Blackened - Batch 104

It was a month or two ago when Spotify decided that one of my Daily Mixes would include a heavy dose of old school 80s/90s thrash metal. It was a bit odd since it’s been almost 20 years since I last listened to Metallica or Megadeth (I was never a fan of Slayer or Anthrax, the other two of the Big 4). But for whatever reason, Spotify felt I needed it that day. And it turns out that I did. I enjoyed a day of work listening to Megadeth and pre-Load era Metallica.

Other than help release the stress of the day, the playlist reminded me that I’d been sitting on a bottle of Blackened, Metallica’s whiskey release that I’d picked up on a whim on Halloween 2020. It had been buried in my whiskey closet ever since.

I don’t normally have much interest in “celebrity” whiskey brands. Most of them aren’t worth the, often overly ornate, bottle that they are packaged in. But after two years of seeing it on the shelf, I decided that it had lasted long enough to warrant a look. Plus, Dave Pickerell, a man I’d long respected, had helped with the development before he passed.

So what is Blackened whiskey? Well, it is a blend of straight bourbon and straight rye that has been finished in brandy barrels. Before finishing is complete, the barrels are blasted with a playlist of Metallica music in order to “sonically-enhance the whiskey.” In other words, vibrate the barrels in order to cause more interaction with the wood. (Does it work? No idea, but I can think of a few small distilleries that were doing it before this. So who knows.) Each batch has its own playlist and you can see them all on the Blackened website. (You can listen to batch 104’s playlist on Spotify here. It’s not a bad playlist, though there are a couple of songs I wasn’t a fan of on there.)

In any case, the biggest question is: is it any good?

Blackened - Batch 104

Purchase info: $44.99 for a 750 mL bottle, Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.00

Details: A Blend of Straight Bourbon and Rye Whiskeys (predominantly bourbon according to the website). Finished in Brandy casks. 45% ABV.

Nose: Bubble gum, mint, vanilla, caramel, cedar, and baking spices.

Mouth: Cedar, mint, and baking spices layered over a base of black tea.

Finish: Medium length with lingering spicy cinnamon, cooling mint, and a nice fruitiness.

Thoughts: The further I get into the glass, the more I like this one. (Don't get any ideas, tasting pours are only an ounce in my house.) It tastes like what the label calls it, a blend of whiskeys. You get sips that are straight-up rye and others that are sweet like bourbon. Overall, Blackened is tasty, but I'll probably want to be in the mood for it to pour myself a glass. Like many finished whiskeys, I won't always be in the mood for Blackened, but I will enjoy the shit out of it when I am.

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MB Roland Kentucky Straight Malt Whiskey

Paul and Merry Beth of MB Roland are my friends. Because I might be biased, I have decided to disclose that bias so that you can decide how much to trust the review.

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My whiskey origin story.

Being originally from Wisconsin, my first alcoholic love was beer. When I was about 30, I moved to Minnesota. At the time, Minnesota was suffering under an antiquated “Blue Law” prohibiting the sale of wine, beer, or spirits on Sundays. Liquor stores were closed. You could buy lower alcohol 3.2% beer in grocery stores, but you were basically limited to versions of Bud, Miller or Coors products as they were the only ones with the production capability to make that small of a batch profitably.

After discovering this, I tried my best to always do my beer shopping on Saturday. But It didn’t always work out since all my grocery shopping was typically done on Sundays. So, of course, one hot summer Sunday afternoon I went to the fridge to grab a beer and I discovered that I was out.

Inspired by the cocktail culture that was starting to blossom in the country at that particular moment in history, I decided to turn my attention to my long-neglected liquor cabinet. I had the thought I might make myself a highball, though I didn’t know it was called that at the time. Most of the spirits in that cabinet had been there forever. I think there was a bottle of rum, a vodka, and a few super sugary, and partially crystallized liqueurs. But, out of those meager beginnings, a love of cocktails was born. And learning about cocktails meant learning about spirits. And the best way to learn about spirits is to try them.

