WhistlePig Old World Rye, Aged 12 Years

July 7, 2022 Eric Burke

IMAGE: 50mL bottle of WhistlePig Old World Rye, 12 year old.

Tonight we look at the final bottle out of the “Piglets” 3-pack of WhistlePig Canadian Ryes. This one is the oldest of the bunch and the most expensive if you were to buy a full bottle. It is also the lowest proof of the bunch at 86° proof. But even though it is the lowest proof, it is certainly the one that I was most excited to try. I mean, this is a sourced Candian whisky. I love me some Canadian whisky, but I don’t usually like to pay too much of a premium for it. Delicious, 18-year-old whisky from Wiser’s can be had for around $70 and you can get a cask strength version of Alberta Premium at my local corner liquor store for even less.

Coincidentally, way back when WhistlePig first debuted on the scene it was an open secret that the source of their whisky was Alberta Distillers, the same folks that make Alberta Premium (and sell that same juice to a lot of Non-Canadian brands here in the States). No idea if they are still sourcing from Alberta these days, but the point still stands that I can get really good Canadian whisky for a lot less than what WhistlePig is asking.

But getting back to why I found this one more interesting than the others. This one is barrel-finished so it isn’t “just” Canadian whisky. In this case, they used three different types of finishing barrels. Here is what the producer has to say about it:

This whiskey is the marriage of three finishes, each with their own distinctive flavor profiles. After maturing for 12 years in New American Oak, the spirit is divvied into one of three barrels –Madeira (63%), Sauternes (30%) and Port (7%).

Let’s see how it tastes and if my interest was well-placed.

Whistle Pig Old World Rye

Purchase Info: $26.99 for the WhistlePig Rye Whisky Piglets multipack of three 50mL bottles at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN. Retail for a full bottle locally is between $130 and $165.

Price per Drink (50ml): $9.00

Details: Aged 12 years. 43% ABV. Wine Cask finished (63% in Madeira Casks, 30% in Sauternes Casks, and 7% in Port Casks).

Nose: Oak, vanilla, red fruits, and a hint of nutmeg.

Mouth: Soft in the mouth. Notes of red fruit, vanilla, oak, and cedar.

Finish: Warm and on the shorter side of medium length. Fruity with notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cedar.

Thoughts: This is pretty tasty. I like it. It's the best one out of the multi-pack. Though, it's not something I'd personally buy. It’s good, it just isn't $130-$165 good. However, it is good enough that I'd have been on board if it were priced at about half that so that it was more in line with the price of Alberta Cask Strength or Wiser’s 18-Year-Old. Of course, if any of you want to buy this for me, I'd happily accept. As it is, I'm happy to have tried it and now I know that not everything WhistlePig releases is subpar, even if everything I’ve tried to this point is way overpriced for sourced Canadian Whisky.

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WhistlePig PiggyBack Rye

July 5, 2022 Eric Burke

Folks, there are no dogs in my home tonight that do ordinarily not live here. That means it is a rare date night with my wife tonight so I am going to jump right into this without much back story. Tonight’s whiskey is another one out of the WhistlePig Rye Whiskey Piglets 3-pack. This time is the WhistlePig PiggyBack 100% Rye. Let’s see how it tastes.

WhistlePig Piggyback

Purchase Info: $26.99 for the WhistlePig Rye Whiskey Piglets multipack of three 50mL bottles at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN. Retail for a full bottle locally is around $50.

Price per Drink (50ml): $9.00

Details: 6 years old. 100% Rye. 48.28% ABV.

Nose: Oh. That's spicy. Loads of cinnamon red hot candies. Underneath that are notes of Cedar and butterscotch.

Mouth: Cinnamon, oak, cedar

Finish: Medium length and quite warm. Lingering notes of cinnamon and a sharp cedar note.

IMAGE: Not for me, might be for you. So I give it a meh face.

