Corkcicle Whiskey Wedge

August 11, 2022 Eric Burke

IMAGE: A frosty glass of whiskey fresh from the freezer. The ice cube is frozen into the glass in a wedge shape.

If you’ve met my wife, you will know that she has a bit of a glassware problem. We have so many whiskey glasses that we’ve had to sort them. We have the ones we use regularly. We have those that are pretty and sit on knick-knack shelfs. And we have boxes of those that don’t fit into either category in our storage facility. So because of the multitude of glassware we own, I seldom buy more.

Unless we are on vacation, that is. This is how we got so many in the first place, I like souvenirs.

I also like cocktails. And so when Total Wine decided to stock what had the possibility of being the perfect cocktail glass in amongst the bourbon, I noticed. And since I am always on the lookout for content, I thought I’d put Corkcicle’s Whiskey Wedge through its paces and bring you along for the ride. Total Wine was selling it for about $25. The Corkcicle website charges the same.

So first off, what is the Corkcicle Whiskey Wedge? Basically, it’s a glass that comes with a silicone mold that freezes ice into a wedge shape in the glass. The tagline on the box is “Goodbye, Watered Down.” The company claims that the wedge shape of the ice minimizes surface area and melting, resulting in a drink that is cold but not watered down.

Now that is the same claim that is made by makers of fancy ice sphere molds as well. And as I have one of these fancy ice molds, I’ve noticed that the large chunk of ice does, in fact, melt slower than the same volume of ice in cube form. So is the Whiskey Wedge better than a glass with a large piece of ice in it?

To find out, I conducted an experiment. I had a large ice cylinder left over from a photo shoot, so I used that in a glass alongside the frozen Whiskey Wedge. The experiment is simple. Freeze the Whiskey Wedge, and when it is ready, put the Ice Cylinder in the glass, and pour in two ounces of high-proof whiskey. I used Elijah Craig Barrel Proof. I initially did this exactly the way I would do it if I were making a cocktail. The glass was room-temperature. I never remember to pre-cool my glassware, and this was no exception. My notes are below:

After 2 minutes: the drink with the ice cylinder has noticeably melted compared to the Whiskey Wedge. The one with the cylinder tastes more dilute.
After 5 minutes: the Whiskey Wedge has visibly melted and changed shape.
After 15 minutes: the Whiskey Wedge is noticeably darker than the drink with the ice cylinder. The Whiskey Wedge is also still much less diluted in the mouth.

Initial Thoughts: Square glasses are hard to drink out of, but I'm impressed. The drink in the Whiskey Wedge held up much better than the one with the ice cylinder. I wonder how much of that is because the glass containing the ice cylinder was fresh from the cupboard, whereas the Whiskey Wedge was fresh from the freezer. The initial round goes to the Whiskey Wedge, but let's give it a fair fight. For try two, I will freeze both glasses.

After 2 minutes: Both pieces of ice have melted about the same visually. The drink with the ice cylinder is slightly more dilute in taste.
After 5 minutes: The dilution in the Whiskey Wedge glass has caught up, and both are about the same in taste.
After 15 minutes: The drink with the ice cylinder is visibly lighter in color, and the drink in the Whiskey Wedge is much stronger in the mouth.

Conclusion: The only knock on the Wedge is that I personally dislike drinking out of a square glass. It works as advertised. In the same time frame, it melted less than a comparable volume of ice in a different shape. Though freezing the glass containing the ice cylinder helped it close the gap, the Whiskey Wedge still worked better at not overdiluting the drink while still adding a bit of needed dilution. When I bought this, I thought it was a pretty gimmick. But it works as advertised.

I fully admit that this is not a very scientific experiment. If it were, I would have measured the volume of liquid that went in (which I did), let it sit for the allotted time, and then measured the volume of liquid that was poured out after time. I was not about to waste tasty and expensive bourbon that way, though, so you get this result instead. Overall, I’m impressed. I’ll probably be picking up a second glass to go with the first.

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof after 15 minutes in a glass with a cylinder shaped piece of ice and in the Corkcicle Whiskey Wedge.

