Rossville Union Barrel Select: South Lyndale Liquors

The MGP distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana makes some of my favorite rye whiskey on the planet. I love their 95% rye style. It’s my favorite style of rye. The Kentucky style of barely legal 51% rye is usually fine in a cocktail, or if you are looking for a more bourbon-like rye, but for me? I like my rye to have a bit more rye flavor. And the closer a distillery gets to the 95% style that MGP made famous, the more I tend to like it.

A couple of years ago, MGP decided that supplying the majority of the rye whiskey on the shelves through intermediaries wasn’t enough and they introduced their own brand of rye, named Rossville Union. This rye was a combination of their 95% rye and their 51% rye mash bills. I suspected from my own blending experiments that these would favor the 95% flavor profile as it tends to show through in any blend I’d made. I was pleased to find that I was correct when I purchased it for myself and reviewed it back in June 2018.

So it was with great delight that I read last August that MGP would be extending the Rossville Union line into a private selection program for retailers. And when I saw a pair of them at a local retailer? I just knew I had to pick them up.

Rossville Union Barrel Select: South Lyndale Liquors, Savory.

Purchase Info: $42.99 for a 750ml bottle (on sale) at South Lyndale Liquors, Minneapolis, MN

Price per Drink (50ml): $2.87

Details: 50% ABV

Nose: Mint, cedar, cinnamon, clove

Mouth: Dry and spicy with mint, cinnamon, and clove.

Finish: On the shorter side of medium length. Notes of herbal mint, cinnamon, juicy fruit gum, and cedar.

Thoughts: Very tasty. I like this with a splash of water. Water brings out sweetness and accents the juicy fruit gum on the finish, making it very reminiscent of certain Four Roses bourbons.

Rossville Union Barrel Select: South Lyndale Liquors, Sweet.

Purchase Info: $42.99 for a 750ml bottle (on sale) at South Lyndale Liquors, Minneapolis, MN

Price per Drink (50ml): $2.87

Details: 50% ABV

Nose: Clove, cedar, mint, vanilla and a hint of dill.

Mouth: Sweet and spicy. Clove, mint, caramel, cedar

Finish: On the longer side of medium and warm. Notes of cinnamon red hots and cedar.

Thoughts: Another very good selection. When served neat, I like this better than the Savory. Not really a fan of this one with water though.

But how do they compare to the standard Rossville Union?

The standard Rossville is sweeter on the nose than the “savory” but less sweet than the “sweet.” The mouth of the standard release adheres more closely to the “usual” 95% MGP profile than either of the Barrel Selects. And the finish of both Barrel Selects pours are more complex. Overall, I like all three but the Barrel Select bottles are something pretty special.

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Baker's Single Barrel

It has been one thousand, nine hundred, and thirty four days since I last reviewed Baker’s Bourbon. In that time the brand has gone through some changes. It got a new bottle design, which I LOVE! But more importantly, it was revamped to be a single barrel product.

I’ve always liked Baker’s. If Knob Creek wasn’t super cheap a short walk from my house, it would be my go to product from Beam. When I first heard of it last year, I was a little nervous about the switch to Single Barrel, but also excited. Would they change it? Would it be better? Worse?

Of course, the roll out to the new product was super slow in my neck of the woods. I’m guessing that retailers were looking to sell out of the old Baker’s before they put the new one on the shelves. And this past weekend, I walked into the liquor store and finally saw it on the shelf.

I immediately noticed a couple things about it. One was the word “minimum” in the age statement. The other was that this particular bottle was aged over 8 years. My nervousness evaporated and my excitement took over. Unlike most producers, not only did Beam keep the age statement, in the case of this bottle they actually increased it.

Baker's Single Barrel Bourbon

Purchase Info: $46.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.13

Details: 8 years, 3 months old. Barreled in 10/2011. Aged in warehouse CL-Z. 53.5% ABV

Nose: Dusty oak, peanuts, brown sugar,

Mouth: Sweet and spicy with peanut, cinnamon, honey and oak

Finish: Warm and on the longer side of medium. Lingering notes of peanut, honey, mint and cinnamon red hots.

Thoughts: I really like this. I've always found Baker's to be sweet, but I've never gotten such pronounced honey notes on it before. This is great.

