No review tonight, mostly because I’m lazy but didn’t want to leave you with no content. Instead, as with other holidays lately, I made you a digital card to express my appreciation for you. Which to be honest probably takes longer than typing out a review. But it’s fun and I like doing it, so there.
I hope every single one of you has a wonderful New Year’s Eve and a New Year’s Day that has minimal hangovers. Have fun and be safe. I will probably be rocking out trying to use music to disguise the noise of the local midnight fireworks from the nervous pups that will be staying with me.
And now for a serious turn, mental health is no joke. I’ve been there. Thankfully I made it through, though not everybody does. So if the holidays are a hard time for you, please know that it is ok to not be ok even though it may feel like everyone else is happy. And if you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK).
Thank you for another great year. If you are so inclined, maybe you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee? Go to ko-fi.com/bourbonguy to support. And thank you, BourbonGuy.com is solely supported via your generosity.
Of course, if you want to support BourbonGuy.com and get a little something back in return, you can always head over to BourbonGuyGifts.com and purchase some merch. I’ve made tasting journals, stickers, pins, posters, and more.
I am going to whine for just a moment. And boy oh boy, I’m certainly going to show my privilege. But my beloved Minnesota Golden Gophers are playing in a bowl game against West Virginia. The game is in Pheonix and starts at 8:15 pm local time. This means it starts at 9:15 pm in the home market of one of the teams and at 10:15 pm in the home market of the other. On a Tuesday. Now I’m not a TV exec or a Bowl Game President, but since most of the viewership of bowl games is happening via television broadcast, don’t you think it might have been smart to allow the fans of the two teams to actually watch the game? It’s driving me nuts. I hope it’s a boring game because I’ll probably be asleep before halftime.
Anyway. That is neither here nor there to you unless you happen to be a fan of either the Gophers or the Mountaineers. What you are here for is whiskey. And I have a pretty good one for you tonight. It’s gift-giving season at the moment so I chose one that would make a pretty attractive gift for the bourbon-lover on your list.
And yes, I know I’m doing this after Christmas…just go with it. Pretend the recipient has an upcoming birthday.
Last year we talked about the 6-year-old and 10-year-old versions of Bib & Tucker bourbon. I liked them both, though I mentioned that I thought they were a bit overpriced for me to buy for myself but that they would make a good gift. Let’s see if the older and more expensive version lives up to those standards.
Bib & Tucker 12-Year-Old Single Barrel Select, Total Wine Selection
Purchase Info: $99.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN.
Mouth: Pear, milk chocolate, caramel, vanilla, and baking spice.
Finish: Medium heat and length. Notes of caramel, chocolate, honey, and fruit.
Thoughts: This is a tasty whiskey. It's probably not $100 tasty. At least not to me, considering what a 12-year-old from Knob Creek or a 15-year-old from Dickel is going for. However, it is tasty and the bottle is pretty so I'd be perfectly fine buying this as a gift for someone.
Did you enjoy this post? If so, maybe you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee in return. Go to ko-fi.com/bourbonguy to support. And thank you, BourbonGuy.com is solely supported via your generosity.
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No review tonight as I prepare for Christmas. But I want you to know that whatever winter holiday you celebrate, even if it is none at all, I hope that these next two weeks are fun and bountiful.
And if the holidays are a hard time for you, please know that it is ok to not be ok even though it may feel like everyone else is happy. And if you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK).
Did you enjoy this post? If so, maybe you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee in return. Go to ko-fi.com/bourbonguy to support. And thank you, BourbonGuy.com is solely supported via your generosity.
Of course, if you want to support BourbonGuy.com and get a little something back in return, you can always head over to BourbonGuyGifts.com and purchase some merch. I’ve made tasting journals, stickers, pins, posters, and more.
Quick one tonight as I have my parents staying over tonight so that I can take them to the VA Clinic right away in the morning. And, as much as I like you, I’d rather spend time with them instead of writing. If nothing else it will help keep everyone’s mind off of the upcoming appointment tomorrow.
Luckily we’ve already talked about a couple of whiskies in this series already so I can crib some of the post from last time.
Tonight’s whiskey is the last of the three of the Tennessee Taster’s Selections that I purchased on my September visit to the Jack Daniel’s Distillery. This time, we are looking at the Fall 2020 release: 14E19 “Twin” Blend. These bottles are only sold through the Jack Daniel’s Distillery Bottle Shop and select liquor stores in Tennessee. As we discussed the previous times we looked at one of these, the Tennessee Tasters’s Selections are limited, experimental releases that take a Jack Daniel’s product and play with it a bit. In this case they took 30 barrels of their Rye whiskey and blended it with 20 barrels of their standard Tennessee Whiskey. As you may be able to tell by the name 14E19, all of these barrels were filled on May 19, 2014, hence the “twin” name.
