Category: Bottle Releases

TX Whiskey (Fort Worth, TX) recently announced the launch of TX Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Cognac Casks, the third expression in TX Whiskey’s Barrel Finish Series. It follows the award-winning TX Straight Bourbon Tawny Port Finish and PX Sherry Finish, propelling the growth of the TX Whiskey brand. The third and final experimental release marks a bittersweet milestone as the last expression and final gift from TX Whiskey’s tenured Master Distiller, Rob Arnold, who will be stepping down after a decade of service.

“We are truly grateful for Rob’s impact on TX Whiskey, and for his careful cultivation of our award-winning portfolio,” said Steve Gordon, Director of Marketing for TX Whiskey. “As a testament to Rob’s brilliance, we’re committed to preserving the spirits so many have come to know and love while evolving and innovating the TX Whiskey brand.”

With a proof of 101.6, TX Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Cognac Casks brings forth flavors of honey, stone fruit, grapes, light vanilla, caramel, and baking spices. Rob Arnold hand-selected the Cognac casks for this expression, which had been used over the course of multi-year maturation experiments, and ultimately selected to finish two-year-old Texas Straight Bourbon over 17 months.

This will be the first TX Whiskey expression distilled at Whiskey Ranch, the brand’s new 112-acre artisanal distillery experience in Fort Worth, Texas.

“Some of the highest peaks of my career at TX Whiskey include: Isolating our proprietary wild yeast strain, reviving forgotten heirloom and new varieties of corn, helping to bring rye & barley cultivation back to Texas, developing novel toast profiles used in our barrel aging program, developing a collaboration with Sawyer Farms with the goal of becoming a single-farm distillery for our straight bourbon expressions, and creating the first ever Bottled-In-Bond Texas bourbon”, said Master Distiller, Rob Arnold. “As I move on to focus on a career in scientific research and whiskey writing, I have full confidence in the brand’s legacy under the leadership and expertise of Ale and Evan.”

Master Blender, Ale Ochoa, and Head Distiller, Evan Brewer have been handpicked by Arnold to lead distillery and production operations following his last day on Oct. 8^th. Ochoa and Brewer will continue to create innovative whiskies and extraordinary experiences to preserve the legacy of the TX Whiskey brand.

TX Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Cognac Casks is a limited release (SRP: $64.99) available starting October 2021 at Whiskey Ranch in Fort Worth and at fine Texas retailers.

ABOUT TX WHISKEY:

Established in 2010 by Leonard Firestone and Troy Robertson, and now part of the Pernod Ricard spirits family, TX Whiskey is a premier brand with an artisanal distillery, connecting and inspiring people through whiskey. Located in Fort Worth, TX, the brand’s Whiskey Ranch sits on 112 acres of historic golf grounds making it one of the largest whiskey distilleries. The brand launched its first expression TX Blended Whiskey in June 2012, receiving both “Double Gold” and “Best American Craft Whiskey” honors at the 2013 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. As the first distillery to use a proprietary combination of grains, yeast, and barrel toasting, the brand continued to be an industry innovator with the release of TX Straight Bourbon in 2016. The single-farm sourced expression showcases the unique terroir and flavors of North Texas receiving Gold Medal honors twice in 2020 in the “Small Batch – Up to 5 Years” category at both the San Francisco World Spirits Competition and International Spirits Challenge in England. Additionally, it was awarded a 94 rating in the 2020 Ultimate Spirits Challenge and a Silver Medal at the PR%F Awards. Additional TX Whiskey expressions, including TX Bourbon Port Finish, TX Bourbon Sherry Finish and TX Bourbon Bottled-In-Bond Single Barrel were recently awarded Double Gold and Gold medals at the 2021 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. For more information, please visit www.frdistilling.com.

The post TX Whiskey launches Cognac Finished Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey: Final Expression from Master Distiller Rob Arnold appeared first on The Bourbon Review.

Angel’s Envy is marking a milestone with the 10th annual Cask Strength Kentucky Straight Bourbon Finished in Port Wine Barrels, arriving on shelves December 1st, 2021.

Each year, the distillery releases an extended finished, full proof version of their flagship bourbon. The first Cask Strength release first hit shelves in 2012, introduced by Angel’s Envy Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer Wes Henderson, his son Kyle (now the Production Manager at the downtown Louisville distillery) and his father, the late Master Distiller Lincoln Henderson. The brand is a true family affair, with five members of the clan currently working in the business.

“Putting together our annual Cask Strength release has become something of a tradition for our family. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been doing it for ten years,” said Wes Henderson in a press release. “Back in 2012, our first Cask Strength release was a run of just 600 bottles available in only two states. So to see fans all over the country chasing down these bottles and sharing them with their friends and family as a special way to toast over the holidays or as a gift – it’s very rewarding and a reflection of how much Angel’s Envy has grown over the past decade.”

The distillery tells us to expect a pour that is “complex on the nose, with notes of peach and cherry accompanied by hints of brandy, tea and honey. Notes of leather, toasted oak and vanilla carry into the palate, along with flavors of stone fruit and port that give way to creamy crème brûlée and honey with nutty marzipan. The finish features slight tannins and notes of black tea, apricot and smoke.”

