In whiskey enthusiasm, each day is an adventure inching you closer to an even greater adventure. The key is finding friends to share those adventures with.
The post Renegades and Raconteurs appeared first on Rare Bird 101.
In whiskey enthusiasm, each day is an adventure inching you closer to an even greater adventure. The key is finding friends to share those adventures with.
The post Renegades and Raconteurs appeared first on Rare Bird 101.
In whiskey enthusiasm, each day is an adventure inching you closer to an even greater adventure. The key is finding friends to share those adventures with.
The post Renegades and Raconteurs appeared first on Rare Bird 101.
A partnership between Lotte Duty Free and King Car Group will support the expansion of the single malt brand into the international market. King Car is the maker of Taiwan’s popular Kavalan whisky. The South Korean giant will work the distillery to enter special markets. The signing of the MOU took place on March 27, […]
The post Kavalan Whisky Brand Gets Boost from Whisky Partnership first appeared on Whisky Critic – Whisky Reviews & Articles – Style. Attitude. Whisky..
A partnership between Lotte Duty Free and King Car Group will support the expansion of the single malt brand into the international market. King Car is the maker of Taiwan’s popular Kavalan whisky. The South Korean giant will work the distillery to enter special markets.
The signing of the MOU took place on March 27, 2024, with Key Officials from Lotte Duty Free’s Merchandising Group and King Car Group’s International Business Division in attendance. High delegations from both companies included Lotte Duty Free Head of Merchandising Group Seung Kook Lee and King Car Group Head of International Business Cyndi Lin.
The partners are planning to open a flagship store of Kavalan within the downtown Seoul Lotte Duty Free store. They will also work on developing exclusive Kavalan products. In addition, they will expand overseas and open Kavalan stores at airports like Singapore Changi, Melbourne, Guam International, and Vietnam’s Hanoi Nội Bài International.
In 2017, Lotte Duty Free featured Kavalan whisky for the first time in its domestic duty-free program. The retailer reported that sales of Kavalan expressions grew by more than 3,580% last year.
Lotte Duty Free Head of Merchandising Seung Kook Lee commented: “We plan to expand Kavalan whisky products to Lotte Duty Free’s main channels by establishing a strong cooperative relationship with King Car Group.
“We will continue to strengthen partnerships with global brands and product-buying competitiveness to provide Lotte Duty Free customers with differentiated lines.”
With over 700 medals at top spirits events since its opening in 2006, the Kavalan Distillery is considered a pioneer in the art of single malt whisky in Taiwan. Kavalan whisky brand is part of the King Car Group. The owner of the group, Tien-Tsai Lee, is a classical music enthusiast.
Many of the whiskies produced by Kavalan have names inspired by classical music. The first whiskey released by Kavalan was the Classic single malt in 2008. This was followed by other variants such as single cask Solist, Conductor, and Concertmaster
The post Kavalan Whisky Brand Gets Boost from Whisky Partnership first appeared on Whisky Critic - Whisky Reviews & Articles - Style. Attitude. Whisky..
Understanding how the bourbon geek thinks has been something that has dumbfounded us for years. We talk about it all the time […]
The post 455 – Digging Into The Psychology of a Bourbon Hunter with Jim White of Reality Check appeared first on BOURBON PURSUIT.
Understanding how the bourbon geek thinks has been something that has dumbfounded us for years. We talk about it all the time on roundtables and other episodes where we try to guess why consumers purchase in certain ways. And for the longest time, you all have asked why don’t we get someone on the show that can talk about the psychology of a bourbon drinker. Well, ask and you shall receive. In this very special episode, Jim White, the Founder and President of Reality Check consulting who has a background in bourbon advertising and psychology joins the show to talk about how people think and how brands can develop a story. This episode will dive into the psychology of scarcity, pricing, limited editions, repeat purchases, and so much more. During different segments you’re going to come away realizing a reason why you chase and hunt bottles as well.
Show Notes:
The post 455 – Digging Into The Psychology of a Bourbon Hunter with Jim White of Reality Check appeared first on BOURBON PURSUIT.
