Michter’s Barrel Strength Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey

So there I was. At a Maker’s Mark Ambassador event in Andover, Minnesota. It was interesting. I got a couple black dipped glasses that I will probably never use, I had a free bratwurst for lunch and I was hanging out with other Maker’s Ambassadors trying cocktails and sipping a little bourbon. I didn’t end up buying any Maker’s that day. But I did buy something that sorta surprised my wife.

I don’t normally buy Michter’s products. The juice is alright, but each purchase comes with a little baggage for me. When I first got into bourbon they were an NDP. Now there isn’t anything inherently wrong with that, but they were a more than a little dishonest about it. They were selling a story about how they could trace the company back to the American Revolution. The fact of the matter was that they registered an abandoned trademark and ran with it. 

I don’t like being deceived and sometimes I hold a bit of a grudge. Which is why now, when they seem to have become much more honest in their story and have actually started distilling (according to Chuck Cowdery they produce more than 500,000 gallons per year), I still seem to find myself reaching for something else when I see them on the shelf. 

But on that day, something made me go grab the manager on duty to open the case this was in. Like maybe this grudge had gone on long enough and I should give them another shot. I used to like their Straight Rye quite a bit, so a Barrel Strength version was a bit intriguing. 

Michter’s Barrel Strength Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey

Purchase Info: $71.99 for a 750 mL at G-Will Liquors, Andover, MN.

Details: Barrel No: 15C200. 54.4% ABV. Single Barrel (as is the regular release of their Rye)

Nose: Cedar, mint, cloves and a hint of earthiness.

Mouth: Bold and sweet in the mouth. Mint, caramel, vanilla, cloves and cedar chips.

Finish: Very sweet. A nice long warmth that lingers with herbal mint and spicy cloves numbing you tongue. 

a smile because I like this

Thoughts: This is very good whiskey. Price and availability will demand that this be a treat not a shelf staple but if you see it and can see yourself through to it, pick it up. Because though I’m still a little upset at being deceived years ago, maybe it’s time to let that be in the past and let the whiskey speak for itself. And this whiskey is saying some very nice things. 


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Whiskey: A Spirited Story with 75 Classic & Original Cocktails by Michael Dietsch

As I tend to list my favorite cocktail as Whiskey in a Glass, it should come as no surprise that I am not really a cocktail guy. Not because I don’t like cocktails. I like them quite a bit. And not because they are too hard. I love cooking elaborate meals. No I’m not a cocktail guy, because I don’t know what I’m doing. Go beyond a Sazerac, a Manhattan or an Old Fashioned and I’m not sure what to do. There are too many possible ingredients that only seem to come in 750 mL bottles and which you use a teaspoon at a time.

This is why I was looking forward to Michael Dietsch’s new book Whiskey: A Spirited Story with 75 Classic & Original Cocktails. I need help knowing what to make, what types of ingredients I should buy and in what combinations I should use them. Eventually I might be able to get to where I can riff on my own, but for now I’m a relative noob. Plus, I loved his last book on shrubs and even made two or three of them including a Cranberry Apple Shrub that I substituted for the vermouth in a Manhattan for a while. 

The first third of the book is a primer on the different types of whiskey. Everything from bourbon to scotch to Japanese whiskey is covered. There is even a separate section for Tennessee whiskey just to make Jack and George fans feel special. The next 20 pages or so are really great for the cocktail noob. Entitled “How to Make a Cocktail” it gives you an overview on equipment, technique, glasses and more.

Then you get into the nitty gritty. The part I wanted to book for. The recipes. The first night I had the book I went through and put flags on the cocktails I wanted to try. Soon I had run out of flags and had to grab a second package. I must have tabbed about half the cocktails in the book. Then it was time for a shopping list. Luckily I was able to buy just a few of ingredients to make a large number of them. Then I got down to research. If I was going to review the book, I wanted to do more than just read it.

There were cocktails in there that I’d always wanted to try, but never had, like the Vieux Carré. There were the standards that are in every book like the Manhattan, etc. But then there were ones I had never heard of as well. Things with exotic names like Algonquin, Bardstown, Lion’s Tail and Fanciulli. 