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Woodinville Straight Bourbon Whiskey

August 9, 2022 Eric Burke

I am a huge Neil Gaiman fan. He’s my absolute favorite author. And for me, it all started when I read the Sandman. The Sandman is a comic series from the late 1980s that is gruesome, grotesque, heartfelt, moving, beautiful, and just an amazing journey. I love it. Has been my favorite piece of literature since I first read it.

And now it has been made into an amazing Netflix series. If you are a fan of the comic, you should love this. I’m almost through binging the series, and so far, I’m blown away. This is as good of an adaptation as American Gods was bad (American Gods being another series based on a Gaiman work). It’s beautifully shot and well acted. The story is not in the same order as the comics, but I think that was a good choice when adapting to video. They’re different mediums, and the needed story beats aren’t quite the same. Hopefully, I will finish the series tonight. If not, tomorrow for sure.

So let’s get to tonight’s bourbon. I’ve been wandering liquor stores trying to find things to write about that won’t break the bank. As I did, my eyes fell on this bottle of bourbon from Woodinville Whiskey Co, out of Woodinville, Washington. Now I’ve been aware of Woodinville for many years. I featured their bottle design way back when I interviewed the designer of their packaging, David Cole back in 2013. But somehow, I’ve never tasted their whiskey. That has been remedied. But before we get to what I think of the bourbon, let’s see what the producer has to say.

This truly small-batch bourbon starts with traditionally grown corn, rye and malted barley. All of our staple grains are cultivated exclusively for us on the Omlin Family farm in Quincy, Washington. The grains are mashed, distilled, and barreled in our Woodinville® distillery, then trucked back over the Cascade Mountains to our private barrel houses, where Central Washington’s extreme temperature cycles promote the extraction of natural flavors from the oak. Prior to being coopered, the barrel wood is seasoned in open air, rain, wind, sun, and snow for eighteen months, softening the wood’s harsh tannins. The barrels are then slowly toasted and heavily charred to further enrich the wood’s desirable flavors. This meticulous process yields a truly hand-crafted spirit with aromas of crème brûlée and spice cabinet, as well as notes of rich caramel, dark chocolate, and vanilla bean on the palate with a sweet, lingering finish.

Woodinville Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Purchase Info: $41.99 for a 750 mL bottle at total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $2.80

Details: 45% ABV

Nose: Hay, mint, and almond.

Mouth: Honey, almond, cinnamon, and if you hold it in your mouth long enough, a capsaicin-like heat.

Finish: Medium length and warmth. Notes of cinnamon, honey, and almond.

IMAGE: I liked this. So I gave it a smile.

Thoughts: This is pretty darn tasty. If you like hot honey, this should be one to pick up. I look forward to trying a few more from their product line. They have a Rye and a Port-finished Bourbon at my closest Total Wine, which I am already planning to pick up. And according to their website, they have Cask Strength versions at the distillery. Well, that seems like a good thing to add to the itinerary for the next time I visit Seattle. I’ve wanted to do that anyway.

Calumet Farm 16-year-old Single Rack Black Bourbon "Citation"

August 2, 2022 Eric Burke

IMAGE: Calumet Farm 16 year old bourbon. 106° proof. Named for early 20th century racehorse "Citation."

Ok. I can hear you now.

“Eric, the tagline at the top of the page says “The Irreverent Home of Frugal Bourbon Drinkers Since 2012.” Why do you keep featuring whiskeys that cost over $100?”

And to that, I’d like to paraphrase my (can’t believe I’m about to type this) inner Bill Clinton and say that depends on what the definition of is…errr…frugal is to you. To me, being frugal and being cheap are two different things. They are similar, but there is a bit of nuance to my definitions. Being cheap means don’t spend the money. Ever. Being frugal means that you only spend the money if you know that the money is being well-spent. Let me give you an example.

If I were cheap, I would never have spent $138 on a 16-year-old bourbon. But since I am frugal, I did. And I did so because I really (really) enjoyed the 14- and 15-year-old versions of the same bourbon. Or something like that.

So now that we have that out of the way let’s get to the good part. The tasting!

Calumet Farm 16-year-old Single Rack Black Bourbon "Citation"

Purchase Info: $138.99 at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $9.27

Details: Rack number: W4005.09. Batch size: 19 barrels. Non-chill filtered. 53% ABV. Mash bill: 74% Corn, 18% Rye, 8% Malted Barley

Nose: Coffee, instant hot cocoa powder, almond, caramel, and dusty oak. Definitely, a pour that needs time to open up in the glass, though.

