Month: August 2014

Thanks to the good people over at BourbonBlog, we now know the recipe for this year’s Four Roses barrel proof small batch release. They’re combining 13-year-old OBSV, 12-year-old OESV, 11-year-old OBSF and 9-year-old OBSK. They’re also going to be releasing a lot more bottles this time around, with 11,000 reported instead of last year’s 8,000. Knowing how much Jim Rutledge likes bourbons in the younger range, +/- 10 years old, I’m excited about this one. The 125th was an absolute thing of beauty and had an unheard of for Four Roses 18 year old maturate in it, so I’m looking forward to seeing how this one stacks up with the younger average. Release is set for mid-September, and if we can get our hands on one, we’ll let you know what we think ASAP. Of course, I think everyone will, and probably should, buy this regardless of what we say though. Let us know what your favorite Small Batch release was from Four Roses in the comments or on our Facebook page!

Here’s the link to the Bourbon Blog post: http://www.bourbonblog.com/blog/2014/08/28/four-roses-2014-limited-edition-small-batch-bourbon/ 

Hello fellow Bourbon Evangelists! Darren and I wanted to give you a little update about why it’s been so long since we uploaded a full cast and some upcoming highlights. Darren is currently, and has been for the last 90 days or so, in the horrible purgatory that is studying for a forensic board exam. As such, most of his time has been dedicated to learning the intricacies of what a bullet hole looks like, and probably some other important stuff. Fortunately he will be done with this evil tribulation within the next week or so, and we can get back to waxing quixotically about bourbon, as is our true passion. So thanks for bearing with us, and we should be back soon!

There are a few exciting things on the horizon for us that we’d like to tell you about too. The first is the release of Maker’s Mark Cask Strength on September 1 at the distillery. I’ve been informed retail will be 39.99 and it will only be for sale at the distillery and to bars for an unspecified amount of time. I plan to be there and will put up a review as soon as possible about what I think. 

Our next podcast should be a lot of fun and will likely be starting on a multi-part series regarding the dreaded Prohibition. We’ll also be getting to the effects of proof on flavors and aromas in bourbon. This September we’re hoping to have an interview and distillery tour piece with Jim Rutledge of Four Roses if all goes as planned. And our first live tasting and cast (that you can come and enjoy with us!) will hopefully be taking place early this fall! Lots of exciting things on the way, but in the meantime, enjoy a glass of your favorite brown water and know that we’ll be back soon! Cheers!

 

The results from this year’s International Wine and Spirits Competition show a sweep of the golds for Buffalo Trace in the bourbon category. 

You all know how much we here at BOTB love Buffalo Trace, but this damn impressive. I combed their website to see how spirits are scored, and they do a series of blind tastings as well as a chemical analysis. They don’t give the parameters for the chemical analysis, but I’d sure like to know. We’ve had a ton of good bourbons this year, and would agree with a lot of these awards, but there’s a lot I would have liked to see get a gold if not at least a silver. Also, Benchmark gets a gold, really? I mean, it’s good, but its a 4 year old that beat out Pappy 20 year (awarded silver outstanding). Most of their tasters come from the Scotch Whiskey world; could it be that Buffalo Trace makes a very approachable product for people coming over from Scotch? 

What do you guys think? Let us know in the comments and if you want to check out the awards yourself, the link is below. Cheers!

Searchable IWSC 2014 Results

 

 

 

Boy did we have a great time sitting down with one of the legends of Lexington bartending and bourbon curating, Chris Evans of Bluegrass Tavern. We highly recommend checking them out if you are from Lexington of just passing through. Their bourbon collection is nearly impossible to beat and the drinks are strong and well made. Hope you have as much fun listening as we did interviewing, cheers!

Listen here: Interview with Chris Evans of Bluegrass Tavern

Bonus recipes!

Pre-interview Chris gave us his summer Gamechanger recipe. We love it and made our own little riff for you to enjoy!

The Gamechanger by Chris Evans

Handful of frozen fruit (cherries, blackberries, peaches, whatever you like)

Two shakes of bitters

Top with bourbon and enjoy!

The BOTB Gamechanger

2 oz. Bourbon

1/2 oz. Gran Gala (or Cointreau or triple sec)

1/2-3/4 oz Lemon Juice

3/4 Tbs. Basil Simple Syrup (recipe here)

Dash Balsamic Vinegar

Shake above ingredients and strain over frozen blackberries or frozen blackberry ice cubes, garnish with lemon and basil and enjoy!

This is really neat to flip through. Published in 1862, it is considered the first book of American cocktail recipes. Enjoy!

How to Mix Drinks: Or The Bon-Vivants Companion

We’re about to hit 2000 visitors to the blog and that makes us as happy as this here pig! (who incidentally belongs to me, her name is Schnitzel):

To celebrate, we have a great interview recorded with Chris Evans of Bluegrass Tavern here in Lexington that I’ll try and upload it once we hit the fabled 2K! Also, I’ve [hopefully] fixed our RSS feed so all our casts will show up in iTunes. I’m told this refreshes every 24 hours, so we’ll see in a day or so.

Cheers guys, and as always, thanks for listening!

According to the TTB, 1792 has a bunch of new additions that may come out sometime soon. I use hesitant language on purpose because getting a label approved doesn’t mean that things will actually come out. They have labels approved for Small Batch, Single Barrel, Full Proof, Sweet Wheat (a wheated bourbon), and High Rye (a high rye bourbon). Color me excited about the Full Proof from Barton!

Check out the labels from the TTB below: