New Riff Straight Malted Rye Whiskey

So last week my wife left me…Shit that sounds bad. Let’s try this again.

Last week my wife took a trip to visit a long-time friend and help her out with a fan convention that her friend was putting on. I was left alone to pretend to be a bachelor. I had big plans of eating lots of junk food, watching a lot of movies, just really learning into the whole I don’t have to be a responsible adult thing.

And it turns out that I wasn’t. Responsible that is. Because I ended up mistaking just how long a container of leftovers had been in the fridge, giving myself what seems to be a mild case of food poisoning. It’s been fun. I felt like I was prepping for a colonoscopy at one point. Now I’m just hanging around feeling nauseated and trying hard not to do anything that will upset that. The upside is that I did get to watch a lot of movies once the pups I was watching went home. I just had to do it while laying down and with frequent pausing.

All of that is to say, this is to explain why there wasn’t a post on Tuesday and why this post will be mostly quoting from the website of tonight’s whiskey.

New Riff Distilling is pleased to introduce a new, regular extension to their award winning lineup: New Riff Straight Malted Rye Whiskey Bottled in Bond Without Chill Filtration. This style of whiskey is made of 100% malted rye grain, which is quite rare, even in today’s craft distilling scene. Malted rye is rye grain that has undergone the process of malting. When you malt a grain you alter and, arguably, improve and refine its flavor. That’s exactly what’s happened here, as the typically spicy flavor of rye becomes polished, refined, and subtle.

New Riff Malted Rye is elegant. Graceful. It presents plenty of spice but in a much more sophisticated fashion than our standard 95% rye. It actually makes more sense to us to think of it as a malted whiskey first, and a rye whiskey second. At a generous six years old, our New Riff Malted Rye Bottled in Bond Without Chill Filtration is the oldest New Riff whiskey yet released, and will remain at six years as something of an exclamation point atop our standard portfolio.

Now, if you’ve been around a while, you will know that I don’t usually like whiskey with malted rye in it. Much less one that is 100% malted rye. But I also have yet to find a New Riff whiskey that I didn’t like so I figured that if anyone was going to make a malted rye whiskey that I liked, it would be them. So I bought it. Let’s see how it tastes.

New Riff Kentucky Straight Malted Rye Whiskey

Purchase info: $60.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.07

Details: Bottled in Bond. 50% ABV. Six years old. Mash bill consists of 100% malted rye. Non-Chill Filtered.

Nose: Wintergreen, plum, brown sugar, and cinnamon.

Mouth: Thick and sweet with spicy cinnamon, wintergreen, and baked fruit.

Finish: Warm and of medium length. Notes of cedar, plum, and cinnamon.

Thoughts: Well, shit! This is damn good! If you'd handed it to me blind, I wouldn't have guessed that this was a rye until the finish when the cedar notes arrive. The mouth is thick, sweet, and rich, which isn't something I usually find in rye whiskey. Especially at less than barrel-proof. I guess my initial thought was correct when I speculated that New Riff would be the most likely to be able to put out a malted rye whiskey that I'd enjoy. And on top of that it makes a damn fine Old Fashioned. This one is certainly worth a look.

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Penelope Barrel Strength Bourbon, Batch 14

This is part two of a two-part series on Penelope Bourbon and their recent purchase by MGP. On Tuesday we talked about Penelope Bourbon and why they are currently in the news. Today, we are going to take it easy and jump right into the tasting notes. We are coming up on a holiday weekend after all and I’m sure you are all busy.

In backup, this bourbon is very similar to the 80° proof Four Grain. It is still blended from three different bourbons from MGP. The final composite “mash bill” percentages work out a little differently at 74% Corn, 16% Wheat, 7% Rye and 3% Malted Barely. Guessing that is due to a slightly higher percentage of the MGP Wheated bourbon being used in this one. The proof is obviously different, what with it being barrel strength. The batch I’m looking at is batch 14 and that has a proof of 112° proof. This batch has also been aged for 4 years instead of 26 months.