Jack Daniel's Tennessee Tasters' Selection: 14E19 "Twin" Blend
Purchase Info: $34.24 for a 375 mL bottle at the White Rabbit Bottle Shop, Jack Daniel’s Distillery, Lynchburg, TN
Price per Drink (50 ML): $4.60
Details: 53.5% ABV. Barrel entry date: May 19, 2014. 20 barrels of TN Whiskey blended with 30 barrels of TN Rye.
Nose: Oak, vanilla, caramel, chocolate, and leather.
Mouth: Oak, caramel, vanilla, cedar, cinnamon, ginger, and a touch of molasses.
Finish: Medium in both length and warmth. Notes of molasses and ginger.
Thoughts: I think my favorite baked good is a ginger- molasses cookie. They are soft, rich, and have just the right amount of bite from the ginger. This whiskey hits all of those same notes for me. I really, really like this one. And once again, I'm very sad I only bought one 375mL bottle.
Did you enjoy this post? If so, maybe you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee in return. Go to ko-fi.com/bourbonguy to support. And thank you, BourbonGuy.com is solely supported via your generosity.
Of course, if you want to support BourbonGuy.com and get a little something back in return, you can always head over to BourbonGuyGifts.com and purchase some merch. I’ve made tasting journals, stickers, pins, posters, and more.
I’d like to thank Heaven Hill for providing this review sample with no strings attached.
…
I’d like to thank Heaven Hill for providing this review sample with no strings attached.
It’s been a very strange 24 hours here in Minnesota’s Twin Cities. Last night, a thunderstorm spawned Minnesota’s first recorded December tornado. Luckily I got the storm a but not the tornado at my house. This was caused by temps of about 50 degrees during the day. Now, temps about 50 degrees only five days after a foot of snow are not unheard of in this locale, but it usually happens in April. Due to that rapid swing in temperature, we were forecasted to have winds of about 80 miles an hour overnight last night. Luckily for us, and the trees growing in my now saturated ground, that also seems to have missed my house. However, I did wake up this morning to temps in the low teens and even more snow. As I said, it has been a strange 24 hours. And that’s the weather, here’s Bob with traffic…
Yeah, sorry. No traffic report tonight. Because we are having bourbon and shouldn’t be drinking and driving… ba dum tss.
I am so sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into me, I swear I haven’t been drinking. Maybe that’s the problem. Anyway, let’s just hurriedly change the subject to tonight’s bourbon. Tonight we are looking at the last batch of Larceny Barrel Proof for 2021. We’ve covered this plenty of times already so instead of me opening my mouth and potentially letting more horrible jokes pour out, here is what Heaven Hill has to say:
“Like each batch, this Larceny Barrel Proof is an uncut Small Batch of Bourbon aged six to eight years Bourbon bottled straight from the barrel. Heaven Hill distiller’s wheated Bourbon mashbill of 68% corn, 20% wheat, and 12% malted barley continues to shine in this release.”
So let’s see how it tastes.
Larceny Barrel Proof, C921
Purchase info: This was graciously provided by Heaven Hill for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $49.99.
Price Per Drink (50 mL): $3.33
Details: 61.3% ABV
Nose: Oak, brown sugar, almond, vanilla, and baking spice.
Mouth: Sweet and spicy. Honey, vanilla, oak, and baking spice.
Finish: Warm and medium to long in length. Cinnamon, almond, and mint.
Thoughts: Nice and sweet with strong honey and spice notes. Great mouthfeel with a decently long finish. I really like this one.
Comparison to B521: The nose on C921 is similar to B521, but is more herbal. C921 is much sweeter and much spicier, showing a strong honey note that B521 is lacking. If I saw either of these in a store, I'd grab whichever they had. Both are good. However, if I had the unlikely opportunity to choose, I'd grab C921 every time. It is very, very tasty. Use a little ice though. It’s a hot one.
Did you enjoy this post? If so, maybe you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee in return. Go to ko-fi.com/bourbonguy to support. And thank you, BourbonGuy.com is solely supported via your generosity.
Of course, if you want to support BourbonGuy.com and get a little something back in return, you can always head over to BourbonGuyGifts.com and purchase some merch. I’ve made tasting journals, stickers, pins, and more.
