Mr. Black Coffee Liqueur

Last month, my wife and I decided that we were going to participate in Dry January this year. Not for any real reason. It just seemed like something to kick us out of our rut. Because of that, I needed to look ahead and see what I could find that I could taste ahead of time. I had a couple of things hanging around that I hadn’t gotten around to writing about yet, but that wasn’t enough for an entire month. So I went to the liquor store, set myself a price limit of $150, and bought everything I was going to taste for the coming month. What follows is one of those things I had hanging around that I really needed to write about.

I am the worst snob ever. I get accused of it all the time, but I’m just really not good at it. I love whiskey but hate paying too much for it. I love coffee but prefer automatic drip over fancier methods of extraction. But as I said, I have been told many times that I am, indeed, a snob. I buy my coffee from a small roaster in Whitefish, Montana. I have been for almost twenty years now. I just really love their coffee. But to some people, that makes me a snob. It's the same with whiskey. I gave a poor review to a bottom-shelf blended whiskey a few years ago and was called a snob then, too. In fact, the comments are still coming in for that one. I was told to get over myself not three months ago.

Apparently, knowing what you like makes someone a snob to some.

But I’m not here to yuck anyone’s yum. Honestly. If you’ve found that Kentucky Gentleman is your favorite whiskey. Go for it. No skin off my nose. I just ask for the same courtesy when respectfully turning down a weak cup of Folgers. Well, unless we are camping. I’d probably accept one then. All bets are off when we are camping and making breakfast around the fire.

So, it was with great curiosity that I added a 200 mL bottle of coffee liqueur to my shopping cart last summer. After it arrived, of course, I sat on it for six months because, well, I have no idea. The best I can tell is that it is a small bottle and got stuck behind something. In any case, by the time I got around to trying it, I was feeling a little trepidation. With a liqueur, you never know what you are going to get. It could be delicious, or it could be thin and weak like the coffee that much of my older immediate family makes (I mean, seriously, you can see the bottom of the cup through a full cup of coffee from some of them).

Luckily for me, this was delicious. But before we dig in, let’s see what the producer has to say:

Each and every bottle is made at our coffee roastery and distillery just north of Sydney, Australia. Our roasters source specialty beans from the best growing regions to create complex spirits that are bold, balanced and unapologetically coffee, without compromise or equal. Producing consistently concentrated cold brew and fine-tuning water composition, temperature and time are lifelong obsessions for both our Head Of Coffee, Detlef Mohr, and Master Distiller, Philip Moore. The difference between something good and something great, after all, comes down to the details.

Mr. Black Coffee Liqueur

Purchase Info: $13.99 for a 200 mL bottle at Curiada.com, though my corner liquor store has it for $28.99 for a 750 mL.

Price per Drink (50 mL:) $3.50 at Curiada or $1.93 locally

Details: 23% ABV

Nose: Dark, rich coffee, vanilla, and molasses.

Mouth: Thick and creamy mouthfeel. This tastes like a great cup of dark roast coffee with sugar and a dash of cinnamon.

Finish: Medium length. Lingering coffee notes.

Thoughts: I wasn't sure what to think about this before I tasted it. I was prepared for a thin, insipid drink that was really only good for a cocktail ingredient. But damn! This is thick, rich, sweet, and full-flavored. It tastes like a great cup of cold brew. If you didn't know better, you could be forgiven for thinking this is a coffee-flavored syrup, as there is little detectable alcohol burn. This is great! Now to try a few of the cocktail recipes from the brand website.

Cocktails: Delicious in a boozy milkshake. The Coffee Negroni from the website is very good. Chocolatey in a way I wasn't expecting. The Cold Brew Old Fashioned from the website is also very good. The orange bitters and rye bring forward a cocoa note that works very nicely with the rye.

Damn! I look forward to exploring this one further when Dry January is over. If you are a coffee nut like me, this is one to try.

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Ross & Squibb Distillery helping to bring clean water to Southern Kenya

Still a little under the weather today, so I’m sharing this cool news that landed in my inbox this morning. If I’m feeling up to it, there will be a review tonight, but if not, at least we’ve learned about some good deeds via the press release.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ROSS & SQUIBB DISTILLERY COMPLETES FIRST PROJECT WITH THE CHRIS LONG FOUNDATION'S WATERBOYS INITIATIVE TO COMBAT WATER SCARCITY IN KENYA

ST. LOUIS (JAN. 16, 2024) – Lawrenceburg, Indiana-based Ross & Squibb Distillery, in partnership with NFL legend Chris Long and his Foundation’s Waterboys initiative, announced the completion of their combined efforts to bring a lasting source of clean, safe water to a community of 1,600 people in arid southern Kenya.

