Eric Burke - BourbonSphere

The Challenging Craft of Blending with Brent Elliott, Kentucky Bourbon Festival 2021

Wow, sorry things have been so sporadic around …

Wow, sorry things have been so sporadic around here the last couple weeks. I had a COVID scare which turned out to be a bout of very severe allergies that just mimicked a severe illness. Rounds of steroids and medication later and I am finally on the mend. As such, today I will be stepping back in time to talk about a really enjoyable part of my visit to the 2021 Kentucky Bourbon Festival. I know that I gave the festival as a whole a very poor review, but this is one part that I really enjoyed. My wife and I will be talking about this event for a while.

It was a nice day for an outdoor class. The sun was out, it wasn’t too hot. It was early so the coffee hadn’t worn off yet. I was energetic and excited to get to learning. Honestly, I didn’t know anything about the class that I had signed up for. I knew that it was about blending. That was about it.

Sure, I could have looked at the schedule to see who was leading the class, but the schedule had already been wrong enough that I didn’t feel the need to bother. Whatever was going to happen would happen and I figured that when there was something to learn, I’d learn it.

When we sat down, I was happy to see the Four Roses logo on the small leather-bound notebook in front of my seat. I was even more excited to see four 100 mL bottles of Four Roses set at each place setting in the table. From left to right, they were labeled OBSO (7 year old), OBSV (7 year old), OESK (14 year old), and OESF (13 year old). All about 60% ABV. We learned later that these were the finalists for the Elliott’s Select release from a few years ago.

As the class began, Four Roses Master Distiller Brent Elliott went over some of the background info on Four Roses itself including why they were teaching the blending class (even though they try not to use the word blending themselves). Then he explained each of the bourbons in front of us, gave us a few tips, answered a few questions and turned us loose to blend our own Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon.

Now, my wife and I each had different approaches to creating our blends. Having made plenty of fun blends at the house out of everything from Bourbon and Rye to Brandy and Tequilla, I attacked the problem the same way I always do. I tasted each of them, decided which flavor profile I wanted to feature and then started mixing. I always start with an even mix of each. Very small amounts at first, only a few milliliters of each. Then I taste that. Once I know how the even mix tastes, I’ll move on to the flavor I want to feature. I’ll add more of that one, then more of each until I get to something I like. I’ll admit, this is nothing like how the pros do it, but we only had an hour and I only had four bourbons to work with so I thought it would be efficient. Then of course you look at your notes, do your math and figure out the proportions to make the full 100 mL that we got to take home. My blend ended up sticking very close to the even mixture I started with at 21% OBSO, 21% OBSV, 21% OESK and 37% OESF. I tend to like the F and Q yeasts so it wasn’t much of a surprise to me that I included more of that one.

Of course, my wife has her own method. Like everyone else, she tasted each of them separately. And from there she decided on a couple that she really liked and wanted to work with. She started out working just with those two in order to dial in about where she wanted to go. Then once she had the framework of the flavor profile in place, she went back to the other two and little by little added more until she got the additional supporting notes where she wanted them. Her blend ended up being 37.5% OESK, 31.25% OESF, 25% OBSO and 6.25% OBSV.

This was such a fun event. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. But, these have been mingling for a month now, let’s see how they taste just for giggles.

Eric's Blend:

Details: Approximately 60% ABV. 21% each: OBSO (7-year-old), OBSV (7-year-old), and OESK (14-year-old) and 37% OESK (13-year-old).

Nose: JuicyFruit Gum, vanilla, brown sugar, and a hint of baking spice.

Mouth: Hot and spicy. Baking spice, JuicyFruit Gum, and caramel.

Finish: Long and warm with notes of caramel, red fruits, and almond.

Robin’s Blend:

Details: Approximately 60% ABV. 37.5% OESK (14-year-old), 31.25% OESK (13-year-old), 25% OBSO (7-year-old),and 6.25% OBSV (7-year-old).

Nose: Peach, cinnamon, and wintergreen.

Mouth: Stone fruits, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, caramel, and mint.

Finish: Medium to long. Notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and stone fruit.

Comparison Thoughts: Both of these are delicious! My blend is spicy and brings out the "Juicy Fruit Gum" notes that I love from Four Roses. My wife's blend is very strong on peach and other stone fruits. It is sweet and fruity. It really is amazing just how different these are considering that they were made with the exact same ingredients. It just goes to show the need for a good blender in whiskey creation. It's nice to see more of them getting recognition in American Whiskey.

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Just A Bunch of Things I Found on Vacation

I am…

IMAGE: A map with collectable lapel pins in it focusing on the states of Kentucky and Tennessee

I am an impulse buyer. Sure, I can make it through a grocery checkout line without buying a candy bar. But it isn’t likely that I will leave a liquor store, festival or distillery without buying at least something. Here are a few of the ones I picked up last month while visiting Tennessee and Kentucky. Even though some of them travelled almost as far as I did to get there.