One thing I liked about the book is that along with each recipe you get a little of it’s history. A little information about it. Plus, if you are a history buff like I am, a nice touch was that the recipes are organized by historical period. Feel like having a Prohibition-party? You know what to make. Feel like something modern? Turn to the back.

A smile because I like this book.

To say I enjoyed my research would be an understatement. My wife and I spent at least two weeks going through the book and making everything we had the ingredients for and then buying the ingredients to make some of the others. This is a book I can easily recommend to any whiskey fan looking to expand a little beyond Whiskey in a Glass.

Curious about what’s inside? Michael has graciously given permission for me to republish one of my favorite recipes in the book. I really like this one.

Fanciulli

Ingredients

2 ounces of bourbon (Bulleit is suggested though I can attest that other fruity, light bourbons work as well)

3/4 ounce sweet vermouth

1/4 ounce Fernet-Banca

Procedure

  1. Fill a mixing glass 2/3 full of ice
  2. Add bourbon, vermouth, and Fernet-Branca, and stir 15 seconds, or until chilled and diluted.
  3. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

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Hoffman Originals, Mr. Lucky Series, The Carolers

A very long time ago, by today’s standards, bourbon was not popular. It was so not popular that many people selling it almost of included it as a kind of “value-add” when they sold ceramic decanters. Ceramic decanters seem to have been immensely popular during the 1970s. I have people in my own family who will reminisce about purchasing a couple of them for a decent amount of money and then claim: “I don’t know that [the buyer] ever did drink any of that…”

Now the buyer in question above was a prolific drinker. And if he didn’t drink the bourbon, you can bet that he was not an edge case. This is born out by the fact that I have bought multiple ceramic decanters that are still full and sealed at antique stores or shows for under $25. Including the one above. That one only cost me $18. $18 at a bottle and advertising show where I saw a piece of Four Roses ad signage marked up to over $100. 

The piece was put out by the Hoffman Distilling Company from Lawrenceburg, KY. Haven’t heard of them? Well, don’t feel bad, I hadn’t either. They seem to be one of those pieces of history that has left very little mark on the internet. But here is what I have collected. 

  • Sam Cecil, in his book Bourbon: The Evolution of Kentucky Whiskey claims that the distillery was built in 1880 and after passing through many hands, was in disrepair by the mid 1970s. Saying on page 98 of his book: “I visited the distillery in the mid-1970s, and the still house was falling down.”
  • Mike Veach tells us on BourbonEnthusiast.com that in 1966 “The Hoffman Distilling Company of Lawrenceburg, Ky. with a capacity of 300 bushels per day is listed with Ezra Brooks as one of its four brands. The executives of the distillery are Ben G, Ripy, William R. Ripy, and Robert Ripy (1966 Red Book, p.33).”
  • He also says on another post “The Hoffman distillery is the distillery that created Ezra Brooks in the 60's. It went out of business in the 70s and Julian Van Winkle bought the old distillery.”
  • Speaking of Ezra Brooks, our friend Brian at Sipp’n Corn mentions Hoffman in his post on the lawsuit where Jack Daniel’s sued Ezra Brooks over the marketing of Ezra Brooks in the 1950s and 60s. If you want to read more about that lawsuit, you can
  • Ellenjaye.com has a post about what became of the Hoffman Distillery after it was purchased and renamed by one Julian Van Winkle III. You may have heard of him. He really doesn’t figure into this story except as a footnote though. 
  • And finally a reclaimed wood supplier in Oregon has a nice long post about the distillery from the point of view of one who might want to sell you wood from the rick houses. 

Most of the research I found claims the distillery went out of business in the mid-1970s and the location was used as a bottling house by various brands and run by a member of the Ripy family at that time. One of the brands that seems to have been bottled there was Hoffman Originals, a brand that seems to have survived the distillery proper (though I can find no mention of any actual relation between them other than having the same name and bottling location) by selling ceramic decanters of the variety described above. They put out quite a few decanters throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Jim Crawford at jimsbottles.com has an extensive set of posts on their Mr Lucky series (the series of decanters which included the Carolers decanter shown below, click for larger images).