In summer 2023, a deep borehole well was dug in the Oloile community in Kajiado County, Kenya, by The Chris Long Foundation’s Kenya implementing partner, Well Aware, to a depth of 80 meters, yielding 100,000 liters of water per day.  In November, construction of a storage tank, distribution points and refillable water trough was completed, ensuring the well’s long-term success in terms of maintenance and sustainability.

"Thanks to the generous support from Ross & Squibb Distillery, Waterboys is bringing life-changing, clean water to the Oloile community in Kenya,” said two-time Superbowl champion and founder of Waterboys, Chris Long. “This well represents hope, health, and a future for the residents who have faced severe water crises for decades. We've seen firsthand how clean water can transform lives - reducing illness, supporting education, and fostering economic growth."

The Oloile community consists of more than 100 households and one primary school and is home to about 1,600 residents. For decades, the community has been experiencing a dangerous water crisis as the rainy season has become unreliable over time with the region experiencing droughts that would last up to two years. As a result of these recent efforts, Oloile has shifted from a “water-lacking” community to one that is “water-filled and fulfilled.”

“We are grateful we were able to make such a big difference in the lives of so many through this successful partnership with Waterboys and the Chris Long Foundation,” said Allison O’Brien, Brand Manager for Ross & Squibb. "We are fortunate to have a clean water source supplying our Ross & Squibb Distillery in Indiana, and we take pride in our mission to help others get access to safe water. We are looking forward to continuing this great work through new projects in the future."

About Luxco
Founded in St. Louis in 1958 by the Lux Family, Luxco is a leading producer, supplier, importer and bottler of beverage alcohol products. Our mission is to meet the needs and exceed the expectations of consumers, associates and business partners. Merged with MGP Ingredients, Inc. in 2021 (Nasdaq: MGPI), Luxco operates as MGP’s Brands Division and manages all MGP/Luxco brands. This extensive and award-winning spirits portfolio includes well-known brands from four distilleries: Bardstown, Kentucky-based Lux Row Distillers, home of Ezra Brooks, Rebel, Blood Oath, David Nicholson and Daviess County; Lebanon, Kentucky-based Limestone Branch Distillery, maker of Yellowstone Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Minor Case Straight Rye Whiskey and Bowling & Burch Gin; Jalisco, Mexico-based Destiladora González Lux, producer of 100% agave tequilas, El Mayor, Exotico and Dos Primos; and Ross & Squibb Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, where Remus Straight Bourbon Whiskey and Rossville Union Straight Rye Whiskey are produced. The innovative and high-quality brand portfolio also includes Penelope Bourbon, Everclear Grain Alcohol, Pearl Vodka, Saint Brendan’s Irish Cream, The Quiet Man Irish Whiskey, Green Hat Gin and other well-recognized brands. For more information about the company and its brands, visit luxco.com.  

About the Chris Long Foundation and Waterboys
The Chris Long Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit founded by two-time Super Bowl Champion and 2018 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, Chris Long. We mobilize champions, service providers, and experts to help communities access clean water, address basic needs for youth and families, and inspire others to make an impact at home and abroad. Our vision is access and opportunity everywhere. To date, the Waterboys initiative has provided clean water to over 550,000 people in need at home and abroad. Visit chrislongfoundation.org and waterboys.org to learn more.

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2023 BourbonGuy.com Bourbon of the Year: Old Forester Single Barrel Barrel Proof, Minnesota Selection #3

Last month, my wife and I decided that we were going to participate in Dry January this year. Not for any real reason, it just seemed like something to kick us out of our rut. Because of that, I needed to look ahead and see what I could find that I could taste ahead of time. I had a couple of things hanging around that I hadn’t gotten around to writing about yet, but that wasn’t enough for an entire month. So I went to the liquor store, set myself a price limit of $150, and bought everything I was going to taste for the coming month. What follows is one of those things that I had hanging around that I really needed to write about.