Lincoln County Reserve Bourbon Barrel Aged Maple Syrup

Until my teenage years, we never bought syrup. My family made it. We tapped the trees and boiled the sap into syrup. But then we had a fire and the sugar shack we boiled sap in burned down. And since it was a collaboration between my grandparents and one of their cousins, the shack never got replaced. My brother has decided to carry on the tradition though, in order to teach his kids. I however buy mine from a 92-year-old lady who has been making it forever.

So, one could say that I am quite the connoisseur of maple syrup. Either that or you could say that I’ve been spoiled by amazing maple syrup my entire life. And I’m pretty biased. I really do think that the best maple syrup comes from the upper midwest. Fight me Canada. That said, I do like trying new things and so when I saw Lincoln County Reserve selling Bourbon Barrel Aged Maple Syrup at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, I knew that a bottle would be coming home with me. And funny thing, that syrup was made in Wisconsin. Merrill, Wisconsin, a city of fewer than 10,000 people and an innumerable number of maple trees. This bourbon was aged in 10 gallon used bourbon barrels from Distillery 291 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

But is it any good? In a word, yes! It’s buttery with a nice bourbon flavor. The bourbon is not overpowering bringing a lot of brown sugar and caramel notes. It has a great mouthfeel, nice and thick. And let me tell you, it is amazing on French Toast and sausage. Highly recommended.

Freddie's Old Fashioned Root Beer

Let me tell you about my college life. I had a wife, a kid, a job, and a major that was deceptively time-consuming. You might think that a fine art degree would be a cakewalk, but at least at the university I went to, you’d be wrong. Multiple all-nighters per week were extremely common as, due to our finances, I tried to fit a five-year plan for college into as few quarters as possible. One way we saved money was by renting an old farmhouse about a half-hour outside of town. Honestly, it was a pretty nice place. It was maintained by the local student-housing property management company. Meaning it was not maintained at all except by the elderly owner who was paying the property management company to, supposedly, do all of that for him.

Anyway, this farm was near a very small village of about 800 people. There was one grocery store, though it didn’t carry much. But one thing it did carry was Dr. McGillicuddy’s Root Beer Soda. I had no idea that the liqueur brand had lent its name to a soda, but every time I went to that tiny store for something, a bottle of that root beer came out with me. Eventually, I finished college, moved, and couldn’t find anywhere that carried the stuff. Until I first visited the Buffalo Trace Distillery. Apparently, Sazerac was the producer of that root beer, and one of the few places it could be purchased was at the distillery. I was super happy to pick up a six-pack every time I visited.

In 2019, Sazerac rebranded that root beer after beloved tour guide Freddie Johnson. He is a great guy and this is a great root beer. So I think it is a great match. But how does it taste? Caramel at first, followed by wintergreen. Unlike some root beers, the wintergreen is not overpowering though. This is subtle. After that is vanilla. The vanilla lasts long after you swallow. The thing that makes this so good is how well-balanced these flavors are. They're melded together so well that it is hard to tell where one ends and another begins. It has a nice creamy mouthfeel as well. This is my favorite root beer. A good part of that is nostalgia, but let an old man have that, ok?

IMAGE: The pink labeled bottle of MB Roland Dark Cherry Moonshine

MB Roland Kentucky Dark Cherry Moonshine

This was a gift from my friends at MB Roland, but I found a great use for it so I wanted to share. Thought I’d mention that since everything else on this post was purchased.

The folks at MB Roland are some of the nicest people I’ve met. And one side effect of them being so nice, I gave their whiskey a try shortly after they opened. That whiskey was the start of my personal whiskey journey. So I guess what I’m saying is that if you enjoy reading BourbonGuy.com, on some level you have them to thank.

We visited them while on vacation, spent the afternoon just hanging out, and since they are good friends we were given a bottle of MB Roland Dark Cherry Moonshine. Something we hadn’t tried before. I’m a big fan of this in cocktails. Especially this Cherry Manhattan from FoodandWine.com. Scroll down the page, it’s worth it. But since this could be consumed alone, let’s give it the ol’ tasting notes treatment.

Ripe, dark cherries on the nose. The month is sweet with a strong, natural dark cherry flavor. No artificial flavors or cough syrup flavors here. Very little alcohol flavor so be careful drinking neat if you really love cherries. Works great in cocktails like the one above. I could also see this playing nicely with lime juice in a cocktail or even a highball. It does need to be refrigerated after opening, but a little fridge space is a small price to pay for delicious cocktails.

IMAGE: a tiny bottle of Old Forester Oleo-Saccharum.

Old Forester Oleo-Saccharum Lemon Oil Syrup

I first heard about Oleo Saccharum in David Wonderich’s book Punch. I reviewed it here. Spoiler, I really liked it. It’s basically sugar and lemon peels left together until the sugar draws the lemon oils out of the peels and dissolves in it, creating a syrup. Easy to do, if a little time-consuming. So it was with interest that I saw this little bottle of premade Oleo-Saccharum at the Old Forester Distillery Gift Shop in Louisville, KY. I was staying in the Whiskey Row Lofts which are basically upstairs and had the thought that I might make a few cocktails with it. I did not and so it came home with me.