Thoughts: I'm a little disappointed by this one. When I first nosed it, I was really excited to see where the strong cinnamon candy note would lead us. The flavors in the mouth were good. But the finish really knocks this one down for me. There is a sharp grain alcohol note along with the cedar that reminds me of the finish you'd find in a handle of bottom-shelf Canadian Whisky (think Windsor Canadian circa 2000, which was the last time I've had it…and at the time at least, it was very bad). Not to say this tastes like a bottom-shelf Canadian Whisky. But, the finish isn’t doing it for me. Might be for you if you don’t have that bad association, but it isn't for me. I'm rating this just meh.

Calumet Farm 14-Year-Old Single Rack Black Bourbon

June 2, 2022 Eric Burke

IMAGE: Front label of Calumet Farms 14-year old Single Rack Black. 96.2 proof.

About four years ago, I did the first-ever site redesign for BourbonGuy.com. It was mostly cosmetic improvements that would improve the mobile reading experience. I’m an old fogey and read stuff on either my desktop or my tablet. I almost never read on my phone. But I knew that I was in the minority so one day, on a whim, I redesigned the entire site and relaunched it. When I did so, I trusted that most people would want to view the most recent posts. I mean the vast majority came to the site from a Google search and then bounced.

But after a request from a reader this week, I was forced to wonder if most of the people that Google in and bounce do that not because they don’t want to read more, but because I’ve really given them no option to explore further than the page they came in on. It was an interesting thought and honestly, after 10 years of not really paying attention to that, I didn’t have a good way of incorporating it. But, if I really didn't take exploration of the site all that seriously back when I started it, I did always tag each post with its subject matter.

So as of today, you can go into the navigation bar (or menu if you are on mobile) and click on the drop-down menus for reviews and for articles. There you will find links to all articles on recipes, history, projects, reviews, etc. The reviews can be viewed either by producer, rating, or spirit type. There will be some overlap as I tag most posts with multiple tags, and some tags will produce pages and pages of content. But it is something I can do to help you, the reader, get more out of the site. Of course if you are looking for something specific, you can always try the search function at the bottom of each page, but since the Squarespace search function is almost useless, you are probably better off using an outside search engine. It’s what I do.

Well, that was fun. Now with that out of the way, let’s get down to tonight’s whiskey. I recently noticed a bottle of 14-year-old Bourbon from Calumet Farms. I’ve had a bottle of the 15-year-old on the fancy shelf since I reviewed it last July. The fancy shelf is out of the way and behind something so I often forget to look there when I look for a pour. It helps to keep me from finishing the delicious, expensive, stuff too quickly. And in this case, it did its job well. As I really, really enjoyed that one, I decided to make a splurge and pick up its younger brother as well.

Calumet Farms’ 14-year-old Single Rack Black Bourbon is a product of Western Spirits Beverage Company. Much like the 10-year-old Bourbon I reviewed back in 2018, and the previously mentioned 15-year old from 2021, each 19-barrel batch is created from the barrels aging on one rack in the aging warehouse. It is non-chill filtered and barreled at 96.2° proof. The mash bill is 74% Corn, 18% Rye, and 8% Malted Barley. It is bottled by Three Springs Bottling Company in Bowling Green, Kentucky. You can read more about the bourbon on their website.

So how does it taste?

Calumet Farm 14-Year-Old Single Rack Black

Purchase Info: $119.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $8.00

Details: 48.1% ABV. Rack# S3319.07. Batch Size: 19 Barrels. Mash Bill: 74% Corn, 18% Rye, 8% Malted Barley.

Nose: Oak and mint with caramel notes underneath.

Mouth: Caramel, almond, oak, and baking spices like cinnamon, anise, nutmeg, etc.

Finish: Warm and of medium length. Notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, almond, caramel, and tobacco.

IMAGE: I really like this so it gets a smile.

Thoughts: Beautiful mouthfeel. thick and very rich. Good "Bourbon" flavors. Lots of oak and caramel with spices make it interesting. This one is going to sit on the fancy shelf to be doled out a drink at a time on special occasions.