You know, I have a fondness for Bourbon. This might not be a revelation for most of you, considering I do tend to write about it twice a week. However, it's worth mentioning from time to time, especially when you play the role of a critic. I genuinely love bourbon, and everything I express on this site is rooted in that passion. Now, I won't go so far as to claim there's no such thing as bad bourbon—of course, there is. But, in general, I enjoy bourbon. That's why the majority of products I review receive a 'like' rating. I just genuinely enjoy the stuff.

Occasionally, I come across one that I strongly dislike. It's genuinely bad. And some bourbons simply don't resonate with me. It's not necessarily bad, but it's not my cup of bourbon. This doesn't happen too often because I make a conscious effort to only purchase things I'm confident I'll enjoy. After all, I'll have the rest of the bottle left after the review, and there's only so much prop bourbon I can go through.

However, every now and then, something surprises me. I've been at this long enough to know that when I encounter a private selection of Old Forester, I'm likely to enjoy it. I expect that and have rarely been disappointed. Old Forester is just exceptional whiskey. But this time, I was taken aback by just how outstanding it was. I believe this selection wasn't exclusive to the retailer I bought it from, given that I also found a Minnesota Selection #6 at another store. Unfortunately, #6 wasn't a barrel-proof one; otherwise, it would be residing in my house at the moment, patiently waiting for January to be over.

Old Forester Single Barrel Barrel Strength "Minnesota Selection #3"

Purchase Info: $99.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Village Liquor, Prior Lake, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $6.67

Details: 65.95% ABV. Warehouse I, Floor 8

Nose: Rich caramel, dark chocolate, baking spices, and oak.

Mouth: Dark chocolate, rich caramel, cinnamon, leather and oak.

Finish: Long and warm with notes of cocoa and leather.

Thoughts: I. Love. This. Full stop. It is thick and rich in the mouth. It is hot, but it takes water well to tame the heat. It has wonderful leather, chocolate, and oak notes from its time in the barrel. All in all, this is an excellent way to end a year. I wish the store had another bottle. I'd have gone back and bought it immediately.

In fact, I’m going to pull out a very seldom-used award. I declare that Old Forester Single Barrel Barrel Proof, Minnesota Selection #3, is joining an elite group as the third-ever recipient of the BourbonGuy.com Bourbon of the Year Award. I don’t give this out every year. This honor is reserved for bourbons that stand head and shoulders above everything else I've sampled throughout the year. The last time such an honor was bestowed was in 2021, with the one prior to that in 2017. I haven’t had a bourbon that was that much better than every other bourbon since. But this one qualifies. Nice job, Brown-Forman!

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Soul Boxer Brandy Old Fashioned, ready-to-drink-cocktail

Before we get started, I have a severe case of Covid-Brain brought on by a relatively minor bout of Covid…please excuse, well, everything.

Last month, my wife and I decided that we were going to participate in Dry January this year. Not for any real reason, it just seemed like something to kick us out of our rut. Because of that, I needed to look ahead and see what I could find that I could taste ahead of time. I had a couple of things hanging around that I hadn’t gotten around to writing about yet, but that wasn’t enough for an entire month. So I went to the liquor store, set myself a price limit of $150, and bought everything I was going to taste for the coming month. What follows is one of those purchases.

Although I now claim Minnesota as my home state, I spent the first thirty years or so of my life in Wisconsin. I was born there, grew to adulthood there, got married, graduated college and started my career there. I also learned to drink there. Which is especially relevant to tonight’s discussion mostly because somehow, I managed to miss out on one of the state's iconic libations—the Brandy Old-Fashioned. In fact, I’d never even heard of it until I started getting into spirits and cocktails about fifteen years ago.

It's a tad perplexing, since it wasn’t like I avoided places that would serve them. I’ve been in Wisconsin bars and taverns that range from dive bar to upscale, small town local joints to places that cater to sophisticated tourists. I just never noticed it. I was a beer drinker, along with the occasional glass of wine, why would I look at the cocktail menu? If the place even had one, most didn’t when I was younger.

So when I went looking for things to taste for this month, I saw this ready-to-drink cocktail at my local liquor store. It is from Soul Boxer, a company specializing in ready-to-drink cocktails from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Honestly, I picked it up, knowing that I have no idea how a properly prepared Brandy Old Fashioned should taste. I just figured that folks in Milwaukee probably would, and I hoped that would be enough.

From my research a properly made Brandy Old-Fashioned is served a number of ways. It starts out much like any other Old Fashioned, with a sugar cube and bitters. To this they add a cherry and an orange slice and muddle those together. So far this is fairly normal though muddled fruit in an Old Fashioned has fallen out of favor in many places…including in my home. Then they add brandy and ice. Still pretty normal, but then things get weird. At this point, you top it with one of a few things. If you want it “sweet,” you add Sprite, if you want it “sour,” you add either sour mix or Squirt, and if you want it “press” you top with either a mixture of club soda and Squirt or just club soda.

All of this info comes second-hand from recipes on the internet, though. As I said, I have never had one of these prepared by anyone who knew what they were doing. If it is wrong, feel free to correct me in the comments. Here is a short video on the subject from the folks at Drink Wisconsinbly.

One day I will order a proper one, but in the meantime, you are probably wondering how the ready-to-drink version tasted. It has all the sugar, bitters, fruit flavors and brandy in it already so let’s dig in, shall we?

Soul Boxer Brandy Old Fashioned

Purchase Info: $19.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor, Prior Lake, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $1.33

Details: 31% ABV.

Nose: Orange, cherry, baking spices.

Mouth: This tastes like you'd expect. Its got orange, cherry, and bitters at the onset with fruity brandy notes underneath.

Finish: Medium length. Notes have been the same throughout and continue here in the finish.

Thoughts: I'm really digging this. You could pour this over a ball of ice and be very happy. But, of course we need to try it in the more “authentic” way too.

So I tried four variations: Sweet (Sprite), Sour (Squirt), Sour (sour mix), and Club Soda. Out of all of them my wife and I both preferred sweet if we were adding soda to it. Though to be honest, we much preferred the pre-mixed cocktail over ice with a cherry and orange zest garnish over all all of the soda versions. The flavors were already good enough that I didn’t think it needed to be covered up with a favored mixer and adding club soda to give it carbonation just watered it down. All in all, I’m happy with this purchase and am even more determined to try a proper one one day when I’m back visiting family and out for diner.

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Tempus Fugit Spirits and the Wisconsin Grasshopper Cocktail

I think that my appreciation for alcohol started early in my life. In Wisconsin, it is legal for your parents to serve you alcohol, so I was very young when I had my first sip of “Grandpa’s Pop.” I apparently liked it because, well, there is a photo of me as a baby where I was trying to steal a swig from Grandpa’s returnable bottle of Old Milwaukee. I only know this because there was a county directory that was printed shortly after I arrived in this world, and that photo ended up being printed there.

The 1970s were a weird time. Not that I remember much of them. (Because I was young, not because I was drunk…geez.)

My family has never shied away from alcohol at family gatherings. To this day, my stepmother will mix up an ice-cream pail-sized batch of “Grasshoppers” for the family to have as we exchange gifts. Now, unless you are from Wisconsin or deal with folks from there a lot, you might have the wrong idea about what I am talking about.

In most of the country, a Grasshopper cocktail is an after-dinner cocktail made from equal parts Crème de Cacao, Crème de Menthe, and cream. In Wisconsin, they have their own spin on it. Theirs uses ice cream instead of the cream and is basically a boozy milkshake. How boozy is up to the person making it. The “official” Supper Club recipe is a half ounce each of green Crème de Menthe and clear Crème de Cacao mixed with three scoops of ice cream and blended well. While I don’t know for sure what my stepmother’s recipe entails, I do know that she includes vodka if not serving it to the kids.

Rural northern Wisconsin is also super weird.

So, Frozen Grasshopper Cocktails make me think of Christmas. And when I saw a Crème de Cacao and a Crème de Menthe, each for over $30 per bottle, I decided to make some for my own Christmas celebration, even if it is just going to be my wife and I and a bunch of dogs. I’ll be honest as far as I know, I’ve never had a Grasshopper made with anything but Phillips or DeKuyper brand liqueurs. The bottommost-shelf of bottom-shelf brands. I had to know what one using booze that cost more than $12 per bottle tasted like. Hell, I needed to know what the liqueurs themselves, at triple the cost, would taste like. Could I actually drink them on their own? Would I be disappointed? Enraged? Excited? No idea. But it’s Christmas, and I was on a mission to try and make a better version than the one I grew up with.

