass whiskey doesn’t hurt either. 

Ever since we first learned about the ten Four Roses recipes, my wife and I have wanted to sit down and try them all to see how they were different from one another. Well, after thinking about it for a few years, this year we decided it would be a good idea to buy a single barrel of each recipe. For Christmas. I bought her the five OBs and she got me the five OEs.

As you can tell, deep down, we are romantics. 

Last Saturday we finally started our project. We tasted our way through my wife’s Christmas present, spending a really nice afternoon tasting the five different OB bourbons. The results are below.

OBSK

Age: 12 years, 6 months

Label details: 60.9% ABV, Warehouse VE, Barrel 5-5D

Purchased at: Four Roses Cox’s Creek Gift Shop

Nose: Alcohol, first and formost. But under it, is a sweet caramel cookie.

Mouth: Sweet spiciness. Think warm cinnamon candy and brown sugar.

Finish: Sweet and spicy, with a surprising bit of fruitiness

Thoughts: This is all about sweet spiciness. But there are enough hints of other things to keep you interested. Things like that surprise fruitiness in the finish.

OBSQ

Age: 11 years, 4 months

Label details: 56.0% ABV, Warehouse BN, Barrel 22-2H

Purchased at: The Party Source

Nose: Caramel, cinnamon red hots, and a floral waxiness

Mouth: Floral with a hint of mint or menthol. This is spicy enough that a lovely tingle runs down your tongue as it moves back in the mouth.

Finish: Christmas cookie, menthol, hot though not burning.

Thoughts: Distinctive doesn’t begin to cover this. This is different than any bourbon I’ve had.

OBSV

Age: 10 years, 1 month

Label details: 55.1% ABV, Warehouse ME, Barrel 2-1F

Purchased at: The Party Source

Nose: Brown sugar, honey, vanilla, baking spices

Mouth: Creamy, fruity, and sweet vanilla/caramel

Finish: Sharp with a hint of bitterness. Mouth drying

Thoughts: I get why this recipe might be used as the “regular” release of single barrel, it is the most generic bourbon flavor of the batch. A tasty, tasty, generic.

OBSF

Age: 8 years, 1 month

Label details: 52.3% ABV, Warehouse HW, Barrel 29-4E

Purchased at: The Party Source

Nose: Bubble gum, oak, ginger

Mouth: Mint on the tip of the tongue, a sharp ginger spiciness, salty

Finish: Sharp, puckers the mouth with a warmth that settles in your chest.

Thoughts: Not sure if I cared for this one. It’s sharp and spicy. Maybe too sharp.

OBSO

Age: 10 years, 3 months

Label details: 54.9% ABV, Warehouse BN, Barrel 4-1M

Purchased at: The Party Source

Nose: Menthol, brown sugar, and baking spices

Mouth: warm, with nice body. Spiced cirtus punch.

Finish: cooling mint remains in the mouth while a nice warmth settles in your chest

Thoughts: This is exactly what I imagine when I imagine four Roses.

There were none of these I disliked. In fact, I was prepared to say that I was a big fan of all of them until I had the OBSF. That one I will need to spend a little more time with. Luckily, there is enough left in each bottle that we’ll be able to spend some time with all of them yet. 

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go celebrate Christmas again.

Double Blind Review: Evan Williams Bottled in Bond vs Old Heaven Hill Bottled in Bond

Evan Williams Bottled in Bond and Old Heaven Hill Bottled in Bond

It’s sometimes hard for those who only casually know me to believe that I am a frugal person. They’ll point to the fact that I have over 50 different whiskies (just in my office closet, unopened, that I paid for), as evidence of the fact that I am, in fact, the very opposite of a frugal person. 

But truth be told, I do not like wasting money. I don’t mind spending money, if the object is worthwhile or the price is obscenely discounted. But spending money without doing your research is just foolish. You may get lucky, but more often than not money will be wasted. 

Researching value. When it comes to bourbon, it often means looking below the top shelf. It can mean finding a liter of 100 proof bourbon for less than $20. But can it mean finding one for less than $15? 