Starting with what was in the cabinet, and quickly expanding beyond, I experimented with cocktail making and recipe creation. One of the hobbies I developed was creating infused spirits to make my own liqueurs. I worked my way through a variety of clear spirits until, while on a road trip, I happened upon a newly opened craft distiller in southern Kentucky named MB Roland.

It was that day at MB Roland where my love of whiskey first bloomed. When we walked into the gift shop, Merry Beth Tomaszewski was working. She was so warm and friendly that our visit started on a high note. I’d emailed ahead of time to get a tour so Paul Tomaszewski gave me my first distillery tour. It was a very small tour, because they were a very small distillery. But the things I learned that day sparked a yearning to learn more. You could say that, as this site is an outgrowth of my desire of learning all that I can about whiskey, that the seeds of BourbonGuy.com started that day too. I also made a couple of really good friends.

It was in the MB Roland Gift Shop, that I first tasted whiskey. I was intrigued enough to grab a few bottles to bring home. I picked up their white dog and black dog unaged products. I think I grabbed a flavored moonshine or two. And I picked up a bottle of aged whiskey. In this case, a little 375 mL bottle of the malt whiskey they were experimenting with. I really liked that bottle of malt whiskey. It was my official introduction to American whiskey and was the first thing I ever consumed neat. Needless to say, it was not the last.

Immediately upon returning home from that trip, I started learning everything I could about whiskey. One of the first things I realized was that while I had consumed whiskey before visiting MB Roland, I’d never tasted it before. Like most dumb, college-aged men I’d done way too many shots of Jack, which I really didn’t like. So much so that as I matured, I basically gave up spirits until that fateful Sunday mentioned above. But tasting is so much more than consuming. Tasting is more thoughtful than drinking, sometimes even analytical.

And that was a big realization for me. It led me to want to learn other things about whiskey. I tore through every book I could find on the subject. I visited every distillery I happened across. Hell, I planned routes on my vacations to include stops at distilleries. I read blogs and forums, anything and everything to learn more. And I didn’t just want the fantasies and marketing speak, I wanted the science and the history. I’m a history buff who reads history texts for fun and started college with the goal of becoming a scientist, so digging beyond the surface came naturally to me. As I learned more and more, I realized that I could start sharing some of this knowledge with others. And so, I started BourbonGuy.com.

That is my whiskey origin story. It all started with a bottle of Malt Whiskey and a couple of friends I met at a small craft distillery in Kentucky. And since they started making that Malt Whiskey again a few years ago, I couldn’t help but grab a bottle when I saw it on the shelf during my early December trip to Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.

Like the distillery, the whiskey has grown up in the decade or so since I last had it. It’s the same mashbill but is now straight. They’ve upgraded their equipment, so this version is distilled on the grain like a traditional American whiskey instead of needing to have the grain strained out first. They’ve also started aging in larger barrels.

MB Roland Kentucky Straight Malt Whiskey

Purchase Info: $48.99 for a 750 mL bottle at the Party Source, Bellevue, KY

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.27

Details: At least 2 years old. 55.5% ABV. Mash bill: 63% Malted Barley. 21% White Corn. 15% Rye. Batch 5, Bottle 22 of 185.

Nose: Nutty, cocoa powder, hints of dried grain underneath.

Mouth: Dark chocolate along with nutty and grassy notes.

Finish: Warm, sweet, and medium length. Lingering "candy bar" notes of nuts and cocoa.

Thoughts: I really like this. My wife, not as much. She isn't a "malted barley fan" though. (She'd be happier with a glass of hops than with a malt-forward beer). Ah well, more for me! I think this is a candy bar in a glass. Thick, rich, and full of nutty chocolate. Yum!

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Basil Hayden's 10 Year Old Rye

It is Groundhog Day today. And though I’m not one to put much faith in the weather-related prognostications of a large rodent, I did really enjoy the Bill Murray movie of the same name as a kid. I mean, I’m sure I would still like it, but it played on our HBO subscription so often that I haven’t felt the need to dive back in for the last 25 years or so.

So, being Groundhog Day today, it is fitting that I am taking a look at a Basil Hayden’s release. Like the main character reliving the same day over and over in the movie, I feel like I’m reliving the same experience every time I purchase one of these. Every single time that I buy one, I buy it expressly to review. But every time I do, I think to myself: “well, the last few haven’t been great, but maybe this one will surprise me.”

