Catching Up With Old Friends

It's the season of holidays. Christmas, Hanukkah, Boxing Day, Festivus, Saturnalia, Winter Solstice, Yule, Kwanzaa, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, and...I continually marvel that some people are offended by Happy Holidays when this is literally the alternative if you want to be kind enough to wish someone blessings for the holiday they celebrate instead of the one that you do.

But whichever of the many options you celebrate at this time of year, it is often a time to gather with friends and family. For many people, that means visiting with people that you see only once a year, or even once every few years. It's a nice time to reunite with old friends, even if it just with a card, dropped in the mail. 

As such, I've chosen to catch up with a couple of friends of mine tonight. It's been a while since we really spent some time together and I'm eager to visit with them and see how they are doing. As they were previously some of my favorites, I really hope they are still doing well. And yes, of course, I'm talking about bourbon here. 

Tonight I'll be catching up with Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, who I haven't seen since August 2013, and Four Roses Small Batch who was last treated very unfairly by being compared to two Limited Small Batch Releases in January 2013.

Four Roses Small Batch

Purchase Info: $31.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Details: 45% ABV

Nose: Ripe, juicy berries, almonds, and mint. This really reminds me of an alcoholic herbal tea blend. 

Mouth: Follows the nose with ripe berries and herbal mint. Brown sugar, vanilla and a hint of oak that comes along for the ride. 

Finish: Medium to short, but settles nicely in the chest with lingering sweet fruit.

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Thoughts: Not to get too deep into the Four Roses marketing speak, but I've always found this to be a very mellow bourbon. Easy to drink with nice fruit and herbal flavors. I'm still a big fan of this one. 

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof

Purchase Info: $74.99 for a 750 mL bottle at the Heaven Hill Bourbon Heritage Center Gift Shop (September). 

Details: 69.7% ABV...you'll probably want at least a little water with this one.

Nose: Nutty oak, Cinnamon candies, caramel, vanilla, and baking spices. 

Mouth: This is a hot one that you don't really want to drink neat or hold in your mouth very long, as might be guessed at very near to 140 proof. Beyond heat is a sweet bourbon with lots of caramel, nutty oak, and baking spices. 

Finish: This finish is long and very warm with lingering oak and spices. 

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Thoughts: I've been enjoying the heck out of this one since I opened it. At this proof and price, I don't go to it often, but that's because I don't want to empty it too fast. Big, big fan of this.

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Willett Pot Still Reserve

I'm still periodically working my way through the line-up of Willett bourbons. This time it is the one with their name right on the very distinctive bottle. Willett Pot Still Reserve. 

You've seen it. It's the one that looks like the squat pot still with a long straight neck. It is a very distinctive bottle. And one that drew my eye as a bourbon novice. I first had this in the Old Talbot Tavern in Bardstown, Kentucky. It was my first time in Kentucky, and I was enjoying my first bourbon flight. As it was a build-your-own flight, I was excited to choose the one in the fancy bottle. 

Aaaand...I didn't like it. 

Or at least I didn't like it as much as I expected to. And like so many of the non-Family Estate line, I gave up on it. I liked it enough to give it as a gift to those people who would be impressed by an ok bourbon in a pretty bottle, but I didn't buy any more for myself. And that kinda drove my wife crazy since she wanted to try it.

When I decided to explore the Willett line, I decided early on that I was going to wait on this one. I really didn't want to plunk down the cash for a pretty bottle when I could be giving their other brands a chance instead. 

But, here's the thing...this is not a bad whiskey. I initially made a judgment on it early on in my bourbon journey. A night that featured it tried as part of a heavily poured five bourbon flight. Not fair at all. 

So let's see how it stands up on its own in an appropriate setting. 

Willett Pot Still Reserve

Purchase info: $37.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Details: 47% ABV. Batch 16C13.

Nose: Nutty and minty with brown sugar and a note that reminds me of a sweetened fruit-flavored breakfast cereal, think Trix or Fruit Loops.

Mouth: Mint, black pepper, brown sugar and malty cereal notes. 

Finish: Fairly short with malty cereal and black pepper. 