On Tuesday, I said the following about the 80° proof version:

Thoughts: This is a well crafted bourbon. I can see why MGP would want to pick this brand up, especially since it seems like the blender is staying on. That said, I doubt I will be picking it up again. For almost $40, I want more than "26 months" in the barrel and 80° proof. Hopefully the new owners will adjust the price -to-value ratio a bit, though I'm realistic enough to have my doubts. That said, in a vacuum, it's a tasty bourbon... as long as you are the one buying.

So now that my two largest issues with the bourbon have been addressed, let’s see how it tastes.

Penelope Barrel Strength Bourbon, Batch 14

Purchase Info: $63.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.27

Details: 4 years old. 56% ABV. Batch 14. Blend of three bourbon mash bills combining to the ratio 74% Corn, 16% Wheat, 7% Rye, and 3% Malted Barley. Barrels have a #4 char, the heads have #2 char. Non-chill filtered.

Nose: Milk chocolate, red fruits, and caramel.

Mouth: Sweet with vanilla and chocolate, spicy cinnamon, and strawberry jam.

Finish: Medium length and warm. Notes of caramel, raspberry jam, and cinnamon.

Thoughts: Wow! What a step up from the 80° proof version. The nose is like a delicious dessert. That continues into the mouth with chocolate and a delightful jammy note. And then it continues again with a sweet and spicy finish. I'm actually shocked at how good this is. I'm going to keep an eye out for another bottle from this batch for the ol' whiskey closet. I really like this one.

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Penelope Four Grain Bourbon

So the big news in the whiskey world over the last few weeks is that MGP is buying another of their customers. This is a trend for them. They started the entire customer facing push by buying the George Remus brand a few years ago. Then they bought an entire liquor producer in Luxco. I’m sure there have been others, but the one we are focused on today is Penelope Bourbon. According to MGP, the acquisition is part of their “premiumization strategy.”

Started in 2018 by Mike Paladino and his wife Kerry, along with their friend Danny Police, Penelope was named after Mike and Kerry’s baby girl. Along the way, their MGP sourced bourbon has won quite a few awards over the years. Which it should, MGP makes damn fine bourbon. The big news these days is that the founders are now about $100 Million richer than they were back in 2018. I’ll let the MGP PR folks tell the tale. They get paid more to write than I do, might as well let them do it.

MGP Ingredients, Inc. (Nasdaq: MGPI), a leading provider of distilled spirits, branded spirits, and food ingredient solutions, today announced that its Luxco, Inc. subsidiary has reached a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of the equity of Penelope Bourbon LLC (“Penelope Bourbon” or “Penelope”) and its related assets. Founded in 2018, Penelope Bourbon is a family and founder-owned and operated American Whiskey company with a diverse portfolio of high-quality whiskeys in the premium-plus price tiers.  The acquisition includes all intellectual property and inventory of bottled product, as well as Penelope’s aging whiskey inventory on a debt-and-cash-free basis. The upfront consideration is $105.0 million in cash to be paid at closing, with further potential earn-out contingent consideration of up to a maximum cash payout of $110.8 million measured through December 31, 2025 if certain performance conditions are met, reflecting the brand’s current growth potential.

Not going to lie…since MGP was the one making the whiskey, this seems like an awful lot to pay for a few labels. But heck, that’s why I am a dog sitter who writes about whiskey for free and not someone who has the extra cash to acquire a bourbon company, right?

So based on the fact that this news was big enough to even land in Chuck Cowdery’s latest newsletter, I decided to go pick up a couple of these oh so prettily named bourbons. I do love the name Penelope, after all. Up first is the “affordable” option. The 80° proof Four Grain Bourbon. Penelope blends three different bourbon mash bills from MGP to form their bourbons. They don’t say but based on the math, I’d guess it includes one of the “ryed” bourbon recipes, the 45% wheat recipe, and maybe the 99% corn recipe? No idea but they say that the final mash bill of this one is 75% corn, 15% wheat, 7% rye, and 3% malted barley. So based on the math I think we can eliminate MGP’s 49% malted barley bourbon.