This decanter depicts two leprechauns singing Christmas Carols. It is a full sized (4/5ths quart) decanter bottled by the Hoffman Distilling Company, Lawrenceburg, KY. And because neither bourbon nor the bottle were enough to sell this, it is of course also a music box. It is from 1979. The cork was intact and the tax stamp was unbroken. It was $18. I decided to pick it up. 

Hoffman Originals, Mr. Lucky Series, The Carolers Base (back)

Hoffman Originals, Mr. Lucky Series, Carolers, 1979: The Bourbon.

Purchase info: $18 at a bottle and advertising show. 

Details: Bottled by the Hoffman Distilling Co, 80 proof, bottle copyright 1979.

Nose: As is to be expected from a bottle that has been closed for over 35 years, this smells of acetone at the initial pouring. After letting it sit in the glass for a while, we started picking up notes of rich butterscotch, cloves, ripe apples, fresh flowers and hints of lemon zest.

Mouth: Peppery and sweet with more butterscotch and cloves along with a large dose of floral notes.

Finish: The finish follows the mouth and nose with lingering sweet, clove and floral notes along with a gentle, medium length burn.

Thoughts: This whiskey is pretty tasty though not to the standards of other older bottlings I’ve found. Being sourced whiskey, maybe this was lower end stuff bought only to fill the bottle? Or maybe, time just hasn’t been kind to this one. I don’t know. It’s fine, just kinda…meh when neat. Adding water does open it up allowing more sweet notes to come to the forefront, but it loses it’s burn. It goes to show that just because a whiskey is a “dusty” doesn’t necessarily follow that it is really good. Fun to try though.

A word on lead: There is a forum thread on straightbourbon.com that details the story of a man getting the whiskey from one of his decanters tested for lead and finding very high levels of it. I do not have the equipment to test this myself. I did however allow the bourbon from this decanter to evaporate and then drip the contents of a lead paint tester into the residue (saving a drop or two for the conformation strip) and there was no red for lead. I won’t say this bourbon doesn’t contain lead or that any of the bourbon from old decanters you find will or will not contain lead. But this test satisfied my curiosity enough to allow me to do the small tasting I did for this post.

For more information on lead poisoning visit: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002473.htm


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Ask Arok: 1792 and Very Old Barton

Last week, Dan left a comment on the post I did comparing 1792 Port Finish to a 1792 single barrel. 

What is the difference between 1792 and Very Old barton other than packaging? Thanks! 

Initially thought he was asking about flavor. Because I find them to be quite different, I was happy to share that I found 1792 to be hotter, drier and showing more wood influence than VOB. It turns out that his question was much more interesting than that, cutting to the heart of the difference between the juice that goes into the bottle for two brands. Since both of these bourbons are produced at the Barton 1792 Distillery in Bardstown, KY one might assume that they are just the same bourbon put into different bottles.

At one point, this would have been an easy question to answer. Age. Both of these had age statements until just a few years ago. Very Old Barton was 6 years old and 1792 was 8. I assumed that this, along with barrel selection was probably still the case. But the bourbon industry has changed in the mean time. There is much less info on the label than there used to be for these two brands so I couldn't say for sure. To find out, I reached out to a contact I have at Sazerac to see if she would like to chime in. Here is what she had to say.

Age constitutes most of the difference in taste between Very Old Barton and 1792, as 1792 barrels are typically aged 3-4 years longer than Very Old Barton. We also taste, evaluate and approve all the barrels prior to use in any batch to ensure a consistent taste profile for every brand. So in other words, to ensure Very Old Barton always tastes like Very Old Barton and 1792 always tastes like 1792. 

So I was correct in my assumption that it is still age and barrel selection. But I was a bit surprised at one thing. Apparently in the last few years Very Old Barton has gotten younger at a faster pace than 1792 has. They used to be 2 years apart in age. Now they are 3-4 years different. Assuming that they wouldn't remove the 8 year age statement while making the bourbon older, we are left to deduce that Very Old Barton is now only 4-5 years old while 1792 is around 7-8. 

Toss in choosing barrels to fit the flavor profile and you get yourself a different brand that starts the same, but are pretty different when compared to one another. 