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Thoughts: Well, here it is. I like this bourbon. I really do. I'm happy to have a pour of it if my wife brings me a glass of it on her turn to grab us a drink. But, to be honest, I still don't consider this a good value. At almost $40 a bottle, I want something more than what this presents. There are a lot of other bottles at the price point that I would purchase first. So it ends up where it started with me. It's good enough that I will still buy it for people who are more impressed with an ok whiskey in a beautiful bottle than a fantastic whiskey in a plain one, but I will drop my money on a different bourbon for myself. 

This is recommended for people who enjoy bourbons with a more grain and cereal forward flavor profile. People who, I will admit, are normally not me.

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!

Woodford Reserve Personal Selection

So. It's official. I'm 40 now. 

I mean, if you are counting from the time I was born, I was 40 a few months ago. But age is just a number, right? It's all about how you feel. And now I feel 40. 

Last week, I went to the eye doctor for the first time in about 15 years. 

...I know. I know. But yeah...

Anyway, I still have great vision, the lady tells me. Things are great, it's going to be great. There is only one little thing that I might need. It's optional, but it will help. You guessed it, glasses. Well, part time. For computer use, not for all the time. 

When I was a much younger boy than I am now, I always wanted glasses. I understood that they were a pain in the ass, well I understood that people said they were a pain in the ass. But I liked that they were something that you could change about yourself. Get a new set of frames, and you looked completely different. It seemed like something that would be fun. 

Yeah, I was an idiot. But I was young, and you do and think a lot of stupid things when you are young. Now that I have these things on my face, I just feel old. Not like I'm about to keel over, but like I'm an adult who needs to be responsible. It's just one more thing to keep track of. I actually wandered around the house today wondering where I had put them...only to find them right next to where I had been sitting. 

I do find it funny, though. People always say that your body starts to go to hell at 40. I guess this is the first step. This year it's something minor like computer glasses. Next year I'll probably break a hip or something. 

It's all downhill from here folks. What the hell, let's have a drink.

Woodford Reserve Personal Selection, Liquor Barn Series 10-1

Purchase Info: I seem to have lost this receipt, but I bought it at a Liquor Barn in Louisville, KY. (Fitting that I just spent over six paragraphs telling you I was feeling old, huh?)

Details: 45.2% ABV. Personal Selection from Liquor Barn. Series 10-1.

Nose: Green apple, wintergreen, brown sugar, and oak.

Mouth: Peppery heat, apple wintergreen, baking spices, and oak.

Finish: Spicy and of medium length. Lingering black pepper, cinnamon gum, and wintergreen. 

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Thoughts: I like this one a lot. It's spicier than I would have guessed it would be from its proof and provenance. The typical "Brown-Forman" note is downplayed to the point where I might not have guessed this was Woodford if I'd been given it blind. The folks at Liquor Barn did a nice job picking this one. Makes me wish I could find a store doing Personal Selections of Woodford around here in Minnesota.  

I've told you about my Etsy store over at BourbonGuyGifts.com, right? It's only the internet's newest source for tasting journals and bourbon-inspired home decor made by hand, by me! You can also find things like vintage whiskey bottles as I trim my collection down. 

Federal Law Forbids Sale or Re-Use of This Bottle - A BourbonGuy project

The video is 10 minutes long. Long story short, I want your help gathering data on old liquor bottles. Prohibition until the mid-1960s. I'm putting together a spreadsheet that when it reaches a useful mass I will be giving to the bottle dating people at sha.org to make available to the folks who use to their site. Download a pdf of the spreadsheet as it stands right now if you are curious what sort of info I'm gathering. 

If you feel like helping, here are examples of the images I'm requesting (I didn't include a label image I figured we all know what label look like). Thanks!

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Colonial Spirits: a Toast to Our Drunken History

I bought the book Colonial Spirits knowing nothing about it, or it's author. I saw the title and thought it sounded like a fun read. Until I did a little internet searching, I did not know who Steven Grasse was. I did not know that he used to run an ad agency. I did not know that he is the creative force behind Root, Snap and other delightful sounding drinks that I haven't ever had before. But, I am a history buff, and I am a fan of drinks. These topics often intersect in Colonial American history. So it sounded like a good bet that I would like this one.