And then I’m never surprised.

In fact, after the 10-year-old bourbon, I was hesitant to ever buy a bottle of Basil Hayden’s again. Here is what I said about that:

In the past, I have excused the price of the original Basil Hayden. I had the thought that it was less of a cash grab for underproofed bourbon and more a brilliant way to get new bourbon drinkers into the fold. Knowing, from my own experiences that people new to any liquor category, at least those that don’t live on the bottom shelf, want “something good” to try out and also knowing that for most uniformed people “something good” actually means “something with a pretty bottle that has a bit of a higher price tag,” it stands to reason that this new-to-bourbon person might grab a bottle of super gentle Basil Hayden with it’s higher price and pretty bottle. Then after trying it—and not being scared off by the “burn”—maybe find they enjoy it. And then eventually move on to real bourbon. And that probably worked when there weren’t so many crap bourbons in pretty bottles on your local shelf with a price tag over $50. These days, original Basil Hayden can be one of the less expensive of the “pretty bottle crowd.” I saw it on sale for less than $30 as I was researching its local price tonight and have seen it that low (and bought it) in the past. So I thought Beam was reacting to the changing market by correcting the price downward. With the recent brand expansions, we have seen that is not the case. Original Basil Hayden may be cheaper these days, but all the new ones that share its name are not. And the worst offender is this 10 year old version. Like I said earlier, this is a perfectly acceptable bourbon. In fact, I wish more of the Old Grand Dad line had this kind of barrel influence on it. But the flavor is comparable to Buffalo Trace or maybe Henry McKenna Bottled in Bond. Notice I said flavor, not heat or complexity. This suffers from the same issue that Original Basil Hayden’s has: it’s too gentle and low proof for the price, but this doesn’t have the excuse of being a “gateway” bourbon.

So yeah…I knew this and yet the idea of a new experience for a well-aged rye whiskey was too good to pass up. I love a good rye. I love making cocktails with it. Let’s see if I’ve finally broken out of Groundhog Day or if this is just another repeat in a long line of repeats.

Basil Hayden's 10-Year-Old Rye

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

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.40

Details: 10 years old. 40% ABV

Nose: Cinnamon, clove, and mint.

Mouth: Thin in the mouth. Cinnamon, mint, almond, and oak.

Finish: Short and kinda bitter. Cinnamon, clove, oak, and cinnamon.

Thoughts: Wow. Not much to this one. I know I talked about my theories as to why Basil Hayden's exists above, but even for Basil Hayden's this is disappointing. It isn't bad, per se. But it isn't good either. It's just sort of... there. I'd give this one a pass unless you like oak flavors that have been diluted to the point of bitterness.

I think I’m done with Basil Hayden’s releases. This one finally killed it for me. I love most of the stuff that Beam is doing these days, but this one just isn’t for me. Maybe I’m finally breaking free of Groundhog Day…either that or I’m still stuck and will get to relive yet another repeat when the next release draws me in.

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A Look at the New Ezra Brooks 99 and a Revisiting of Ezra Brooks Bourbon

I’d like to thank ByrnePR and Lux Row for providing the review sample of Ezra Brooks 99 with no strings attached.

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Eighteen hundred, sixty-nine days ago, I published If You've Had... Ezra Brooks Edition. A non-judgemental article about the then-current Ezra Brooks line-up and how they compared to one another flavor-wise. It looked at Ezra Brooks, Old Ezra 101 proof (7-year-old), and Ezra B (a 12-year old single barrel version). In the intervening years the line-up, heck the company, has undergone a complete revamp. Ezra B and Old Ezra 101 proof were discontinued. Luxco built a distillery that they named Lux Row. They reintroduced Old Ezra, still seven years old, but now barrel proof. And this week it was announced that Luxco was being purchased by MGP.

That’s a busy few years for Ezra Brooks. And to top all of that off, there is also a newcomer to the Ezra Brooks line-up. Ezra Brooks 99 is a 99 proof version of the original Ezra Brooks. Here’s what the company had to say about the new addition.

