Old Medley 12-Year-Old Bourbon: Revisited

September 12, 2019 Eric Burke

Next week I leave for a long anticipated vacation to Kentucky. While I’m there I’m planning to attend the both the Kentucky Bourbon Festival and Bourbon & Beyond. It is an especially full vacation filled with events, friends, shopping, music, camping, and of course bourbon. To be honest, I’ve been on vacation mode for most of the last week.

I last reviewed Old Medley 12-year-old seventeen hundred and eighty days ago, just shy of five years. At the time I thought it was fine, but over priced. I rated it a meh. The commenters were of mixed opinions as well.

This is my favorite and I go find it. It is a good drinking bourbon that grows on you.
— Mark

Justin, however, had a slightly different take:

Watered down and sad. I’d rather have my taint waxed for $45 than suffer through another bottle of this pretentious overpriced swill. Seriously…next.
— Justin

So now, five years later, what do I think about it today?

Old Medley 12-Year-Old Bourbon: Revisited

Purchase Info: $47.96 for a 750 mL bottle at Blue Max Liquors, Burnsville, MN.

Details: 12 years old, 43.4% ABV.

Nose: Caramel, weathered oak, hints of mint, and a vegetal undercurrent.

Mouth: mint, vanilla, baking spices

Finish: Short and gentle. Lingering dry, vegetal oak notes.

Thoughts: This is a very meh Bourbon. I really was expecting more, though maybe if I had checked out my previous review, I would have been forewarned. I'd give this a hard pass. For the price, it just isn't worth it. I’m thinking that I just picked up a $50 cocktail ingredient because it does pretty well there.

Off to Kentucky next week so no posts. If you see me at BourbonFest, Bourbon & Beyond or just out and about in Louisville/Bardstown/etc please stop me to say hi. I love meeting new friends.

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Four Roses 2019 Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon

September 5, 2019 Eric Burke

I’d like to thank the folks at Four Roses for providing this review sample to me with no strings attached.

If you’ve been reading for a while now, you’ll know that every year I travel to Bardstown, Kentucky to attend the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. For years, one of the highlights of my trip to the Festival had been my first taste of that year’s Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch at one of the events hosted by Four Roses during the Festival. This year, Four Roses was nice enough the send my first taste to me ahead of the Festival again. So instead of reviewing it long after any hope of standing in line to get a bottle has passed, I get to let you know my thoughts ahead of its release while you still have a hope (however small) of trying to procure a bottle for yourself.

Here is what the company had to say about their new release:

The 2019 Limited Edition Small Batch marks the first Four Roses limited-quantity bottling to feature a 21-year-old Bourbon from the distillery’s OBSV recipe. This release will also feature a 15-year-old OESK, 15-year-old OESV and 11-year-old OESV. … Four Roses will distribute approximately 13,440 hand-numbered bottles of the 2019 Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon that will be sold in the United States with a suggested retail price of $140.

This product is non-chill filtered and will be available for sale in limited quantities at the Four Roses Distillery and Cox’s Creek Visitor Center on Saturday, September 21 beginning at 9 am. And will roll out to retailers in the following weeks.

2019 Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch

Purchase Info: This sample was graciously provided by Four Roses for review purposes. Suggested retail price is $140.

Details: 56.3% ABV, OESV- 11 year old, OESV-15 year old, OESK-15 year old, OBSV-21 year old

Nose: Caramel, apricot, mint, cinnamon, cocoa, and a nuttiness like toasted grains.

Mouth: Oak, caramel, spicy cinnamon, apricot, vanilla

Finish: Long and warm with lingering cocoa, and cinnamon red hots.

Thoughts: This is a very good Bourbon. I like how the cocoa and nutty notes play with the spicy cinnamon. The caramel and the fruity undercurrent add a nice depth to the product. Water dampens the fruitiness and accentuates the oak without compromising the spiciness. I like this one without water personally, but the proof is high enough that I’ll be drinking the rest of this sample in small pours because of that.

Lot 40 Canadian Rye Whiskey: Revisited

August 29, 2019 Eric Burke

Tonight, my beloved Minnesota Golden Gophers kick off their 2019 college football season. And I couldn’t be more excited. I love the first night of football season. For me part of looking ahead means looking back. Taking stock of last year and all the good things that happened always give me a sense of optimism, even when it isn’t warranted. But tonight is the last night that anything that happened last year means anything. All that matters now is the future.

This is the same tactic I take when I do these “revisited” posts. Sure, what happened in the past is important as a starting point, but what is happening now is all that really matters. So in that spirit, let’s take a look at Lot 40 Canadian Rye Whisky. It has been two thousand, three hundred seven days since I last reviewed this whiskey. And I loved it.

I tried it blind as part of an online Twitter tasting (remember Twitter? Back when it wasn’t a cesspool filled with hate?). Soon after, I made a trip to Canada and brought a few bottles back home with me. Shortly after that it showed up in my local market and all was well. I would pick it up every once in a while, but the fact that it was priced above $60 at the time made those times farther and farther apart. Until one day, I realized I hadn’t purchased it in years. so I grabbed it and here we are.

