Month: July 2017

Words by The Bourbonator

There is a romance attached to anything old and whiskey is no exception. That point in which a bottle moves into a decade granting it the title of ‘vintage’ or to coin the colloquialism, ‘dusty’ is something that has created a sub-genre within the American whiskey community of which I have fallen for hook, line and sinker. It was a sample of Wild Turkey 8 Year Old 101 from the 1970’s a few years ago that peaked my interest. “This tastes fanstastic” I thought as I pondered why it tasted so far removed from today’s iteration. Though this was no isolated example, many of the bourbons of the 1970’s-mid 90’s I have tasted since have a richness in flavour that coat the palate with a paint roller soaked in butterscotch and now I’m smitten. What’s the point of being in love though if you can’t shout it from the rooftops? Like a Shakespearean play, I’ll be using this blog as my sonnet and regaling you with ‘Tales of the Dusty’ from my balcony in Verona laptop at home.

Part 1: Old Taylor

Old Taylor is a brand that has stood the test of time, changing hands a few times through the decades whilst remaining synonymous with exceptional bourbon. Colonel Edmund Hayes Taylor Jr. was a pioneer of American whiskey. A descendent of two U.S. presidents he had originally pursued banking and political interests before leveraging from his 16 year tenure as Mayor of Frankfort to revitalise a flailing whiskey industry that had little to no confidence from consumers due to lack of regulations around quality. He used his connections within government and the state senate to pass the Bottled-In-Bond-Act of 1897 mandating a higher set of standards that the industry would adhere to. Taylor started and owned seven different distilleries throughout his career, the most successful being the O.F.C. and Carlisle distilleries, the beginners of today’s Buffalo Trace Distillery.

The Old Taylor Distillery, located South of Frankfort was built by E.H. Taylor in 1887 and was known for being the first to produce one million cases of Straight Bourbon whiskey. It later became a showcase for bourbon making in Kentucky with an ornate construction made from limestone with castle-like turrets and beautiful gardens making it a tourist attraction to the public.

Colonel Taylor passed away in 1922 and National Distillers purchased the Old Taylor Distillery in 1935 where they continued to produce there until 1972 when It was sold again to the Jim Beam Corporation.  Beam continued to store and age bourbon in the warehouses there until 1994 when the space was declared surplus and remained empty for many years. After a few failed attempts by outside investors to reopen the now dormant and decaying distillery, it was eventually purchased in 2014 by ‘Peristyle’ who announced plans to restore and reopen the distillery under the name ‘Castle and Key’ whilst employing the first female Master Distiller since prohibition. Marianne Barnes, former Master Taster for Brown-Forman has set to work producing a native Kentucky botanical gin there to be released in 2018 prior to releasing their own Bottled-In-Bond bourbon.

Today, the Old Taylor brand is owned by Sazerac who purchased it from Beam Suntory in 2009 with distillation continuing at Buffalo Trace. The label on the bottles remain relatively unchanged and have retained that nostalgic aesthetic, though each one now comes in a presentation tube that prevents any of these from becoming ‘dusty’ again.

As you can see, whilst the storied history behind the label has remained unchanged, the juice has been subject to the interpretation of three separate distilleries. In my humble opinion, the bourbon was at its best at the original Old Taylor (Castle) distillery operated by National Distillers, exemplifying that  deep caramel and maple sweetness that causes even the hardened bourbon drinker to go weak at the knees. This was released at 86,  bonded 100 and a rare 101 proof all with an age statement of 6 years but as was typical of the glut era would contain distillate above its years.

If you find yourself in the boondocks of some far flung US town and stumble into a liquor store stuck in time with no access to the internet, look for those yellow labels, turn the bottle on its head and look for the year, is it pre-1994? Then look at the back label and locate the first 5 digits above the barcode, does it read ‘86259? If not, is there a distillery code DSP-KY-19 on the front label? If you can check off any one of these, it’s pretty much guaranteed that what you have in your hands is juice from the National Distillers era. Then buy a lottery ticket and make sure you’re not struck by lightning when you step outside.