Two weeks ago I covered a pair of Ezra Brooks store picks that I’d picked up in Kentucky and the branding program that led to each bottle having a different name. Tonight we are taking a look at the wheated versions of the same program by looking at a Rebel Distiller’s Collection store pick and a Rebel Cask Strength store pick. I went over the program in the Ezra Brooks post but to recap:
There are two main differences between these two labels. The first is the proof. Rebel Distiller’s Collection store picks are bottled at 113° proof while Rebel Cask Strength store picks are bottled at 120° proof. The other difference is in how the picks occurred. Distiller’s Collection picks are allocated and are done via samples sent to the retailer. There are no in-person barrel picks for these barrels. The Rebel Cask Strength picks, on the other hand, are not allocated and are only done at Lux Row Distillery. So what each label tells you, the consumer, is whether your retailer went to the distillery to pick the barrel or whether it was sent to them via samples. As I said last time, I’m sure there is a reason for this that I am not seeing since I do not work in either a distillery or a liquor store. But in any case, there you go.
So let’s check out a couple of store picks. The Distiller’s Collection is from Jax Liquors in Chattanooga, Tennessee and the Cask Strength is from Liquor Barn in Danville, Kentucky.
Rebel Cask Strength Single Barrel Selections
Rebel Distiller's Collection (Jax Liquors)
Purchase Info: $39.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Jax Liquors, Chattanooga, TN.
Nose: Dusty oak (think the inside of a rick house), cinnamon, and honey.
Mouth: Oak, cinnamon, chocolate, and orange.
Finish: Warm and long. Follows the mouth with notes of orange, chocolate, cinnamon, and oak.
Thoughts: These are both very good, yet noticeably different. The Jax Liquors bottle was very hot, but also really sweet. The Liquor Barn bottle showed much more oak and a sort of orange note that I found a bit surprising. The orange is kind of like the orange slice jelly candies. I wasn't expecting that. It's tasty though. The chocolate notes really elevate this one. If forced to choose I'd choose the sweeter Jax bottle. My wife however is drawn to the Liquor Barn bottle. Good thing we bought both!
Did you enjoy this post? If so, maybe you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee in return. Go to ko-fi.com/bourbonguy to support. And thank you, BourbonGuy.com is solely supported via your generosity.
Of course, if you want to support BourbonGuy.com and get a little something back in return, you can always head over to BourbonGuyGifts.com and purchase some merch. I’ve made tasting journals, stickers, pins, posters, and more.
Sometimes things just cost too dang much for me. Not for everyone. I understand that there are people out there who will drop $100 on a bottle of whiskey with little to no hesitation. Being a freelance designer and a dog sitter, I am not one of those people. However, I will splurge if the whiskey is worth it.
When Peerless first came to Minnesota, I received a note from a reader letting me know that they’d be trying it out and would be reporting back to me. They then reported back that they were very disappointed with the purchase and expected more from a whiskey that cost as much as this one did. For that reason, I never took a look at the brand.
Now when I travel, I tend to purchase a bottle for the hotel, apartment, campsite, etc. Usually I’m there long enough that I’ll grab a full sized one (or two…). However, if I run out, I might take a look at the 200 and 375 ml bottles. And it just so happened that this fall I was doing that while staying in Kentucky. While I was looking I noticed the bottle of Peerless Rye you see above. I wasn’t going to spend over $100 for a full bottle, but I could probably swing the $29 that Liquor Barn was asking in order to see if we should be giving this juice another look.
Kentucky Peerless Distilling Company is a small distillery in Downtown Louisville (120 N. 10th Street Louisville, KY). It’s across the freeway ramps from the Frazier History Museum and the Louisville Slugger Museum. The distillery is run by father and son team Corky and Carson Taylor, descendants of the original makers of Peerless Whiskey. The distillery was built in 2014 (even regaining the family’s original DSP number) and started distilling the following year. Their first whiskey release was a two year old rye that was released in 2017. Since then they have released older ryes (current photos on their website do not have an age statement) and bourbons in both single barrel and small batch forms. Many of which have garnered awards.
The bottle I happened to pick up is still the 2-year old one. Guessing that people aren’t really looking to spend $30 on a 200 mL bottle too often. But let’s see how it tastes anyway.
Peerless Straight Rye Whiskey
Purchase Info: $28.99 for a 200 mL bottle.
Price per Drink (50 mL): $7.25
Details: Aged 2 years. 54.05% ABV.
Nose: Store-brand cola, wintergreen, cinnamon and brown sugar.
Mouth: Spicy cinnamon and cool wintergreen lead off to be followed by notes of store-brand cola and brown sugar.
Finish: Medium to long and warm on the finish. Store-brand cola is the predominant note with the familiar wintergreen supporting it.