Octomore 12 yo 2010/2023 (55.6%, A Few Barrels Company, Uniqueness of The Cask collection, bourbon barrel, cask #4524, 229 bottles)Octomore 10 yo 2013/2024 (62.4%, Dramfool’s Jim McEwan Signature Collection 8.3, first fill bourbon barrel, cask #1871, 2…
Today (March 27, 2024), the Orkney Distillery performed its first whisky distillation in celebration of International Whisky Day. Since its establishment in 2016, Orkney Distillery has aimed to diversify its spirits profile by introducing whiskies and rums to its portfolio. However, the distillery has manufactured exclusively Kirkjuvagr gin up until now. After delays due to the […]
The post Orkney Distillery Initiates Operation in Honor of International Whisky Day first appeared on Whisky Critic – Whisky Reviews & Articles – Style. Attitude. Whisky..
Today (March 27, 2024), the Orkney Distillery performed its first whisky distillation in celebration of International Whisky Day. Since its establishment in 2016, Orkney Distillery has aimed to diversify its spirits profile by introducing whiskies and rums to its portfolio. However, the distillery has manufactured exclusively Kirkjuvagr gin up until now.
After delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the distillery received its licenses to distill rum and whisky in 2023. This has led to infrastructural expansion including a new pilot brewhouse, with plans to install three copper stills in summer 2024.
Stephen Kemp, Managing Director of The Orkney Distillery, said: “Over the past seven years, The Orkney Distillery has become well established within the Scottish drinks sector, with our award-winning range of Kirkjuvagr gins a firm favorite in the marketplace.
”Our single malt Scotch whisky will be a fantastic addition to the distillery’s product range and will be crafted with the same commitment and attention to detail that we’ve applied to our gin production. We’ll share more details in the coming weeks and months but suffice to say we’re determined to create a single malt of exceptional quality and provenance, one that reflects our values as a business and celebrates the long tradition of whisky-making in Orkney.”
The International Whisky Day should not be confused with World Whisky Day. Here is the big difference between the two.
International Whisk(e)y Day is celebrated on March 27th every year by whiskey enthusiasts all over the world. The parenthesis indicates support for the Scots, Canadians, and Japanese who spell whisky without an e.
World Whisky Day is celebrated annually on the third Saturday of May. It was founded by Blair Bowman in 2012 while studying at the University of Aberdeen. In 2015, World Whisky Day events were registered on all seven continents.
Whichever day you choose to celebrate, it will be all about whisky.
The post Orkney Distillery Initiates Operation in Honor of International Whisky Day first appeared on Whisky Critic - Whisky Reviews & Articles - Style. Attitude. Whisky..
Coleburn 1972/1996 (40%, Gordon & MacPhail, Connoisseurs Choice, old map label)
I picked up a bottle of this Rye whiskey the other day at Kentucky Artisan Distillery in Crestwood, Kentucky. It is a Rye whiskey that was sent on a voyage from Savannah, Georgia through the Panama Canal, on to New… Continue Reading →
New Economic Numbers And Tax Breaks Leave More Questions Than Answers By Richard Thomas February saw the release of a key economic report from the Kentucky Distillers Association (KDA), the trade group that represents the Commonwealth’s bourbon industry. The statistics presented in the report were held up as a cause for celebration, billed as a …
By Richard Thomas
February saw the release of a key economic report from the Kentucky Distillers Association (KDA), the trade group that represents the Commonwealth’s bourbon industry. The statistics presented in the report were held up as a cause for celebration, billed as a picture of the Kentucky bourbon industry going from triumph to triumph, and its release was attended by leaders from both the state government and the bourbon industry.
“Kentucky’s economy is booming, and the Bourbon industry is helping us build a strong economy for generations to come,” said Gov. Andy Beshear. “Today, this signature industry is generating $9 billion in total economic impact, with more on the way. We thank our distilleries for working hard to create more good jobs and boosting our tourism industry across the Commonwealth.”
I’m loathe to disagree with Andy Beshear, especially as both he and his father before him are/were outstanding governors for the bourbon industry. That said, I command a long memory and have some graduate-level economics courses under my belt, two characteristics that led me to some questions over the report that occasioned those remarks. Chief among those questions is “is this data as good as it seems” and “what about the salient issues for Kentuckians not discussed by the KDA?”
