Month: May 2017

Celebrating LMDW’s Sixtieth Anniversary with Blanton’s Single Barrels and Pappy Van Winkle

By @LondonLiquorOn 20 March 2017, BBS hosted a unique tasting event at Milroy’s of Soho: four Blanton’s Single Barrel releases bottled exclusively by La Maison Du Whisky to celebrate their Sixtieth Anniversary. This was to be followed by a much anticip…

By @LondonLiquor

On 20 March 2017, BBS hosted a unique tasting event at Milroy's of Soho: four Blanton's Single Barrel releases bottled exclusively by La Maison Du Whisky to celebrate their Sixtieth Anniversary. This was to be followed by a much anticipated Pappy Van Winkle raffle ... but first the Blanton's tasting.

All four Single Barrel releases had been bottled on the same date (15 August 2016) at the same ABV (60%) from barrels that had been stored next to each other on the same rick (15) in the same warehouse (H). In other words, the barrels were practically identical to all intents and purposes. But how different would they taste? Following a brief introduction to the Blanton's range and its unusual history from Simo and @londonliquor, as well as a couple of drams of the Blanton's Original and Gold releases to get warmed up, we got to find out.

Now, if BBS had learned one thing from selecting the first BBS FEW Single Barrel a few days earlier, it was to expect significant flavour variance. And we were not disappointed. Although all four displayed the core characteristics of Blanton's that has made the range a standout BBS favourite, different elements stood out across each barrel, particularly once a few drops of water had been added to temper the heat of the alcohol. More than one member was seen desperately searching the LMDW website to see if their favourite barrel was still in stock only to be disappointed!

After the tasting was all said and done, it was time for Milroys and BBS' much anticipated Pappy Van Winkle raffle. Now, there's no easy way to allocate rare releases. The fact that such releases are often immediately flipped on online auction sites for multiples of their RRP only complicates the situation further.

Thanks to Milroy's support, BBS was able to do something a little bit different to help fulfil one of our core aims: making sure that whisky goes to people who will actually drink and enjoy (rather than flip) it. The premise was simple: everyone who attended the tasting had their name put in a Glen Cairn. The first three names pulled out by Simo were offered the chance to buy a bottle of either Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve 20 Year Old, Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve 15 Year Old or Old Rip Van Winkle 10 Year Old for RRP. So far so usual. The twist was that each winner was asked to remove the foil from the bottle there and then to prevent any temptation to sell it. BBS was fortunate enough to have dinner with Preston Van Winkle a few days after the event who turned out to be a huge fan of our anti-flipping concept.  

In true BBS spirit, the winner of the Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve 15 Year Old immediately shared the bottle round the room so that everyone could see whether the hype matched reality. Having not been a fan of the 2015 release, I was blown away by the 2016 release – an epic bourbon.

Thank you to everyone who attended this event. Milroy's next tasting (the 1792 range) and Pappy raffle will take place on 18 June 2017! Sadly, it's already sold out.

State ABC’s grow up….sort of

I’ve lived in Virginia for nearly 32 years and for that duration, the Commonwealth has been an ABC state.  Back when I moved here in 1985 my bourbon of choice was Wild Turkey 8 year 101 or Kentucky Spirit.  It took nearly 20 years to come aro…

I've lived in Virginia for nearly 32 years and for that duration, the Commonwealth has been an ABC state.  Back when I moved here in 1985 my bourbon of choice was Wild Turkey 8 year 101 or Kentucky Spirit.  It took nearly 20 years to come around and realize there's a whole world of interesting whiskey's beyond what Wild Turkey offered.

Once that happened, my interest in acquiring different bottles was hampered by the fact that Virginia simply didn't put much effort in offering any variety to the extent that open market states carried a wide variety of spirits.  Thankfully, Maryland (not Montgomery County, a controlled jurisdiction) and D.C. were near by to help with my booze shopping.