OK, before we get into the meat of this, let’s take a moment to look at the purveyors of these upscale liqueurs. According to their website, Tempus Fugit Spirits is a California company that started out importing European Absinthes when they became legal in the US again in 2007. Along the way, they expanded…you know what? Let’s just let them tell it:

Along with the world’s finest absinthes, Tempus Fugit Spirits was determined to seek out fine rare liquors that were once staples in classic pre-prohibition cocktails, but have been lost in time. In most cases, we re-create these liquors ourselves, using historic 19th century protocols, many cross-referenced in several languages, to arrive as close in taste to these forgotten spirits as is possible, or surpass them – rare fruit, flower and plant liqueurs, bitters, amari, vermouths and chinati – we pride ourselves in finding out what’s missing from the back-bar that our cocktailian friends are searching for.

Our focus is on what is often called a cocktail ‘modifier’; those spirit-based ingredients used to transform whisky, gin, rum, etc. into a cocktail. We find today this category abused by industrial methods of production, artificial flavors and colors. We know these liqueurs were created in the past to be drunk alone, as aperitifs or digestifs, and were made with great pride and care by the best distilleries and liquorists.

So yeah. That sounds exactly like what I was hoping for when I picked up the bottles for my Christmas Grasshoppers. Here are the tasting notes, and then I’ll get to my own recipe.

Tempus Fugit Crème de Cacao

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

Price per Drink (50 mL): $2.53

Details: 24% ABV.

Nose: Nutty and chocolatey. Think of the best gourmet chocolate bar you've had.

Mouth: Thick and sweet with a wonderful taste of cocoa nibs.

Finish: Sweet and gentle with the lingering flavor of a good candy bar. Notes of milk chocolate, caramel, and vanilla.

Thoughts: This is the best Crème de Cacao I've ever had. It's nutty like Cacao nibs, obviously chocolatey and sweet. Much better than the cheap stuff I used to buy. If it weren’t so sweet, I’d drink this on its own.

Tempus Fugit Crème de Menthe

Purchase Info: $46.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Curiada.com

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.13

Details: 28% ABV.

Nose: Straight candy cane peppermint

Mouth: Liquid candy cane.

Finish: Long, very minty, and cool.

Thoughts: Very sweet and minty, just like you'd want from a mint liqueur. It is very tasty even if it is less complicated on the palate than the Crème de Cacao. I’m very happy with this as well. Both of these taste like what you’d want them to taste like, not like there are a bunch of artificial flavors in there.

Ok, now, after all that, here is my base recipe for a Frozen Grasshopper. This is just a base. You can adjust all of the ingredients as you wish and even leave some out, or be like my stepmother and add even more booze to it. This is the most forgiving cocktail recipe you’ll make.

Arok’s Frozen Wisconsin-Style Grasshopper

• 3 small scoops of a good vanilla bean ice cream (about 150-200 grams total)

• 1 fluid ounce Tempus Fugit Crème de Cacao

• 1 fluid ounce Tempus Fugit Crème de Menthe

• a splash of coffee or coffee liqueur

• green food coloring (optional, if you want the traditional Grasshopper color that would usually come from the green-colored Crème de Menthe. I tend to leave it out, but I wanted the picture to be accurate)

Blend the ingredients on low to medium-low to mix well but not melt the ice cream. Pour into a suitably vintage glass. Garnish with a mint sprig and/or a crushed-up York Peppermint Patty. And enjoy!

I’ll be taking next week off to enjoy Christmas with my family, so I hope each and every one of you has a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

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Did you enjoy this post? If you want to support the work going on here at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com.

Smoke Wagon Blender’s Select Straight Rye Whiskey

Have you noticed that as we get closer to Christmas and New Years, people get a little less, oh, I don’t know, dedicated to doing what they should be doing and a little more open to taking it a little easier? When I worked in an office, the week before Christmas was always a bit more laid back than normal. The week between the holidays was dead since both co-workers and clients tended to be off doing a little merry-making. And then you’d hit the inevitable cliff of coming back to work on the second, and everyone would be cranky. The cold seemed a little colder. The magic was just…gone until spring.

Or maybe it was just me. I do tend toward depression, after all.

In any case, I’ve always found the holidays to be a little magical. People who are normally grumpy turn out to be the type of folks who put up lights and decorations, even if it does raise the electric bill. People tend to be just a little nicer (unless you are in a store, then watch out). Even the snow seems less of an obstacle and more of a decoration. Yep, the time from Halloween to New Years is probably my favorite time of the year. However, I look forward to fewer emails informing me that it is my last chance to buy something.