Speaking of Calumet Bourbons that have sat on the fancy shelf for a while, let’s see how this compares to the 15-year-old version we did last year. The 15-year-old has more oak on the nose, which is impressive considering that the 14-year-old had a lot already. In the mouth, both have a very nice mouthfeel-The 14-year- old is sweeter and smoother while the 15-year- old is much spicier. At the end of the day, both are delicious and if you are lucky enough to have the choice you can't go wrong either way. You just have to decide if you want sweet or spice more. For me, I think I like the 15-year- old just a hair more, but it's really too close to make a firm judgment on that.

Stellum Single Barrel Rye, Serpens Release (as Selected by Ace Spirits)

May 5, 2022 Eric Burke

IMAGE: Front Label of Stellum Single Barrel Rye. 116.62° proof.

Tonight’s whiskey, a store pick of Stellum Single Barrel Rye, is the lone remaining Stellum release that we haven’t covered yet. We’d done the regular Stellum Bourbon and Rye, the Stellum Black Bourbon and Rye and the Stellum Single Barrel Bourbon previously so it’s probably time to finish out the lineup. This particular bottle is from the “Serpens” release of single barrels. The Serpens barrels were selected in Spring and Summer 2021 and have a mash bill of 95% Rye, 5% malted Barley.

We’ve covered Stellum brand story previously, but the brief version of the brand is that it is created by the same folks that produce the Barrell line of whiskies. Like that brand, Stellum is sourced from multiple distilleries in multiple states and then blended to make a unique product. Seeing how this bottle is a single barrel, it is labeled as having been distilled in Indiana. Based on that and the mash bill, we can probably make an assumption as to which very large distillery it came from.

So let’s see how it tastes.

Stellum Single Barrel Rye, Serpens Release (as Selected by Ace Spirits)

Purchase Info: $50 for a 750 mL bottle at Ace Spirits, Hopkins, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.33

Details: 58.31% ABV. Selections made in the Spring and Summer of 2021. Mash bill: 95% Rye, 5% Barley Malt. Distilled in Indiana.

Nose: Mint, cedar, cherry, butterscotch, molasses, and ginger.

Mouth: Rich and spicy with notes of cinnamon, molasses, ginger, cedar, and mint.

Finish: Long and warm. Big-time notes of cedar, mint, and cinnamon.

So good I bought it twice, of course it gets a smile.

Thoughts: This is the store pick so good that I made the hour roundtrip drive to Ace Spirits twice in order to procure a second bottle of it. Probably should have grabbed two the second time, but what are you going to do? I've liked everything I've had out of the Stellum line-up and this is no exception. Very happy with this one. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that it is a cask-strength bottle of MGP 95% Rye. And as that is my favorite whiskey on the planet, I might be just a little biased.

9th Annual BourbonGuy.com Bottom-Shelf Bourbon Brackets: 2022 Championship Rounds

March 31, 2022 Eric Burke

IMAGE: 1.75 L bottles of Evan Williams 1783, Winchester, Banker's Club, McFarlane's Reserve, Old Crow, Four Roses, Colonel Lee & Evan Williams Bottled in Bond. Winchester, McFarlane's Reserve, Old Crow & Colonel Lee have large Xs over them.

Welcome back, folks! We come now to the end of the 2022 contest. Eight bourbons entered the arena. Four have fallen by the wayside. There have been some delicious treats and there have been some real stinkers. Let’s see how it all ends and see if we’ve learned anything along the way. First, we have the Round Two matchups.

Division 1: Arctic Mama (Evan Williams Bottled in Bond) vs Giant Charmer (Four Roses)

Thoughts: Giant Charmer has a nicer nose. Nothing wrong with Arctic Mama, but Giant Charmer is fruity and creamy which I really like in a bourbon. Arctic Mama is spicy on the mouth with notes of caramel and vanilla. Giant Charmer is spicy on the mouth with notes of mint and fruit. Arctic Mama has a nicer finish, showing lots of baking spice. Arctic Mama (Evan Williams Bottled in Bond) advances on the strength of that lovely finish.