 

BBS co-founding father @london_liquor has been enthusing about Sonoma County whiskey for literally as long as I’ve known him. In fact, the evening I joined BBS – before I was even in the Facebook group – he was talking about the distillery, and the trip he’d taken there a month before. I tried the whiskies amongst hundreds of others at The Whisky Show, and even spoke briefly to Adam, the distiller, but beyond that I’d never really got to know the brand, and when BBS did a tasting back in October I was in France indulging my love of fermented grape juice.

But Sonoma kept coming up in conversation; both with @london_liquor and with other members of the group. Naturally I’d earmarked their bourbon for our month of reviews, but it struck me that this might also be a good place to begin a series of articles looking at some of the craft distilleries around America. One thing led to another, and last Sunday I found myself sitting down with five Sonoma whiskies and my little blue notebook.

Adam Spiegel founded Sonoma County Distilling Company in 2010. Back then they were one of 200 distilleries in the US. Which sounds like a fair few, but compare that to the 1,300+ operating in the country today. My God we’ve got a lot of articles to write… Sonoma itself is more known for its vino; in fact my first encounter with the name was on a bottle of Pinot Noir, but Adam’s all about the grains, bottling bourbons, ryes and a wheat whiskey.

A great deal of that grain is grown close by in California; even the idiosyncratic smoking of the malted barley over cherrywood is now done in nearby Petaluma.. There’s a good deal of positive information about sustainability on the distillery website, which is always nice to see; equally heartening is the lack of any fluffy marketing story. It genuinely seems to be an operation concerned with making the best whiskey they can in as sustainable way as possible.

The grains, once fermented, are double distilled in old-school alembics, heated by direct fire; a hot topic with scotch nerds at the moment. The upshot of this, in theory, ought almost certainly to be a less consistent product, but there’s a strong argument suggesting that direct-fired stills lend more character to the juice.

Which leads us to the tasting.

Before me I had the 2nd Chance Wheat Whiskey, The West of Kentucky Bourbon #1 and three ryes. But were they any good?

Well, the wheat was young. Rather overtly so. I tend to struggle with wheat when it hasn’t had much time, and whilst there were certainly plenty of vibrant flavours of green fruit and vanilla, the esters hadn’t properly had time to harmonise, and the cask needed longer to exert influence and flavour. Vanillas and honeys on the palate wrestled against pretty sharp alcohol, drying to a grain-focussed finish. Unquestionably good, characterful spirit, but a work in progress rather than a finished article for my money.

The bourbon, however, was very interesting indeed. It’s a mashbill of corn, rye and that Cherrywood-smoked barley, and the nose was a citrussy fruit-basket of caramel-slathered oranges, lemons and freshness. There was a woody smokiness that complemented the herbal rye very nicely indeed, before buttered corn and red berries joined in on the palate. The texture had lovely roundness; a velvety voluptuousness that offset the high notes nicely. Young, certainly, but crucially not immature.

Things got even better with the rye. First up was the standard Sonoma County. Pungent, earthy and spicy; no slouch in leaping from the glass. But what really dazzled was the mouthfeel. Unbelievably full-bodied and mouthcoating; and this is a 100% rye, usually the leaner, more medium-bodied cousin of bourbon. In fact, this is probably the first rye I’ve ever tried in which the spirit’s body was bigger than its flavour intensity … and it’s certainly not short on flavour.

I wasn’t quite so keen on the cherrywood rye. Still nice, but not quite scaling the heights of the “standard”. It’s a mixed mashbill, with elements of wheat and cherrywood-smoked barley, and personally I’d consider leaving the wheat out, as it reaffirms the youth of the spirit in a slightly distracting way. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still not bad, and it’s an interesting attempt to mimic the flavours of a Manhattan in a spirit. Just my tuppenceworth. But what do I know? And hey – anything that tastes like a Manhattan suits me.

Finally, the black truffle rye. Back to a 100% rye mashbill, but this one rested for a few months atop French black Périgord truffles. Nope, I don’t know either, but they sound expensive.

What a contribution they made. I tried a black truffle vodka last year that was utterly vile, but here the rancio notes of the truffles matched the signature earthiness of Sonoma’s rye spirit. Certainly they were the primary flavour, but they didn’t dominate; the rye was still clear and characterful. That stunning mouthfeel was back, and the flavours, amplified by truffle, were all the more intense. If anything it made the whiskey seem older than its years; there were flavours that reminded me more than a little of mature red burgundy. If you don’t like truffle, this definitively isn’t for you, but if you’re open to trying something a bit different then this might be very much your jam.

A mixed bag then, but one with far more positives than negatives. My gripes were largely confined to the wheat whiskey; I think it’s a very rare wheat whiskey that can provide interest in youth, but perhaps I’m just an unsympathetic audience. I think Adam and Sonoma are genuinely doing something interesting and idiosyncratic; they’re very much making their whiskies their way. The rye, in particular, is a must-try for the mouthfeel alone; I can only imagine how good it would be with an extra two years in cask.

1,300 distilleries is a heck of a crowded market, even considering today’s whiskey boom. The sad truth is that many are likely to be short-lived, especially given struggles with pricing. That’s one area that’s tricky for Sonoma; certainly in the UK they’re priced upwards of £50 a bottle, which isn’t cheap.

That said, I do hope that Sonoma survives and continues to thrive, and properly tasting the standard and potential of what they’re producing makes me almost certain that they will. The quality of their bourbon, and especially their house rye, shows that they do the staples very well, and their innovations elsewhere are only likely to keep getting better and better. I’d love to see them make a single malt using their cherrywood-smoked barley, and my inner wine-nerd would be fascinated to see what happened to that rye in an ex-Pinot Noir cask … but that’s up to Adam!

If they can keep the prices steady as the age of their whiskey creeps up, Sonoma County should be on to a winner. And so should consumers of American whiskey.

Fair enough @london_liquor – good tip!

Word by WhiskyPilgrim

A lot has changed since my last Bourbon Trail post so it’s time.
http://kybourbontrail.com
What I’ve noticed is people tour under very different time constraints and whom your accompanied by. Solo vs a family trip with the kids and grandparents has much different needs and results.
First off do the trail sober. The Kentucky Bourbon Distillers has been enlisting the help of Uber and Lyft. There are taxis and private and public tour groups. Plan ahead for not driving when you shouldn’t be or have a DD.

Logistics
As of 2016 there are over a million visits a year visiting Kentucky for “ bourbon tourism” and growing. In 10 years the number has tripled to where it is. That’s a lot. During peak days or times you will NOT be able to get a tour unless you preplan and reserve well in advance. http://kybourbontrail.com/kentucky-bourbon-trail-barrels-past-1-million-visits-2016/

The unofficial and official trail extends well north starting in Newport Kentucky (outside Cincinnati) where New Riff (craft) is to Bowling Green (almost the Tennessee boarder) where Corsair (craft) is over a 3 hour drive so limits are usually present. Most other Distilleries average a 45-60 minute drive apart but Buffalo Trace, Woodford, Wild Turkey, and Four Roses are within half an hour of each other. Regardless of the distance your not getting to them all, possibly not even all the major ones. Secondly, (I’ll say it again) during peak days and times you might not be able to tour at all or need to wait without reservations so make reservations. Another General recommendation is that you and certainly kids have a three distillery attention limit. Things will start blending in and looking the same after that. Pick carefully because if Beam is at the top of your list, do it first. If you put favorite or must see’s at the end you may never make it. If you do more than 3, make that a daily limit.
If you don’t want to drive, Mint Julep Tours has some great private and public options
http://mintjuleptours.com
https://mintjuleptours.com/public-bourbon-tours/

Weather
The summer is hot and steamy, sometimes too hot. Bring lots of water in a cooler if you can. The summer may also have distilleries that are closed or not distilling so if you really want to see a special distillery make sure they are operating the days your planning to be there. Winter has ice and when roads are icy the distilleries have been known to close completely. Pets in the car don’t mix well if hot or cold.