Bottles of Angel’s Envy 2021 Cask Strength Bourbon will begin arriving on shelves in December for a suggested retail price of around $230. As with almost all previous Cask Strength releases (save the first), the bottle will come packaged in a carved wooden box, with this year’s denoting the 10th anniversary. Add this one to your Christmas list now!

The post The 10th Annual Angel’s Envy Cask Strength Will Launch Late 2021 appeared first on The Bourbon Review.

The competition for a bottle of Buffalo Trace Antique Collection just got a little tougher – for the first time since 2002, Buffalo Trace won’t be releasing George T. Stagg.

The distillery is as disappointed as we are, but for Buffalo Trace, quality comes first.

“Before any barrel can be dumped and bottled, it goes through rigorous testing procedures numerous times to ensure it is meeting the quality standards set forth for that brand,” said Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley in a press release.  “Unfortunately, this crop of barrels earmarked to be Stagg back when it was put in the barrel in 2006 did not meet the Stagg profile today. We discussed at great length how to proceed, and ultimately decided we did not feel right about lowering our standards or the age, by dipping into next year’s supply of barrels. We know fans will be disappointed, as are we, but we could not release a bourbon that we did not feel was up to par with the flavor profile expected of George T. Stagg.” 

“Quality is always paramount for our products,” said Drew Mayville, master blender, director of quality in a press release. “If the taste doesn’t match our expectations, then we will not release it to our customers. And unfortunately, this year’s yield of Stagg did not meet our expectations. Good news is, we’ll have the barrels we put up in 2007, which are on track so far for a 2022 release, barring anything unforeseen changes.” 

In more good news, four fantastic expressions are on track to arrive later this month. Our big takeaway? An Eagle Rare a year older than usual. Read on for details about each.

William Larue Weller 

The Antique Collection’s only wheated recipe bourbon, William Larue Weller, clocks in at 12 years and an uncut and unfiltered 125.3 proof, distilled in the winter of 2009 and aged in Warehouses C, D, K, L and Q. The distillery tells us to expect a “nose of crème brûlée, followed by cherry and toasted graham crackers on the palate and a long rich finish of coca, herbs and oak.”

Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Rye

This year’s uncut and unfiltered Thomas H. Handy was distilled in the spring of 2015, aged 6 years in warehouses I, L, O, and K, and bottled at 129.5 proof. “The flavor profile includes anise and cinnamon with a rich finish of spearmint and chocolate,” says the distillery.

Eagle Rare 17 Year Old

The distillery tells us that year’s Eagle Rare was distilled in Spring of 2002 2003 and aged on the first floor of Warehouse P before being bottled at 101 proof. While the distillery hasn’t responded yet to questions about whether this means we are seeing an Eagle Rare 19-Year, simple math tells us that this one may be a few years older than average. Of course, the barrels could have been aged to perfection and then tanked in 2019 to be released this year – but we’ll keep you posted when we hear more. They note a “nose of ripe cherries, vanilla cream and oak, followed by a taste of caramel and coffee and a long finish of oak, pepper and fresh herbs.”

EDIT 12:11 PM: The distillery has confirmed a typo in their initial press release, with this year’s Eagle Rare 17 Year Old being distilled in 2003. This means we are getting an extra year of age for an 18-year Eagle Rare, but not the 19 year we originally calculated.

Sazerac Rye 18 Year Old

The 2021 Sazerac rye was barreled in the spring of 2003 and aged on the second and fourth floors of Warehouses K and P, then bottled at 90 proof. We’re told to look for “notable flavors of bright apples and herbs, anise and maple syrup on the palate and a finish of cocoa, coffee and dates.”

The suggested retail price of each expression holds steady at $99, but as usual, we expect to see them priced much higher on secondary markets. Happy hunting!

The post The 2021 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection Breakdown, Sans Stagg appeared first on The Bourbon Review.

For the first time since 2002, Buffalo Trace Distillery will not release a George T. Stagg with the fall launch of their Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, says The New York Times.

The paper of record confirmed rumors this morning that the barrels laid down in 2006 for this year’s Stagg Sr. didn’t mature as planned, falling short of the distillery’s high bar set for one of their rarest releases.

“It just didn’t look right,” Buffalo Trace Master Blender Drew Mayville told the Times. “It didn’t match the taste profile we expect from Stagg.”

Each year, the distillery releases their Antique Collection (BTAC), a collection of well-aged and perfectly proofed “big brothers” to some of their most famous names. The collection first launched in 2000 with Sazerac 18-Year, William Larue Weller 19-Year, and Eagle Rare 17-Year. In 2002, the distillery added George T. Stagg, and with the addition of Thomas H. Handy in 2006, the collection was complete. While the annual releases of these bottles retail at $99, their scarcity and popularity is such that they’re usually sold for much more.

We expect to hear more later today about the remaining four bottles (William Larue Weller, Eagle Rare 17 Year, Thomas H. Handy, and Sazerac 18 Year) in this year’s release.

The post “No Stagg Sr. for 2021,” Buffalo Trace Tells the New York Times appeared first on The Bourbon Review.