But what did I think of it once I did open it? It has a strong lemon nose. It’s very sweet and lemony on the mouth when you taste it by itself. It does really well in the champagne cocktail on the bottle (1 oz bourbon, 0.5 oz syrup, 4.5 oz brut sparkling wine, ice, lemon twist). It’s good, but at the end of the day, a lemon oleo-saccharum is too easy to make for me to buy this again. Especially since you use a quarter of the bottle for one cocktail. Maybe if I was on the road, travelling. But not for home use.

Kirkland Signature Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

I kn…

I know almost nothing about Costco. I have never had a membership. I’ve been in the liquor section of the location closest to me exactly one time. In fact, about the only thing I do know about the company is that their house brand is Kirkland.

So it was a bit strange when I went to my local mom and pop liquor store and saw a liter of Kirkland Bourbon on the shelf. Of course, I know that there is a Minnesota law that forbids store-exclusive liquor brands. But this has usually played out with the Total Wine Spirits Direct brands landing on the shelves of local stores. This is the first time that I’ve seen a Costco brand in the wild.

So like I said, I know next to nothing about Costco. But, unlike the Total Wine brands, I do know something about the Costco bourbon. Namely who made it. Emblazoned at the top of the label are the words “by Barton 1792.” I love this. In fact, it was what made me pick up the bottle we are talking about tonight. I really like the bourbon that comes out of the Barton 1792 distillery and I liked that they were willing to put their name on the barrels that they sold to someone else.

The usual practice in the US, for what would be termed “independent bottlers” in other countries, is for a company to source their bourbon from a distillery who then makes them sign an non-disclosure agreement about where they got it. In other words, they didn’t want their name associated with the bourbon for one reason or another. It is speculation on my part that this was, at least in part, because they were either selling a product that was non-standard for their house style or because that it was a product that wasn’t necessarily their best. Like I said, speculation on my part, but when someone doesn’t want their name on a product, what else are you supposed to think? I mean it could be that the supplier doesn’t want someone trading in on their good name, but if they are getting paid either way and they are selling decent stuff, is it really that bad?

No idea, I write for tips on the internet and they run multi-million dollar corporations. It is possible that they understand these things better than I do. But that said, I still picked up the Kirkland Signature by Barton 1792 and not one of many other NDP-produced bourbons that fill the shelves.

Kirkland Signature Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey by Barton 1792

Purchase Info: $33.99 for a 1 liter bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $1.70

Details: 60% ABV. Non-Chill Filtered.

Nose: Caramel, vanilla, almond, oak, light fruit.

Mouth: Damn, that's hot! Nutmeg, almond, toffee, mint, and oak.

Finish: Medium length and warm. Toffee, almond, and mint.

Thoughts: Is this a world-beater? No. But, it tastes good, it's high proof, and it is only $1.70 per pour. Let's just say that I went back to the store to grab a few more liters of this before I posted the review. This is a great everyday bourbon that also happens to also be overproof. I'm a fan. It is tasty enough to use in cocktails or cooking and inexpensive enough that I don’t mind using it that way. Plus as I said, I love the transparency on who made it. Right on the front label. Even bigger fan of that.

If you are in Minnesota and see this at your local, pick it up. If you are anywhere else and have a Costco membership you should consider doing the same.

George Dickel Bourbon

I’m …

I’m not going to lie, I bought a lot of whiskey on vacation. And by no small coincidence, a lot of the stuff I purchased happened to be things that I either haven’t had, or haven’t written about. You gotta have content. And as such it’ll probably be December before I stop referencing it. I really hope that you don’t get sick of posts that bring it up.

I mean, I could try writing so that I don’t mention it, but where is the fun in that?

Anyway I primarily stayed in two cities while on vacation, Chattanooga and Louisville. I’ve been to Louisville numerous times but I’d never been to Chattanooga before except as a place I drove through on the way to somewhere else. And as it was our first time in the area, we really felt the need to do some touristy things. We visited Rock City, which was cooler than I’d have thought it would be; we paid our respects at the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park; and because of who we are, we went to distilleries. I did the tour and tasting at both Jack Daniel’s and at Chattanooga Whiskey. I didn’t at Cascade Hollow though. Mostly because they were not offering tours. Instead I spent a lot of money in the gift shop as I picked up a few things that I couldn’t easily get at home. I grabbed a 15-year-old Single Barrel, I grabbed a current Bottled-in-Bond for about $15 cheaper than I’d find it at home, and I grabbed tonight’s Bourbon. That’s right, Bourbon.

From June’s launch press release:

For Cascade Hollow Distilling Co.'s General Manager and Distiller, Nicole Austin, creating Dickel Bourbonwas an opportunity to showcase the amazing, mature whiskies at the distillery. At the same time, it allowed the brand to give a home to those barrels that leaned into more traditional bourbon notes and did not express the Tennessee Whiskey tasting characteristics found in the rest of the George Dickel offerings.

Basically it is the same juice, following the same procedures, that is in all of their other Tennessee Whiskey products, it just tastes more like a traditional bourbon then those do. But much more important to me than what they call it, is how it tastes. Let’s find out.