Division 2: Fire Pirate (Banker's Club) vs. Quark Juggler (Evan Williams 1783)

Thoughts: The nose on Fire Pirate initially presented more grain notes and Quark Juggler initially presented more spice, but after a moment they both settled in and became very similar. Fire Pirate has a thinner mouthfeel and shows more grains notes. Quark Juggler is spicier and sweeter with a nicer mouthfeel and finish. Quark Juggler (Evan Williams 1783) advances to the Championship. Nothing wrong with Fire Pirate though. Nothing at all.

Championship Round: Quark Juggler (Evan Williams 1783) vs. Arctic Mama (Evan Williams Bottled in Bond)

The noses are very similar with Quark Juggler being slightly mintier while Arctic Mama is slightly fruitier. Arctic Mama is fruity and spicy on the mouth. Quark Juggler shows a lot of baking spice and some mint on the mouth. Arctic Mama wins a squeaker. It is a very well-rounded bourbon whereas Quark Juggler seems more focused on the spice. Both are very tasty and either would be an easy winner against other competition.

Congrats to Arctic Mama! Evan Williams Bottled in Bond is the 2022 Bottom-Shelf Champion!

IMAGE: Evan Williams Bottled in Bond is the 2022 Bottom Shelf Champion!

Lessons Learned:

This was an interesting contest for me. When I decided to set myself the restriction to only include bourbons that were sold by the handle and only for less than $35, I eliminated a lot of the usual candidates. There was nothing from Buffalo Trace, Sazerac did have one entry in Colonel Lee, but it certainly isn’t one of their best offerings. Beam only offered Old Crow in the price/format needed for this contest. All their Jim Beam branded offerings were too pricy in this market. Same with Wild Turkey. Usually I’d be able to at least get the 81 proof release, but it was not in stock at the stores that carry it at a low enough price.

All that left me scrambling to fill four slots. I was in the process of rethinking this crazy plan—which I really only implemented because I found a handle of the new 1783 on sale for $29.99 and I wanted all the bottles the same size so the photos would look better—when I wandered into Total Wine and decided that I could probably take a look at a few items that I really could only find there. So I ended up with four contestants that I’d never before included in the contest and three that I’d never even tasted before. That kind of thing is fun for me. At least before the first sips.

So what did I learn about each of these?

With Evan Williams Bottled in Bond and Evan Williams 1783 meeting in the Championship, they prove once again that if you are looking for inexpensive bourbon, grab a Heaven Hill product. You have the best odds of getting something really tasty for not a lot of money with them.

Four Roses finally got out of the first round on their fourth try. I really like their “Beige Label” standard bourbon, but when you put it head to head with other products in the price range they are hampered by their signature mellowness. On it’s own? Delicious. But put it against a Bonded bourbon and it just can’t compete. You better believe that I’m still going to finish the handle though.

McFarlane’s Reserve lost in the only upset. And that was a huge surprise for me. For the price, I expected more. I honestly don’t understand the description that it got from my buddy Fred Minnick. In a completely blind tasting, I thought it was the worst thing in the contest. It pains me to dump a $35 handle, but there is now way this is going back in my mouth. I even liked the TerrePURE entry better.

And speaking of the TerrePURE entry, let’s skip ahead to Winchester. This was one that I hesitated on including. It claims to be a straight bourbon, but much like the conversation around flavored bourbons and their status as even being a bourbon, does the TerrePURE process constitute “flavoring” (thus disqualifying it as even being a bourbon, much less a straight bourbon)? But then, I figured I was overthinking things. If they got it approved as straight bourbon, and they want to compete with straight bourbons, then who am I to let keep them out of a silly little contest on a small whiskey blog? To the surprise of no one in this house, when the winners of each contest were revealed, Winchester didn’t make it out of the first round. It was just too unpleasant, minty and…weird.

I learned nothing from Old Crow. The last time I included it in the contest, I stated that I would never buy it again…I should have stuck with that philosophy because I’m probably dumping this bottle too. When I said: “if you had never had bourbon, had it described for you by someone who didn't like it, and then tried to make a bourbon using only their description as a guide, you would make this bourbon” I think I was being generous.