Lot 40 Canadian Rye Whisky: Revisited

Purchase Info: $39.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Details: 43% ABV. 100% Pot Still Whisky

Nose: It’s a bit of a caramel bomb. Pencil shavings, caramel custard, spearmint and cloves.

Mouth: Toffee, mint, cinnamon, black pepper and creamy custard.

Finish: Medium length with lingering caramel and baking spices.

Thoughts: This is a lot sweeter than I remembered it being. So much so that I dug into my sample library for my last sample of the 2012 release that I bought so many bottles of. These are two completely different whiskies. 2012 is spicy on the nose and the mouth is complex with hints of dill. The current bottling is nothing like that. The nose mouth and finish are all heavy on the caramel. It is so sweet I don’t want to use it in cocktails, like an Old Fashioned, that have added sugar. I’m very sad. This is the farthest anything has fallen in the Revisited series. It went from a love to a meh.

I really hope that isn’t an omen for the football season…

Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye: Revisited

August 20, 2019 Eric Burke

It has been one thousand, five hundred and fifty-nine days since I last did a tasting of Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye. It was very shortly after the whisky’s original release. It was also about a day or two before I found myself suddenly self-employed after going through a lay-off at the company I’d worked for for the previous seven years. I absolutely hated my job, but really sort of liked the money that it paid me. And, not so surprisingly, I was nervous about the new adventure I was about to embark upon.

And though I was right to be nervous, I’ve landed on my feet and even thrived. I actually make more money in my various self-employed business ventures than I did as a corporate shill for a “school” that preyed on the poor and undereducated. And plus I think it is nicer to wake up everyday thinking that you are making the world a little better than it was to wake up hoping beyond hope that you wouldn’t end up making it even worse before the day was done.

So what does all that have to do with Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye? Nothing, really. Not aside from the coincidental timing of the previous review. Plus, it’s always nice to throw a little shade at a shady ex-employer.

Of course the 90% Rye whisky from Crown Royal has had a few things happen to it in the meantime as well. It won the title of 2016 World Whisky of the Year from Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible and 2017 Canadian Whisky of the Year from the same publication. It also won Sippin’ Whiskey of the year at the 2017 Canadian Whisky Awards. Not too shabby for a $25 bottle.

Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye

Purchase Info: $24.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Details: 45% ABV.

Nose: Wrigley's Spearmint Gum, nutmeg, cedar.

Mouth: Tingly but gentle. Vanilla, cinnamon, mint.

Finish: Medium length and gentle. Cinnamon, cedar and mint.

Thoughts: Cinnamon and mint make a fine pairing and the cedar notes give it a nice herbal twist. I haven't purchased this since the last time I reviewed it but have often considered doing so. I think that the gentleness made me want to walk past it for something more robust. But it is nice to sip something elegant now and then as well. Plus, I found that it works nicely in cocktails that call for Bulleit rye. I like this, hopefully I don't wait another four years to try this again.

Remus Volstead Reserve

August 15, 2019 Eric Burke

I’d like to thank the folks at MGP and Gregory + Vine for providing this review sample to me with no strings attached.

Every so often, like this weekend, my wife disappears for a weekend away with her mother. Leaving me home alone with the dogs to fend for myself. Not that I begrudge her that, her mother is getting up there in years and I certainly want my wife to make all the memories that she can while her mother is still with us. Of course while my wife is away, I tend to have a little fun myself. I may be “stuck” at home, but that’s honestly the place I like best. And besides when she isn’t here I get to lounge on the couch watching movies that she doesn’t like on the big TV, eating stupid amounts of pizza, and drinking the tasty drams from my shelf of fancy spirits without sharing. All in all, I’d say it is a bit of a win-win situation.

And I’d guess that tonight’s bourbon would probably have a spot on that shelf of fine bourbons, rums and brandys. This soon to be released 14-year-old, bottled-in-bond bourbon from MGP is seriously delicious. And considering the $200 price tag it would not be a bourbon that sits on the regular whiskey shelf. This would be one that I would set aside and go to only occasionally, allowing it to last. Of course, the odds that I need to make the decision of whether or not to shatter my personal price ceiling are low indeed. There will only be 6000 bottles of Remus Volstead Reserve released and I have serious doubts I will see it on the shelf.

But if I did…well…I might be sleeping on that couch I described above. Especially if my wife is not on board with the purchase. Because, I would probably purchase it. It’s really damn good.

Remus Volstead Reserve

Purchase Info: This review sample was graciously provided to me for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $199.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Details: 14 years old, 50% ABV, Bottled-in-Bond, DSP-IN-15023, 6000 bottles will be released November 2019.

Nose: Cherry, tobacco, chocolate, apple, nutmeg

Mouth: Spicy with cinnamon, clove, leather, apple, vanilla

Finish: Long and warm with lingering clove, leather, vanilla

Thoughts: The first sip made my eyes close in delight and it just kept getting better from there. The nose is rich. The mouth is warm, thick, and spicy. The finish is delightful. To quote my very (very) frugal wife: "If you have the means, splurge if you find it.'' I agree, I'm in love with this one. And whether or not I end up on that couch will depend on whether or not she feels we have the means if I were to find it.