Mouth: Spicy and sweet initially. Past that, you will find cinnamon, chocolate, coffee, and oak notes.

Finish: Sweet, warm, and long with notes of leather, caramel, and chocolate.

Thoughts: This is delicious, and I don't in any way regret the purchase. Is it better than the cheaper 14- and 15- year old versions? Well, they still live on my fancy shelf, so let's find out.

Ok, so I tasted them all side-by-side, and yep. That 16-year-old is the best of the bunch, though not by a lot. The 14-year-old is the lowest on the totem pole. It’s sweet but not as rich as the 16-year-old. The 15-year is a close second, with less sweetness and more spice. And the 16-year-old is just ahead of that by combining the spice, the sweetness, and the oak into a delicious whole. But the margins in this are razor thin, so if you see one and feel like you can afford it, these are worth the $120-$140 that I spent on them. They are all very delicious. Big, big fans of all three in this house.

The Whiskey-A-Go-Go Cocktail via The Modern Rogue

July 28, 2022 Eric Burke

IMAGE: Cocktail glass with drink and large ice surrounded by cocktail ingredients in their bottles.

Well, hi there.

Early last week, I was in bed watching some YouTube as I waited to fall asleep when I saw a video about a cocktail that sounded very interesting to me. Mostly it was interesting because I had every ingredient but one. Now normally, my bedtime video habits wouldn’t be brought up here. Even when they are relevant. I mean, it’s a little weird right?

But here’s the thing. I watched that video and decided I was going to make that cocktail. So I looked up how I could get the one ingredient I was missing. It turns out Total Wine carries it, just not in the stores that are nearest to me. I needed to make an hour trip to go get it. Which isn’t a huge deal, except that was a particularly unlucky night. For some reason, I couldn’t get on the road until almost eight o’clock in the evening.

Now if you know me, you know that I am no longer a night owl. I’m usually in bed between 9:00 and 9:30pm. At eight, I’m starting to wind down. Have a drink. Get myself ready for sleepy time. So for me to leave the house at eight on a Tuesday night? You know I wanted this cocktail. Long story short, I drove, got the ingredient, got home and got ready for bed. It was too late to actually make the cocktail, but hey, I knew what I was going to have the next day.

Except for one small thing. I had a very timid, very large lab staying with me at that moment and he really wanted the comfort of sleeping on top of me. After a while, I tried to get him off of me so I could sleep. I was gently pushing him off my legs, he was stubbornly pushing back, my hands slipped, and his head hit my temple at a very high rate of speed.

Doctor confirmed it was a concussion. Which meant, no alcohol. Which meant no tastings. Not only couldn’t I write Thursday’s post as I wasn't supposed to think, but damn it, I couldn’t even have my cocktail that I went out of the way to try. So tonight, I’m giving you the cocktail recipe and sharing the video that sparked this entire misadventure. I was able to have the cocktail tonight, and it is quite tasty, if you like spirit-forward cocktails that are on the slightly bitter side. It’s called the Whiskey-A-Go-Go and I got it from an episode of The Modern Rogue, one of my favorite YouTube channels.

The Whiskey-A-Go-Go Cocktail as seen on The Modern Rogue

1.5-ounces Rittenhouse Rye
0.75-ounce Amaro Montenegro
0.75-ounce Bonal Gentiane-Quina
One dash Scrappy’s Cardamom Bitters

Build this in the glass, use big ice, stir a bit to dilute, and serve with the ice and a zested lemon peel

And now to the video, think of this like I’m a substitute teacher who doesn’t really care. Instead of math today, we’re watching a video instead.

Revisiting Elijah Craig 18-Year-Old Single Barrel to Celebrate a Major Cancer Milestone

July 26, 2022 Eric Burke

IMAGE: A 2021 edition of Elijah Craig Single Barrel, 18 year old

Ten years and some months ago, my wife and I got the worst news of our lives to that point. My wife had Stage 3 ovarian cancer. Yesterday we celebrated the ten years since she was given the all-clear by her doctor. No signs of the disease in her system. In light of this, indulge me in a much longer post than usual before we get to the whiskey review.