In any case, let’s get to why we are here. How does this hundred million dollar baby taste?

Penelope Four Grain Bourbon

Purchase Info: $38.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $2.60

Details: Blend of three bourbon mash bills combining to the ratio 75% Corn, 15% Wheat, 7% Rye, and 3% Malted Barley. Barrels have a #4 char, the heads have #2 char. Non-chill filtered. 40% ABV. 26 months old.

Nose: Grain-forward, vanilla sugar, mint, and nutmeg.

Mouth: Thin and gentle with just enough spice to keep you interested. Notes of nutmeg, almond, and a touch of mint and orange zest.

Finish: Gentle and on the shorter side of medium length. Light notes of cinnamon, bitter citrus, and oak.

Thoughts: This is a well crafted bourbon. I can see why MGP would want to pick this brand up, especially since it seems like the blender is staying on. That said, I doubt I will be picking it up again. For almost $40, I want more than "26 months" in the barrel and 80° proof. Hopefully the new owners will adjust the price -to-value ratio a bit, though I'm realistic enough to have my doubts. That said, in a vacuum, it's a tasty bourbon... as long as you are the one buying.

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Blood Oath Pact 9

I’d like to thank ByrnePR and Lux Row for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

In previous years, I’ve shared my love of many of Lux Row Master Distiller John Rempe’s creations, including many of the Blood Oath series. They are always one-time recipes. Most of them have included some sort of finished bourbon in the blend. This time they are using Oloroso Sherry casks, which I usually don’t care for. Sherry will often overpower the bourbon. The thing that I think may save this is that, from my reading, only one of the bourbons used in the blend is finished in the sherry cask.

Anyway, let’s hear what Lux Row has to say about all of this.

Blood Oath Pact 9 combines some of the finest extra-aged bourbons Rempe could find, including a 16-year ryed bourbon and a 12-year ryed bourbon, as well as a 7-year ryed bourbon finished in Oloroso Sherry casks from the Sherry Triangle region in southwest Spain. These casks impart unique woody and ripe-fruit aromas and flavors to make Blood Oath Pact 9 a memorable pour. “Blood Oath Pact 9 contains three great bourbons, and the Oloroso Sherry cask finish has resulted in a deep, dark amber liquid with long legs,” said Rempe. “The Oloroso Sherry casks also bring out tasting notes of sweet sherry with hints of ripe fruit on the nose, as well as flavor notes highlighted by ripe fruits including figs, plums and raisins, with notes of molasses, chocolate and tobacco. This bourbon also provides a long-lasting finish characterized by fruit notes and complemented by hints of spicy oak. I’m proud to share Blood Oath Pact 9 with bourbon lovers.”

So let’s see how this one tastes, shall we?

Blood Oath Pact 9 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Purchase Info: This sample was provided by the producer for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $129.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $8.67

Details: 49.3% ABV. Blend of three bourbons: a 16-year, a 12-year, and a 7- year that was finished in Oloroso Sherry casks.

Nose: Brown sugar, red fruit, spearmint, chocolate, vanilla, and honey.

Mouth: Dry and spicy with notes of dark chocolate, cinnamon, red fruits, and toffee.

Finish: Medium length and warm with notes of Cinnamon gum, dark chocolate, and red fruits.

Thoughts: This is very good. From the nose, I expected it to be sweet, so the dryness in the mouth was pleasantly surprising. I'm really a fan of the chocolate and cinnamon gum combo on the finish as well. I like it. Even though the price went up $10 this year, my very frugal accountant of a wife declared that she'd gladly pay the suggested retail if we found it. So interpret that how you will.

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A Couple of Ginger Drinks: Stone's Original Ginger Wine and Domaine de Canton

My mother is a big fan of ginger. She eats candied ginger as a snack, loves spicy ginger ales (one of her favorites is spicy enough that it is marketed more as a mixer than as a drink in it’s own right), and back when she was young she was known for her love of ginger brandy liqueur. These days, ginger brandy has apparently grown hard to find in the area I grew up in. As such, she makes a point of trying to find a bottle when she comes to visit.