As long as we are on the topic of bottles to be dumped, let’s look at Colonel Lee. I like bourbons from Barton. I like all of their flagships. Very Old Barton and 1792 are very tasty bourbons. But Colonel Lee is just bad. Not as bad as Mc Farlane’s Reserve or Old Crow, but not much better either. At least Colonel Lee tastes like bourbon, bad bourbon, but still bourbon. It might taste like the bourbon you take multiple rounds of shots of just before bar close, but that is still bourbon. Old Crow merely resembled bourbon and McFarlane’s Reserve tasted like buttered raisins…that’s not a bourbon flavor.

So now the final, and the most surprising, contestant: Banker’s Club Bourbon. Banker’s Club is a line of spirits sold by Laird’s (the AppleJack people). It has gin, vodka, bourbon, etc in the line. Think of it like a Seagram’s, Mr. Boston, or Fleischmann’s line. Some of everything, none of it high-end enough to be worthy of its own brand name. Banker’s Club was the least expensive entry in the contest. In fact, it is the least expensive entry in the nine years we have been doing this contest. You’d have to round up to make one cent per milliliter. That’s a very inexpensive bourbon. And it’s decent. Not like, drink- it-neat-in-a-Glencairn decent. But certainly throw-it-in-a-whiskey-sour or use-it-with-coke decent. Heck I won’t be dumping the bottle. I’ll probably mix it with higher proof and more flavorful bourbons to make them last longer. I’m super impressed with this one.

Overall this was a fun contest. It ended up right about where I would have guessed and I got a few surprises along the way. And heck I even like trying bad bourbon once in a while. It’s fun to know what not to buy too. Though, with three of dumpable bourbons in the mix this time around, I’m thinking that I’ll be happy to switch to tasting the top-shelf Barton and Heaven Hill samples that have been stacking up while the contest has been running.

Once again congrats to Heaven Hill and their Arctic Mama, Evan Williams Bottled in Bond!

Bottom-Shelf Brackets 2022: Round 1: Banker's Club Bourbon vs. McFarlane's Reserve

March 29, 2022 Eric Burke

IMAGE: Banker's Club Bourbon and McFarlane's Reserve Bourbon

Tonight we feature a match-up of bourbons that I have never had before tasting them blind. One is the most expensive bottle in the competition and the other is the least expensive bottle. Should be fun.

First up is our number two seed for Division Two. Coming in at 90° proof, this bourbon is created by the secretive IJW Whiskey company. It is competing under the name Hamburger Advocate, please welcome: McFarlane’s Reserve!

And its opponent, coming in at 80° proof, this bourbon is produced by the Laird’s company (of Apple Jack fame), please welcome: Banker’s Club Bourbon!

Reminder, all of the competitions this year were tasted blind and we knew the winner of the competition prior to any reveal. Notes, thoughts, and conclusions were all from before we knew what was what. Needless to say, some of my conclusions were surprising to me. Tasting notes may be a little unusual since they were being tasted at the same time and could have influenced the perceptions of one another.

Fire Pirate (Banker's Club)

Purchase Info: $16.99 for a 1.75-liter bottle, Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $0.49

Details: 40% ABV. Aged 3 Years.

Nose: Caramel, lots of vanilla, and a baking spice blend.

Mouth: Caramel, vanilla, honey, and a hint of oak.

Finish: Medium in both length and warmth. Notes of honey, toasted bread, and mint.

Thoughts: This is actually quite pleasant.

Hamburger Arcade (McFarlane's Reserve)

Purchase Info: $34.99 for a 1.75-liter bottle, Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $1.00

Details: 45% ABV. Aged for a minimum of three years.

Nose: Buttered popcorn, white wine, and spearmint.

Mouth: This tastes like buttered raisins.

Finish: Mercifully short. Follows the mouth very faithfully.

Thoughts: I've only tasted something this bad once. Hopefully I never taste anything this bad again.

Winner: Fire Pirate wins big. Hamburger Arcade is the worst thing in round 1. Thankfully we are now on to round 2 and I can put all this behind me. Banker’s Club advances to Round 2.

IMAGE: A graphical representation of who won tonight.

