Remus Lou Gehrig Reserve Bourbon

I’d like to thank Ross & Squibb and their PR partners for sending this bottle with no strings attached.

Hello, friends! It’s a lovely rainy day here in Minnesota’s Twin Cities metro area, and I couldn’t be happier! You see, I have a very large outdoor job ahead of me. I need to finish my front flower beds. But today the rain decided to come in early enough that I didn’t have to do any of it. And that makes me happy. My back is still pissed off after moving all the rocks, putting the new edging in, and laying down about half the landscape fabric. It could use the day off.

Instead, I get the opportunity to write about another of the samples that have been piling up in my office. Which is not a bad problem to have, let me tell you. Tonight’s bourbon is from Ross & Squibb and is the sequel to their Remus Babe Ruth Reserve from previous years. This year they are honoring Lou Gehrig, another dominant baseball player from the early 20th century. Because he died of ALS (often known as Lou Gehrig’s disease), Remus Bourbon is also adding a couple of charitable elements to the launch.

Accompanying the launch, Remus Bourbon will donate $9,665, one dollar for each of Gehrig’s career plate appearances, to the Live Like Lou Foundation, an organization dedicated to funding research and supporting families affected by ALS. The brand will also extend the initiative to consumers through a social media campaign, donating an additional dollar for every like and comment on Remus Lou Gehrig Reserve launch content shared via Instagram (@remusbourbon), up to $2,130 in honor of Gehrig’s iconic consecutive games played streak.

But back to the bourbon. This is a blend of four MGP bourbons. The first is a bourbon distilled in 2016 with 44% rye in the mash bill (14% of the blend). Seventy percent is a bourbon distilled in 2017 with 49% rye in the mash bill. And at 8% each are a pair of bourbons distilled in 2019, one with a mash bill containing 99% corn and another with their 36% rye mash bill. The final blend is bottled at 109 proof and carries a suggested retail price of $129.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Let’s see how it tastes.

Remus Lou Gehrig Reserve Bourbon

Purchase Info: This bottle was provided at no cost for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $129.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $8.67

Details: 54.5% ABV. Blend of four mash bills: 14% - 44% rye bourbon distilled in 2016, 70% - 49% rye bourbon distilled in 2017, 8% - 99% corn bourbon distilled in 2019, and 8% - 36% rye bourbon distilled in 2019.

Nose: Nutmeg, caramel, mint, and oak.

Mouth: Sweet and spicy with a nice mouthfeel. Notes of caramel, mint, cedar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and oak.

Finish: Medium in length and warmth. Lingering notes of caramel, mint, cinnamon, nutmeg, and oak.

IMAGE: a hand-drawn smiley face that denotes I like the product.

Thoughts: This is such a delicious bourbon. It's hitting all the notes I want in a bourbon: sweet, spicy, good oak, and a wonderful mouthfeel. I really, really like it. It's going on the special shelf so I don't go through it too fast. If you are one who likes to keep the bottles (like my wife) the bottle is very pretty as well.

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

Penelope Architects of Golf, Hole 3

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

IMAGE: Close-up of a bottle of Penelope Architects of Golf, Hole 3 bourbon on a weathered wooden deck railing. The label features a stylized golf hole design and notes the bourbon is aged six years and finished with American oak staves.

Good evening, friends! It’s a holiday weekend coming up, and some of you will be out on the golf course as you celebrate your time off. As such, I thought it was thematically appropriate to feature tonight’s bourbon in anticipation of the upcoming holiday.

It’s no secret that I’ve been a fan of Penelope whiskeys for about as long as they have been available. There is some top-notch blending going on there. And using MGP stocks as the basis of the blend doesn’t hurt either. In this case, they are featuring the impact of stave finishing on the blend. As the story goes, they came up with the idea for Penelope on the golf course, so they decided to honor that with the naming of this limited-edition series of three bourbons: Hole 1, Hole 2, and Hole 3. The expressions are all bottled at 94 proof, and the suggested retail price is $59.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

The bottle I received was Hole 3. So let’s dig in, shall we?

Penelope Architects of Golf, Hole 3

Purchase Info: This bottle was sent to me at no cost for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $59.99 per 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.00

Details: 47% ABV. 6 years old.

Nose: Vanilla, bubble gum, mint, caramel, and oak.

Mouth: Cinnamon, chocolate, vanilla, mint, caramel, maple, and oak.

Finish: Medium length. Gentle at first, then blossoms after a moment. Notes of almond, cinnamon, chocolate, and oak.

IMAGE: A hand-drawn smiley face. It denotes that I like the product.