Well, last weekend was one of those visits. We were at Total Wine when she stopped to see what they had. They had exactly one, and the guy that was working stopped her from putting it in the cart with the unsolicited advice, “I can’t let you buy that. It tastes like hand sanitizer.” So he took the time to listen to what she was looking for and pointed her to Stone’s Original Ginger Wine.

Now I also like ginger, not quite to the same extent as my mother, but it is high on the list of flavors that I enjoy. So as we were in the ginger section of Total Wine’s liqueur section, I took the opportunity to grab a bottle of Domain de Canton Ginger Liqueur. I’d noticed it way back when I started writing about spirits and then pretty much forgot about it for a decade or more. But “when in Rome,” as they say.

So hang on, folks. We are stepping out of our normal comfort zone tonight. Let’s look at a couple of alcoholic ginger drinks.

Stone’s Original Ginger

We might as well try the one that was recommended first. From what I can tell online, Stone’s Original Ginger is a fortified wine made of grape wine, neutral spirits, and ginger. It claims to be a Product of England, but the company’s website is Australian. Not sure what is going on there, but I’m not thinking too hard about it. There are drinks to be consumed.

Purchase Info: $12.49 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Price per Drink (50 ml): $0.83

Details: 13.5% ABV

Nose: Canned peaches, ginger, and a touch of citrus.

Mouth: Candied raisin, lemon, and after a moment in the mouth, you start to get a bit of heat and ginger flavor.

Finish: Gentle with notes of raisin and ginger. Not much heat.

Thoughts: Honestly, I thought that there would be more "punch" to this based on the ginger name. It's pleasant enough neat, but nothing to write home about. However, it really shines as a cocktail ingredient. I tried three from their website, and I’m a big fan of all three.

Southern Star

• 2 oz Bourbon

• 1 oz Stone’s Original Ginger

• 0.5 oz Sweet Vermouth

• Stir ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Strain into a glass with fresh ice.

Stone and Gavel

• 3 oz Stone’s Original Ginger

• 1 oz Funky white rum

• Pour over crushed ice, stir, and serve.

The Dragon Slayer

• 1 oz Stone’s Original Ginger

• 1 oz Gin

• 0.5 oz honey syrup

• 2 oz hard cider

These are all delicious. The Southern Star is a lot like a Manhattan, but there are more layers of flavor. The Stone and Gavel is what I’m drinking right now. It is my favorite of the three and reminds me of a Dark and Stormy with less ginger “punch” but more nuanced flavors. The Dragon Slayer was interesting. I used a local dry hard cider, and it really brought the apple notes to the forefront.

Domaine de Canton

Now onto one that landed in my cart from pure curiosity. Domaine de Canton is a ginger liqueur imported from France by Heaven Hill in Bardstown, KY. Here is what they have to say about it:

Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur was inspired by the French tradition in which sweet and fresh elixirs were fortified by fine eaux de vie and cognac. Spicy and aromatic elixirs became popular with the French during the time of colonial Indochine. Domaine de Canton is inspired by the subtle spiciness of the baby ginger grown locally in modern day Indochine. The result is a recipe which evokes an era of tropical romance and continental sophistication that is both elegant and timeless.

Purchase Info: $21.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $1.47

Details: 28% ABV

Nose: Ginger and lemon

Mouth: Thick and syrupy with honey, lemon, and ginger.

Finish: Spicy ginger for a long time.

Thoughts: This tastes exactly like I would have guessed a ginger liqueur would taste. It is very sweet and has powerful ginger notes that are nicely supported by a lemon note. I like it, and I’ll be keeping this on hand. It works very nicely in cocktails, especially ones where you pair it with citrus. I particularly liked the Gold Rush and the Ginger Collins from the product's neck tag. See below:

The Gold Rush

• 1.5 oz bourbon

• 1 oz Domaine de Canton

• 0.5 oz lemon juice

• Shake with ice and strain into a glass. Garnish with a cherry.