Kentucky Bourbon As A $9 Billion Industry
The headline statistic in the new data is that Kentucky bourbon is now a $9 billion industry. Mind you, that does not mean it generates $9 billion in sales or profits; it means the industry has a $9 billion economic footprint. This is keeping it in tandem with Scotch Whisky, the other leading whiskey industry in the world (Scotch was estimated to have a £7.1 billion footprint in 2022), and makes bourbon one of the state’s most important industries. That number also represents the growth of Kentucky bourbon, but how much growth?
When I first started The Whiskey Reviewer twelve years ago, that KDA figure for the bourbon industry was $8 billion. For the last several years, that figure has been $8.5 billion. Now it has reached $9 billion, and over that time the industry has grown from having fewer than twenty active distilleries in the state to “100 distilling locations operated by around 84 companies in Kentucky,” representing a fivefold increase since 2009. Most of those new distilleries are craft-scale, but some are medium-sized enterprises (New Riff, Rabbit Hole, Wilderness Trail) and at least one is large (Bardstown Bourbon Company).
Another factor, one that shouldn’t require a long memory to recall, is the recent inflationary cycle. That spike of inflation ran from 2020 to 2023, with an overall rate of 6.7% during that period. Roughly speaking, for three years inflation ran triple to what it had been for the whole of the 21st Century, and those three years cover the majority of the time since the previous report on the scope of the Kentucky bourbon industry. Some simple math indicates that the half billion dollar growth tracked by the KDA (more or less) corresponds with inflation.
Knowing that, I was surprised the new figure wasn’t higher, but that is as far as this exercise in being informed enough to exercise a little critical thinking go. Whether that is because inflation ate up the value of the industry’s growth or because growth has been slowing, I can’t say, but it certainly does not represent an inflation-adjusted surge of strong growth that one might have expected.
Bourbon, Taxes And The Bluegrass
As part of the new report, the KDA touted the 2023 passage of House Bill 5 (HB5), Kentucky’s infamous barrel tax. That is a 0.05% property tax on whiskey aging in warehouses (1/9 of the 0.45% tax on other forms of tangible property), and is the only tax of its kind in the US. The tax will now be gradually phased out between 2026 and 2043. In 2022, the Kentucky bourbon industry paid over $40 million in barrel taxes, and the industry has long claimed the tax is an anti-competitive hindrance to their industry.
The industry may be right, in that they are paying a tax that no one else in the United States must pay, but on a global level the truth of that statement is less clear. Every country has its own unique tax and regulatory quirks, and comparing them is often a matter of apples and oranges, or apples and pears at best. Certainly few have considered paying the tax so strong an impediment as to prevent them from a whiskey-making business in Kentucky, as witnessed by the boom in new distillery starts this last decade and the absence of any whiskey company picking up and moving out of the state.
The reason why only Kentucky has this tax is two-fold: the tax was enacted in the 1940s and ever since Kentucky has the nation’s largest whiskey industry, and its largest by a huge margin. Also, the state is home to large and influential groups of Protestant teetotallers. An old axiom in the state is those folks don’t want liquor sold in their counties, but they are more than happy to collect taxes from the whiskey business.
Barrel taxes are used to fund the schools, police, fire and other services in the counties they are collected from, and rural counties in particular are heavily dependent to fund their essential functions. In the run-up to the passage of HB5, this issue was often simplified into counties that were home to distilleries and those that hosted only bourbon warehouses. It was presumed the former would be fine, since the distilleries provided dozens or hundreds of permanent jobs. The latter would suffer upon losing the barrel tax because it was the only revenue they derived from the industry, because warehouses create fewer jobs and those are often not permanently assigned to a given storage property in any case. Indeed, many county officials from these warehouse-only counties said losing the barrel tax would make the bourbon industry a fiscal parasite on their communities, since they would still be stuck holding the bill for the wear and tear on their roads caused by barrel-hauling trucks and the additional fire protection the warehouses require.
