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Sipp’n Corn Tasting Notes – Seelbach’s Private Reserve Batch No. 1

I was lucky enough to get the inaugural release of Seelbach’s Private Reserve. We all know Seelbach’s as the best resource for craft spirits, and now they’ve joined the ranks of craft blenders with creative finishing in toasted French Oak barrels and ex-bourbon maple…

Seelbach’s Private Reserve Tasting Notes

Whiskey:	Seelbach’s Private Reserve Batch No. 1, a blend of Straight Bourbons finished in new medium-toast French Oak barrels and Ex-Bourbon Maple Syrup barrels.
Components:	66% of two-year, six-month old bourbon and 34% ten-year, two-month bourbon, both distilled in Indiana.
Mashbill:	75% corn; 21% rye; 4% malted barley
ABV:	57.5% ABV (115 proof)
Cost:	$99.00

Appearance:
Copper penny.

Nose:
Beautiful aromas of ripe peaches with a slight floral and cedar background, but more dominated by toffee and maple for a thoroughly sweet nose, with just a hint of black pepper.

Taste:
Baking spice and dry dark fruit are evident at first but it shifts to the flavors predicted by the nose with caramel, maple, honey, orange zest all balanced with oak and black pepper again. There really is a feel of maple syrup, maybe with the nuttiness of some chicory coffee with cream, all with a creamy mouthfeel.

Finish:
Shifts to a hint of tobacco for a decadent long finish with rich dark cherries.

Bottom Line

Alright, this was released last fall and all 1,040 bottles sold out long ago, but the important takeaway is to jump early on future batches because Blake at Seelbach’s put in the research and the effort to get the right base bourbon, the best finishing barrels, and the discipline to know when it’s ready. This is an outstanding first release. Check out https://seelbachs.com/.

Sipp’n Corn Tasting Notes: Old Fitzgerald Spring 2021 Bottled in Bond and Four Gate Ruby Rye Springs.

Sometimes you have to try bourbon side by side with another whiskey that is totally different. Usually, a wheated bourbon and bourbon with rye as a secondary grain isn’t truly different enough. In most cases, not even a bourbon versus a 51% rye whiskey will do the trick. But a wheated bourbon compared with a 95% rye barrel finished in ex-ruby port casks from Portugal, which then aged rum before being shipped to Four Gate? That promises to be the sort of distinctive differences that I want.

Old Fitzgerald Spring 2021 Bottled in Bond Tasting Notes

Bourbon:        Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Distillery:       Heaven Hill
Age:                8 years
ABV:              50% (100 proof)
Cost:               $85.00

Appearance:
Amber with slight red.

Nose:
Classic wheater in many ways, with sweet caramel, subtle honeysuckle, and spring grass. But another nice layer of cinnamon and dark, dried fruit, too.

Taste:
Caramel dominates, with a buttery mouthfeel, light fruit sweetness, and slight earthiness at the end. Extremely solid and nothing unexpected. On the first pour it almost seemed too much of exactly what I expected, but on the second and third evenings, I enjoyed it more and more. This is an extremely refined and balanced bourbon with complexity that builds.

Finish:
Medium/long with a really enjoyable fade.

Four Gate Ruby Rye Tasting Notes

Bourbon:        Four Gate Ruby Rye Springs
Distillery:       Undisclosed, but distilled in Indiana, so … MGP
Age:                7 years
ABV:              56.7% (113.4 proof)
Cost:               $185.00

Appearance:
Dark amber.

Nose:
Intense rye with dried dark fruit around the corners, along with brown sugar, baking spice, and lemon zest.

Taste:
Intense rye again. Tasting it alongside a wheated bourbon really amps up the rye spice. It’s also a lot sweeter than the nose predicted, like a juicy, syrupy, sweetness, then shifting to slightly herbal with black pepper and oak, but all along a brown sugar backbone.

Finish:
The finish is crisp. Berry sweetness fades first as rye and black pepper surge.

Bottom Line

Many people focus too much on age when selecting bourbon, while others more in the know realize that bourbon is dynamic enough to have sweet spots at different ranges without being wed to a certain age target. Old Fitzgerald has proven that with bourbon as old as 16 years old and now as young as 8 years old. And this Spring 2021 edition absolutely shines.

Four Gate’s Batch 7—which I really liked—is the base Rye for Ruby Rye Springs. When I reviewed Batch 7, I found it mouthwatering, and now with the finishing influence of port and rum, it’s even more so. As with other Four Gate batches, this is extremely limited at 1,444 bottles if you’re in Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, or Georgia, or Seelbach’s if you’re almost anywhere else.

Disclaimer: The brand managers kindly
sent me samples for this review,
without any strings attached.
Thank you.