Do you have a bourbon question you'd like answered? Just get in contact with me using one of the icons in the sidebar to submit one. If I don’t know the answer, I’ll try to find it from someone who does.


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High West Rendezvous Rye, finished in used bourbon barrels

Funny thing happened to me on the way to write this post tonight. Though let me step back a bit first. 

A month or so ago my little girl (she’s in her mid twenties) decided that she was going to buy herself a motorcycle. Everyone asked if I was upset. I wasn’t. She’s a grown woman. It’s her decision to make. She got her motorcycle permit and tried for her license. She didn’t get it the first time so she decided to practice a bit more. 

One day, when she comes over to show it off, the bike won’t start. Battery was dead. On top of that as she was trying to start it, she hit the throttle and flooded it. After we charge the battery it starts and because she’s never had a vehicle old enough to flood, she immediately kills it trying to hit the throttle. So she fires it up again and this time she listens to me and lets it run. Everything seems to be going good. She rides home and I go back to work.

The next day it does it again only this time she is at work. Luckily she works in an auto garage and someone there can give the bike a jump. At this point she starts thinking she needs a battery. It’s a thirty year old bike and who knows how old the battery is, so I help her change it. 

Yesterday, two days after changing the battery, it does it again. As she is complaining about the new battery, I mention that the dead battery is probably just a symptom of something else. She’s young and still knows everything so she placates me with a yes. She’s near a friend’s house so she pushes it over there and decides she is going to try to ride it home today.

Today, she get’s a couple miles down the road when it dies again and she calls me for a jump. Now, by this time we both know that a jump is only a half-measure so she can try to limp it home. By the time I get there, she’s found out it’s not even going to limp. It won’t stay running long enough to even get into gear, much less go down the road. Luckily about this time, a nice (strong) guy on his own bike stops by. Together we devise a plan to get her bike in the back of the truck. 

I have a tall truck, unfortunately. But luckily, there is a park and a business with a large lawn on the side of the road. And even luckier, there is a walkway with a slight hill between the road and the park. So I drive the truck into the lawn so that my tailgate is even with the top of the berm. The nice strong guy and I push the bike into the back. I tie it down as best I can and drive slowly down the side roads to get home. 

Once home though, I realize I have no strong guy to help me get it out of the truck. Just my wife and daughter. Luckily my driveway is on a hill and the neighbors here are nice. We put a few pallets behind the truck and stair step it onto the driveway. Now I have a broken down motorcycle to sit next to the broken down jeep she is storing in my garage. And after man handling a 450 pound motorcycle for a few hours, I’m too tired to write a post that is in-depth and well researched. Instead, I’m just going to grab a whiskey and relax for a moment. 

And what whiskey will I relax with tonight? Recently I bought a bottle of High West Rendezvous Rye that had been finished in used Bourbon Barrels for an additional 1.9 years. This is a tasty rye that according to their website is made up of a six year old MGP rye and a 16 year old Barton Rye. This is normally a very tasty rye. The additional couple years in the bourbon barrel add a bit of sweetness to round it out. 

Neat this is a tasty rye, but recently I tried something else with it. I had an ounce left of Very Old Barton 86 proof. I got to thinking that I might try a blend with it so I had a full pour. I added three-quarters of an ounce of this rye and then a quarter ounce of Mellow Corn. It’s a real Franken-Whiskey. But you know what? It was really good. The rye shone through as the star with the bourbon and the corn whiskey adding a touch of sweetness and a nice mouthfeel. that is an experiment to revisit someday, but not tonight. Tonight it will be my favorite cocktail. 

Whiskey in a glass.

High West Rendezvous Rye, finished in used bourbon barrels

Purchase info: $59.99 for a 750 bottle, Ace Spirits, Hopkins, MN

Details: 52.4% ABV Barrel # 2065. Bottle # 24. Store selection by Ace Spirits. Finished in used bourbon barrels for an additional 1.9 years.

Nose: Pumpernickel rye bread, mint, allspice and nutmeg.

Mouth: Hot and spicy with sweet caramel, vanilla, mint, oak and baking spices. 