But you might be asking yourself how it compares to the Small Batch? Well, when I heard that Baker’s was changing to Single Barrel, I poured off a healthy sample so that I could answer that very question.

Comparison to Small Batch: The noses are very similar with the Small Batch being a touch fruitier. The Small Batch is mintier and doesn't show as much peanut. The finishes are also very similar. Over all not much has changed and that's great news.

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Corner Creek 10 year old

I’ve been running this site for almost eight years now. I started slow, really only reviewing something about once every couple of months on average. (In a good month, there would be two posts at the beginning, so it isn’t quite as bad as it seems.) For the last six years or so, I’ve been pretty consistent about putting out two posts a week. And during that time, about 80 percent of them have been reviews, which is odd as I never set out to do a review site.

The idea for this site was a long time coming, but it boils down to one fact: I like to tell stories. I’d had a blog previously where I told stories. Twos of people read it. Occasionally a really popular post would go up, and maybe five people would. After that, I had a photoblog. I didn’t really care if anyone visited that site. The goal was for me to improve my photography skills. I took photos, post-processed them, and chose one for publication. I did that every day for three years. After I got to the point where I felt pretty good about my photo skills, I ended the photo a day project, and I told stories about photos instead.

Then I discovered bourbon. I learned everything I could about bourbon and other whiskeys. I read every book I could get my hands on, read every blog, listened to the podcast. Along the way, I realized something: I didn’t really like whiskey reviews. I liked the people that wrote them. I enjoyed the content around them. I liked the stories and personalities. But I didn’t like the reviews. They were either too sterile or too poetic for me. Some were basically just a rehashing of the press release. So, I went back to the idea I had with my photo site. I was going on a bourbon journey. I was trying to learn all there was to know about bourbon. And along the way, I’d share what I learned with everyone else. I didn’t plan on writing reviews, but Google seemed to like it the few times I did. And unlike the previous sites, I thought I might be able to contribute to the wider community. So since Google liked them, I decided to include them in the posts. I’d craft each story in such a way that it would weave into and set up the review. In a way, it was a lot like the photo-a-day project. Each time I did it, it got a little easier. And I became a better writer. And eventually, the reviews became fun. The stories and the reviews didn’t need to be woven together because frequently, the review would inspire the story.

So all of that is the background to this past weekend. I realized that my editorial calendar had run dry. Somehow, I just never planned past my tax appointment last Thursday. It was an odd feeling. And when put on the spot, I couldn’t think of anything that I wanted to write about. Not off the top of my head. So I decided to check the archives and see if there was something that I had overlooked over the years. Some easy to find bourbon that somehow slipped through the cracks.

And I realized that I didn’t have a list of what I had reviewed previously. Not one. Just the website itself. I’d been keeping track of everything in my head. Which if you know how my memory works, you’ll understand that it is the least safe place I could keep track of things. So I spent all weekend cataloging eight years’ worth of blog posts. And I found some things that I’d overlooked over the years. I filled a whiteboard with ideas.

Then I went to the store and immediately bought two bottles that were not on my list at all. Just because they looked interesting. Sigh. One of those bottles is a 10-year-old version of the Corner Creek that I featured in September of 2018. I did a pretty good intro to the brand there so I won’t rehash it here.

Corner Creek 10 year

Purchase Info: $50.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Price per Drink (50mL): $3.40

Details: 10 year age statement, 44% ABV.

Nose: Mixed berries, baking spice, brown sugar, mint

Mouth: Nicely spicy with notes of baking spice, juicy ripe fruit, mint, and caramel.

Finish: Nice finish. Medium length with notes of mixed berries, menthol, and cinnamon.

Thoughts: This is pretty good. I like it. Very fruity with notes of mixed berries throughout the experience. The finish isn’t hot, but the menthol notes last a while.

When I revisited the standard Corner Creek, I called it a “change of pace” bourbon due to the very fruity nature of it. This lands in the same place. Very fruity. I wouldn’t want it all the time, but when I’m looking for something that is a little off the standard bourbon flavor profile, I’ll probably reach for this one.

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Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, Batch A120

I’d like to thank Heaven Hill for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

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Writing from the bar tonight. I normally don’t, but today is tax day today. Well tax appointment day anyway. The day where I find myself strangely relieved that I only owe the various government entities $3500.