Ginger Collins

• 1.5 oz London Dry Gin

• 0.75 oz Domaine de Canton

• 0.5 oz lemon juice

• 3 oz Sparkling Water

• Shake all but soda and strain into a glass over ice. Top with sparkling water. Garnish with a lemon wedge.

Both of these are great as described above, but on The Gold Rush, I’d personally use a higher percentage of the Domaine de Canton to get even more ginger flavor. The Ginger Collins is a spicier and sweeter version of my favorite deck drink, the Gin Rickey. It makes a nice change of pace if I have a hankering for switching things up but still want a floral and refreshing long drink.

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Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, B523

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

There was a time when Elijah Craig had a twelve-year age statement. Eventually, Heaven Hill decided to retire that age statement to give themselves more flexibility to blend it to taste rather than age. At the time, I was upset, but looking back on the decision from the future, I think Heaven Hill made the right choice in reserving that twelve-year age statement for the barrel-proof version of Elijah Craig. We discussed this in detail back in January.

Well, that age statement is currently no more. As of B523, they have removed the standard 12-year-old age statement in favor of a “per batch” age statement. If you frequently perform searches of the TTB’s COLA database, you may have seen this coming as I did. I’ve got at least one extra bottle of C922 stashed away for the future, just in case things take a turn for the worse with this change. For the time being, however, this seems to be another change in the name of flexibility instead of the “we are running out of stocks! Quick, make it younger!” changes of the early- to mid-2010s. In fact, they have already announced that next quarter’s release will be in the thirteen-year-old range. Here’s what Heaven Hill has to say about the change:

Starting with the enclosed B523 expression, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof will now be barreled in small batches with varying age statements. Each batch of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof will have its own unique taste profile and proof, as in years past, and now a unique age statement that will retain the extra-aged characteristic the brand is known for. All other qualities of the series remain the same - non-chill-filtered and uncut to preserve all the natural esters and taste components from the barrels to the bottle. The variance in proof, and now age, from batch to batch is an exercise for true whiskey aficionados to experience the consistency in quality across the series while allowing for the unique intricacies of each batch to pull forward.

Each face label will detail the lowest age of the barrel within the batch, as legally required. The transition of the age from the side to the face label will also show more transparent details down to the month, regardless of how large or small the quantity of the lowest aged barrels in that edition. Batches will be determined to taste and quality by the master tasting team – Master Distiller Conor O’Driscoll, Master Taster Tawnie Gootee and Vice President of New Product Development and Quality Assurance Chris Briney. This change allows for a true small batch selection process to happen, selecting the best extra-aged stocks that make for phenomenal taste experiences.

Ok. Now onto the most important part: how does it taste?

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, B523

Purchase Info: This sample was provided at no cost for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $69.99.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.67

Details: Age: 11 years, 5 months. 62.1% ABV.

Nose: Oak, caramel, cinnamon.

Mouth: Very hot in the mouth. Oak, apple, caramel, cinnamon red-hot candies, and ginger.

Finish: Long and warm with notes of apple, ginger, caramel, and oak on the finish.

Comparison to A123: The noses are similar, though A123 is sweeter. The mouth on B523 is much hotter, spicier, and more oak-forward.

Thoughts: This release screams for water, the addition of which not only tames the heat but allows it to sit in your mouth long enough to get flavors other than "HOT!" out of it. Let's just say that after this, my palate is blown out. If I was going to choose between this release and the last, A123 wins hands down. A123 was a very good batch, so it was a good send-off for the 12-year age statement. That said, if you are ok adding ice or water to it, B523 is still pretty tasty. I found it impossible to drink neat (and to be honest, you probably shouldn’t be drinking 120+ proof whiskey neat anyway).

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Maker's Mark DNA Project from 2021-2022 (Samples provided by @bgphilt)

I’d like to tell you a tale. It is a tale most harrowing and yet most satisfying. It is a tale of joy, heartbreak, danger, and fun. And it begins thusly:

Ahem. Sorry about that. Kinda got carried away channeling my inner Dungeon Master there.