Thoughts: Soft in the mouth. It reminds me a bit of Maker's in terms of mouthfeel. Although it starts off a bit gentle, the spice builds as you sip it. Good flavors of baking spices, mint, and sweet oak-influenced notes of caramel, chocolate, and maple. Overall, I like this one a lot.

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

Koopers Family Barrel Reserve Rye

I’d like to thank the Texas Whiskey Festival, Koopers Whiskey, and their PR partners for providing this sample with no strings attached.

IMAGE: Bottle of Kooper Family Barrel Reserve Rye whiskey standing on a weathered wooden deck railing. The white label features a leopard illustration, with a green, leafy backyard softly blurred in the background.

Bonus post time again! We’ll probably be having these for a while as I work through a massive sample backlog. Tonight’s is another winner from the Texas Whiskey Festival, this time the winner of the Rye — Must-Try Bottles category.

Koopers Family Barrel Reserve Rye is a mixture of four- and seven-year-old rye whiskeys that are then put into used bourbon barrels for finishing. Before bottling, toasted oak staves are added to those barrels as a final step. It is bottled at barrel proof and is available on the Koopers Whiskey website for $65 per bottle.

Let’s see how it tastes.

Koopers Family Barrel Reserve Rye

Purchase Info: This sample was provided at no charge for review purposes. It is available on the Kooper's Whiskey website for $65 per bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.33

Nose: Sweet berries, mint, vanilla, cedar, and oak.

Mouth: Spicy, with notes of cedar, mint, cinnamon, and vanilla sugar.

Finish: Warm and of medium length. Notes of cinnamon, cedar, caramel, and mint.

IMAGE: A hand-drawn smiley face indicating that I like this one.

Thoughts: Long-time readers will know that my wife, and tasting partner, is not a fan of rye whiskey outside of a cocktail. The first words out of her mouth with this were, "Oh, I like this!" So honestly, that sums things up. This is a delicious rye. It is dangerously drinkable neat. Normally, when you get over 110 proof, you're going to want a bit of dilution, but this doesn't need it. In fact, a splash of water actually makes it less enjoyable. All in all, I have to agree with my wife. I really like this one. It’s a delicious rye and well worth the splurge if you’re in the market.

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

Penelope Blackberry Old Fashioned

I’d like to thanks the folks at Penelope Bourbon and their PR team for sending this sample with no strings attached.

IMAGE: Bottle of Penelope Blackberry Old Fashioned ready-to-pour cocktail beside a rocks glass filled with the drink over ice and garnished with fresh mint. Photographed outdoors on a wooden deck in warm afternoon sunlight.

Hello my friends! It is time for a bonus post. I was planning to do this yesterday. I always do bonus posts on Friday, but I just plum forgot.

Tonight’s subject is actually something I didn’t plan to review. It was sent along to me by mistake as I had already turned down the sample thinking that you folks might find it a bit outside the norm for the focus of the site. But when it landed on my doorstep, I figured what the heck? I mean I’m not going to force y’all to read this, you are grown adults and can make that decision on your own.

So what is it? Well, it is a premade, bottled, cocktail. You open it up and pour it over ice. And while I know that an Old Fashioned is basically the easiest cocktail to make outside of two ounces of whiskey in a glass, they put a nice spin on it by adding blackberry to the mix. But before we get into the review, let’s let the producer talk about this one since they were nice enough to go through the effort of writing the press release. And since it is Saturday and I want to get back to relaxing.

Crafted for easy enjoyment, from backyard gatherings to relaxed evenings with friends, Penelope Blackberry Old Fashioned features a blend of straight bourbon and rye whiskey, orange bitters, and blackberry simple syrup for a vibrant, fruit-forward take on the classic cocktail.

So let’ss ee how this tastes.

Penelope Blackberry Old Fashioned

Purchase Info: This bottle was provided at no cost by the producer for review purposes. The suggested retail cost is $29.99.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $2.00

Details: 38% SBV

Nose: Strong blackberry with a nice sweetness.

Mouth: Thick and viscous with notes of blackberry syrup, baking spice, and a floral sweetness.

Finish: Strong blackberry

IMAGE: A hand-drawn smiley face that denoted I like the product.