I recently bought two very similar bourbons, Evan Williams Bottled in Bond and Old Heaven Hill Bottled in Bond. Both are produced by Heaven Hill. Both are 100 proof, bottled in bond. Heck, they are both even packaged in the same style glass bottle. The only differences from the outside are the name on the label and the fact that one costs 50% more than the other. 

To avoid price influence, we tasted these in a double blind format. I poured into glasses 1 and 2 and my wife moved them to spots A and B. I knew what bourbon was which number and my wife knew which number coresponded to which letter, but neither of us knew which bourbon coresponded to which letter. Then we sat down for a nice Sunday afternoon tasting.

Bourbon A:

Nose: Shoe leather, corn, dusty oak and a hint of caramel

Taste: Caramel corn and candied ginger

Finish: Long and sweet with a bit of charred oak

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Thoughts: Does it knock my socks off? No. But no matter which one this is, for under $20 per liter there is no reason to not always have this on your shelf. I like this one.

Bourbon B:

Nose: Dried corn, mint, dried grass or hay

Taste: Hot. Hot and harsh. Cinnamon red hots candy and dried corn

Finish: Long. More cinnamon candy which fades to a sour corn flavor.

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Thoughts: This is really hot. Cinnamon candy is predominant with a lot of grain flavors supporting it. Kinda meh here.

Bourbon A was my favorite and after the reveal, I learned that it was the Evan Williams Bottled in Bond. In this case, price really does make a difference. Though I was kind of hoping that the lower priced underdog would somehow pull it out, and that the extra 50% higehr price was just spent on all the marketing that the Evan Williams brand receives, I wasn’t really surprised. It does make it a little more palatable to know that that 50% works out to just around six bucks. 

For me, Evan Williams Bottled in Bond beat Old Heaven Hill Bottled in Bond hands down.

Kentucky Bourbon Trail: Town Branch Distillery

I’ll admit it. I had a bad taste in my mouth when I visited Town Branch. I couldn’t quite figure out why they were part of the main Kentucky Bourbon Trail when they just started making whiskey. In my mind, they should have been part of the Craft Tour. Small shop, limited distribution, product that wasn’t quite there as far as I was concerned. But they are part of a much bigger company, so what do I know?

I’d tried the Town Branch Bourbon when I was at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival last. It was the year after they became part of the Trail. I figured that if they were part of this collective marketing alliance, they must be ok. I mean, if you’re the new guy, and you put yourself among all those logos, you’re borrowing their goodwill. And, if—by extention—you suck, you are using up a bit of that goodwill. Spending it and it can never be recovered. So I figured it must be, at least, ok. I tried it…it wasn’t. It was terrible. It became the first bourbon that I actually disliked. I couldn’t find one nice thing to say about it.

I do the Kentucky Bourbon Trail passport program because I like getting the T-shirt and because I would probably be stopping at most of these places anyway as I travel through Kentucky. I like T-shirts. It was because I want to get the T-shirt again that I decided that I needed to give Town Branch another chance. Plus, my wife likes their beer. And I was starting to belive that the sample I’d had a year and a half previously must have had something wrong with it. Or maybe the food I’d been eating screwed up my palate. In any case, it was time to try again.

So I walk in and pay the $7 each to take the tour. As part of the tour, you get 4 tasting tickets. Each ticket is worth one sample. You’ll need to employ a little strategy here. You will only get to try half of the items they offer for sample. They have 5 beers and 3 spirits. I used three of mine on the beers and one on the spirits. My wife did two and two.

As we waited for the tour we stood in the gift shop. It’s a very pretty shop. They made it up to look like a Dublin street scene. While we waited, I heard the guy working behind the counter council a few other soon-to-be tour takers to give Wild Turkey and Four Roses a miss. I was shocked, but seeing as the secret that is Four Roses has been leaked, I’m ok that there won’t be four more people in the competition to get their hands on some.