George Dickel Bourbon

Purchase Price: $40.00 for a 750 mL bottle at the Cascade Hollow Distilling Co. Gift Shop, Tullahoma, TN. $30.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Kroger, Louisville, KY.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $2.67 (TN), $2.07 (KY)

Details: 8 years old, 45% ABV

Nose: Red fruit, herbal mint, caramel, baking spice, and mineral notes.

Mouth: Thin mouthfeel. Caramel, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Finish: Medium length and very flavorful. Cinnamon red hots, caramel, vanilla, mint and the "Dickel" mineral note.

Thoughts: I like this one. Not as much as the high-end, extra-aged Dickel products, but more than No. 8 or No. 12. I picked up a bottle of Bottled-in-Bond at the same time for only five dollars more, and I definately like that better. But since people in my neck of the woods are gouging on the Bonded, this will be a pretty good alternative once it shows up here in Minnesota.

Whiskey News Roundup for September 30, 2021

This is the first of what is going to be an ong…

IMAGE: The words “Whiskey News” over a photo of a whiskey glass on a smokey table.

This is the first of what is going to be an ongoing series for BourbonGuy.com. As you might imagine, I get a lot of press releases in my inbox. I thought it might be neat to periodically share some of those that I find the most interesting along with a little commentary on them. I hope you enjoy these posts. I spend way too much time reading whiskey news to not share.

Four Roses Announces Mini Bottles of Two Bourbons

NEWS: After quietly retiring their 50 mL bottles of Four Roses Single Barrel, Four Roses announced this month that they will be offering 50 mL bottles of both their Small Batch and Small Batch Select Bourbons. These bottles are available at most retailers that sell the 750 mL bottles. Locally they sell for $5.99 for the Small Batch and $7.99 for the Small Batch Select.

COMMENTARY: This is the kind of thing that I wouldn’t have usually found that interesting, except for one thing. I never was able to get a Four Roses bottle on the Whiskey Party Lights that I made. Single Barrel had a small cork. No way to hang it from the lights. According to Brent Elliott, these new minis will have screw caps that I’ll be able to drill through. What’s that? You don’t have any Whiskey Party lights? You should make some, it’s a fun and easy project.

Samuels House Now Available for Overnight Accommodations

NEWS: Rob Samuels, Managing Director of Maker’s Mark and grandson of the brand’s founder, has opened the historic Samuels home for rent. Currently operated under the name Samuels House, it was built around 1820 by Samuels family forefather John Samuels. The property remained with the family until the 1950s. Now, back in family hands, it has been renovated and opened for rent to overnight guests. According to the press release: “Although equipped with modern conveniences and luxury amenities, the house’s original detail and character have been preserved to showcase the history of the Maker’s Mark dynasty. Never before seen personal family artifacts, including the deep fryer used to create the iconic red wax tendrils and a hand-made bar with whisky spanning 150 years of Samuels family distilling, ensures a really special experience for bourbon enthusiasts.”

COMMENTARY: If I had the money, I would love to stay here while visiting Bardstown. Not sure I can swing $1250-1500 per night on a freelancer’s budget, but if you do, this seems like a fun way to spend that cash. I love old houses and, for me, the whiskey history would just be icing on the cake. And man, do those sofas look comfy.

MGP Distillery Gets a New Name

NEWS: As of September 29, 2021, the consumer brands portion of the MGP distillery will go by the name of Ross & Squibb Distillery. The new name highlights the history of the distillery location. According to the press release: “Ross” is inspired by the legacy of George Ross, who in 1847 founded the Rossville Distillery, located on what is now the Ross & Squibb Distillery campus. Considered one of Lawrenceburg’s original distilleries and one of America’s last Prohibition-era distilleries, Rossville Distillery produced some of the finest rye whiskeys in the world and was the inspiration for the Rossville Union Straight Rye Whiskey brand. “Squibb” calls back to the historic Squibb Distillery, founded in 1869 in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, and later purchased in 1921 by George Remus, King of the Bootleggers® and inspiration for the George Remus Straight Bourbon Whiskey brand.” Bulk production of whiskey and other spirits will continue onsite under the current name, MGPI of Indiana, LLC.

COMMENTARY: What does this mean for the whiskey consumer? Probably not a lot. I know I’m not going to rush to update the MGP tag at the bottom of this page. I’m almost positive that in casual conversation I’ll still use the quick MGP instead of the longer Ross & Squibb. Though you may see written references to Ross & Squibb on the site if I quote from a press release for one of their products. Basically, this is a consumer-facing example of the merger of MGP and Luxco. As the Luxco portion of the combined company now handles the consumer brands that MGP brought to the merger (Remus, Rossville, etc), it only makes sense from a marketing perspective to brand everything they can to help tell their story. Does this mean we can look forward to the future announcement of an upcoming visitor experience in Lawrenceburg, IN? No word on that yet, but it wouldn’t terribly surprise me now that the distillery has a consumer-friendly name and logo.

Daviess County Double Barrel Bourbon

I’d like to thank ByrnePR and Lux Row for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

…

I’d like to thank ByrnePR and Lux Row for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

IMAGE: A bottle of Daviess County Double Barrel Bourbon and two Glencairn glasses.