Bottom-Shelf Brackets 2022: Round 1: Evan Williams 1783 vs. Winchester

March 17, 2022 Eric Burke

IMAGE: A bottle of Evan Williams 1783 from Heaven Hill sitting in the sunshine next to a bottle of Winchester Bourbon from TerrePURE.

Here we go! Let’s get down to the competitions. I hope that you guys are as excited by this as I am. Round 1 of the 2022 BourbonGuy.com Bottom-Shelf Brackets opens with Division 2 Number 1 seed Evan Williams 1783 versus Number 4 seed Winchester.

These are two newcomers to the contest, at least in their current forms. Evan Williams 1783 recently went through a reformulation that gave it a proof bump. And for its opponent, well, I’ve never allowed a TerrePURE product in previously. In fact, I almost disqualified Winchester right up to the moment of our tasting because of the TerrePURE process. But then, I remembered that TerrePURE claimed early on that they were not trying to make high-end bourbons, but were instead looking to compete with budget whiskeys. In that case, then there was no contest they belong in more.

So, first up is the small-batch version of the number two selling bourbon in the country. Looking good in its svelte new outfit, and competing under the name Quark Juggler, we have Evan Williams 1783!

And their opponent is a collaboration between Total Wine and TerrePURE. Aged for two years before being subjected to fancy scientific processes, please welcome Winchester Bourbon!

All of the competitions this year were tasted blind and we knew the winner of the competition prior to any reveal. Notes, thoughts, and conclusions were all from before we knew what was what. Needless to say, some of my conclusions were surprising to me. Tasting notes may be a little unusual since they were being tasted at the same time and could have influenced the perceptions of one another.

Quark Juggler (Evan Williams 1783)

Purchase Info: $29.99 for a 1.75-liter bottle, MGM Wine & Spirits, Burnsville, MN

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $0.86

Details: 45% ABV.

Nose: Mint, orange, cinnamon, and a dusty note.

Mouth: Cinnamon candies, oak, and honey.

Finish: Warm and of medium length. Notes of oak and cinnamon.

Thoughts: Warm with lots of spicy baking spices. Tasty.

Horse Jacket (Winchester)

Purchase Info: $34.97 for a 1.75-liter bottle, MGM Wine & Spirits, Burnsville, MN

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $1.00

Details: 45% ABV. Aged 2 years.

Nose: Wintergreen, caramel, vanilla, and almond.

Mouth: Smokey brown sugar and wintergreen.

Finish: Robust and kinda bitter. Very perfumey.

Thoughts: It's a minty bourbon. some people love those, some hate them. I'm mostly ok with them. This one however just feels off somehow. It's as if all the pieces for a tasty bourbon are there, they were just put together in the wrong order.

Winner: I feel like this had the opportunity to be a very close matchup. Because there is so much inconsistency at the lowest end of the price scale, we often get a powerfully flavored 90° proof versus an 80° proof that is thin and watery. But not here. Both of these were full-flavored, robust bourbons. The problem was in the nature of that robust flavor. Horse Junkie was so minty that it felt just weird in the mouth. Very reminiscent of Pepto-Bismol. Just way too overpowering on the wintergreen note.

Quark Juggler doesn't so much win this as Horse Jacket loses it. Quark Juggler or Evan Williams 1783 is advancing to round 2.

IMAGE: Graphical representation of the bracket as it stands after one matchup.

9th Annual BourbonGuy.com Bottom-Shelf Brackets: The Handles (Without Handles) Edition

March 15, 2022 Eric Burke

Arctic Mama versus Sonic Berry? Quark Juggler versus Horse Jacket? Hamburger Arcade?

Eric, have you lost your damn fool mind? What kind of nonsense are you spewing?

Well, I thought that this year I’d give you a peek behind the curtain as to how we do these brackets every year. We used to do an entire convoluted routine so that we could both have a blind tasting. It involved people leaving the room. Pieces of paper. Cyphers. It was very confusing, and if you made a mistake (or just needed more whiskey to help you make a decision) there was no way to recreate what happened.