The reality, however, is worse than that. Marion County is home to Maker’s Mark, Limestone Branch and the cooperage Independent Stave Company, so the bourbon industry creates plenty of permanent jobs there. Yet the barrel tax represents 70% of the budget for the county seat of Loretto. Leaders like Marion County Judge Executive David Daugherty question why the industry needs tax relief when it has been experiencing record growth and investment for the last several years, and he has a point. Again, those of us with long memories can fairly posit that a better time for tax relief might have been during the Whiskey Bust of the 1970s and 1980s.
Besides, HB5 is that this is only the latest tax break received by the bourbon industry during the modern Bourbon Boom. A previous measure was passed in 2014. Since that measure was passed, most Kentucky distillers haven’t even been paying the full barrel tax each year.
I think the real divide is between rural and urban or suburban counties. Places like Woodford, Jefferson and Boone counties have a far larger and more diversified tax base than Anderson, Bullit or Marion counties. I suspect in the long run, something will be done to bail out the counties losing their barrel money, if for no other reason than the statehouse is dominated by Republicans, and those rural counties are where the Republican voters live. Yet what that means in practice is that barrel tax will de facto be paid by other taxpayers in the state.
Asking Questions
One of the problems with looking at these issues is just how many variables contribute to them. For example, those same rural counties that complain about losing the barrel tax are home to farms that grow the corn that is ravenously consumed by the bourbon industry or feed their cattle for free off the spent grain waste of the distilling process. Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Shell said, “Kentucky farmers sold nearly 19 million bushels of corn and 2.6 million bushels of other grains to Kentucky distillers last year. The economic effects on our industry are building a stronger agricultural community for years to come.”
I don’t pretend to have all the data, let alone all the answers. But as I wrote at the beginning, I have sufficient insight to look at all this and be left scratching my head. Some years ago, the Bourbon Boom was attended by the constant question of “yes, it’s all very well and good, but when and how will the good times end?” I don’t hear that worry much anymore, but looking at these numbers, perhaps I should be. It looks more like a relative (emphasis on that word “relative”) slowdown than a continued surge. And as a Kentuckian, I can’t help but wonder if there won’t be a sales hike tax coming in the 2030s to offset the loss of barrel tax revenue for those bourbon industry counties that find they can’t pay to fix their roads anymore.
Savage & Cooke’s inaugural bottled-in-bond bourbon whiskeys, featuring heirloom California corn like Howling Mob and Bloody Butcher. Crafted ‘grain to glass’ on Mare Island by Dave Phinney’s distillery, they are limited in production. Tasting and interview by bourbon expert Tom Fischer with Master Distiller Jordan Via about the releases.
The post Savage & Cooke’s Inaugural Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon Whiskeys: Bloody Butcher and Howling Mob first appeared on BourbonBlog.
Savage & Cooke Distillery will release their first-ever bottled-in-bond bourbon expressions this Spring 2024: Bloody Butcher Bourbon Whiskey and Howling Mob Bourbon Whiskey
Bourbon expert Tom Fischer is the first to taste these new releases while interviewing interview with Master Distiller Jordan Via. Watch their engaging conversation and tasting in the video above OR click this link to view it.
The two new bourbons are limited-release and made entirely at the Savage & Cooke Distillery on Mare Island. Like the new trio of core whiskeys released this past fall , all of the grains, water, and barrels come from their region.
Via talks about the farmers, grains, and the process in the interview.
We’ve included tasting notes and full details on these two bourbons along with tasting notes from Jordan Via below.
Using Bloody Butcher heirloom corn from California, the Bloody Butcher Bourbon Whiskey comes from 44 carefully selected barrels and will be an annual release each spring
Deep caramel with an orange hue. Bright aromatics of ground cinnamon, dried orange peel, and lilac blossoms. Finishes with a long, unctuous cherry flavor with pronounced minerality and a core of power.
This whiskey was aged four years in Chard #3 and is 100 proof.
Mashbill: 70% Bloody Butcher Corn; 26% Red Winter Wheat; 4% Malted barley
It retails for $99.
Named after the Howling Mob heirloom sweet corn that the bourbon is made with, this bourbon is a one-time release with just 31 barrels produced.
Rich amber hues with bright aromas of fresh orange zest and Madagascar vanilla bean. Smokey charred oak mid-palate finishes with cinnamon bark and ground peppercorn.