Speaking of spending money, let’s turn our attention to tonight’s whiskey. Tonight, we are looking at the final installment in the Smoke Wagon trilogy, as suggested by reader David. This time, we turn our attention away from bourbon and over to rye whiskey. I love rye whiskey, maybe even more than bourbon. If RyeGuy hadn’t sounded so much like a McDonaldland Character, I might have considered it as a name for the site. Of course, in 2011, when I was planning this thing out, there wasn’t nearly as much rye whiskey on the market, so I wouldn’t have had a whole lot to write about.

Like the other Smoke Wagon whiskeys that we’ve looked at, this is sourced from MGP in Indiana. This one is made from a blend of their 51% rye, 45% corn, 4% malted barley recipe and their 51% rye, 49% malted barley recipe. The latter of which is the basis for this year’s 2023 Rossville Union Bottle in Bond limited edition. I liked it alone for that one, so let’s see how it stacks up when blended with another rye mash bill. But first we will let the producer have their say:

We selected barrels of the sweet, delicate 51% rye, 45% corn, and 4% barley traditional straight rye and blended it with barrels of the big and bold 51% rye, 49% malted barley straight rye. The end result is an upfront flavor profile that's beautifully sweet and rich with a luxurious mouthfeel. The finish has just enough cinnamon and rye spice to get your tongue tingling while the flavors from the malted barley, such as smoke and malt are still present, but softer and more subtle. 

Alright, let’s dig in.

Smoke Wagon Blender’s Select Straight Rye Whiskey

Purchase Info: $72.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.87

Details: Bottled Oct. 21, 2023. Batch 6. 56.89% ABV.

Nose: Cedar, mint, and cinnamon sugar.

Mouth: Cedar, cinnamon, brown sugar, cherry, and mint.

Finish: Medium to long and warm with mint, cherry, and cinnamon notes.

Thoughts: This is delicious. Even my rye-adverse wife enjoys it. It's dangerously drinkable neat. Yet it also takes a splash of water well. Water brings out more malty "nougat" notes. I think this is my favorite of the three Smoke Wason Whiskeys we've explored. As with the other two, though, it’s just too expensive for me to purchase on a regular basis. Not when I can usually get MGP whiskey much cheaper from other bottlers or even from MGP itself. But if I were in Vegas and saw it behind the bar or on a menu, I’d probably have no qualms about supporting a local business by buying a glass.

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Smoke Wagon Uncut Unfiltered Bourbon

Hello my friends! I hope that you are having a wonderful day. I know I am. Today I got to enjoy 50 degree weather. In Minnesota. In December! Days like this make it hard to get anything accomplished. So instead of working, I spent the day outside taking photos for some upcoming items that I’m going to be putting up on the Etsy store sometime next month. So I guess I was working, but it didn’t feel like it. I’m really excited for these as I am back to playing with barrel wood. This time I took portions of barrel head, planed the front down to a nice clean surface, and then engraved a design on the front before finishing them with a clear polyurethane. They look great! I just am not quite sure how to get them to people yet. I need to find boxes to ship them in.

But that isn’t why you are here (though if you are interested in those you can go to BourbonGuyGifts.com and favorite the shop. I think that will give you a notification when I put up new items.) No you are here to find out about the next entry in our Smoke Wagon series. Tonight’s bourbon is the barrel-proof Smoke Wagon Uncut Unfiltered Bourbon. As you might guess, this is a barrel-proof version of the Smoke Wagon Small Batch that we looked at on Tuesday. I don’t have much to add to what I wrote then so we will hear what the producer has to say and then jump into what I thought of the whiskey.

It’s nice out. I want to keep this short and sweet so I can enjoy a bourbon near the fire pit tonight.

We took the same vintage blending philosophy that we used to create Small Batch, except this time the goal was to create high proof bourbon that tasted its best neat. Uncut is so rich and sweet with an unbelievably thick mouth feel, the heat and rye spice finish are a welcome addition. It's like milk with cookies!

Let’s dig in!

Smoke Wagon Uncut Unfiltered Bourbon

Purchase Info: $79.99 for a 750 mL bottle at South Lyndale Liquors, Minneapolis, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $5.33

Details: Batch #192A. Bottled Oct 9, 2023. Distilled in Indiana. 57.98% ABV.