Anyway, about three weeks ago, I reviewed a sample from Maker’s Mark that was intended to highlight why they have continued to use a 110° proof barrel-entry proof in spite of a majority of their competitors using the maximum allowed barrel-entry proof of 125° proof. In that article, I stated:

The lower entry proof that Maker’s Mark employs (110° proof) is one of the elements that Maker’s thinks make them special. And maybe it does. I have yet to taste a Maker’s product using the industry standard 125° entry proof, so I don’t know.

Well, that statement inspired one of your fellow readers to reach out to me. He is a member of the Maker’s Mark Whiskey Drop Club (and if you live in Kentucky, Nebraska, North Dakota, or Washington, D.C., you can get on the waitlist for this club at the Maker’s Mark website). Apparently, in December 2021 and February 2022, the drops were of something called the Maker’s Mark DNA Project. A series of four bottles of cask-strength Maker’s Mark. The difference between each bottle was the barrel-entry proof of the distillate. December 2021 included one bourbon that was entered into the barrel at 110° proof, and another entered at 115° proof. The February 2022 shipment included bourbons entered at 120° proof and 125° proof.

So Phil (@bgphilt on both Instagram and Twitter), being both an avid reader of BourbonGuy.com—I assume—and a member of the Whiskey Drop Club, reached out to me to offer me the opportunity to taste samples of these four bourbons that Maker’s Mark released to show you why they stick with a barrel-entry proof of 110° proof even though it is more expensive to use that lower-proof distillate to fill their barrels. I happily accepted, and he sent me a small sample of each. This is the joy I spoke of above.

The heartbreak comes when I tell you that as I was taking a photo of the samples for the lead photo of this article, I knocked the 115° proof version off of the deck railing and onto the cement patio 13 feet below. Shattering the bottle and sending whiskey and broken glass across my grilling area. That is the heartbreak and the danger I spoke of. (I mean, come on. I was in serious danger of poking my finger as I cleaned it up. It may have even made me bleed my own blood.)

Now onto the fun. I still had the most important samples left. If I needed to destroy one on my way to happiness, the 115 was the least important to discovering the difference between the Maker’s 110° proof entry and what would happen if they used the industry-standard 125° proof. And so I set out to do tastings of the three remaining at cask strength, take formal tasting notes of them, and then dilute them all to the standard Maker’s Mark proof of 90° proof and see what the alternate realities would be like where Maker’s decided to switch to either 120° or 125° proof for barrel entry. And I’m going to include photos of bottle shots and explanatory posters that Phil was kind enough to send photos of as well. So dig in. Here we go.

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From the bottle labels (same text on each aside from the entry proof and the bottling proof):

Key Question: What is the impact on taste profile when we change the barrel entry proof?

Outcome: Historically, our bourbon has always entered the barrel at 110 proof. These bourbons experiment with multiple entry proofs to understand its influence on flavor. Sip this batch, alongside the others in the series, to discover the difference that barrel entry proof makes on the bourbon.

For this project, the variables were all the same aside from the initial barreling proof and the final bottling proof. As such I’ll list the variables that remained constant here:

Details: Barrel Entry Date: July 2013. Barrel Dump Date: June 2021. Barrel Maturity Location: 4th Floor (non-rotated), Warehouse No. 30. Sample Size: 100 Barrels Aged, 60 Barrels Released.

Maker’s Mark DNA Project: 110 Proof Barrel Entry

From the Poster:

OUR TASTE VISION: When Bill and Margie Samuels started crafting our iconic whisky, they wanted a refined flavor-forward spirit they could share with friends. A whisky with less bite. Their original taste vision started with our soft red winter wheat, creating a more delicate distillate and rounded mouthfeel. And, it was this distillate that would enter the barrel at 110 proof and later become what we know today as Maker's Mark.®

Bill and Margie wanted to make something they'd be proud to put their mark on, a new kind of bourbon experience that was full-flavored and inviting, one that brought "good taste" to "tastes good."

Through ingenuity, patience and a determined taste vision, Bill not only reinvented the family whisky, he and his collaborator—Margie—also revolutionized an industry.