But nowadays, we have an ever so simple process. I seed the whiskey in the bracket. Then I pour 200 mL bottles of each of the contestant whiskeys and label them with a nonsense name. Finally, I make a separate bracket with the nonsense names and give that and the 200 mL bottles to my wife. After that, she takes care of everything. She has no idea what is in each bottle due to the nonsense name. She pours and keeps track of the winners while we do our tastings. And all I need to do is taste and write. It’s a pretty slick system.

And it means that everything is a true surprise. When we finished the final tasting and revealed who won each round, there were real surprises. It was more fun for us than when we knew who was in each tasting but didn’t know which glass was which whiskey.

So who are the participants and how did they get chosen? Well, every year I try to put in limitations that will force me to choose a new set of participants. Well, mostly new, anyway. This year I limited myself to only whiskeys that are available in handles (1.75 L bottles for those unaware of the term). Now trends in packaging have made it so that the term “handle” is not really appropriate anymore. I can’t think of a single “handle” that actually has a handle on it these days. A grip maybe, but not a handle. And many don’t even have that. But in any case, I like the shorthand of not needing to say 1.75-liter bottle.

Here are the rules that governed who was chosen. These are based on the same rules that I’ve used for most of the prior eight editions of this contest.

It has to be Straight Bourbon Whiskey. No blends or whatever. And if it is straight and doesn’t say it? Too bad. If the words Straight Bourbon Whiskey don’t appear on the label you are not qualified. A man needs standards after all.
My usual rules state that bottles need to be $15 or under for a 750 mL bottle or under $20 for a liter bottle. Following the math, that means handles need to be under $35.
Participants were seeded based on age and then proof. If you are over four years old, you don’t need to put the age on the label. Under that and you are required to say how old it is. If you stated the age and didn’t need you, you would get a nod. If you did it because you were required to, then someone else got the nod over you. After that, higher proof means a higher seed.
These were tasted completely blind. Until the final tasting was completed, neither my wife nor I had any clue what was in each bottle.

And now that we know how they got here, let’s meet the contestants under their real names. The number one overall seed is Arctic Mama otherwise known as Heaven Hill’s Evan Williams Bottled in Bond. As the highest proof entrant in the four-year-old or older age range, it gets the first seed. It starts out going against Sonic Berry aka Colonel Lee. An old brand that is now listed as being bottled by Barton Brands. It was chosen by a coin flip as one of three bottles that were three years old and 80° proof. The number two seed is the Giant Charmer, Four Roses who will be facing off against Beam Suntory’s Old Crow, aka Barrel Shakes.

Across the way in Division Two, we have Quark Juggler or Evan Williams 1783 in the number one spot facing off against Total Wine’s TerrePURE brand Winchester otherwise known as Horse Jacket. Finally, we have the most expensive entry, a bottling from IJW Whiskey, coming in one penny under the rules at $34.99 in Hamburger Arcade or McFarlane’s Reserve going up against the least expensive entry in Laird’s Banker’s Club Bourbon (Fire Pirate) which I bought for under $20 for the handle.

A lot of new faces this time. Only three have been here before in the form they are now. Evan Williams 1783 has competed previously but has undergone a proof bump and reformulation since then. This one was a lot of fun. Who you got? Any upsets that you see on the horizon? Let us know down in the comments.

Blog

Whistle Pig Old World Rye

WhistlePig Piggyback

Calumet Farm 14-Year-Old Single Rack Black

Stellum Single Barrel Rye, Serpens Release (as Selected by Ace Spirits)

Division 1: Arctic Mama (Evan Williams Bottled in Bond) vs Giant Charmer (Four Roses)

Division 2: Fire Pirate (Banker's Club) vs. Quark Juggler (Evan Williams 1783)

Championship Round: Quark Juggler (Evan Williams 1783) vs. Arctic Mama (Evan Williams Bottled in Bond)

Lessons Learned:

Fire Pirate (Banker's Club)

Hamburger Arcade (McFarlane's Reserve)

Quark Juggler (Evan Williams 1783)

Horse Jacket (Winchester)