“With Ezra Brooks 99 our goal was to create a higher-proof bourbon without sacrificing the rich notes Ezra Brooks is known for,” said John Rempe, master distiller at Lux Row Distillers. “And we achieved that with 99. The result is a smooth, drinkable bourbon with hints of caramel, vanilla, chocolate and spice. We’re thrilled to introduce Ezra Brooks 99 to bourbon lovers everywhere.”

This is rolling out nationwide during January 2021, but they were kind enough to send over a sample so I could take an early look.

Ezra Brooks 99

Purchase Info: This was graciously provided by the distillery for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $24.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $1.67

Details: 49.5% ABV

Nose: Mint, cherry, nutmeg, and caramel.

Mouth: Caramel, cherry, milk chocolate, and cinnamon.

Finish: Medium length and sweet. Lingering caramel, mint, and cinnamon.

Thoughts: This is a very nice step up from the Ezra Brooks 90 Proof. It's a lot sweeter, with strong caramel and milk chocolate notes. It's got a good mouthfeel. I'm on board. This is a good sub $30 bourbon. It will probably crack the “daily drinker” rotation on occasion when it shows up at local liquor stores.

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Turning away from the new kid on the block, let’s take a look at that OG fixture of the Ezra Brooks line up. It’s named, fittingly, Ezra Brooks. It has been two thousand, four hundred, ninety-nine days since I first published tasting notes of Ezra Brooks Bourbon. It was during the very first Bottom-Shelf Bracket. Spoiler: it made it out of the first round but not out of the second. Back in 2014, I had this to say about it:

This one is a classic value play. It’s good considering it’s well under $20 per liter, if it were $30 I don’t know that I would buy it.

So, what do I think about it 6+ years later?

Ezra Brooks Bourbon: Revisited

Purchase Info: $13.99 for a one-liter bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $0.70

Details: 45% ABV

Nose: Mint, bubble gum, and a hint of nutmeg

Mouth: Caramel, almond, baking spice, and a hint of mint.

Finish: Medium length and warm. Dried grains and cinnamon red hots that fades into sweet caramel.

Thoughts: Picked this up for $14 for a liter. Very pleased with the purchase. Decent spice, nice mouthfeel, and good flavor. A very nice "value" bourbon that compares well against others in its price point. I should probably grab this more often than I do. Though now, I’ll probably grab the 99 proof instead most of the time.

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Booker's Bourbon: Batch 2020-03 "Pigskin Batch"

I’d like to thank the folks at Jim Beam for providing the following review sample with no strings attached.

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I’m having a hard time believing that it has been since September of 2018 since I last had a bottle of Booker’s in the house. Truth be told, I don’t have a bottle of Booker’s in the house now either. The small sample I got of their most recent batch was finished this past weekend when I did the tasting notes below.

I’ve been meaning to pick up a bottle. But I’m always so distracted by the next “shiney” new thing to remember the old favorites. Because even with the price increases the brand has experienced, it is still one of the few $50+ bottles that I never regret buying. Sure since the price went up, it no longer sits on the “every day” bourbon shelf and is instead on the “special occasion” shelf. But honestly, that’s just a trick I play on myself to make it last longer. Which, at a recommended price of $89.99, is a good thing.

So, knowing all of that, it was an easy decision to inquire about a sample when the most recent batch of 2020 was introduced. This one is named for the fact that Booker Noe, like many of us, was a big fan of football. And since I was doing the tasting notes while I watched my Green Bay Packers lose on Sunday, it seemed fitting to grab this one for this week.

Booker's Bourbon: Batch 2020-03 "Pigskin Batch"

Purchase Info: This sample was graciously provided by the distillery for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $89.99

Price per Drink (50 mL): $6.00

Details: 6 years, 7 months, 7 days old. 63.65% ABV.

Nose: Caramel, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Mouth: Thick mouthfeel. Caramel, cinnamon.

Finish: Warm and long. Sweet and spicy.