Finish: Long and sweet with mint that fades to reveal more baking spices underneath.

a smile because I like this one.

Thoughts: This is a delicious rye. The blend of old and younger ryes lend spiciness and depth while the finishing adds sweetness. This is fantastic and I can highly recommend giving it (or another like it) a try.


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1792 Port Finish as Compared to a 1792 Single Barrel pick

So last night I was chatting with my friend Fred Minnick on twitter. He'd posted a shot of the bottle he'd got of Booker's Rye and I made my thoughts on the price known. He countered from a reviewers stand point and I replied with:

Yes, I was joking. I was mostly feeling salty about the fact I will never taste Booker's Rye due to both my self-imposed restriction on accepting review samples and the fact that the price is about three months worth of my (mostly poorly-followed) whiskey budget. 

I have to clarify that I was joking because I review things that few people will ever taste all the time: dusties, local retailer picks, special editions I make special trips to obtain, etc. I'd hate to be viewed as a hypocrite because someone only saw the one tweet as it was retweeted. I mean, my last post was a product that though easy enough to find right now, is out of the budget of the majority of my readers.

So to celebrate my newfound hypocrite-ness I'm going to review not one, but two things that are either limited editions or retailer picks that have been long sold out. I found the Port Finish 1792 at a local municipal liquor store and as I did my review tasting I thought to see how it compares to the regular release. I didn't have that, but I did have a bottle of a store pick single barrel. It shares at least a passing resemblance to the regular release so it would have to do.

1792 Single Barrel Pick - Ace Spirits

Purchase info: $19.98 for a 750 mL bottle at Ace Spirits, Hopkins, MN

Details: 46.85 ABV. Exclusive barrel for Ace Spirits. Barrel no. 11.

Nose: Dry and oaky with hints of chocolate and sweet fruit.

Mouth: Warm and woody with notes of ginger, nutmeg and dark chocolate.

Finish: Warm and drying with medium length. Lingering dark chocolate and spice notes. 

A smile becauseI like this. 

Thoughts: This is a bourbon I reach for when I don't want a "sweet" bourbon. It's spicy and warm and has a lovely dry "evaporating" sensation to the finish. This single barrel is tasty, but doesn't stray too far outside the 1792 wheel house. 

1792 Port Finish

Purchase info: $38.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Apple Valley Liquor, Apple Valley, MN

Details: 44.45% ABV. After normal aging, this whiskey spends an additional two years in barrels that previously aged port.

Nose: Rich and creamy with a nice port influence of fruit and honey along with oak and hints of chocolate.

Mouth: Warm and sweet with noted of ginger, sweet fruit, oak and hints of rich dark chocolate. 

Finish: Warm and sweet with lingering fruit and spices. 

A smile because I like this.

Thoughts: The combination of spice, fruit, oak and chocolate meld into a delicious whole. If you can find this and like fruity bourbons, this is one to pick up. It's quite different from regular 1792, but quite taste nonetheless. 


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Knob Creek 2001 Limited Edition - Batch 2

Last week I got an email newsletter from a local retailer letting us know that they had received their shipment of Knob Creek 2001 and were selling it for roughly $165. I shook my head pretty well satisfied that I wouldn’t be trying for this one since it was so far above my personal price ceiling. 

Thursday or Friday of last week I was reading reviews of Knob Creek 2001 (yeah honestly I don’t know why either) when I noticed that the writer was saying that Beam was hoping to have things price out around $130. Well now. That is inside my personal price ceiling. If I could find it for that price, I’d be willing to pick it up.

Friday night I entered my local corner liquor store for beer to go with the pizza I was making and sure enough right there inside the front door was a bottle. I looked at the price. $145 and some change. Outside the ceiling, but not nearly as far. $10 being easier to justify than $30. Knowing that it was likely this store would still have some the next day (they still have Woodford Limited Releases back from when they were actually good) I decided to wait. Maybe it would be sold and fate would have made my decision for me.

I struggle with things like this for a few reasons. First, I’m a self-employed artist/designer and $145 is a lot of money. Add in the 10% sales tax I pay on hard liquor and your looking at closer to $160. Secondly, the price ceiling is there for a reason. Before I implemented it, I tended to get a bit of buyers remorse when I bought an expensive bottle that didn’t seem to live up to the price that was being charged.