Soon enough the tour starts and as is standard in a Bourbon Trail tour, we watched a video. After the video we were led across the road to see the brewery portion of the tour. One thing I liked about the tour is that this is both a working brewery and a working distillery that makes both bourbon and malt whiskey. In the brewery portion, you get to learn about the beer making process from start to finish, including the ancient bottling machine (which was pretty cool to see). The other thing you get to learn about is the pre-distilling portion of the malt whiskey process. It uses basically the same ingredients and the same equipment. It just gets piped across the street to the still instead of being hopped and bottled. Then it’s on to the samples. I tried the Kentucky Ale, the Kentucky Kölsch, and the Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Stout. 

After the brewery, we walk back across the street into the distillery portion. The first thing you see is a large stack of Woodford Reserve barrels. I thought this a bit odd at first until I realized that one of this company’s most famous products is a bourbon barrel-aged beer. All of a sudden, it made sense. They’ve been making the beer a lot longer than they’ve been making whisky. After the tour guide shows us around the bottling area we moved into the bourbon fermenting area and still room.

The bourbon fermenting area and still room has been written about a lot. And with good reason. This is a beautiful room. Rough stone, floor to ceiling glass walls and stills displayed as the showpieces they are. It really is a pretty space. 

Then came the spirit tasting. I gave the bourbon another try while my wife tried the Pierce Lyons Reserve and the Bluegrass Sundown. Pierce Lyons Reserve is a malt whiskey and the Bluegrass Sundown is a coffee liqueur made using bourbon. I can’t really say how good the PLR was as I don’t have much to compare it to. But it didn’t make me want to dump it out. The coffee liqueur was served by making it into a miniature Irish Coffee style drink. Quite tasty. The Town Branch bourbon…well this is normally where I would do tasting notes. I’m not doing that because I couldn’t bring myself to buy an entire bottle for one tasting. I knew I’d have to figure out what to do with it later since I wouldn’t want to drink it. In place of a formal tasting note, I’ll quote a tweet that I published after giving it another try:

I disliked the bourbon as you can see. My thoughts on their bourbon aside, you should probably give this place a look. I liked the tour quite a bit. Some of the beer is quite good. I picked up a four-pack of the barrel-aged stout to bring home with me after I visited. People, including my wife, seem to love the barrel-aged ale (I find it too sweet). The Kölsch is tasty enough. The coffee liqueur is pretty good too. The tour guide was entertaining. And it really is a show-piece of a stop. And if all that doesn’t get you, there’s always the free T-shirt it will help you earn.

Muddy River Distillery, Belmont, NC: a visit and a rum review

Author’s note: Before I left Muddy River, Robbie was generous enough to gift me with two bottles of his product, one each of Carolina Rum and Queen Charlotte's Reserve. I do not normally accept such gifts, but in this case I made an exception. Although I do not consider this payment, the FTC does. As such I am disclosing the info now. And though I had tasted all of the products and made judgements about liking or not liking them before I knew the gift was being made, the tasting notes below are from tonight. Please use this info to judge the relative accuracy of my thoughts on them.

It’s raining as I pull up to the gate. I see a sign that bears the logo I’m looking for, but this isn’t the place I pictured in my head when I made arrangements to visit. 

Though I knew the address included a suite number, I sort of expected that a distillery would need to be a free-standing building. This is a multi-tenant, red brick, light industrial structure with a lot of loading doors. On all sides of the building. 

Some of the suites have numbers on them. Some do not. None of them have the number I’m looking for. I’m in a rental car, driving around the building on a driveway full of potholes. Finally, I give up. I’m not so dedicated to living up to male stereotypes that I can’t call and ask for directions. 

We park the car right outside the door that Robbie Delaney, proprietor of Muddy River Distillery, is holding open for us and run inside to try to stay as dry as possible in the pouring rain.

Once inside, we walk up a set of stairs and are greeted by a large, empty room, dominated by a large black wall with a smallish still set against it. It looks a bit empty and I’m not quite sure what to think at this point. But because I love craft distillers and I love to talk, I press ahead. It turns out that at the time of our visit, Muddy River Distillery had been in this, much larger, location for about two weeks. (That explains the emptiness.) And Robbie has spent most of that time doing the build-out. 