This experiment was conducted to validate choices made in 1953 on how to best craft our whisky. Those choices were made without the modern amenities we have today.

Details: Barrel Entry ABV: 55% ABV. Bottling ABV: 57.45% ABV.

Nose: Toffee, Vanilla, red fruit, bubblegum, and almond.

Mouth: Cinnamon, toffee, almond, oak, and a touch of vanilla.

Finish: Warm and on the longer side of medium. Notes of vibrant cinnamon, dark chocolate, and oak linger.

Maker’s Mark DNA Project: 115 Proof Barrel Entry

From the Poster:

A BARREL-ENTRY PROOF HISTORY: No Kentucky bourbon can be distilled above 125 proof. This became law in 1962 for whiskies qualifying as Straight

Bourbon Whisky. The proof limit didn't just lighten the flavor. It also decreased the number of barrels used, seeing as you can only use barrels one time. At 125 proof, it would take eight years to achieve the flavor of products that were produced at proofs post-Prohibition between 100-110 proof.

This was just about a decade after Bill Samuels, Sr., laid down the first Maker's Mark barrels using the entry proof of 110. In the 1980s, 125 proof became standard in practice and widely adopted by distillers. At Maker's Mark, we opted to keep that low barrel proof as part of our commitment to honor our original taste vision.

To understand our flavor journey, our DNA projects use modern methods of analytics to explore the decisions made by our founders during the early development of our whisky.

Barrel entry proofs tested: 110, 115, 120 and 125.

We can produce really good whisky at other proofs, but they are not Maker’s. Our 110 Barrel Entry Proof held up best as it did in 1953.

Details: Barrel Entry ABV: 57.5% ABV. Bottling ABV: 58.8% ABV.

Tasting notes: are unavailable as I am a klutz and destroyed the sample before tasting. I’m pretty sure it was delicious, though.

Maker’s Mark DNA Project: 120 Proof Barrel Entry

From the Poster:

THE CONCLUSION: This is a combination of scientific analysis overlayed with our team’s sensory notes for each liquid. The graph shows how the flavors work together. They are not individual.

Details: Barrel Entry ABV: 60% ABV. Bottling ABV: 61.4% ABV.

Nose: This will sound weird, but the initial note I get is the smell of warm sunshine hitting a hay field. Other notes include mint, cocoa, cinnamon, and oak.

Mouth: Spicy with notes of cinnamon, cola, ginger, and oak.

Finish: Long and warm with notes of cinnamon, ginger, caramel, and tannic oak.

Maker’s Mark DNA Project: 125 Proof Barrel Entry

From the Poster:

THE CONCLUSION: After reviewing the results, we found that entry proof had a material impact on the bourbon taste. After eight years of working on this project, we realized that entry proof is way more impactful to your whisky than we could have imagined. While the flavors created in the alternate proofs are unique, they weren't the original taste vision of our founders, and so we determined we needed to retain an entry proof into the barrel of 110 even though it yields less mature volume that a higher original entry proof.

In conclusion, with the science and analytics available today, we were able to reaffirm the decision to enter the barrel at 110 proof made by Bill Samuels, Sr., in 1953.

While we are pleased to share these with you in experimental form, we will never alter our barrel entry proof. The Samuels family had it right from the start.

Details: Barrel Entry ABV: 62.5% ABV. Bottling ABV: 63.2% ABV.

Nose: The first thing that jumps out at me is oak. Past that, I'm finding ginger and caramel.

Mouth: Hot. Brown sugar, tannic oak, cinnamon, ginger, and red fruit.

Finish: Sweet, hot, and long. Notes of cola, ginger, and tannic oak.

Impressions on samples cut to 90° proof

Nose: 120 shows much more sweetness and mint than 110. 125 is a lot like 110. 120 is the outlier.

Mouth: There is a subtle difference between 110 and 120 at this proof. 120 is showing more oak influence. 125 shows even more oak influence. It's the most tannic of the three. It also brings more sweetness and spice than the other two. That oak influence continues into the finish.