As I’ve gotten over the sticker shock of paying $50 or $80 or $100 or $120 for a single bottle of bourbon, the price ceiling has gone up over time. It's now $135. I’m sure that it will do go up again in the future. That doesn’t mean I’m eager to rush it though.

Saturday while I was shopping I ran across bottles all over the place. All priced higher. I talked it over with my wife and we decided to go ahead and buy it at our local store.

Knob Creek 2001 Limited Edition - Batch 2

Purchase info: $145.97 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Details: 50% ABV. Batch 2. Bottle #4052

Nose: Oak, cinnamon gum, and a hint of fruit.

Mouth: Warm and sweet with caramel, cinnamon and cloves, a bit of fruit and oak.

Finish: The flavors continue into a nice long, warm finish.

Thoughts: This is a good bourbon. Very very good. It is oaky without being too oaky. It has a nice fruity sweetness that I don’t normally find in Knob Creek which helps to balance the oak and heat I normally do find there. If price is no object or you are a Knob Creek fanboy (or girl), you should certainly pick this up. 

If however, you are like me and don’t usually spend almost $150 for a single bottle of bourbon or if you don’t normally love Knob Creek, maybe think about how much you actually want this one before taking the plunge. When I break my personal price ceiling, it is with the expectation that what I am buying is the best thing that a producer is putting out. This didn’t live up to that expectation. And while this is certainly the best Knob Creek I’ve had, it isn’t the best Beam product released in the last few years. Booker’s 25th was better, it was cheaper and it was higher proof. At $90-110, this would be an easy recommend. At almost $150? I wouldn’t buy it again and probably wouldn’t have the first time if I knew what I know now. So yes, I like this, I just don't like the price.

Oh, hi buyers remorse…thought I’d figured out a way to not see you again…


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Mellow Corn Bottled in Bond

The bottle of Mellow Corn Bottled in Bond I bought after tasting the sample my friend gave me. 

There are seldom times when I am so pleasantly surprised by a whiskey as I was by the one I’m reviewing tonight. No matter how many times I read that people (even people I trusted) were recommending Mellow Corn, I just couldn’t bring myself to buy it. In fact, this would probably have never been reviewed if I hadn’t received a big sample from a friend of mine. 

I thought he was giving it to me because he was trying to get rid of it and I accepted it because…free whiskey. Over and over I’d have a thought about things I could do with it. But each time I was almost ready to crack the sample the little thought of “you know you’re going to have to put that in your mouth, right?” would start up and I’d put it back on the shelf. 

Finally, I’d had enough of that little voice. I decided to just plow ahead and review it. I figured in the worst case, I always need something to warn people away from. And who knows, in the best case, I might actually like it as much as others seem to.

I’ve had a lot of corn whiskey. Most of it had no age on it. Most of them I hated. And even those I liked, I don’t find myself going back to that often. So the fact that this was aged for four years and was Bottled in Bond was a factor in it’s favor. According to Chuck Cowdery it was four years in used barrels, but still four years is nothing to sneeze at. 

When I sat down to review this, the first thing I did was nose it. And…the nose was really nice! Hmmm…

Mellow Corn Bottled in Bond

Purchase Info: MGM Wine & Spirits, Burnsville, MN. $12.99 for a 1L bottle

Details: 50% ABV. Distilled at DSP-KY-354. Bottled at DSP-KY-31. 

Nose: Sweet and fruity with notes of caramel, vanilla and green apple. 

Mouth: Hot and sweet. Vanilla, mint, and almond notes are readily apparent.

Finish: Warm and sweet with decent length.

A smile because I like this.

Thoughts: This is not a complicated whiskey. But if you are looking for something warm and sweet to sip on while playing cards or chatting with friends, this is one to check out. I was very pleasantly surprised with this one. 


BourbonGuy.com accepts no advertising. It is solely supported by the sale of the hand-made products I sell at the BourbonGuy Gifts Etsy store. If you'd like to support BourbonGuy.com, visit BourbonGuyGifts.com. Thanks!