Thoughts: I like this, but it is hard to disassociate the juice from the price on this one. Quality-wise, I'd rank this to whiskeys that can be had for $50 to $75. So yeah, it's quite tasty. Unfortunately this sells at my local Total Wine for about $125. Or by my estimation $50 to $75 too high, even including the “craft tax.” I bought this small bottle solely for review purposes. I doubt that I'll be convinced to pay what is being asked for a full bottle. Especially if it is the two-year-old whiskey, like this recently purchased bottle was. I will however, be happy to try out a non-age stated 200 mL when/if that is what my local stores carry.
Did you enjoy this post? If so, maybe you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee in return. Go to ko-fi.com/bourbonguy to support. And thank you, BourbonGuy.com is solely supported via your generosity.
Of course, if you want to support BourbonGuy.com and get a little something back in return, you can always head over to BourbonGuyGifts.com and purchase some merch. I’ve made tasting journals, stickers, pins, posters, and more.
So we got our first snow today. First measurable snow that is. Super light and fluffy. As I absolutely hate snow, I protested the hateful white stuff by using a leaf blower to clear the driveway. Much to my neighbor’s amusement. Though I did see him cleaning up with one after I went in the house.
It does help to make a pretty picture though.
In honor of winter officially landing in my Minnesota suburb, I’ve decided that tonight should feature a whiskey that will really warm up the ol’ insides. Tonight’s whiskey is another one of the Tennessee Taster’s Selections that I purchased on my September visit to the Jack Daniel’s Distillery. This time, we are looking at the Barrel Proof Rye whiskey they released in Spring 2019. These bottles are only sold through the Jack Daniel’s Distillery Bottle Shop and select liquor stores in Tennessee. As we discussed the last time we looked at one of these, the Tennessee Tasters’s Selections are limited, experimental releases that take a Jack Daniel’s product and play with it a bit. In this case they took barrels of their Rye whiskey and didn’t add any water to them. And let me tell you, roughly 127° proof will certainly help turn back the winter blues.
Jack Daniel's Tennessee Tasters' Selection: Barrel Proof Rye
Purchase Info: $34.24 for a 375 mL bottle at the White Rabbit Bottle Shop, Jack Daniel’s Distillery, Lynchburg, TN
Price per Drink (50 ML): $4.60
Details: 63.8% ABV. Selection#4. Released Spring 2011. Grain Bill: 70% Rye, 18% Corn, and 12% Malted Barley. Matured in the uppermost levels of barrel house #1-05.
Nose: Chocolate, tobacco, caramel, and allspice.
Mouth: Spicy. Tobacco, clove, cinnamon, ginger, caramel, and chocolate.
Finish: Long and warm. Lingering notes of mint, ginger, and black tea.
Thoughts: Very hot and spicy. I really like this. Even though I haven't tasted everything I brought back from the distillery, I'm thinking this might be my favorite thing I bought that day. It is so good! I bought two 375mL bottles. I wish I'd picked up even more. If you are in southeastern Tennessee, this is worth the detour to the distillery bottle shop.
Did you enjoy this post? If so, maybe you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee in return. Go to ko-fi.com/bourbonguy to support. And thank you, BourbonGuy.com is solely supported via your generosity.
Of course, if you want to support BourbonGuy.com and get a little something back in return, you can always head over to BourbonGuyGifts.com and purchase some merch. I’ve made tasting journals, stickers, pins, posters, and more.
I really like being some place I haven’t been before. It doesn’t matter if it’s a new place to live or just a new place to visit. I guess I just like updating my internal map with new location information. I like new places so much so that I used to joke that I was pretty much ready to move to a new apartment/house/etc right after I’d figured out the optimum way to drive to the grocery store. And I was only mostly joking. Which makes it a bit odd that I go back to Kentucky at least once per year.
I guess some places are better than novelty. But that doesn’t stop me from tacking on a visit to somewhere new when I go back for a visit. This year I tacked on Chattanooga, TN. It seems like a nice enough area. Though like many places the hand-painted political signs start showing up just about the time you leave town. The house I was staying in was within walking distances of a couple breweries, many bars, and one distillery. And you better believe I made sure to schedule a tour there.
I’d had the two Tennessee High Malt Bourbons from Chattanooga Whiskey before. In fact, I mentioned when I reviewed those bourbons that “if I am in Chattanooga I'll be stopping in for a visit.” And so I did. It’s a nice short tour that ends with a tasting of a few of their whiskies. Including tonight’s.