Thoughts: For the tasting notes above, I initially tasted this chilled from the fridge and undiluted as that was one of the ways the bottle mentioned serving it. But because I wanted to make the photo pretty, I also made one with a large chunk of ice and a mint garnish. When neat, I found the Penelope Blackberry Old Fashioned to be way too sweet for my tastes. But take that with a grain of salt. Due to my lack of sweet tooth, I tend to use much less than the amount of sweetener that a cocktail recipe recommends. Basically I find every cocktail to be too sweet if I’m not the one making it. In this case, it almost reminded me of Grape Kool-Aid, if it were thicker and had a bit of a kick to it. Now, the pretty version over ice with a garnish was much better. The ice knocked down the sweetness and the mint sprig garnish added freshness to the nose which really enhanced the experience. Even with the added dilution, I still think it was too sweet for me but, if I went to a bar and was served something that tasted just like this, I'd be happy with it. So yeah, I like it. Now, since it is Saturday, I'm going to go enjoy the rest of this drink out on the deck.

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

Penelope Bourbon Cooper Series: Riviera

I’d like to thank Penelope Bourbon and their PR partners for providing this sample with no strings attached.

IMAGE: Close-up of a bottle of Penelope Riviera American Whiskey finished in rosé wine casks. The bottle features floral artwork and a pink label, photographed outdoors on a wooden deck with a softly blurred backyard in the background.

I love being proved wrong. In fact, I embrace it. Especially when it comes to opinions. The main reason for this is that I love learning. Especially things about myself. I love grinding my preconceived notions under the boot heel of truth.

Case in point, I used to think that Light Whiskey was no good. You distill it to such a high proof that there is barely any flavor left? Who wants that? Flavor is the major point of differentiation between whiskey and vodka. But then I had an aged Light Whiskey sourced from MGP that was one of the more delicious things I’d tasted that year. I used to think that blends of different styles of whiskey were somehow lesser whiskeys. But then I made an infinity bottle of 2 ounces of every whiskey I reviewed in a year. It was amazing. Rosé wine used to be my favorite style when I was young. Then I found that I much preferred fruity, crisp whites and dry, robust reds and no longer really liked the sweet rosé wines I had enjoyed previously.

Of course, there are a lot more things I learned about myself and my tastes over the years, much more important things. And each of these things replaced ones that I “knew” about myself. Ones I struggled to give up on. They were strongly held beliefs that I had a hard time coming to terms with changing. But the more I learned about things, the more I learned about myself, the happier I was. Until now, if I can learn something new that upends my worldview, I get excited. I love that. Inject that shit right into me. Make me the Captain America of self-reflection. Just super serum and strange radiation and new learning muscles and …

What were we talking about? Oh yeah, whiskey somehow…

So, yeah, that got a bit odd, but I mention those learning experiences specifically because of tonight’s whiskey. Penelope Bourbon Cooper Series: Riviera is a whiskey created by blending a straight bourbon and an eight-year-old Light Whiskey and then finishing that in rosé wine casks sourced from Spain. According to the press release, “designed with spring and summer in mind, Riviera brings a coastal-inspired, lighter take to the lineup while continuing the brand’s focus on innovative cask finishing.”

So all good. While I don’t necessarily like rosé wines, I know enough about how whiskey works to know that what I like in a barrel finish isn’t always what I would like on its own. Just like I know enough about cooking to know that while I may not want to eat an ingredient like, say, black pepper on its own, a little in my meal just hits right.

So let’s see how this one tastes. At the end of the day, that’s the most important thing to learn about any whiskey.

Penelope Bourbon Cooper Series: Riviera

Purchase Info: This bottle was provided to me at no charge for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $79.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $5.33

Details: 8-year-old Light Whiskey and straight bourbon finished in Spanish rosé wine casks. 47% ABV.

Nose: Floral vanilla, a little mint, red fruit, and baking spice.

Mouth: Floral, with notes of vanilla, cotton candy, cinnamon, leather, and oak.

Finish: Warm and long. Notes of cinnamon candies, vanilla, caramel, and oak.

IMAGE: A hand-drawn smiley face denoting that I like the product.

Thoughts: I'm going to level with you. When I realized that this was finished in rosé wine casks, I figured that I would not like this one. I was already trying to soften the wording I thought I’d be typing below (because I really dislike being a dick, not because I would have felt the need to lighten the “score”). But honestly, this is delightful. It is really quite good. It's got a delicate sweetness that isn't cloying. It's floral without being perfumy. Lots of baking spice without being hot. Honestly, this is just a masterful job of blending and finishing. I am very pleasantly surprised, and gladly so. I like this one.

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

Skeeter’s Nootkatone Flavored Whiskey, Tamworth Distilling

I’d like to thank Tamworth Distilling and their PR partners for providing this sample with no strings attached.