Ovarian cancer has historically been a killer. Even today, there is currently no early detection test for it. This means that a lot of people find out way too late for anything to be done about it. My wife was lucky. Extremely lucky.

When she was diagnosed, it was a fluke accident. She knew something wasn’t right with her body, and every doctor she talked to told her she was fine. A year later, she ended up having a cyst on an ovary surgically removed, and the doctor that was supposed to do the surgery had a family emergency. Because of this, his boss ended up performing the surgery. His boss was one of the best gynecological oncologists in the state. Since it was her specialty, she nosed around a little while she was inside and found something. My wife had multiple tumors on her ovaries and bladder. Tests confirmed that they were cancerous. She was at Stage 3. She went into immediate chemotherapy, and within a few months, she was given the all-clear. She was lucky on so many levels. She happened to have another issue in the same area, she ended up with a specialist doing the surgery instead of the scheduled doctor, and she had a particularly slow-growing form of cancer.

Today 1 in 78 women will develop ovarian cancer in their lifetime. And though this is typically considered an “old woman’s disease,” not just old women are victims of this disease. In my wife’s cancer groups, children as young as ten years old have died of this horrible disease. In the US today, 49% of those diagnosed are still alive after five years, but that number drops to only 35% at ten years. Less than half of the women diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the US will survive five years. Think about that. There are over 160 million women in the US. That means over 2.1 million of them will develop Ovarian Cancer in their lifetime, and after diagnosis, over 1 million will be dead within five years. These numbers are bad. But they used to be worse. Just five years ago, the numbers I would have been reporting would be predicting a half million more dead by five years. Still, according to the National Institute of Health’s National Cancer Institute, almost 20,000 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2022. And sadly, 12,800 or so of our fellow citizens are predicted to die this year from the disease.

But the good news is that in those women where it is diagnosed early, the survival rate is much higher. Unfortunately, only 16 percent of cases are diagnosed in the early stages. The problem is that many of the symptoms are also symptoms of other things. Bloating, pelvic pain, feeling full quickly, and needing to pee are not exactly uncommon in women. And many doctors are willing to dismiss them. What my wife and I have learned through this is that if your doctor doesn’t listen to you when you know something isn’t right, find a new doctor if you have the means. And keep doing it until you find one who will at least check it out. And if you don’t have the means, pester them until they do something.

If you want to know more about this disease, please go to the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance, the CDC, the American Cancer Society, or the NIH. I know this is a whiskey blog. But what is whiskey without someone to share it with? My wife loves whiskey. She helps with the tasting notes and is the “silent” partner of this site. I want each and every one of you to have someone to share your whiskey with, and I don’t want you to lose them or yourself because talking about “girl parts” is hard. My wife was lucky, but if the first doctor had listened to her, maybe she wouldn’t have needed to be.

Tonight we are celebrating ten years clear. And we are doing it with one of her pre-cancer favorites: Elijah Craig 18-Year-Old Single Barrel (EC18).

Kids, pull up a stool and listen to Old Man Eric spin you a tale of how things used to be. Way back in the year 2012, you could find an 18-year-old, single-barrel bourbon, on store shelves, for less than $50. Oftentimes there would be a full facing of them right there on the shelf, maybe even from multiple barrels. Now in 2012, EC18 wasn’t for everyone, namely me. In my estimation, it was more than a little too flabby and oaky. But my wife liked it, so we had it on the shelf relatively often. We found out as my wife was recovering from a chemotherapy session that the days of old, yet inexpensive bourbon were ending. Heaven Hill was putting the jewel of the Elijah Craig line on hiatus. My wife, of course, sent me out to buy two bottles for the closet, and being an attentive husband, I immediately complied. When EC18 came back, it cost three times the price. (I reviewed both pre- and post-hiatus versions here). I think I bought it once after that.

And then I didn’t see it again until March of 2021, when I saw it high on a shelf behind the counter at Ace Spirits in Hopkins, MN. I knew that we were coming up on a major anniversary where it would be appropriate to celebrate with a fancy pour and thought this would be an appropriate pour given how it was intertwined with her treatments. It cost more than I’d have liked, but you don’t celebrate ten years without cancer very often. It turned out that I was about a year off in my calculations, so this has sat in my closet for well over a year now. But here we are. Ten years and one day after the all-clear, revisiting one of her pre-cancer favorites.

If you are curious what her actual pre-cancer favorite was, it was Four Roses 2009 Mariage. It was so widely available here in Minnesota that I bought the last bottle of it in 2012, the day after her cancer diagnosis, to hold onto so we could celebrate her all-clear when it happened. What can I say? I’m an optimist.

And since that bottle of Four Roses Mariage has been long emptied, let’s dig into this more than adequate substitute.

Elijah Craig 18-Year-Old Single Barrel: Revisited

Purchase Info: $164.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Ace Spirits, Hopkins, MN (March 13, 2021)

Price per Drink (50 mL): $11.00

Details: Aged 18 years. 45% ABV. Bottled 12-2-19. Barrel: 4809

Nose: Caramel, vanilla, nutmeg, and oak.

Mouth: Spicy cinnamon, caramel, and oak.

Finish: Warm, and the flavors last forever. Notes of sweet vanilla and cinnamon.

Thoughts: This is a delicious bourbon that holds a soft spot in my heart for reasons outside the taste. I wouldn’t have spent $182 after tax on a bottle of bourbon if I didn’t have a sentimental reason for buying it. As far as the bourbon itself, though, my wife still loves it. I like it, but it's just a touch too oaky for me as I'm not really a fan of super oaky bourbons. But that is nitpicky stuff. Everything else about it is delicious.

Ordinarily this would be where I would ask you to give me money. A $3 coffee or a purchase at my Etsy store. Tonight, I’m going to ask you to instead donate that to a cancer charity of your choice. Do what feels right to you and maybe together we can help make the world a little better.

Download an Infographic on Ovarian Cancer to Share

Michter’s US-1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon

July 19, 2022 Eric Burke

IMAGE: Front label of Richter's US-1 Bourbon.

Almost exactly one year ago, I realized that somehow, even though it was once one of my go-to pours, I had never reviewed Michter’s Rye. Well, a couple of weeks ago, I had a similar revelation about Michter’s Bourbon. Somehow, I just never got around to reviewing it. So as I was wandering through the liquor store looking for an “everyday” bourbon to have on hand, I realized that I could also get a little content out of the purchase if I grabbed a bottle of Michter’s. So I did.

That’s right, I bought this instead of the much less expensive Wild Turkey 101 for you. I hope you are happy with yourself.

I kid. I kid. I grabbed it because I hadn’t purchased it in quite a few years, and I wanted something different that wouldn’t break the bank. Here is a little of what the distillery has to say about it:

Truly “small batch” each batch of our US-1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon is batched in a holding tank sized to fit a maximum of twenty full barrels, leaving no margin for “blending out” imperfection and thus necessitating excellence from every barrel. Reflecting the spirit of the Bluegrass State, Michter’s US-1Kentucky Straight Bourbon is nuanced, mellow and earthy.

Let’s see how it tastes, shall we?

Michter’s US-1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Purchase Info: $46.97 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.13

Details: 45.7% ABV. Batch #: 21F1851

Nose: Brown sugar, caramel, vanilla, and a slight nuttiness.

Mouth: Brown sugar, nutty/toasty notes, cinnamon, and a hint of mint.

Finish: Medium in length and warmth. Sweet. Notes of brown sugar, cinnamon, caramel, and mint.

IMAGE: I like this, even if I didn't like the price so I gave it a smile

Thoughts: This is a tasty "everyday" bourbon. Maybe even at the higher end of the everyday quality range. Costs a little more than I'd prefer for an everyday bourbon, but it is tasty enough to drink neat and works well in a cocktail. So I'll give it a little bit of a pass on that. I'd probably pounce on it at $35-40, but the $45-50 I paid is pushing it a bit. That said, I did enjoy the whiskey and finished it off relatively quickly, so there is that.

Sample Roulette: Feeling Frugal

July 14, 2022 Eric Burke

IMAGE: Three blind sample bottles waiting for tasting.