Last year, Lux Row launched Daviess County Straight Bourbon (for about $40) as well as a French Oak cask-finished bourbon and a Cabernet Sauvignon cask-finished bourbon (for about $45). Their timing on the launch wasn’t great. As their press release confirmed, a lot of things were going on right about the time the brand launched, and a lot of people, myself included, just forgot about them. Luckily for all of us, Lux Row has reminded us of the Daviess County line of bourbons by releasing a new variety: Double Barrel Bourbon. I did an in-depth discussion of the history of the Daviess County brand last year when the initial three products in the line were released so I won’t go into all that again except to say that I really enjoyed all three and was happy to receive the reminder that the line existed.

Daviess County Double Barrel is being released in partnership with Ducks Unlimited and the name is a play on both the gun often used in duck hunting as well as the finishing process used to create the bourbon. According to the press release:

Finished in Missouri white-oak barrels with toasted heads, Daviess County Double Barrel was created by Lux Row Master Distiller and long-time DU member, John Rempe. Double Barrel features a mashbill that is similar to the other Daviess County Bourbon variants, along with the same proof level (96 proof). The double-barrel finish gives this limited-edition release a unique flavor profile … Available for purchase beginning mid-September, Daviess County Double Barrel Bourbon has a limited supply offering at a suggested retail price of $49.99 per bottle. DU members can sample and bid on Daviess County Double Barrel Bourbon at a series of DU events to be announced later this year.

Now, fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when I left on a wonderfully long vacation. The day I left, I happened to receive a FedEx package containing the newest release in Lux Row’s Daviess County line of bourbons. And because I am the type of person who likes to drink bourbon while on vacation, I immediately shoved the bottle into my luggage and brought it along. I also decided to grab a couple of Glencairn glasses so that I could do the tasting notes while I was gone as well. I mean, you folks probably want to know if it is any good, right?

Daviess County Double Barrel Bourbon

Purchase Info: This sample was provided by the producer for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $49.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.33

Nose: Bubble gum, mint, red fruits, good bread, and oak.

Mouth: Caramel, chocolate, mint, cinnamon.

Finish: Medium warmth and length. Notes of bubblegum, mint, cinnamon, caramel, chocolate, fruit, oak, and good artisan bread.

Thoughts from a Louisville Loft: This has a really nice finish. Tons of flavors coming through after you swallow. I'm a fan.

Thoughts from Home: This is really good. Powerful cinnamon with a lovely sweetness when compared to the Straight Bourbon. Double Barrel is much sweeter than the straight bourbon. It also has more defined cinnamon notes and is lacking some of the “burn.” One might say Double Barrel is “smoother” if they were apt to use that descriptor. I enjoyed the heck out of this while on vacation and will continue to enjoy the rest of it now that I am home.

Kentucky Bourbon Festival A Flop For This Longtime Fan

Four…

Four hundred dollars (plus taxes and fees). Each. That is how much my wife and I spent to get into the gates of the 2021 Kentucky Bourbon Festival (KBF). Now admittedly, we splurged for a VIP package. However, in a big departure from the previous 29 years, even if you didn’t splurge for VIP, you would need a general admission ticket to get onto the festival grounds. Which would cost you between $10 to $20 (plus taxes and fees) depending on how many days you wanted to attend. And if you could even get a ticket.

And those last two were very controversial in Bardstown. For a long time, this was a festival that was held in cooperation with the community. Each year, there were local craft vendors, food trucks, and family events in addition to the ticketed events where any drinking took place. It was a celebration of the local economy as much as it was of the product they were producing. People brought their kids, which might seem weird until you realize that this was basically a three-day company picnic for the locals that they invited the greater public to attend.

I’ve attended the KBF every year that it was held since 2012 with one exception. Which means I’ve been going for 10 years now. And every year I attended, I had people ask me “You here for the Bourbon Festival?” And then they would give me tips and chat me up. This year, if I heard a store owner or restaurant employee discuss it, it was only to say that they had no idea what was going on “over there.” Which made me sad because the intense community involvement was one of the many charms of attending the Festival. Of course, social media didn’t help as leading up to the Festival, there were numerous complaints about the new ticket policy. And there were also rumors of Festival social media employees reaching out via direct messaging to those who complained, with mean and disparaging comments about the complainer’s intelligence. And even if the rumors were untrue, they seem to have been believed leading to bad PR amongst the locals. Things seem to have gotten so bad between the community of Bardstown and the KBF, that the town set up its own celebration/festival for the same weekend.

So why all the changes? Well, as an attendee, I can attest that the festival was getting a bit stale. In fact, before they announced the changes, my wife and I had basically decided that unless changes were made that we wouldn’t be attending every year anymore. On top of that, one of the things that I’d heard over the years as I attended the Festival was that while they drew well in Bardstown, and they drew well from across the country, that they were having a hard time drawing Kentuckians from outside Bardstown. People from Louisville, Lexington, etc just didn’t really come. I’ve also heard from craft distillers over the years that it was becoming no longer worth their while to get a table at the events. That their small marketing budgets were better spent in other, more niche events that would draw differently. To fix all of this, or at least combat it, the festival hired new people to run the thing. And they completely reimagined what the festival could be.