On a fairly regular basis I travel to North Carolina which is also a controlled state.  While visiting family back about 5 year ago, I visited a local ABC near Lexington NC and was actually quite appalled at the anemic selection thinking at the time they were significantly worse than Virginia.

One of my early trips to NC I conducted a whiskey tasting for a group of local enthusiasts with two of the participants members of the NC ABC board.  One of the bourbons I featured was a Four Roses Single Barrel; one that shockingly they had not seen, at least not in the western part of the state.  Fast forward 1 year and I'm conducting the tasting once again (2017 was our 5th year going down) and the same two ABC board members are happy to inform me that western NC now carried Four Roses Single Barrel along with the Small Batch (I should get a kick back....seriously).  In my discussion with the two board members I encouraged them to broaden their selections.

In no way do I take any credit for what shows up on the shelves of North Carolina ABC stores.....maybe some minuscule influence but that would be it.  Last fall I was again visiting family in NC and was pleased to see ABC stores carrying a much broader selection that just a couple years previously.  I think this is in large part due to the huge popularity of American whiskey evidenced by the two rows of various rye and bourbon labels on the shelf of the ABC store.

Virginia has certainly changed their posture when it comes to whiskey and now feature a more diverse portfolio of whiskies, and not just bourbon and rye but a few more Scotch, Irish and Japanese as well.  I'm more inclined today to drop into my local ABC and see what's on the shelf. 

Of course as the state controlled monopolies increase their shelf selections, so too does the open market retailers in non-controlled states.  In my opinion, the ABC's will always be playing catch up to the rest of the country as their bureaucracy is a natural impediment to the freer movement of inventory elsewhere.  As an example, I've never seen Independent Bottlers of Scotch, etc release in ABC states.  Maybe they have but in my area I have to shop in non-controlled jurisdictions to find releases from Cadenhead, Caskers, Douglas Laing or Old Malt Cask.  What ABC's have done is single barrel selections form Jim Beam, Four Roses or Knappogue.

I do hope ABC states one day relinquish control and allow the open market retailers to do what they do best.  Sell a broad and diverse selection of great spirits.

Where are all the new good releases?

Really, where are they? On one hand I can count the ones I want more of in the last year. Many Craft places have had the time to put something good out but I’m not impressed by the vast majority. The big boys put things out occasionally but they are bo…

Really, where are they? On one hand I can count the ones I want more of in the last year. Many Craft places have had the time to put something good out but I’m not impressed by the vast majority. The big boys put things out occasionally but they are boring ho-hum. This hasn’t stopped stupid stories and meaningless farm to glass claims. Occasionally a $200 fancy bottle and box comes out that is decent but even then, its few and far between. I’m holding out and sticking to private barrel bottles of picks I’ve been on. As I’ve said before, the true measure of a good bottle is one you will buy another of. The Old Forester 1920 is the last this happened with. Heavan Hill puts out solid things with the Barrel Proof Elijah Craig’s but they aren’t easy to come by.
The Whiskey shortage hasn’t helped. No sense putting out a new label when you can’t meet the demand for the old ones. Marketers have it easy in that way. At the same time the ages get younger and that doesn’t help much.
I was recently on an in-depth tour of Angels Envy and heard that the Louisville Distilling Company (that they bottle the brand under) is going to try some none Barrel finished varieties and they are going to start test distilling some Wheated Bourbon to see how that goes. It’s good to see that some people are putting their brains to use trying new things.
Most “experimental” bottles sit on shelves unless rescued by a consumer that needs something different with usual eventual regret.
There are hidden gems out there that suddenly get discovered with top ratings like Barrell Bourbon and such still. Who wants to go through dozens of purchases to find an eventual good one? Yes, good, not even great. Greatness is a rarity for sure. I’ve heard some “Talk” about a few new releases that are supposed to be great but I’m not talking.

Willett will soon have enough of their own distilled bottles to do wider releases of the Bourbon. Wheated varieties will be out soon (guessing within the year) at the gift shop but in small quantities that won’t last long.
It’s going to take a few more years before stocks are built back up to change this tide but it can’t come soon enough.