In September, I am going to be foregoing my annual September trip to Kentucky for the first time since 2013. It’s been almost ten years since I last skipped the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, but, in my opinion, last year was such a flop that I just don’t feel like spending a lot of money to do something that I didn’t particularly enjoy. Plus, in September, it will be our 25th wedding anniversary. It seemed like too big of a milestone to spend doing the “same ol’ thing.”

And so we will be going somewhere we haven’t been before. Yosemite, Sequoia, and the wine country of Northern California. I’m sure we will have tons of fun, but I also know the trip will cost a lot more than our usual Kentucky trip. And yes, I’m including the bourbon shopping I tend to do in that total. So yeah, I’m feeling pretty frugal at the moment. As such, I’m going to jump into another edition of Sample Roulette.

These samples were all laid down between 2011 and 2017. The labels were covered up in September of 2020. And they have lived in a box untouched since, except for the occasional adventuresome sip now and then. In June, I guessed terribly. Didn’t get a single one even close. I was even in the wrong continent at one point. Let’s see if I do any better this time.

Blind Whiskey Sample # 1:

Nose: Spearmint, cedar, pencil shavings, and butterscotch.

Mouth: Tingly and a tad delicate. Spearmint, almond, and baking spice.

Finish: Gentle and a little bitter. Notes of bubble gum, mint, and a hint of baking spice.

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: This is tasty. Very soft. It feels Canadian. That bubblegum on the finish makes me lean to Wiser's.

Reveal: Cedar Ridge Iowa Bourbon.

Post-Reveal Thoughts: Well. Shit. So far, my streak of not even being remotely close is still intact from the last time we did this. I do not remember this being as soft as it is. But then, I am getting old, and I didn't have the best memory to begin with (just ask my wife).

Blind Whiskey Sample # 2:

Nose: Oak is the most prominent note. Followed by caramel, vanilla, and baking spice.

Mouth: Spicy, dry oat notes followed by vanilla, red fruit, and baking spice.

Finish: Warm and longish. More oak, fruit, and baking spice with just a hint of a mineral note.

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: My first thought with the heat and dry oak notes was that this could be what's left of one of my early bottles of Elijah Craig 12-year-old. But I don’t remember EC12 having a fruit note. The mineral note on the finish brought me a hint of Dickel. But honestly, I'm kinda stumped on this one. I'm positive this is a bourbon from one of the big guys in Kentucky. I'm going to say Wild Turkey.

Reveal: Old Grand-Dad 114.

Post-Reveal Thoughts: Hey! I got the style and state correct! I see this as an absolute win. Sadly, what this means is that Old Grand-Dad 114 has gone way downhill since I put this away back in 2012-2014. Today's Old Grand-Dad 114 is much more dusty-grain forward. This is very rich and oaky.

Blind Whiskey Sample # 3:

Nose: Oh wow! That's a lot of smoke and fruit.

Mouth: Sweet and spicy. Pears, baking spice, and a touch of smoke.

Finish: Medium in both warmth and length. Notes of smoke and pears.

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: Sooo... Big caveat on this one. I actively dislike smoky whiskey. This is a big reason why I could never get into Scotch. So for that reason, I can narrow this down to a few craft distilleries. I haven’t purchased smoky whisky from many places due to my aversion to it. One of those distilleries happens to be my friends at MB Roland. And I haven't bought one of those since they were putting out experimental smoked whiskies. So that is what I am guessing.

Reveal: MB Roland Experimental Aged Black Dog (used barrels)

Post-Reveal Thoughts: Ha! Take that! I had to get one eventually. This is actually the very first thing I reviewed on the site. And boy, I do not like it. I mean, it might be good for fans of smoky whiskey. But as I said, I am absolutely not one of them. I do feel pretty good about guessing it, though. Might just finish the pour in... celebration?

Hmm... if you shoot this, you get a sweet barbeque note. Come to think of it. I think I remember that about it. But we've already discussed my memory so take that how you will.