And what they decided the Festival could be was a (capital W) Whiskey Festival, just like any other Whiskey Festival held on the planet. Gone were the family-friendly distillery booths selling company merchandise. Now they were distillery booths selling small pours of bourbon or cocktails. Gone were the food trucks, well except for a taco truck and an ice cream truck. Gone were the numerous vendors of local crafts. In were a much smaller number of vendors from as far away as Wisconsin and Florida. Gone were the kids, replaced by Bottle Bros™ standing in line to get a bottle of bourbon picked by Justins’ House of Bourbon that they were planning to flip. You could tell because, as you walked by the line, you could hear them comparing how much they were hoping to get for them. Not that everyone in line was a Bottle Bro™ but enough were that they were hard to ignore. In my opinion, I think the Festival lost a bit of its charm. It needed to change in order to survive, but maybe not quite that much.

Now, as I said earlier, I paid extra for a VIP experience. I bought the Flask Force 3-day pass for my wife and I. So what did a person get for that extra $380? First of all, as the name suggests, you got a flask. A very nice hand-made copper flask from Jacob Bromwell. You got a KBF exclusive bottle of Maker’s Mark Private Select. I tasted mine and it was really good. You got a cut crystal Glencairn glass with the Festival logo engraved on it. A nice glass if you like Glencairn glasses. You got $25 worth of drink tickets for the lawn plus access to the 3rd floor “VIP lounge” in Spalding Hall where there would be free drinks and pours offered. You got a ticket to the Thursday night Bourbon in the Air event which replaced the All-Star Sampler of previous years. You got a ticket to one educational event on Friday and one on Saturday. Plus little things like a challenge coin, a t-shirt, a poster, and access to a VIP Party Deck. All in all, not too bad. Not too bad at all.

The problem wasn’t necessarily the idea, it was the execution. Mass confusion reigned amongst the attendees and employees. What follows is my experience and those of Festival goers and employees that I talked with. And yes, as I had purchased tickets for classes as well as VIP tickets, this will focus heavily on the things I experienced.

I’m going to start with the good things. I’m just going to do this list style for clarity.

I really liked that they had a vaccination requirement to attend the Festival. You showed your proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test from the last 72 hours and you were allowed in. If you had neither, there was a rapid testing station near the entrance.
The classes I attended were world-class. I had tickets to a blending class led by Brent Elliott, Master Distiller of Four Roses where you got to blend your own Small Batch using the finalists of the Elliott’s Select Single Barrel from a few years back. (I’ll talk more about this in an upcoming post since my wife and I made such different blends that we want to talk about them more and the process we used to come to them.) I also had tickets to a class on aging led by Dr. Pat Heist, cofounder of Wilderness Trail and a barrel chemist named Andrew from Independent Stave (I admit, I was so busy listening that I forgot to write Andrew’s name down). Both of these were extremely informative and fun. The aging class was the most detailed, scientific class on bourbon making that I’ve ever attended. I was enthralled from start to finish. Just fantastic. I said they were world-class and I meant it.

Now the not-so-good things. This was possibly the worst executed event that I have ever attended. And it all comes down to communication. Once again, list style.

To begin with, a couple of days before your event, you were given an instructional email on how to get into the Festival and get your credentials. Between the time that email went out and the Friday start of the Festival, the process changed without notice. Instead of showing your ticket to get into the reserved parking and walking to the VIP area to get your credentials, you got the credentials when you pulled into the reserved parking. Which was great if you drove there but much less so if you were staying in town and walked.
Once you were on the grounds and had your credentials, if you were like me, you needed to find your first class. That was easier said than done since the tent name on the maps and the tent name on your ticket were not the same and the employees working the Festival didn’t know where anything was if it didn’t immediately affect the job they were working. I asked three of them before I found someone who knew where the classes were being held. Luckily they had placed a musical performer right outside the tent so it made the classes super hard to hear at times.
Even though the Festival didn’t seem to be very well attended there were still very long lines.
The VIP bar offered about 5 or 6 cocktails. All but two of them required sour mix…and they were out of the sour mix at 3 pm Friday.
There was a lack of confidence among the attendees I spoke with. They were very confused about what tickets they had and didn’t have, where they were supposed to be, and they lacked confidence that the swag they were promised would be there when they tried to pick it up.
Annnd…that confusion was well placed in a few ways. Right when we arrived, we noticed that there were many people with tickets that would have given them swag that were left off of lists for said swag leading to confusion among the employees as to who got what. Most of those employees went off-script to make it right by the guest, but in talking to them you could see the frustration. There was also a lot of confusion as to where all that swag actually was located. As a personal example, I tried to pick up my bottle, poster, and t-shirt after my classes since my first class was right after the gates opened. By that point, I was told by the lady working at the Justins’ House of Bourbon booth (which was where you needed to pick up your bottle) that they were out and I’d need to come back tomorrow or go “upstairs” to take it up with the folks up there. So I did. You could tell that the poor guy working the info desk up there was beyond frustrated with how things were going, but he remained pleasant and got to work trying to find out how to help us. Eventually, he located the people who had locked up the bottles and someone was able to help us. We were told that we’d be in a similar boat if we tried to redeem the poster voucher as those had been sent to the Bourbon Outfitters Lexington store and not the Festival. However, they were delivered by the time we tried to pick them up. The t-shirt was no problem. It was the only thing that worked smoothly.