On tax day, I figure I’m either going to be very happy or very sad. Either of those emotions call for post-appointment beers. If I’m happy when I leave the appointment, they are celebratory beers. In not, then I have the beers to console me. Either way, beers are certainly called for.

Of course, another way that I could commiserate the news that I get the opportunity to pay the government multiple thousands of dollars would be with tonight’s bourbon. Elijah Craig Barrel Proof is released about three times a year. Each time the proof is different, but the age is always twelve years old. This time around, the proof is really high at 136.6° proof. Though as I think about it, this is still lower than the last release of last year. Luckily I keep a little of the last batch on hand to see if the comparable proof level equates to a comparable flavor.

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, Batch A120

Purchase info: This sample was graciously provided by Heaven Hill for review purposes. Locally Elijah Craig Barrel Proof sells for as low as $64.99 for a 750 mL bottle when not on sale.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.33

Details: 68.3% ABV, 12 years old

Nose: The high proof on this one means that you'll want to let it sit for a few minutes unless you want a snootful of acetone. After a few minutes rest, notes of green apple, caramel, baking spice, and oak appear.

Mouth: Hot and spicy with notes of cinnamon and oak.

Finish: Long and very warm. Lingering oak, browned butter and caramel.

Thoughts: If you drink this neat you are either a crazy person or you have previously burned off your taste buds. This is a delicious bourbon, but it is begging for a little water.

So how does it compare to the last release of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof (C919)? I think that A120 is more balanced than the previous batch. C919 is sweeter but, oddly, also has a more bitter finish. A120 is hotter, even though it has a slightly lower proof. Overall, both are delicious but if I had the choice, I'd pick A120.

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Maker's Mark Private Select: Liquor Barrel & LBWC Selection

So I’ve reviewed Maker’s Mark Private Select before, but this isn’t officially a “revisited” post. Two reasons: one is that it has only been a little under 800 days and I really try to go longer than that between those. But the main reason is that this is a private selection and because of how Private Select is made, there is very little overlap between selections made by different selectors.

Curious how it is made? Well, I did a pretty good intro to the product back when it was introduced, but let me summarize for you. Much like Maker’s 46, this is Maker’s Mark that has been “infused” with 10 finishing staves. Unlike Maker’s 46, there is more than one style of stave that can be used. In fact, there are five and the selector can choose any combination of 10 staves for their unique product. A summary of the staves and what they bring to the party are as follows:

• Baked American Pure 2 is an American oak stave designed to bring oak, vanilla, and sweetness to the finished product.

• Seared French Cuvée is a grooved French oak stave that was designed to bring butterscotch, caramel, and nuttiness.

• Maker's 46 is French oak designed to bring spicy vanilla. This is the same stave used for standard Maker's 46.

• Roasted French Mocha is French oak designed to bring dry, dark chocolate, coffee, and char notes.

• Toasted French Spice is also French oak and was designed to bring fruity Spice notes. 

Now, I’ve had Maker’s Mark Private Selects that I’ve really liked and some that I just found meh. Because everyone is a unique creation, buying these can be hit or miss. That said, I’ve had many more that I really liked than those that I found lacking so, at least for me, the track record is high enough that I keep buying them. And when I saw that my local corner liquor store had their own selection, and knowing that I have loved more of their private selections than I’ve liked, I knew I had to give this one a look.

And I decided to bring you along for the ride.

Maker's Mark Private Select Selection by Liquor Barrel Staff & LBWC

Purchase Info: $65.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Price per Drink (50ml): $4.40

Details: 54.45% ABV Staves: 3 Baked American Pure 2, 3 Seared French Cuvée, 1 Maker's 46, 1 Roasted French Mocha, 2 Toasted French Spice

Nose: Sandalwood, oak, baking spice, hints of caramel

Mouth: Spicy and warm with lots of oak, baking spice, and a hint of caramel

Finish: Warm and of medium length. Cinnamon oil, black tea, dark chocolate, and oak notes linger.