He built the large, black wall. He built the raised floor that we were standing on. He built the tasting area in the next room. He’s building a clean room for bottling. He even built the hand rails for the stairs in the entry way. Let me repeat: he did this all in two weeks. And that’s in between bottling batches of his rum. 

By this point it doesn’t surprise me that he also built the still. Though he built that while in his previous location on the other side of the property. For good measure, he is also elbow deep in his website. Robbie is the very essence of why I love talking to young entrepreneurs: drive, passion, and a real bootstrap mentality. 

My visit lasts a little over an hour. We spend most of it chatting. Along the way I see the still, impressive as hell when he tells you it used to be a milk tank. We see the fermentation area, the barrels where the rum ages. We even see the tent that Robbie has set up to sleep in when the nights get long. A rum tasting and another chat, this time about his website, and we’re done. 

It’s still raining as we run out to the car, but I feel good about this visit and can't wait to come back. I have a feeling that Muddy River is here to stay.

Postscript to my visit: a couple weeks after I get back from North Carolina, I get a note from Robbie that, based on our conversation, he’s launched a new website. Go check it out at www.MuddyRiverDistillery.com. 

Muddy River Carolina Rum 

Details: 40% ABV. Clear as water.

Nose: Dried grass with a hint of molasses and dried fruit.

Mouth: Thin mouthfeel. Initially: gingerbread, becoming sweeter as it moves back in the mouth. 

Finish: Sweet and gentle with just a hint of a burn.

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Thoughts: This is as close to a sipping drink as any white rum I’ve had. It’s really quite good. It’s not quite up to drinking neat, for me. But if it had a little more bulk in the mouthfeel, it might be the first rum that was. I also tried this in a mojito (my “tester” rum cocktail). Let’s put it this way. Until it runs out, it’s now the rum I’m going to use in all my rum cocktails. In fact, I’m regretting giving away the bottle I bought as a gift for a relative because I’m going to have to drive to North Carolina if I want more.

Visiting Broadslab Distillery in Benson, NC. Part two: the interview.

Author’s note: Before I left Broadslab, Jeremy was generous enough to gift me with four bottles of his product, one of each kind. I do not normally accept such gifts, but I made an exception in this case. Although I do not consider this payment, the FTC does. As such I am disclosing the info now. And though I had tasted all of the products and made judgements about liking or not liking them before I knew the gift was being made, the tasting notes below are from tonight. Please use this info to judge the relative accuracy of my thoughts on them.

This is the second in a two part series about my visit to Broadslab Distillery in Benson, NC. As I said in my last post, I spent an hour or more talking to Jeremy while I was at the distillery. Once I got home, I sent him a note to see if he would be willing to answer a few more questions for the blog. He graciously said yes. Our conversation is below.

Jeremy, we’ve talked of course, but tell the readers a little about yourself. 

I was raised on a produce farm by my grandparents and became an entrepreneurer straight out of high school. I have gotten to this point in my life having been taught by the school of “hard knocks.”

How did you get your start in the spirit business? What made you decide to open a distillery?

My granddaddy and his ancestors made moonshine both before and after prohibition. During those times, it became an economic necessity to engage in “moonshining.” I wanted to open a distillery to honor this tradition and preserve the history of my family’s legacy. The name “Broadslab,” which my distillery is named, refers to the southeastern section of Johnston County, NC that became well-known for the quality of home-brewed whiskey produced by entrepreneurs back in the day. My distillery sits right in the heart of “Broadslab,” which many say is the “moonshine capital of NC.”

Is the distillery your full time job now? 

(Laughs) I sure wish it could be but it does not pay the bills! My wife and I own and operate two collision repair centers, grow crops on our 100-acre farm (we grow our own corn for the moonshine mash), and maintain a few rental properties. 

What’s a typical day like for you? 