Where to sleep?
The nicest national hotel chain in Bardstown is the Hampton Inn. There are a few bed and breakfasts but if you want central location, choice and some luxury, Louisville is your best bet (about an hour from most things). Use this as your central hub. Places like the Marriott East (Eastern suburb to downtown Louisville) are a bit cheaper than the regular high end places in downtown and a bit closer to Frankfort area Buffalo Trace, Woodford and Lawrenceburg for Wild Turkey and Four Roses. If your going to be further South, besides Bardstown, Elizabethtown is another option.

If you’re a couple or buddies or a couple touring, I’d recommend Louisville for the bars, Resturant’s and Whiskey Row attractions. Night life is practically non existent other than Louisville. I have regretted Lexington stays as its too far from most places. If your willing to switch hotels in/from other cities/towns that’s a different matter.
I personally stay at the Marriott Residence Inn in downtown Louisville when staying downtown. It’s a 50 foot walk/stumble to the best Whiskey bar in Kentucky (Haymarket, a fun dive bar open late). Wandering the streets of Louisville at night, potentially drunk, when not in a group isn’t recommended.

Family trips
You better pick just Three-Four distilleries or your going to hear whining. Mix things in like Mammoth Caves, Underground Zip lines, Lincoln Boyhood home, museums, rides on the river in Louisville etc.. The Beam Urban Stillhouse and Evan Williams Experience http://evanwilliams.com/visit.php in Louisville are good for kids so I don’t count those as part of your 3.
If you only have two days stick to those close to the Bluegrass Parkway. Buffalo Trace to Bardstown.

Solo or Couples
Pick 5 places unless you have more than two days. At five you’ll also start to get the “distillery burnout” and a potentially unhappy spouse. If your going to do more than 5 anyway try to split it up maybe with Cincinnati, Louisville, Lexington, Nashville touring. Visit the races, horse farm etc. you’ll need a break.

Smaller Distilleries
Craft and lesser known names I wouldn’t try too hard to get to unless its Willett or on the way with burnout considered.

Cost
Plan on about $5-20 per adult per Distillery. Buffalo Trace has the only free tours that I recall. I’ve even heard that Makers Mark is currently charging to get in even with no tour. Don’t know if this is temporary. Other Visitor Centers/Gift Shops at this point are still free to get in but tours are the extra charge. Some might offer Discounts for DD’s, Military, Seniors, Law Enforcement and First responders so ask. Children are usually free to a certain age.

The Distilleries
By rough geography. If I miss or skip a distillery it’s not necessarily a skip, I personally haven’t been or not enough there to warrant the extra time to get there.
Some distilleries may have a distillery exclusive bottle. I’ll try to note these. Keep in mind that by law any Kentucky retailer can carry these also but they rarely do or can get them before the gift shop gets them all from distribution. They are part of the three tier system so even the distillery exclusives technically need to go through a third party distributer.

Louisville

Angels Envy
The newest tour in Downtown Louisville across from Slugger Baseball Stadium. A beautiful great tour. If you can’t see the rest of the Bourbon Trail this is a great option. Nothing I could see in the Gift shop different than what you can get at home but I’d go back again. They did have their Rye which is often sold out back home. Note that tours do get sold out on weekdays off peak as they were when I was there.

Bulleit Experience
If your not a Stitzel Weller geek skip it. If you don’t know what Stitzel Weller is, again, skip it. More or less a Diageo ad for Bulleit that has never had or has a current real Distillery there although one is due to open soon in Shelbyville that might have public tours.

Copper and Kings is a Brandy distillery in Louisville if your into that and have time.

Evan Williams Experience
A mini distillery and showcase of distilling and history. A fun time. They have a few exclusives like a 12 year and 23 year Evan Williams.

Frankfort area

Buffalo Trace
http://www.buffalotracedistillery.com/visit-us/our-tours
Not an official part of or member of the Bourbon Trail. Free tours and you should reserve Hard Hat Tours as opposed to the regular hourly tours. They split production and maturation into roughly two tours so you could end up there most of the day to get tour bookend Hard Hat type tours in. This is a whiskey factory. Not much for kids but a not to be missed option. Don’t expect any bottles you can’t get at home of Whiskey, nothing special.