IMAGE: Glass with a whiskey cocktail beside a spray bottle of Tamworth Distilling Nootkatone flavored whiskey on a deck railing overlooking a sunny backyard.

As we are just coming out of Memorial Day weekend, a weekend full of dusty work in the garden, we are going a little lighter today than normal. I just didn’t have a lot of time to do the tasting, research, and writing involved in doing a full-fledged review. Plus, with noses full of dust and dirt, we couldn’t really breathe over the weekend. So we decided to wait a few days and look at a cocktail ingredient that showed up on our doorstep recently instead.

This is a fun one. And has been since the PR email landed in my inbox. See, this is another release from Tamworth Distilling. We know Tamworth from the absolutely divine 7-year-old Apple Brandy that we covered back in March. But Tamworth makes a few…less traditional spirits as well. After all, it is the home of a crab-flavored whiskey; a venison-flavored whiskey; a spruce-, plum- and roast goose-flavored whiskey; a whiskey flavored with the castor gland of a beaver; and a brandy flavored with elements of corpse flower and durian fruit. So it was with a little trepidation that I opened an email asking if I wanted to cover an, at the time, unannounced new product. I wrote back letting the PR person know that I was nervous to say yes without knowing what the product was. Once I saw the follow-up with a mosquito on the graphics, I noped right out of that. I didn’t want to even think about trying a mosquito-flavored whiskey.

But then I did what so few of us actually do these days, I read deeper than the headline and image. When I did that, I was intrigued. What they were offering was not a mosquito-flavored whiskey, but a whiskey designed to keep away mosquitos. Specifically away from your drink. The whiskey comes in a spray bottle that you spritz over the top of your cocktail to deter mosquitos from trying to take a sip and drowning in it.

So how does a whiskey keep away mosquitos? Well, that comes down to the flavoring in this one. Nootkatone is a compound derived from both the skin of a grapefruit and Alaskan yellow cedar trees. It is widely used in the food industry to flavor foods and in the fragrance industry to make perfumes and colognes. It is also responsible for some of the smell and taste of grapefruit. I get it, I can already hear you saying “so what?” Well, the other thing it has been found to do is repel and even kill ticks and other insects, including mosquitos. It has been registered with the EPA, and the info above comes from the CDC (from before the current head of the department decided to try to crater their reputation). If you want an in-depth and way too complicated description please feel free to read the following article from Current Biology.

Does it work when put in a whiskey? I was never good at chemistry. There was a reason I started studying astrophysics only to end up with an art degree. So me, I’m just going to trust that the scientists know what they’re talking about on the chemical and focus on how it tastes for the drink.

Skeeter’s Nootkatone Flavored Whiskey, Tamworth Distilling

Purchase Info: This bottle was sent to me at no charge for review purposes. It is selling on the Tamworth Distilling website for $24.99 for a 100 mL spray bottle.

Nose: Straight out of the spray bottle you get a strong hint of lemon/lime citrus and juniper-type notes.

Mouth: I should note that this wasn't necessarily intended to be consumed neat, but I felt I owed it to everyone to at least take a sip. This is filled with bitter citrus and that same juniper-type note. I'm guessing that is what nootkatone tastes and smells like.

IMAGE: A hand-drawn smiley face denoting that I like the product.

In a Cocktail (as intended): I made two identical, simple Old Fashioneds. Just rye whiskey, a bit of honey, and a dash of Angostura bitters. The control was left as is, the test got 2–3 sprays of Skeeter's over it. The Skeeter's was most notable on the nose and finish of the test cocktail. The nose seemed maltier for some reason. Like, I'm straight up smelling an earthy forest smell and some Malt-O-Meal hot cereal. It's weird, but not off-putting or anything. The mouth has added notes of the bitter citrus notes, but nothing that would be noticeable if I had garnished with an orange peel where I'd expressed the orange oils over the drink. The finish is where it was most noticeable, bringing a lingering citrus note that wasn't there in the control. All in all, if it really does work as advertised to keep the bugs out of your drink, then this is a fun thing to toss in your camping gear. So, let's see how it does for that.

Well, after one hour, neither of the cocktails had any mosquitos in it. There was some sort of beetle-type bug swimming around in the test one, but not a mosquito. I should mention that we do treat our yard for mosquitos so I really didn't expect any. Plus, the odds of a drink lasting around me for an hour are almost nil. But, hey. This is fun. It tastes pretty good. Adds a nice citrus note to your drink. And, most importantly, it's fun. I like it with whiskey, but I really can’t wait to try it with a gin cocktail. It seems like it would be a match made in heaven.

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