But there is a problem. The book takes the idea of "Drunken History" a little too seriously. I like the history. I like the recipes (even if it did say to shake a Sazerac). But the book is loud, brash and feels a bit too likely to scream "'Murica!" at me. It reads a lot like a drunk man is telling you stories in the oh-so-confident way that only a slightly inebriated person can manage.

Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. But, we've all been around drunk people. They can be fun, but then without warning, they can be quite emotional. They can be brash and loud until they become quiet and morose. Sometimes they pick fights and wonder why people are picking on them. In other words, drunk people can be really fun until they are not. My problem with this book is that it was written in the voice of the fun drunk person and I kept waiting for it to turn into the emotional, mean one. I get that this is more about me than the book.

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The book is worth a read, and the cocktails are worth a try. My favorite (and the one pictured in the photo above) was one called the New Amsterdam. It's a take on a Manhattan with Cherry Bounce instead of whiskey and both dry and sweet vermouth to go along with orange bitters. It's sweet but quite delicious. 

Hey, have I told you about BourbonGuyGifts.com? It is one of the ways you can support the blog and still get something back. I hand-craft items from barrel bungs, barrel staves and more to make coat racks, candle holders, tasting journals, drink coasters and more. Check it out, won't you? 

Buffalo Trace Store pick: Westport Whiskey & Wine

Back in September, I met up with a fellow blogger for his first trip to the Party Source. It's in the Kentucky part of the Cincinnati Metro area, and he'd just moved to Ohio. We'd never met in real life before, and I'm always up for a bit of whiskey shopping, so I was more than willing to make the drive from Louisville to Cincinnati.

And boy did I fill my cart. I didn't get anything too special, but everything I did get was unavailable here in Minnesota, so that made it special to me. I must have bought like eight to ten bottles of bourbon. I doubt I spent more than $12 on most of them. It was fun. A lot of chatting. A bunch of shopping. Good times had all around. 

So of course, after heading back to Louisville, we decided that since we were driving right past Westport Whiskey and Wine that, well, we'd probably better stop in. I mean we are right there. It'd be a shame to have to drive all the way back over here, wouldn't it? (Not going to mention we were visiting a friend later in the week that lives about 15 minutes from there...)

After we had convinced ourselves that this was, indeed, the best course of action we stopped in and took a look around. WW&W is not a huge mega-store. It's a nice sized store that has a decent selection and has had a private selection of one sort or another, every time I visit. I can't remember what we actually went in looking for, but I'm pretty sure we didn't find it. What I found instead was a liter bottle of a store pick Buffalo Trace. I hadn't picked up a Buffalo Trace for a while, so when they offered me a sample, I was pretty sure that I was going to buying it if it was at all good. And it was. It was very good. 

Or well as good as anything can be in a tiny disposable plastic shot glass. 

Buffalo Trace Private Selection, Westport Whiskey & Wine

Purchase Info: $37.99 for a one-liter bottle at Westport Whiskey and Wine, Louisville, KY.

Details: Barrel # 111, 45% ABV

Nose: Cinnamon sugar, crisp apples,and almonds.

Mouth: Fresh Green apple, almond, and baking spices rounded out by vanilla and oak.

Finish: Warm with lingering vanilla and apple. 

Thoughts: This is a tasty variation on the Buffalo Trace flavor profile. This is a good example of why I like store picks. 

If you've had standard Buffalo Trace, then the store pick is...

Fruitier on the nose with more prominent cinnamon. The mouth is softer with more fruit and spice, but with less pronounced almond notes. The finish is a little warmer. 

Have I told you about BourbonGuyGifts.com? It is one of the ways you can support the blog and still get something back. I hand-craft items from barrel bungs, barrel staves and more to make coat racks, candle holders, tasting journals, drink coasters and more. Check it out, won't you? 

Yellowstone Limited Edition 2016

I state in my Statement of Ethics that if I accept a review sample, I will disclose it at the beginning of the article. Please consider it disclosed. I’d like to thank Common Ground PR for providing this sample to me with no strings attached. 