Thoughts: Of the three, I think that the 110° proof is my favorite when diluted to the standard bottle proof. 125 is my wife's favorite. She really likes some oak influence, though. 120 and 125 are similar at this proof though we both agreed that 120 was the clear number three of the group.

Final Thoughts

This was such a fun exploration! I love when companies allow fans to explore how changing one variable in how you make whiskey affects things. In this case, upping the barrel entry proof seems to have extracted more tannic oak notes. It also seems to have accentuated the spicy notes allowing more ginger and cola to come to the forefront as the barrel-entry proof increased. Trying these at full proof, I have to say that 120 is my favorite of the three (125 is my wife's), but neither of them tastes like Maker's Mark. I totally understand why they don't want to change things up.

Thanks again to Phil (@bgphilt on Twitter and Instagram) for sending these samples along. I hope he had as much fun reading this as I did tasting these.

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Ezra Brooks 99 Proof Straight Rye Whiskey

Before we get started, I would like to thank everyone for their well-wishes while I recovered from a mental health emergency. Knowing that I wasn’t letting people down by not publishing helped me to not worry and allowed me to get back to a stable spot a little quicker.

A few months ago, I started getting comments from readers that the standard Ezra Brooks 90 proof was disappearing from shelves. The Lux Row PR guy I talked to reassured me that it hadn’t been discontinued. But then, a few months later, the shoe dropped, and it was removed from the Ezra Brooks site. I know that a lot of folks were disappointed in that, but honestly, I almost never bought the 90-proof version. Especially once the 99-proof version became readily available.

So it wasn’t a huge surprise when I saw this bottle of 99-proof Ezra Brooks rye sitting on the shelf of a local liquor store instead of the former 90-proof version. Of course I grabbed it, thinking that it might be fun to compare it to the Rebel 100 Rye that we looked at a couple of weeks ago. Especially since they are both coming from the same producer. It was the cheapest thing I bought that day.

Now you might be asking yourself: ok, so what is the difference between Ezra Brooks 99 Rye and Rebel 100 Rye? And to that, I can confirm…one proof point. Beyond that is just speculation on my part. There isn’t a lot of info out there other than the website. I’m guessing they didn't do a big rollout of this one since they just did the Rebel 100 rollout. The one thing that I would love a little clarification on is the mash bill. The website contradicts itself. It says that the mash bill is 51% rye, 45% corn, and 4% malted barley. It also says that the ingredients are rye and barley. No corn was mentioned. Since this comes from their corporate cousins at MGP, I’m not sure which is the typo, as MGP makes both kinds of rye. So, for the time being, let’s just look at the juice in the jug, and I’ll update the post if I hear back from the PR folks. I had a huge email outage over the last few days, so who knows what got lost.

(UPDATE 05/15/23: I just got the press release for Ezra Brooks 99 Rye and the juice is the 51% rye mashbill. Their website has also been updated.)

Ezra Brooks 99 Straight Rye Whiskey

Purchase Info: $26.99 for a 750 mL bottle at South Lyndale Liquors, Minneapolis, MN

Price per Drink (50 ml): $1.80

Details: 2 years old. 49.5% ABV. Distilled in Indiana.

Nose: Mint, cedar, honey, and coriander.

Mouth: Cinnamon, mint, honey, and cedar.

Finish: On the longer side of medium. Herbal with additional notes of baking spice and black tea.

Thoughts: Though all signs point to this being pretty much the same as the Rebel 100 Rye that we looked at a couple of weeks ago, there are subtle differences. However, it is hard to know if that is due to Rebel 100 being from the bottom of the bottle versus the Ezra Brooks 99 Rye being from the top, if it is in my imagination, or if there is an actual difference in the barrels that are chosen for each. As I said, the differences are subtle, with the Rebel 100 Rye being sweeter when I taste them side-by-side.

That said, though, this is a tasty rye. I'm digging the herbal notes I'm getting throughout. I even had to raid my spice rack to find the Corriander on the nose. Works well in cocktails too. This one gets a smile from me.

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