Full-bodied and balanced.
This whiskey was aged four years and is 100 proof.
It retails for $99.
Distillery Owner Dave Phinney tells BourbonBlog.com:
“When we began distilling in 2018, we knew we only wanted to use the best ingredients in our whiskey. Now that we are at a place where they are ready for release, we can really see the value in this attention to detail,” said Distillery Owner Dave Phinney. “The heirloom corn we get from nearby Winters, California is the perfect example. It makes these bottled-in-bond whiskeys so special. It was a long wait, but with each new release, we see how our patience paid off. We can’t wait to get them into the hands of our fans.”
“These bourbons were painstakingly crafted and ushed to maturity over a period of four years, but in reality, the process was much longer because it took two seasons to research the ideal growing sites for the grain,” Distillery General Manager Lauren Blanchard explains.
“This bottled in bond series is a true ‘grain to glass; project in that we controlled every element in the process from the heirloom corn varietal and site selection to fermentation time, distillation and barrel regimen; no detail was overlooked. We are extremely proud and thrilled to bring these special bourbons to the market.”
The post Savage & Cooke’s Inaugural Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon Whiskeys: Bloody Butcher and Howling Mob first appeared on BourbonBlog.…
Hello again my friends! Let’s continue with the brackets, shall we?
If you’ve been following along, you know that these were tasted in an order only known to my wife as another bit of obfuscation to hide what was being tasted. So Round 1 of the 2024 BourbonGuy.com Brackets continues with Division 1’s Number 3 seed Ezra Brooks 99 taking on Number 2 seed Old Grand-Dad 114.
Ezra Brooks 99 recently replaced Lux Row’s Ezra Brooks 90 proof. Much to the dismay of certain commenters. I happen to enjoy the fact that they bumped the proof up. I’m guessing the dismay comes from the fact that they also bumped up the price at the same time. They didn’t go too high, though, since it still meets bracket parameters. When I picked this up at South Lyndale Liquors in Minneapolis, MN, it cost $24.99 for a 750 mL bottle or $1.67 per pour.
Their opponent is another bourbon that wears its proof right in the name. Old Grand-Dad 114 is Beam Suntory’s highest-proof product using the Old Grand-Dad mashbill. This bottle was purchased at Total Wine in Burnsville, MN. It cost $26.99 for a 750 mL bottle or $1.80 per pour.
All of the competitions this year were tasted blind and we knew the winner of the competition prior to any reveal. Notes, thoughts, and conclusions were all from before we knew what was what. Needless to say, some of my conclusions were surprising to me. Tasting notes may be a little unusual since they were being tasted at the same time and probably influenced the perceptions of one another.
Price Per Drink (50 mL): $1.67
Details: 49.5% ABV.
Nose: Spearmint, caramel, and almond.
Mouth: Sweet and spicy. Strong caramel notes along with cinnamon, mint, and a slight grainy note.
Finish: Medium in length and warmth. Notes of cinnamon, mint, and red fruit.
Price Per Drink (50 mL): $1.80
Details: 57% ABV.
Nose: Toffee, red fruits, and baking spice.
Mouth: Baking Spice, caramel, and red fruit.
Finish: Medium in length and warmth. Notes of cinnamon, mint, and red fruit.
Pre-Reveal Thoughts: Once again, both are delicious, but “B” is the winner on the strength of the overall experience. “A” shows some grain on the month which leads to a slight bitterness on the finish. “B” is sweet and spicy throughout with a nice full mouthfeel. On another day this might have gone another way, but today is “B’s” day.
Post-Reveal Thoughts: I’m both surprised and not surprised by the reveal on this one. On one hand, it is not unusual in these competitions that the higher-proof bourbon wins the day. On the other hand, it didn’t in the last post. In that one, the 100° Old Tub lost to the 90° proof Buffalo Trace. And usually, I’d grab a pour of Ezra Brooks 99 before a pour of Buffalo Trace. So that threw me for a moment. But then again, I really tend to like both of these. So going back to proof being the deciding factor, Old Grand-Dad 114’s win shouldn’t be a surprise.
Winner: Old Grand-Dad 114 is advancing to round 2.
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