Oh, how it varies each and every day! Some days I am farming and some days I am running the rollback or washing cars for the body shops.  Some days I am distilling or bottling product at the distillery and some days I am mowing grass at home, or at the body shops, or at the rental properties. There is no typical day for me!

Tell me about the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far.

The biggest challenge I have faced in this distillery thus far has been marketing, marketing and marketing! No one tells you how hard it is to get your products on the market with limited funding.

What’s the best thing about operating your own (legal) distillery?

I am blessed with so very many opportunities to meet all kinds of people from all walks of life who are very interested in and appreciate what I am trying to do!

Sustainable growth and natural ingredients seem to be at the heart of your philosophy. Tell the readers a little about what you are doing on those fronts. 

I am a firm believer in only natural ingredients because most products and foods we encounter on a daily basis are full of artificial preservatives, artificial flavors and artifical sweeteners that I believe are harmful to an individual’s health. All of the products I currently produce at the distillery are made from only natural ingredients and are certified gluten-free. 

My products have been on the market since August 2012, a very short time period. I have seen steady growth since that time and my main goal is to continue with this steady growth. Most every day I get an email or a phone call or simply talk to someone in person that has not heard about my distillery. I am building my brand one person at a time.

Any advice for readers who might be interested in following in your footsteps?

Make yourself fully aware of the financial undertaking needed to start a distillery and be willing to work a lot of VERY long hours to attempt to fulfill your dream!

What is your specialty? 

My distillery is based on the “moonshining” legacy so clear, corn liquor is my specialty.  

Any other types of products you are making?

I focus on producing and bottling only traditional, all-natural distilled spirits. I currently produce 2 varieties of corn liquor and 2 varieties of rum.  

Anything new on the horizon?

I hope to add another product or two to the list I already produce.

Do you offer tours?

Currently, I am a one-man show so I only offer tours by appointment only. But, of course, I hope to set a tour schedule very soon.

In North Carolina you are in ABC stores, outside of North Carolina, where can readers buy your products?

We currently sell our products in SC and GA at various stores in those states.

Anything else you’d like to plug? Website? Twitter?

Please check out our website at www.broadslabdistillery.com (you can read all the details about the Broadslab legacy) and “like” us on facebook (https://www.facebook.com/BroadslabDistillery) and follow us on twitter (@BroadslabStill)!

Jeremy, thanks so much for chatting with me today. I enjoyed my visit to the distillery and I urge everyone in or visiting North Carolina to set up a visit with you and pick up a bottle or two in the ABC stores. Thanks again.

Broadslab Legacy Shine

Details: Label says 33% corn and 67% percent cane sugar. Jeremy told me that it included corn and malted corn along with the cane suger. 45% ABV 

Nose: Dried Corn or more accurately cattle feed. This most reminds me of when I was in college, delivering pizzas to the guys at Quality Liquid Feeds. (yes, my heritage is mostly redneck—and I’m proud of that)

Taste: This has a very delicate flavor. Very sweet. Almost no burn. I could hold this in my mouth for a while without it burning out. Based on the nose, you’d expect to be overwhelmed by corn. It’s certainly there. But it’s more like a cooked cereal than I would have expected.

Finish: Minimal heat. The cooked cereal taste really hits you after you swallow and lingers for a good while before slowly turning bitter and making you want to take another sip.

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Overall: I’ve liked very few unaged products. In fact I can only think of one before this. But I like this one. A lot. This is very obviously the work of a skilled craftsman.

Broadslab Legacy Reserve

Details: Same as above except that this has been “Colored and Flavored with Oak slabs.” (Which seems to be TTB speak for aged. For what it is worth I saw the barrels with charred oak slabs inside.)

Nose: Buttered popcorn and butterscotch. The nose on this is very sweet.

Taste: An initial hit of cinnamon transitions to a sweet smokiness. The smokiness is not overpowering. The buttery note is there to back it all up.

Finish: There’s a bit of heat that sticks around and a lingering smokiness. Kinda glad I tasted this second. Feels like a palate wrecker.