Thoughts: This reminds me that I need to buy Booker's more often. It's been way too long since I dropped the coin on it and it is always worth the cost to me. As expected, I'm really liking this one.

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Alberta Premium Cask Strength Rye

I’d like to thank the folks at BeamSuntory and their PR firms for providing a review sample with no strings attached.

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It was four days before Christmas when the PR folks representing the Alberta Distillers portion of BeamSuntory sent me an email informing me of the imminent arrival of a new Limited Edition release from our neighbors to the north. Now, I’ve been a fan of the Rye Whiskey produced at the Alberta Distillers distillery for quite some time. I’ve had it from various importers, some more honest than others about the source of their product. I even had a taste of a 30-year-old version from a friend in Ontario. But as I had never had a version bottled at Cask Strength, I eagerly jumped at the offer of a sample.

Funnily enough though, before that sample could arrive, I found a bottle sitting on the liquor store shelf. And no, as I was almost certain that I would enjoy this particular whiskey, I did not pass it up. After the small review sample arrived, I noticed that the proof was different than what was on my purchased bottle. The PR folks confirmed that the sample contained the Canadian release, but that the only difference between that and the US version was the proof. Just so we are clear, I’m reviewing the one I purchased tonight. Seemed to be the proper course of action as maybe that will be the one you can find too.

Here’s what the press release has to say about it:

Originally released in Canada earlier this year, the limited-edition rye is crafted and distilled in Calgary, Alberta using pure 100% prairie rye mash bills and Rocky Mountain water. The result is a perfectly balanced liquid that reflects the brand's Canadian heritage and expert whisky craftsmanship. Making a name for itself in the Canadian market, Alberta Premium Cask Strength Rye comes to the U.S. after being sold out for months in Canada. Whisky fans can taste the purity in every bottle, distilled from the finest Canadian prairie grains grown by local farmers and refreshing glacier-fed Rocky Mountain spring water. This limited-edition, 100% rye is a very sippable whisky, best enjoyed neat with a drop of water or on the rocks.

Let’s see if my optimism was warranted.

Alberta Premium Cask Strength Rye

Purchase Info: $71.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Eagan, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.80

Details: 66% ABV. Mash bill: 100% rye grain.

Nose: Cinnamon candies, mint, and sandalwood.

Mouth: Hot, as might be expected. Cinnamon candies arrive to the party first, followed by cedar and caramel.

Finish: Long and very warm. Lingering mint, cinnamon, and cedar.

Thoughts: I was right, I really like this one. If you have a thought that all Canadian whiskies are polite and delicately flavored, this will slap those thoughts right out of your head. This is hot and flavorful. I get tons of cinnamon red hot candies. It’s really tasty. I’m going to need to ration this one so it lasts me a while.

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Thomas S. Moore Extended Cask Finish Bourbons, 2020

I’d like to thank the folks at Sazerac for providing these review samples with no strings attached.

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Last month Sazerac released the first of an ongoing series of “extended cask finished” bourbons from the Barton 1792 distillery. I was fortunate enough to get a sample of all three sent to me, so since there will be three sets of tasting notes, let’s jump straight into the background info without dilly-dallying around.

According to the press release, the Thomas S. Moore line is the first “ultra-premium brand” from the Barton 1792 Distillery. They start with the “signature high rye bourbon” aged for “many years in new charred oak barrels” (According to Master Distiller Denny Kahn speaking to the Bourbon Review, many in this case means 5-7 years old). The bourbon is then aged in finishing casks for between one and three years in order to draw out not only the character of the product previously in the barrel but also that of the finishing barrel itself (again according to the article in the Bourbon Review).

Sounds interesting to me, let’s see how they taste.

Thomas S. Moore Extended Cask Finish Bourbons, 2020

Purchase Info: This sample was graciously provided by the distillery for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $69.99

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.67

Cabernet Sauvignon Cask Finish

Details: 47.65% ABV

Nose: Cotton candy, mint, red fruits, toffee, and hints of oak.

Mouth: Baking spice, mint, and a hint of red fruit.

Finish: Long and flavorful on the finish. Spicy red wine notes, dark chocolate, salted caramel, mint, and oak.