So if things had gone smoothly? If the people running it hadn’t shown an almost comical lack of competence from the planning stages onwards? Sure, it would have been an ok event. Not for me, but ok for those who are just there to get, and flip, an exclusive bottle and/or drink bourbon all day long. But for me? Well, I liked the educational aspects, each of which cost extra if you didn’t have the package I had (and even then I paid for my second class because there weren’t any I wanted to attend on Saturday). I guess, at the end of the day I can sum it up best by saying that I bought a three-day ticket for $400 and I opted to go for one day. They took a charming event that you could duck in and out of while traveling the local distilleries and towns and turned it into one large bar that would occasionally have educational classes. And ultimately, I found the new Kentucky Bourbon Festival boring. I’d used my drink tickets (mostly on a delicious non-alcoholic Hibiscus Lemonade), I’d attended the classes I had tickets for, and I was too bored to go back the last two days of the festival. Needless to say, as it will be held the day after my 25th wedding anniversary next year, I won’t be attending in 2022. And if this is the shape of the Festival going forward, I may not attend another one for quite a while. If you went and had fun, this post was not intended to negate your experience. But I feel like I am no longer the target audience. A celebration of the making of bourbon has become, aside from a few of the classes, a celebration of the consumption of it. And that makes me more than a little sad.

Little Book Chapter 5 – The Invitation

I’d like to thank the folks at Jim Beam for providing the following review sample with no strings attached.

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I’d like to thank the folks at Jim Beam for providing the following review sample with no strings attached.

IMAGE: Sample bottle of Little Book Chapter 5, the Invitation

By the time you are reading this, I will be on vacation. I’m guessing I will be somewhere in Northern Missouri if you are reading this the evening it came out. Hello from Wednesday! Did the world survive?

This is my first real vacation since before Covid. Even vaccinated, I’m a little nervous. But if I didn’t go, I’d lose all the money I paid for housing…so here I go. I’ll be as safe as I can and mostly just try to avoid being too close to people. Which is kinda how I usually do vacations anyway. And since I am in the middle of working my way through a list of “Things That I Should Have Done Last Week But Need To Be Done Before I Leave,” I’m going to jump right into the whiskey portion of this post.

I’ve been a fan of the Little Book releases since they were first released. I’m pretty sure that I’ve enjoyed every one I’ve tried. I really like the experimentation that Freddie Noe is doing with them. And this is no different. The whiskeys included in this blend range from two to fifteen years old. Paraphrasing the sell sheet provided with the sample (and quoting where appropriate) here are the blend components and what they say each brings to the final blend:

2-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon: It “comes off the still and goes into the barrel at a lower proof delivering a whiskey that’s complex and balanced.” This whiskey contributed a creamy mouthfeel and sweet grain flavors.
3-year-old Malted 100% Rye Whiskey: This whiskey brings in peppery notes and toasted grain/cereal notes with a hint of nuttiness.
5-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon: This whiskey brings in hints of vanilla, corn sweetness on the nose, and a smooth finish “that help to balance the flavors from the younger whiskies and the 15-year-old bourbon.”
15-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon: This brings heavier barrel flavors and adds complexity to the final blend.

That’s what Beam had to say, let’s see how it tastes.

Little Book Chapter 5: The Invitation

Purchase Info: This sample was provided by the producer for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $124.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $8.33

Details: 58.4% ABV. A blend of 2-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon, 3-year-old Malted 100% Rye, 5-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon, and 15-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon.

Nose: Bright ginger and cinnamon, toasted nuts, milk chocolate.

Mouth: Hot and spicy. Notes of vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, and a generic nuttiness.

Finish: Warm and long. Notes of baking spice, chocolate, leather.

Thoughts: This is really good. I don't know that I'll be paying $125 for this, but I might check out Total Wine to see if they carry it for a little cheaper. But if you don't see a problem dropping $125 on a special release then add this one to your list. I like it.

Woodford Reserve Rye, Liquor Barrel-MN Selection

My w…

IMAGE: A Bottle of Woodford Reserve Rye, sitting on a railing. This bottle was a private selection by Liquor Barrel-MN.

My wife and I have birthdays this week and it has gotten me to thinking: relationships are hard. My wife and I have been married almost 25 years and it still takes work. When people find out how long I’ve been married, they inevitably all ask the same question: “what’s the secret?” And honestly, I used to have a hard time answering it. I’d joke that we were just both too stubborn to walk away when things got tough. And in fact, that is kinda true. We are both competitive by nature and when we were young, neither of us wanted to let the other “win” by being the one to walk away from an argument. Instead we’d fight until we were exhausted and then be forced to talk.