Woodford Reserve
https://www.woodfordreserve.com/distillery/tours/
Very pretty and fairly quick tours. Drive through horse county to the nicest Distillery in Ky. A couple releases you can only find at the distillery. Real nice gift shop packed full. Usually two unique Whiskeys in .375 size avail each only there. A must stop.

Castle and Key
Beginning tours soon. Read up on Old Taylor History (what used to be here) and check it out. Down the street from Woodford. If and when tastings are offered in the near future it will be new booze and young aka not too good. Keep this in mind for any newer distillery only bottling their own make.

Four Roses
http://fourrosesbourbon.com
Another great stop but no bottling or maturation is done here (see below). That is a separate facility near Beam that you can tour. A whiskey factory that’s a great stop for a Four Roses lover. Bottles selected by Brent Elliott the Master Distiller in the nice large gift shop usually.

Wild Turkey
http://wildturkeybourbon.com/visit-us/
New distillery, visitor center and bottling. Feels a bit sterile. Tours stop at lots of windows you can only look through like the distillery. A nice stop and Master Distillers Eddie or Jimmy Russell are often hanging out signing things. Usually no special bottlings are for sale there but a good fun stop.

Bardstown
They are adding lots of distilleries but the ones there are Willett and Barton. Don’t stop at Barton if you’ve been/going to one of the whisky factories. Ugly, nothing you’ll want in the giftshop.

Willett
https://www.kentuckybourbonwhiskey.com/visit-willett-distillery/#
You MUST get a reservation early at Willett to be safe. Its small and very very popular. A recent Saturday out of season had 500 people and they stopped counting. Willett often has private bottling you can’t get elsewhere of advanced age. They are fleeting though. A 14 year old bottling could show up without notice then be sold out within an hour. Don’t expect it will be while you are there but and a big but- If you are on the tour and ask nice you never know. Willett Family Reserve is one of the hardest to get due to the value on the secondary market. They do have their other retail brands and sometimes Rye there regularly.
Great people. Expanding Giftshop about to have a bed and breakfast onsite summer/fall 2017 most likely. Periodically will have things you can’t get elsewhere at random. Still have bottles of allocated things from back home you might not see.

Makers Mark
If you want to make the trip on Loretto Rd that passes Willett, Makers Mark is ½ hour each way. A cool nice Distillery if you have time. Pretty and complete tours. Can get real busy. Usually one or two things in a large gift shop you can’t get back home.

There is practically nothing but windy roads and little or no cellular coverage. It’s worth the trip but consider it’s a half day excursion. Great Giftshop. The most educational tasting of different stages of maturation, big Giftshop with some private things you can’t get elsewhere and chance to wax dip your own bottle.

If your out this way consider stopping at Independent Stave in Lebanon where they make new Whiskey barrels. Two tours a day, reservations a must. Worth a stop if you have time. http://www.iscbarrels.com/tours/

Wilderness Trace also (see below)

Heaven Hill’s maturation and bottling are here in Bardstown. If you’ve seen or will be seeing these at other places no real draw for me to recommend the tour. The Louisville distillery is not open to the public but the Evan Williams Experience fills in with a mini distillery and nice facility.
http://heavenhilldistillery.com/bourbon-heritage-center.php?utm_source=BHC&utm_medium=Redirect&utm_campaign=BHCRedirect&bhc=1

The Heaven Hill Bourbon Heritage Center and Giftshop is a great stop however with frequently special bottlings you can’t get at home or tightly allocated.

Four Roses Maturation and Bottling is near Beam and Bardstown. If you’re a fan of Four Roses or want to see these production pieces in depth, stop. It’s 5 minutes from Beam but hours are a bit more limited. Navigation will often send you to the wrong Four Roses address so make sure you enter the address so don’t trust your navigation to suggest an address. Tour cost are Interchangeable so a receipt for the distillery gets you into the other. The last tour of the day departs the Visitor Center at 3:00 p.m.
624 Lotus Road
Cox’s Creek, KY 40013

Beam
http://www.jimbeam.com/en-us/visit-us/book-a-tour
They did a good job here setting up a complete experience. Maybe one of the best. I will say this is the tour from the Barrel picking experience so the regular tour may include other parts of the real distillery operation. You should check. Good for kids and has micro tastes of products and a couple whiskeys unique to the huge American Still House gift shop.