Nose: Cinnamon, spearmint, toffee, and dusty oak.

Mouth: Cinnamon, spearmint, maple, citrus zest, and oak.

Finish: Long and warm with notes of cinnamon, chocolate, and toffee.

Thoughts: This is very good. Much better than the Small Batch Bourbon. It is rich with a wonderful mouthfeel. It's much sweeter than I would have expected and I think that works very well for this particular flavor profile. Overall $80 is still more than I like to spend for bourbon but it's still cheaper than a lot of the barrel-proof bourbons on the shelf (unless you compare it to the one's from Lux Row who happen to be owned by MGP, this brand's presumed supplier) so if I see it again, and am looking for a barrel-proof bourbon, I’ll be sure to give it another look. I like it more than the Small Batch so if the choice was between he two, I’d choose this one.

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Smoke Wagon Small Batch Bourbon

Way back in April, reader David reached out to me to see if I’d ever had Smoke Wagon Bourbon from Nevada H&C Distilling and to request that I give it a try and give my thoughts on it. Unfortunately at that time I hadn’t had it. In fact I really didn’t have much of a way to get my hands on it that didn’t involve traveling to another state. And so I tucked the suggestion away for the next time I traveled.

Well, I didn’t travel much to see family this summer and I honestly forgot to look during our September vacation. But not to worry, by October it was on shelves. And not only was the small batch that David had requested, but also a barrel proof bourbon and a straight rye as well. I picked them all up and could put them all in one post, but instead I will be milking them for content this week and next.

You’re welcome.

So who is this newcomer to Minnesota? Well, as far as I can tell, they are a small producer out of Las Vegas, Nevada. The products that I have picked up say that they are “Distilled in Indiana” and “Bottled and Aged by Nevada H&C Distilling Company, Las Vegas, Nevada.” Which means they are sourcing the whiskeys though it looks as if they are distilling their own vodka, so maybe they are also distilling and aging their own whiskey for future release. If not, MGP is a great source for high-quality bourbon.

Here is what the producer has to say about the Small Batch Bourbon:

Released in 2016, our goal was to create a unique great tasting high rye content bourbon. The problem is that rye ages much faster than corn. So while our younger vintages had a big rye spice flavor (which we love) the mouth feel was too thin and it lacked the sweet, delicate complexity of a well aged spirit.  Our older vintages had the  smoothness and sweet notes that can only be achieved  by moving in and out of #4 char and caramelized oak for many, many years, but the nice rye spice had been aged out! So what to do? Find the perfect blend. We combined the two. The younger vintages maintain the bold spiciness of the rye, cut down on the tannins and keep it fruit forward.  The older vintage brings in a creamy mouth feel with sweet aromas and taste notes that only appear over time from aging in a barrel. We hope you enjoy drinking it as much as we enjoy making it.

One last thing I will say is that the retailers in Minnesota don’t seem to have a lot of product on hand. Almost every place I’ve see it has a “limit one” sticker on the bottle. And since they are currently only listing about 23 states that they distribute to on their website, you may or may not be able to get your hands on this one. But it came well recommended by David so let’s see if we agree here in the BourbonGuy household. And whether we think you should try to search it out.

Smoke Wagon Small Batch Bourbon

Purchase Info: $59.99 for a 750 mL bottle at South Lyndale Liquors, Minneapolis, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.00

Details: 50% ABV. Distilled in Indiana

Nose: Cinnamon candy, orange peel, and just a touch of oak.

Mouth: Vibrant cinnamon candy and ginger rounded off with notes of caramel, vanilla, and a touch of oak.

Finish: Medium length and spicy. Notes of ginger, cinnamon candy, black tea, orange zest and dried grains.

Thoughts: I've tried this twice now. One time was the day I bought it. It was the second bourbon of the night. That night I found it so delicate that I was convinced that someone had accidentally put a light whiskey in the bottle. The second time I tried this was as I did these tasting notes. This time it was the first item I tasted and it was very vibrant. Though I'm still getting the "light whiskey" notes, they are further down the palate. In fact, if you'd have blindly handed me a glass and told me it was a very good Canadian whisky, I'd have believed you. That said, I like it. I probably wouldn’t spend $60 on it again, but I'd happily drink it if you were buying.

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