But that isn’t the answer that people are looking for. And it isn’t the real one anyway. After 20+ years, I’ve learned there is a simple answer. And it is twofold. The first part is to actually like each other. The old Boomer joke of “take my wife, please” is more than a bit upsetting to me. When I worked in an office and heard people at lunch saying things like “road trip? no thank you, I could never be around my husband (or wife) that long” I couldn’t understand them. I really like being around my wife. She is my best friend. I’d take an evening with her over any number of nights out with “the guys.”

The second part of the answer is empathy. I don’t cheat, never have, and never will. I can’t imagine the hurt on her face if she found out. Even though I am very competitive, I try to think about what “winning” will cost. When I’m angry, I try very hard to think about how much whatever it is that I’m about to say or do will hurt my friend. And she does the same. And because of that, we’ve both realized that there are some battles that just do not need to be fought.

That of course doesn’t mean we don’t get into arguments. We do. More than either of us would like. But because deep down we really like one another and because of empathy, and trying to see things from the other person’s perspective, we get through them. This really has nothing to do with whiskey, but it has been on my mind this week as I prepare for our first “real” vacation with just each other that we’ve had since before Covid.

So with that out of the way, let’s take a look at tonight’s whiskey. Not too much to say about this one. I was wandering through my local corner liquor store and I noticed that they had a barrel pick of Woodford Reserve Rye. As I’d never run across one of those before, I decided to pick it up. And so here we are.

Woodford Reserve Rye, Liquor Barrel-MN Selection

Purchase Info: $34.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel in Prior Lake, MN.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $2.33

Details: 45.2% ABV. Selection date: 5-28-21

Nose: Brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and herbal mint.

Mouth: Spicy. More tingle than I'd normally expect from Woodford. Follows the nose with brown sugar, honey, molasses, clove, cinnamon, and herbal mint.

Finish: Gentle and on the shorter side of medium. Notes of clove, cinnamon, and herbal mint.

Thoughts: These guys usually do a pretty good job with their barrel picks, but I'm not tasting that much difference here between this and the standard Woodford Rye release. It's good, just nothing to write home about. I like it though. Happy with the pick-up. I’ll probably try a pick by someone else just to see if my store just wanted a bottle that tasted like the standard or if they are all that way and that profile was all they were offered.

Four Roses 2021 Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon

I’d like to thank the folks at Four Roses for providing this review sample to me with no strings attached.

…

I’d like to thank the folks at Four Roses for providing this review sample to me with no strings attached.

IMAGE: Inside the Media Sample packaging for Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch 2021

Oh my goodness! I am so excited! I’m sitting here in my gold top and maroon shorts because BigTen Football starts tonight when the Minnesota Golden Gophers host the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Ok, fans of teams that played on Saturday will say that it really started when Illinois kicked off to Nebraska sometime after 12 noon on the 28th. But, “Week 0?” come on…even the powers that be knew that it didn’t start until this week. And if those Nebraska fans watched the same debacle…err…game I did, well I’m guessing they would also like to forget that stinker of a game.

So since my beloved Golden Gophers are hosting the number 4 team in the country tonight in Ohio State, I get the added bonus of having zero pressure while watching the game. Usually, I hope for a win and worry about a loss. Tonight I know we will get blown out so I can just enjoy watching my Gophers without the pressure of hoping we win. I plan to enjoy it. Maybe I’ll even enjoy a small pour of the bourbon we are looking at tonight after the game ends. Either as consolation or as a celebration.

Yeah, I know it’ll be the former but let’s not get negative.

So what is tonight’s bourbon? Well, that would be the 2021 release of Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch. This year it is made up of four of their bourbon recipes: a 16-year-old OESV, a 12-year-old OESK, a 14-year-old OBSQ, and a 16-year-old OBSV. I love that floral/herbal/fruity note that the Q yeast brings. If I see a Q or an F yeast used in a Single Barrel Pick while out shopping, it always comes home with me. It just hits the right notes with my palate. So I’m pretty excited to see this one included in the blend.

The suggested retail price is $150 per bottle. It’ll roll out to retailers in September, but if you are feeling lucky, and will be able to make it to Kentucky to pick it up in the last half of September they will be having a lottery drawing to purchase a bottle at the distillery gift shop. Visit the Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition website between August 31 and September 12 to enter.

Four Roses 2021 Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon

Purchase Info: This sample was provided by the producer for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $150.

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $10.00

Details: 57.2% ABV. Features a 16-year-old OESV, a 12-year-old OESK, a 14-year-old OBSQ, and a 16-year-old OBSV.

Nose: Cinnamon, JuicyFruit gum, caramel, oak, leather, and vanilla.

Mouth: Red fruits, caramel, vanilla, cinnamon, clove, leather, and tobacco.

Finish: Long and warm with notes of cinnamon candies, JuicyFruit gum, leather, and oak.

Thoughts: Shows off much more oak than any of the standard releases from Four Roses. which is either a good or bad thing depending on how much oak you like. I’m digging the fruity/floral notes that the Q yeast is bringing. It’s one of my favorites to pick up when I find it as a single-barrel pick of Four Roses. My wife loves this one. I really like it, but it’s showing just a touch too much oak for me. Don't get me wrong, it is very good. And if I happen to be chosen in a lottery to buy one, I’ll probably jump at the chance.