So there I was, at the Lux Row Distillery announcement, trying to act like a real reporter instead of the clown at the back of the room for once. I don't usually cover events like this, but since I was going to be in town for it anyway, I thought it might be interesting to attend one so I could see how they work. 

As I stood there, taking notes, a couple joined us. The male half was wearing a Yellowstone shirt. He introduced himself as Paul Beam, and we chatted for a bit. Paul is half of the team of brothers that started the Limestone Branch Distillery. After a while, my friends from MB Roland wandered over along with Steve Beam, the other brother from Limestone Branch.

Over the course of the week, as I hung out with my friends from MB Roland, I got to chat with Steve Beam quite a bit. I learned a lot of things I can't share...which is really no problem since I tend to have an awful memory. In any case, I decided that I liked Steve Beam. He was a nice, though opinionated, guy who was fun to hang out with over a few bourbons. 

And so, when I got the press release that the Beam's and Luxco were releasing another of the black labeled limited edition Yellowstone bourbons for 2016, I wasted no time in accepting a sample to see what he and his brother had been up to.

The 2016 edition of Yellowstone Limited Edition features two bourbons, a 12-year-old and a 7-year-old, that were mingled and allowed reentered into new toasted wine barrels for additional aging. Now I want to be sure I am clear here (mostly because my wife misunderstood me the first time I read this to her as well). These are new, toasted barrels that were intended for wine...not barrels that once held wine. Big difference there. 

But there is still one question to be answered, was it any good?

Yellowstone Limited Edition 2016

Purchase Info: This sample was provided by Common Ground PR, but the suggested price is $99.99.

Details: 7 years old. 50.5% ABV. Finished in toasted barrels.

Nose: Fruit and mint lead with caramel, oak, and cardamom pods coming after.

Mouth: Peppery heat with the initial sip. Oak, caramel, cinnamon spice, anise, and mint follow.

Finish: Long with a nice warmth. Fruit and spices linger. 

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Thoughts: This is a very good bourbon. There is enough proof to make itself known, but not enough to overpower. The age gives nice oak and spice. The fruitiness is present, but not overly so. Very good bourbon. 

So you are wondering about price, aren't you? Well, I think in today's market, this is good enough to warrant the price being asked. Being a freelance designer and writer, I probably won't see it in my budget anytime soon, but if I had $100 extra and saw it sitting on the shelf, I'd certainly think about it. 

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!

Bar Review: The Silver Dollar, Louisville, KY

I don't usually review bars. Partly because I live in suburban Minnesota and there are few really good bourbon bars near enough for me to frequent them without a half hour to forty-five-minute drive afterward. So when I'm at home, I tend to have my bourbon in my home. 

When I travel, on the other hand, I go out more. Seriously why wouldn't you? That's part of the reason you are away from home in the first place, to not to do what you do at home.

When I visit most places in the country, I tend to find a brewery taproom to settle down in or at least a bar with a good selection of local things on tap. But when I go to Kentucky, it's all about the bourbon. I try to hit at least one new place every time I'm there. But there is one place I visit every single time. 

My friend Fred introduced me to the Silver Dollar on one of my February road trips to someplace without snow. I was passing through Louisville on my to someplace theoretically warmer than Minnesota, and we made plans to meet for supper and a drink. The weather outside was cold and rainy, but inside, the warm and friendly atmosphere made me immediately feel welcome as I waited for everyone to arrive. This is the kind of place that has big Christmas lights on the walls and where the music comes from a vinyl record.

I was impressed by that first visit, and when my wife and I found ourself back in Louisville on my birthday, it was the first place I thought of to get supper. Smoked brisket and creamy mac and cheese. Mmmmm. Add in a glass or two of bourbon from one of their privately selected barrels, and it made for a perfect birthday meal. 

I've gone back every time I've been to Louisville since. Sometimes more than once. When I have it, the food is always good, and I always search out a private barrel selection for my glass. They often have more than one barrel of whatever they've got. I always ask the bartender which they prefer, and I've never been disappointed when I followed their advice.

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I can't recommend this place highly enough. If you've been there, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, you need to remedy that on your next trip to Louisville. 

The Silver Dollar can be found online at http://www.whiskeybythedrink.com/

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!