Chattanooga Whiskey 99 Rye is a rye whiskey made from a mash bill of Malted Rye, Yellow Corn, Caramel Malted Rye, and Chocolate Malted Rye. It is aged in 53 gallon barrels and is bottled unfiltered. The bottle I picked up was a little over 3 years old. Let’s see how it tastes.
Chattanooga Whiskey 99 Rye
Purchase Info: $39.99 for a 750 mL bottle at the Chattanooga Whiskey gift shop, Chattanooga, TN
Finish: Sweet. Like Icy Hot, this is both warm and cool on the finish. Notes of cinnamon, black tea, mint, and Rye malt.
Thoughts: I am on the record as not being a fan of Whiskeys that use malted rye. This whiskey makes me rethink the absoluteness of that position. I really like this! I'm thinking that the addition of rye malts roasted to the caramel and chocolate levels is at least partly the cause of that. This still has the rye malt flavors, but it isn't as sharp and funky as others I've had. It's sweet, savory, spicy, and just really good. So much so that I wish I'd bought two bottles.
Did you enjoy this post? If so, maybe you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee in return. Go to ko-fi.com/bourbonguy to support. And thank you, BourbonGuy.com is solely supported via your generosity.
Of course, if you want to support BourbonGuy.com and get a little something back in return, you can always head over to BourbonGuyGifts.com and purchase some merch. I’ve made tasting journals, stickers, pins, posters, and more.
And we’re back! I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving! I know that mine was fantastic. It started out with a ton of dogs in my house. On Thanksgiving itself we had our traditional pan of Lasagna (neither my wife or I like turkey in it’s domesticated form), home made pumpkin pie made from pie pumpkin from our garden, and of course a glass or two of Wild Turkey. As the weekend progressed and the number of dogs began to dwindle, my beloved Minnesota Golden Gophers walloped our hated rival the Wisconsin Badgers in an upset to take possession of Paul Bunyan’s Axe.
It was a glorious weekend.
Of course as the weekend started to draw to a close, I took a look at the calendar to see what was on the docket for tastings this week. I’d been not so patiently waiting for this pair of Ezra Brooks store picks’ turn to come since I picked them up. See, I’d found this pair, and their brethren with the Rebel label, while wandering around Tennessee and Kentucky. I’d had a vague recollection of reading about a single barrel store pick brand on the market, but that’s all it was just a vague recollection. So when I saw that there were two different labels for sale at the various stores, I figured it would be best to buy them both and figure it out when I got home.
So once I got home, I reached out to my PR contact for Lux Row and asked what was going on. According to the information he passed along, there are two main differences between these two labels. The first is the proof. Ezra Brooks Distiller’s Collection store picks are bottled at 107° proof while Ezra Brooks Cask Strength store picks are bottled at 120° proof. The other difference is in how the picks occurred. Distiller’s Collection picks are allocated and are done via samples sent to the retailer. There are no in-person barrel picks for these barrels. On the other hand, Ezra Brooks Cask Strength picks are not allocated and are only done at Lux Row Distillery.
So what each label tells you, the consumer, is whether your retailer went to the distillery to pick the barrel or whether it was sent to them via samples. I’m sure there is a reason for this that I am not seeing since I do not work in either a distillery or a liquor store.
So let’s check out a couple of store picks. Both from Kentucky.
Ezra Brooks Single Barrel Store Picks: Distiller's Collection and Cask Strength
Distiller's Collection: Total Wine, KY PJ #2
Purchase Info: $35.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Louisville, KY
Nose: Vanilla, honey, orange julius, and baking spice.
Mouth: Spicy warmth with notes of baking spice, mint, citrus, and cocoa.
Finish: Spicy, warm, and of medium length- Notes of cinnamon and chocolate.
Thoughts: These are both very good. Glad I stumbled across both of them. The Total Wine bottle is sweeter whereas the Liquor Barn bottle is much more baking spice forward. If trying to define the major difference between the two, I'd say that the Liquor Barn bottle is "Beam-ier" than the Total Wine (Jim Beam and Heaven Hill being the suppliers for Lux Row as I learned from Cheif Marketing Officer and Lux family member on my tour of the facility). Saying that they are both in the Ezra Brooks flavor profile. I like them both. A lot. I am hoping my local stores can get in on these programs soon.
Did you enjoy this post? If so, maybe you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee in return. Go to ko-fi.com/bourbonguy to support. And thank you, BourbonGuy.com is solely supported via your generosity.
Of course, if you want to support BourbonGuy.com and get a little something back in return, you can always head over to BourbonGuyGifts.com and purchase some merch. I’ve made tasting journals, stickers, pins, posters, and more.