Wilderness Trail
This is another extreme distance but worth the trip if you have lots of time and want to see a nice craft place.

Craft distilleries
Remember burnout. If you want to indulge check out
http://kybourbontrail.com/craft-tour/

I want more
If you want even more or more on-depth experience Moonshine University runs courses from a day to 5 day Distiller classes. Also a Stave and Thief Whisky Society Certification. They are in Louisville. If you arrange your trips around their schedules it gives you this extra option. https://moonshineuniversity.com/courses/

Lastly, in the next couple years many new attractions and distilleries will be opening in downtown Louisville and it’s Whiskey Row so check to see what they have opened.
Here are some suggested driving times and map
http://kybourbontrail.com/map/

Enjoy your trip and be safe.

Our reviews section is looking a little sparse at the moment.

“A little sparse” might even be being kind. It currently sits at a grand total of four; a batting average of one every two months, with the first having been written on 5th December. Which feels a little unambitious for the British Bourbon Society.

What’s more, the four reviewed are hardly thick on the ground; ready to be scooped off shelves by eager punters keen to make good on newly-read information. Three are upwards of £150 (two of them by miles) and the fourth isn’t available in the UK. Which is hardly consumer friendly.

So this month we’re changing all that. Starting today we’re reviewing 31 different bourbons*, from 31 different distilleries*. (Yes, the asterisks denote that we will be cheating slightly on both counts. But only slightly.)

We’ll be covering a range of prices, availabilities, ages, and mashbills, from the dizzyingly rare to the on-offer-in-Asda. Which hopefully means that there’ll genuinely be something for everyone. The only two rules are that they’ll all be at least 51% corn, and they’ll all be distilled, matured, and bottled* in America.

No scores I’m afraid; you’ll have to actually read the words, though hopefully the quality and value verdicts will be pretty clear. And, as with all things review-y, caveat lector and caveat emptor.

Enough of the Latin already. Let’s taste some bourbon.

Words by WhiskyPilgrim

The good ship bourbon just keeps gaining pace in the UK. So it’s no surprise that new brands keep heading across the Atlantic for their share of sterling. The Luxco raft isn’t entirely new, per se, but their whiskies are certainly rare beasts this side of the pond, newly given a push by Woolf Sung. I’d only previously tried one of them, so it was with great curiosity that I headed to Greek Street on 3rd July for a tasting led by Milroy’s alumnus and Woolf Sung ambassador Angus Martin.

First up was the value end of their offering. David Nicholson is a brand that has been knocking around for a long while; owned by the Van Winkle family until it was purchased by Luxco in 2000, and therefore afforded a measure of the lustre associated with that most fêted of bourbon names.

The two we were trying were the rye-recipe Reserve, and the wheat-recipe 1843. Both cost somewhere around the £40 mark from the most obvious channels.

The Reserve was an enigma, with a decent, if not spectacular, nose that improved out of recognition on the palate. High rye and very enjoyable indeed. I’d have no hesitation in picking a bottle up.

The 1843 was very young. I’ve had this discussion with a few BBS members now, and I’m yet to be convinced that a wheat-recipe bourbon can avoid tasting a little young and “spirity” without at least 6-8 years of knitting itself together in a cask.

This was rather borne out by a side-by-side tasting of the old 1843, with its 7 years age statement. Instantly there was a gulf in aroma class; where the current entity features fairly basic cereals and caramel over a slightly distracting estery character, the 7 year old comes across as far more the unified whole. Richer, fuller and more harmonious in every respect. A slight estery character did return on the finish; 7 years is hardly ancient, after all, but whilst your mileage may vary, my own view was that the previous 1843 is in a different league to the NAS offering.

Next up, Bower Hill Reserve Rye. Which absolutely screamd MGPI. All the herbs (“dill,” said Angus) and spice and pine and florals associated with that distillery. If you’re a fan of that style (I am – immensely so) it’s mouthwatering stuff.