Thoughts: On the first pour of this one, I was convinced that I wasn’t a fan. I was getting a vegetal note to the finish. The oak was too prominent and it was just too hot for my tastes. Fast forward a couple of pours and things have settled down dramatically. The vegetal notes have transformed themselves into a black tea note. The overwhelming oak notes have subdued and been joined by dark chocolate notes. This is really good.

And this is why I try to never review anything from the first pour out of the bottle. Well, unless the bottle is small enough that there is only the first pour in there. You really need to live with a whiskey to see if you like it sometimes.

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Elijah Craig Straight Rye Whiskey

I’d like to thank Heaven Hill for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

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Much of my family is under the impression that because I am self-employed, I can just take any day off. The reality is, of course, that I never really have a day off. Even while on vacation I am taking phone calls from clients and answering emails.

But guess what?

Tomorrow I am taking a real day off! (Well, unless something urgent comes up. Damn my Midwestern work ethic…) But the plan is to take tomorrow off to research some projects I’m working on for the Etsy store. So I guess I’m not really taking it off so much as allocating the day to a more fun kind of work. And I can’t wait! I’ll be in the garage playing with wood and tools. I’ll be online researching 3D printers and materials casting/metalwork. It will be so much fun. I can’t wait!

Elijah Craig Straight Rye Whiskey

Purchase info: This sample was graciously provided by Heaven Hill for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $29.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $2.00

Details: 47% ABV. Mash bill: 51% rye, 35% corn, 14% malted barley. Initially available in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Oregon.

Nose: Cinnamon, caramel, and mint, with hints of cedar and bubblegum.

Mouth: Cinnamon, mint leaves, spearmint, almond, and oak.

Finish: Nice and spicy without being super hot. Lingering baking spice and mint.

Thoughts: I like this, it’s a pretty tasty rye. I’ll probably consume this most often either neat or in a cocktail. Like with most "Kentucky-style" barely-legal ryes, I wouldn't reach for this when making a cocktail that calls for rye (like a Sazerac) but I'd use the heck out of it in cocktails that call for bourbon that can handle some extra spice.

In the name of Science! I tried this next to a couple of other ryes I had in the house (Rittenhouse, Old Forester, and Jack Daniels). I’d say that, for obvious reasons, this is most like Rittenhouse. Now, this is lower proof than Rittenhouse but the press release reads as if it is a bit older. And my experience mirrors that. Tasting them side by side, both my wife and I like the Elijah Craig better than the Rittenhouse. My favorite of the group was Old Forester, then Elijah Craig, with Rittenhouse and Jack Daniels bringing up the rear.

Final verdict: if it is in your area, it is certainly worth as look as the price is great for how good it is. If you are a fan of barely legal ryes this is a good one. I, however like a bit more rye in my ryes.

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J. Henry & Sons Bourbon

I am sick tonight so this will be short. It’s the type of sick where my mouth tastes a little like vomit even though I’ve brushed my teeth about three times today.

Speaking of a bad taste in my mouth, tonight’s bourbon is J. Henry & Sons Wisconsin Straight Bourbon Whiskey. My mom lives in Wisconsin and is very proud of where she comes from. One day last fall, she was watching a local PBS station when she saw a segment on J Henry Bourbon. My step-dad is a bourbon drinker so she looked it up, saw it was for sale at my local Total Wine, and picked it up for him the next time she came to visit me. My sample is from this bottle.

Ordinarily, this is where I would do a lot of research and tell you all a little about the bourbon. But as I said, I am sick and in no mood to research bad bourbon. Luckily the folks over at Bourbon and Banter have done it for us. Though it seems they have a much different opinion of this bourbon than I do. Maybe it is a batch difference or Total Wine got a poorly treated case.

Because, yes sometimes you just get a bad bottle. I’ve had it happen a couple of times over the years. For example, I recently bought a bottle of Larceny from Total Wine that tasted super funky. Before proclaiming that the brand had gone downhill I decided to buy another bottle from a different retailer. That second one tasted normal.

But in any event, I can only review the bottle I have in front of me. And in this case, the cost of the bottle is a little high to take the risk on a second one.

Note: these notes were taken before I was sick.

J. Henry Bourbon

Purchase Info: $56.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.80

Details: 5 years old. Batch 57. 46% ABV.

Nose: Dried grains, bubblegum, and mint

Mouth: Bitter almond, dried grains, and cinnamon.

Finish: Medium length with lingering bitter almond notes, as well as mint and cinnamon notes.

Thoughts: This is...not good. It’s bitter, it’s grainy. It's actually unpleasant to drink. I can't recommend this to any but the most fervent localvores. And even then I'd probably try something else.

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Four Gate Whiskey Company: Batch 4, Split Stave by Kelvin

I’d like to thank Four Gate Whiskey Company for providing a review sample with no strings attached.

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Book review time. And no, it has nothing to do with whiskey.

I just got done reading An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green. I loved it. On the surface, it is a book about a girl who finds a mystery statue on a New York street corner and shoots a quick and silly YouTube video about it. Obviously it is more than it seems and she gets quite famous because of that video.

Now as interesting as the surface story is, that story is not what the book is about.

Let me step back. When I was a kid, I hated trying to find the deeper meaning in a book. I'm of the opinion that even though many authors really do write with an allegorical bent, sometimes a rousing adventure story is just a rousing adventure story. Even today, I doubt that most of what speaks to me in any particular book was put there as some sort of deeper meaning by the author. Mostly because the parts that speak to me, that really make me enjoy a book and not be able to put it down, are usually the side characters or the set dressing. Ther things that help with mood and pace. And sure, the author probably put those things there intentionally but they usually aren't the reason for the book.

That said, I'm pretty sure that An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, is not about giant robots but is actually about fame, specifically internet fame. It is a plea from the author to remember that everyone on the other side of the screen is human. They aren't a talking point or a doll or an alien. They are human with all the problems and complications that come with that. The book is a plea to treat each other better especially online, where it is all too easy to misconstrue the intent behind the words that are typed.

I really needed to be reminded of that right now and as things get more and more contentious, especially here in the US with another election coming up, I think a lot of other people do too. So if you haven't read it, I highly encourage you to do so. It is interesting and exciting enough that I didn’t want to put it down.

But you didn’t come here to read an extended non-whiskey book report or a plea to treat each other nicely (though seriously, we all need to remember that). You came here to find out about that tiny bottle popping up out of the snow in the photo above.

Four Gate Whiskey is a company that is doing very interesting things with barrel finishing. I know that some of you aren’t fans of barrel-finished bourbons, but I find them to be, if not always good, at least always interesting. I found Batch 2 to be in that interesting, but “not for me” category. It wasn’t bad, it was just really weird. But, like I said it was super interesting and so when I saw a sample of Batch 4 arrive, I was pretty stoked to see what they had come up with this time around.

Batch 4, “Split Stave by Kelvin,” is much more in line with a traditional bourbon. Here is what the company has to say about it:

After crafting a series of medium toast casks, then a series of #2 char casks, and finally a third series of #4 char casks, William Hornaday and his team at Kelvin broke all the barrels apart and rebuilt them, alternating between toasted staves and #2 char staves on some barrels, and toasted and #4 char staves on others, they have created the first ever “Split Stave™” barrels. To fill them, we blended a 5.5 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon and a 12 Year Old  Kentucky Straight Bourbon and let them rest in our Split Stave barrels for five months. We produced 2,700 bottles from this inaugural release of Split Stave™ by Kelvin. It is uncut and unfiltered at 115.6 proof.

Four Gate Whiskey Company, Batch 4, "split stave by Kelvin"

Purchase info: This sample was graciously provided for review purposes by the distillery. It was available for purchase in Kentucky and Tennessee starting in December for a suggested retail price of $174.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $11.67

Details: 57.8% ABU. Finished in new, white oak barrels where the staves alternate between a medium toast and a number 2 char or a medium toast and a number 4 char level.

Nose: Initially reminds me of boozy French toast with maple and cinnamon. After a bit, mint, oak, and black tea come to the forefront.

Mouth: Hot and spicy with cinnamon red hots, caramel, mint and oak

Finish: Warm and long with lingering cinnamon, black tea, dark chocolate, and mint.

Thoughts: This is delicious. It's spicy and hot upfront with a sweet and minty undercurrent. I'm enjoying it a lot. I’d love to get my hands on a bottle, but it’s a little out of my price range. But hey, at least I got a chance to sample it. I really, really like this.

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