IMAGE: Three empty sample bottles. Cedar Ridge Iowa Bourbon, Old Grand-Dad 114 proof, and MB Roland Experimental aged Black Dog

Old Pepper Single Barrel Rye

July 12, 2022 Eric Burke

James E. Pepper was a pre-Prohibition whiskey man with quite the whiskey pedigree, at least if you define pedigree as the people he was associated with. His father, Oscar Pepper started a distillery near Versailles, Kentucky that is today’s Woodford Reserve Distillery, hired James Crow as his distiller and by all accounts made some pretty good whiskey. Very probably because James Crow (of Old Crow Bourbon fame) was the developer, or at least the popularizer, of the sour mash fermentation method that is used in making most American Whiskey to this day. After Oscar died, James inherited his distillery but was deemed too young to run it so it was managed by his court-appointed guardian Col. E.H. Taylor (of Old Taylor fame). Taylor did the young Pepper the favor securing money to expand the distillery, but then also ended up losing it in bankruptcy proceedings. The distillery was then sold to Misters Labrot and Graham, whose name still graced bottles of Woodford Reserve up until pretty recently.

Now this is speculation on my part based solely on hindsight of the eventual outcome, but I’d say that the court may have misjudged who should be running the distillery as going bankrupt and losing the business might just be the worst outcome that could have happened to a business. Of course those were turbulent financial times in the US so James Pepper might have faired even worse. Hard to tell from almost 150 years away.

But, regardless, it seems that James may have learned a thing or two about making whiskey through all of this as he, along with a business partner, decided to try again. This time in nearby Lexington, Kentucky. That distillery lasted beyond James’ death in 1906 until Prohibition shut it down. The James E. Pepper brand and distillery passed to Schenley and then to United Distillers during various mergers and acquisitions. According to bourbon historian Michael Veach, the James E. Pepper distillery was shut down in the late 1960s and the brand “disappeared from the market by the end of the 1970s” only to briefly reemerge in the early 1990s as an export-only brand before being abandoned for good.

Which takes us out of the past and brings us to tonight’s whiskey. In 2008, the abandoned trademark for the James E. Pepper brand was acquired by Amir Peay. He and his team started by bottling MGP juice under the 1776 brand name while they got a new James E. Pepper distillery going on the site of the historical James E. Pepper distillery. Here is what the company has to say:

The Story
In 2017 we completed the multi-year project to rebuild the historic Pepper Distillery, which had been abandoned in 1967 for over 50 years. This label is a celebration of that project and where we showcase our single barrel picks, small-batch bottlings, or limited specialty finishes.
Technical
Age statements and bottling proofs are on the labels. Bottled by hand at the Historic James E. Pepper Distillery, using water from the historic limestone well to cut whiskeys to proof. Distilled at various distilleries, including ours (DSP-KY-5), the Lawrenceburg Distillery in Indiana (DSP-IN-15023), and the Bardstown Bourbon Co. in Kentucky (DSP-KY-20037); relevant details can be found on the labels.

My bottle was distilled in Indiana and is 4 years old. Let’s see how it tastes.

Old Pepper Single Barrel Rye

Purchase Info: So, I lost the receipt for this. No idea what I spent on it. But Total Wine sells it for about $40 in Michigan and $53 in Kentucky. So it was probably in that range somewhere.

Price per Drink (50 mL): (based on the figures above) $2.67 - $3.53

Details: 4 years old. Cask 1126. 55% ABV. Distilled at DSP IN - 15023. Bottled at DSP KY-5.

Nose: Cinnamon candies, spearmint, and brown sugar.

Mouth: Very hot. Lots of cinnamon candy right off the bat. following that are notes of cedar, mint, and nutmeg.

Finish: Warm and of medium length. Lingering notes of spearmint, cedar, and cinnamon.

IMAGE: I like it so it gets a smiley face

Thoughts: This is a very tasty rye. Very cinnamon forward until it gets to the finish when the mint takes over. It is very hot, but takes water well. A little water brings out a sweet malt note. All in all, I like this one. Tastes good neat and works really nicely in a Sazerac cocktail as well.

Sources:
bourbonveach.com: Brand History – James E. Pepper
bourbonveach.com: Lexington Kentucky Distilleries – James E. Pepper
Those Pre-Pro Whiskey Men: James E. Pepper: Was His Whiskey Revolutionary?
JamesEPepper.com: Old Pepper - Single Barrel & Small Batch

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The Story

Technical

Old Pepper Single Barrel Rye