Thoughts: The finish makes this one, it's just so flavorful. I'd say most of the wine cask influence makes its presence known at this point. I just kept having new and different notes pop up as I analyzed it. Without that amazingly flavorful finish, I would have given this a meh or low like. As it is, I have no problem saying I like it. Recommended for folks that already like cask finishes though.

Chardonnay Cask Finish

Details: 48.95% ABU

Nose: Sweet. Lots of fruit, wine influence. Welch's grape juice, spearmint gum, and clean oak.

Mouth: Cinnamon, ginger, citrus zest, mint.

Finish: Medium length. Notes of oak, ginger, mint.

Thoughts: I like this one, but probably not enough to personally run out and try to get a bottle. Unlike the Cabernet Sauvignon version, the wine influence takes over a bit too much for me. I'm not getting as many bourbon notes as I'd have liked.

Port Cask Finish

Details: 49.45% ABV

Nose: Almond, cooked cereal, hints of red fruits.

Mouth: Thick mouthfeel. Cinnamon, almond, caramel, red fruits, milk chocolate.

Finish: Fairly short. Notes of oak, baking spices, caramel, a touch of mint-and some dried fruits.

Thoughts: This is the most "bourbony" of the three. Oddly it is also the least interesting of the three. Of course, interesting isn't always what you want in a glass of bourbon. So do with that information what you will. Like the Chardonnay version, I'd happily take a glass if offered but probably wouldn't run out to buy it on my own.

Overall, I liked the Cabernet Sauvignon the best and will probably grab a bottle if I see it. The other two I am happy to have tried but won't be buying now that I have. I like them, but I’d need to be in the mood for them and they would sit on my shelf for quite a while. That Cabernet, on the other hand, would have to be rationed so I didn’t drink it too fast.

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New Riff Single Barrel Rye: Gift Shop Selection

About a month ago, I decided that I needed to get out of the house. Badly. And as luck would have it, I had an excuse to get out of the house. I needed to pick up the Whiskey Club purchases from New Riff that I had purchased.

When I purchased them, I hadn’t exactly thought about how I was going to get them. I just assumed that some opportunity would present itself. And it did. Eight months of isolation released itself in an intense desire to drive. So the wife and I got up before dawn on an early December Saturday, pointed the car to the southeast, and drove. We drove, with very few stops (basically potty breaks and a stop at Binny’s) straight through to the Kentucky suburbs of Cincinnati.

Once there we checked into our hotel, ordered a late-night pizza, drank some bourbon, and went to bed. The next morning we picked up our purchases at the New Riff distillery, did a little whiskey shopping at the Party Source, and drove 13 hours home. Arriving just before midnight.

It was the quickest trip to Kentucky and back I’d ever taken. And under ordinary circumstances, I wouldn’t recommend it. But that weekend, the car felt like heaven. The conversations with my wife were divine. The hotel felt like a dream. And the pizza tasted like the best I’d ever had. Pretty sure most of that was just because it wasn’t home. I mean, my wife and I have spent most of the last nine months together, but a mini-vacation that encompassed spending time together with nothing to do but talk and drive was exactly what we both needed.

And I picked up a lot of fun store picks that I’ll be showing off in the coming month or so. Starting with tonight’s gift shop selection from New Riff.

New Riff Single Barrel Rye, Gift Shop Edition

Purchase Info: $55.99 for a 750 mL bottle at the New Riff Distillery gift shop.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.73

Details: 4 years old. 51.6% ABV. Mash bill: 95% rye, 5% malted rye. Barrel number: 16-11560.

Nose: Spearmint, cinnamon, toffee, and cedar greenery.

Mouth: Follows the nose with lots of spearmint and cinnamon, followed by notes of sweet toffee and cedar greenery.

Finish: Medium length. Cool mint and sweetness and spice linger.

Thoughts: I really like this. It has enough sweetness that even my rye-adverse wife likes it. The spice and sweet are a wonderful complement to the spearmint. Notes of cedar greenery are just the right touch to finish things off. I really hope we get some of these rye single barrels up my way. And I hope they are even half as good as this barrel pick.

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