But then a shock. A couple of us had been chatting, and had assumed it was the usual 95% rye recipe. Until Angus revealed that it was in fact 51% rye, and 49% malted barley. Which begged the question: where was the barley? Everything about the aroma screamed rye. Screamed “very high rye.” At a real stretch, the palate was perhaps a smidge more voluptuous in body than one might encounter on a 95%, but the seemingly total absence (or possibly masking) of any barley character was astonishing.

A revelation then; and a very tasty one. But here’s the rub: it reminded me of Bulleit 95. That’s not a bad thing – Bulleit’s a cracking rye. But I can pick up Bulleit on offer at Asda for £22. At £70+, Bower Hill’s rather ambitiously priced. Worth seeking out by the glass rather than leaping straight into a full bottle purchase perhaps. After all, it may be exactly your cup of tea. But at the RRP, there’s an awful lot of competition – Pikesville 101 jumps to mind, for example – so caveat emptor and all that...

Which leads fairly neatly into the final trio of the evening. Blood Oath Pact No.2 was overlaid by a nice splash of red fruit; had a tasty, spicy rye core and a certain amount of complexity. Yellowstone 7 years old was very good indeed; unquestionably the pick of the bunch; whistle clean, hugely well-defined flavours of classic middle-aged bourbon (though I’m not sure how much of its wine finish showed...) Bower Hill Cask Strength was a brawny, nutty, woody, muscular beast of a bourbon; the sort of thing you want slid to you across a frontier saloon’s bar.

Very tasty, impressive stuff. Yellowstone in particular drew great admiration from the majority of those assembled (indeed one or two BBS members were practically cooing!) But it is worth bearing in mind that all three of these whiskies are priced more or less in line with Buffalo Trace’s Antique Collection (at RRP). All things considered, I’d probably take Yellowstone over the last few editions of Eagle Rare 17. But I’d still be a little hesitant before buying a bottle. There are a lot of excellent bourbons and ryes that are considerably more affordable than the Luxcos; to my mind they’re overreaching themselves ever so slightly.

That said, I enjoyed every whiskey I tasted on 3rd July. They’re a diverse bunch with several points of difference, and they’re more than worth seeking out by the glass. Your position may differ where opinion on pricing is concerned; I only offer my tuppenceworth as a slight caution.

Thanks to the BBS, Milroy’s, Angus Martin and Sebastian Woolf for a very enjoyable evening.

 

I don’t care if your grandfather was a bootlegger or made shit.
I don’t care if you bought a overgrown eye sore to fix up.
I don’t care if your whiskey is “going to be” great.
I don’t care if your Sourced booze you pretend is yours won an award.
I don’t care if you use the best or worst grain.
I don’t care if you sprinkle dinosaur piss or ground up rino horn in the barrels.
I don’t care if your out cause your employees stole it from you.
I don’t care if you own the worlds biggest whatever.
I don’t care if wookies fart on the labels to apply them.
I don’t care if your opening in 800 days, 799 days, 798 days, we don’t care!
I don’t care if you shine your still with soft rabbit scrotums.
I don’t care if you’re a small batch or big bitch.
I dont care if your play Elvis music to your barrels.
I don’t care what person that’s never distilled a drop becomes your Master Distiller of what you dont make.
I don’t care if sunlight or tornados made your booze.
I don’t care if buffalos crapped where your office is.
I don’t care if your last name was famous in 1830.
I don’t care if you use aliens to bottle your swill!
I don’t care about a pretty box, shove it up your ass!
I don’t care about your award any idiot with money can get.
I don’t care about your Skunky butterscotch finish!
I don’t care if naked virgins dip your bottles in wax.
I don’t care how much you sold your shitty brand for.
I don’t care if you’re the first or the “best” Distillery in East Bum Fuck.
I don’t care if Sinatra got good and shitfaced on your swill!
I don’t care about your trophy shaped bottle of turd nuggets!
I don’t care if some second rate celebrity visited your place.
I don’t care if three drops from a big batch went to space.
I don’t care if your place had a famous name. It doesn’t now and only idiots care that it did!
I don’t care about your back label story that’s a broken record.
I don’t care that the TTB gave you a free pass to screw a new generation of saps.
I don’t care.