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Overall: my wife liked this, but overall this wasn’t for me. It’s not that it was bad or anything. I just have a well known preference away from smoky whiskies. And this has that same sort of smoky flavor (even if it is technically not a whisky). I am extremely interested in trying it in a Manhattan-type cocktail though. 

 

Visiting Broadslab Distillery in Benson, NC. Part one: the visit.

 Author’s note: Before I left Broadslab, Jeremy was generous enough to gift me with four bottles of his product, one of each kind. I do not normally accept such gifts, but I made an exception in this case. Though I do not consider this payment, the FTC does. As such I am disclosing the info now. Though I had tasted all of the products and made judgements about liking or not liking them before I knew the gift was being made, the tasting notes below are from tonight. Please use this info to judge the relative accuracy of my thoughts on them.

I like visiting with craft distillers. I love the passion with which they do the work they do. And let’s be honest, you don’t get into that business if you don’t have a passion for it. So, to that end when I started planning my trip to North Carolina, I decided that I was going to look to see if I there were any I could visit. And boy, were there. There are at least 13 active distilleries in North Carolina. Many of which were either nowhere near where I was going to be or not offering tours while I was going to be in the vicinity. I reached out to six of them, three responded. 

The first one that I passed was Broadslab Distillery in Benson, NC. Tours to Broadslab are available by appointment only as Jeremy, the proprietor, pretty much runs a one man show. Along with his two body shops. And the farm he grows his corn on.

To say that Jeremy is a busy man, would be an understatement. He also seems pretty handy to have around. You see, he built his still. And the building it’s in. And he cleared the driveway leading up to it. Along the way he found an old tub. It had ax cuts in the bottom given to it by the agents that busted his grandfather during prohibition. It seems Jeremy came by his passion naturally. 

Now I will say that the tour is a short one. The building isn’t big. You walk in, there’s the still. Turn around, and there’s the fermentation area. Take a short walk to the back of the building and you see the bottling line. But a small building is ok. It is just a part of his operation. He has a farm where he grows the corn that is one of the ingredients in his Shine. In case you were curious, he malts the corn there too. 

I talked to Jeremy for the better part of an hour. He took me through all the parts of the still from heat box (gas now, but designed to convert to wood if he wanted) to the thumper that is housed in a barrel. He explained how he’s trying to grow sustainably and run his business responsibly. He even told me about plans for the future. Though out of respect to him, I’ll keep those under my hat. (If you want to know, set up a tour!) He even went through the infusion process he uses to make his spiced rum.

I left admiring the operation and the proprietor. If you are in eastern North Carolina, set up a visit. Or attend an event he’ll be at. Taste the product. It’s good stuff.

Carolina Coast Silver Rum

Nose: A vague sweetness that I can't quite put my finger on. Smells like every moonshine I've ever tried.

Mouth: The sweetness is still here, but there's a bit of funk in the mouth too.

Finish: A fairly harsh burn and bitter.

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Overall: This is a fairly typical mixing rum. It performs nicely in a mojito, though that funk comes through and might be off putting if you were not expecting it. Drinking it neat: meh. Not great, not terrible. 

Carolina Coast Spiced Rum

Nose: Christmas in a glass. Vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, allspice. It's like a cookie in liquid form.

Mouth: All the flavors from the nose are here. Nice mouthfeel.

Finish: Sharp at first (in the sense of a sharp cheddar) but then a warmth spread from the back of the throat all the way to the tip of your tongue. Nice.

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Overall: Didn't expect to like this. I detest Captain Morgan spiced rum and have never had any others. But, to my surprise, I like this one. I'd sip it on it's own. I'd consider mixing it too. I think it'd bring a lot to a cocktail. I might even try dabbing a bit on myself as a cologne. It smells that good. 

Final thoughts: If I were buying this for myself, I wouldn't regret either purchase. I'd mix the silver as I expected to and not be unhappy about it. But if I were buying to sip, I'd go for the spiced. It's damn tasty.

This was part one. Part two will be an interview with proprietor, Jeremy Norris and reviews of his two moonshine products.