Category: Bourbon Article

Back by popular demand we bring you more exciting tales from the bourbon world.... 

Larceny

The tale surrounding this bourbon is with the actual naming of it. Heaven Hill acquired the Old Fitzgerald franchise in 1999 and released this wheated bourbon in ‘honour’ of John E Fitzgerald. According to legend, Mr Fitzgerald built the distillery and sold his bourbon to local establishments. Now here is the twist - in the family biography of Pappy Van Winkle written by his granddaughter Sally Van Winkle Campbell, it is revealed that Fitzgerald was not the character he was purported to be. He was in fact a treasury agent who used his keys to the warehouse to half-inch (pinch) the best bourbon and sold it on under the name of Old Fitzgerald. In ‘honour’ of the pilferer, Heaven Hill was inspired to release the bourbon called Larceny.

As far as we know the mash bill is not officially released and there are various guesses out there on what the breakdown is. Most agree that the wheat percentage is at least 20%. According to the official website, Larceny has been hand selected by the Master Distillers to have a taste profile of a 6 year old bourbon (We’re not sure exactly what that is supposed to mean as there is no age statement on the label). Many bloggers declare that the ages of the barrels which go into each batch (less than 100 barrels) are between 6 and 12 years of age.

 

Orphan Barrel Whiskey Distilling Company

No bones about it, there are many folks out there who were not at all happy with this company and the lack of transparency in what they originally released. Conceived by Diageo in 2013, the company wanted to rescue and share collections of ‘almost’ lost barrels which were maturing in the Stitzel-Weller distillery. Note the wording there, 'maturing' in the Stitzel-Weller distillery but not actually being made there. The entire range is hand bottled in Tullahoma, Tennessee, at the George Dickel bottling plant.

How anyone manages to ‘almost’ lose barrels of whiskey is also quite difficult to imagine. The whole marketing story is really what irked people here and not releasing to the consumers the origins of the whiskey. Over time this has changed and Diageo have become more open on the origin of the whiskies, and have even released the mash bills. What are still not fully understood are the quantities available with each different release. The Orphan Barrel website suggests small offerings of each whiskey, but some bottle numbers are in their tens of thousands (which even with the best will in the world isn't exactly small). Whether or not the product is any good is the same for all whiskey, a purely personal opinion. If you do have a few hundred pounds to spare take a chance of what Orphan Barrel has to offer.

Forged Oak – 15 years – 45.25% ABV

Lost Prophet – 22 years – 45.05% ABV

Barterhouse – 20 years – 45.1% ABV

Rhetoric – 20 - 25 years – 45% - 45.5% ABV

Gifted Horse – 17 years – 57.5% ABV

Whoop & Holler – 28 years – 44% ABV (Not listed on the official website)

Old Blowhard – 26 years – 45.05% ABV (Now retired)

*2021 saw the release of Copper Tongue, a 16 year old cask strength bourbon at 44.9% ABV from the historic Cascade Hollow distillery in Tullahoma, Tennessee.

They have even dipped their toes into Single Malt Scotch Whiskey over the last few years.

Forager’s Keep - 26 years - 48% ABV (closed Pittyvaich distillery)

Muckety-Muck - 24 years - 45% ABV (closed Port Dundas distillery)

Muckety-Muck - 25 years - 45.5% ABV (closed Port Dundas distillery)

Prices continue to rise when searching for any of the Orphan Barrel releases in the UK. They start from around the £300 mark right up to £1,000 for the rarest. Good luck in hunting them down.

 

Colonel EH Taylor Junior

As most bourbon aficionados already know, where the barrel ages in the warehouse has a significant impact on the end finish and taste profile. In 2006 there were 24,000 barrels minding their own business and sat in Warehouse C at the Buffalo Trace distillery that experienced a very unique ageing process as a result of a natural disaster. A tornado swept through Kentucky ripping the roof off the warehouse and causing significant damage to the bricked north wall.  The top two levels of barrels were exposed to the summer sun and natural elements whilst the warehouse was under lengthy repairs.

Almost 100 of these top level barrels aged between 9 and 12 years were bottled in 2011 as a small batch at 50% ABV and released as a once in a lifetime offering. Labelled as Colonel EH Taylor Jnr Warehouse C Tornado Survivor and originally priced at $75 it is surprisingly still available today but you do have to spend a considerable amount of more money, £1,975 to be precise.

We like this story but we smell a high bullshit factor on this one.

Blanton's

In 1984 Blanton's became the first ever commercially sold single barrel bourbon. Blanton's is named after one of the distilleries early pioneers Albert B Blanton who was affectionately known as Colonel Blanton (everyone in Kentucky is a Colonel it seems) as he held the honorary title of Kentucky Colonel.

The story goes that Blanton was a great host and would always serve what he considered to be the finest bourbon to his guests. This bourbon was picked out from the middle of Warehouse H as he considered this section to be the sweet spot. His former apprentice, Elmer T Lee (yes that one) turned this concept into reality when he was tasked to continue selecting only the finest barrels from Warehouse H and releasing it to the general public.  

*Today there are four different expressions available. The Original Single Barrel (46.5% ABV) is the most recognised and widely available Blanton’s. The Gold Edition (51.5% ABV) and Straight From The Barrel (SFTB) which is at various cask strengths. The Special Reserve (Green Label) and promoted as the introductory edition is only available outside of the US and in duty free organisations.

The bottle shape is very unusual and almost looks like a hand grenade. Since 1999 the horse and jockey stoppers are now the unique trademark of the brand and form a set of 8.  Each one features a horse and jockey in different racing poses. Each stopper also depicts a different letter and once all are collected you can spell out BLANTONS. Mav is the proud owner of one of these and quite lovely it is too!

Posted - April 2017

*Updated - February 2022

There are many reasons that people from all over the world end up delving deep into the world of bourbon. The main reason for many of course is simply the enjoyment involved with drinking it. However for some the enjoyment doesn't end there - in fact they become so obsessed with the drink that they end up wanting to know, not just how it tastes, but where it originated, and the great stories that lay behind their favourite tipple.

The Bourbon Gents are firmly in the camp of those who love finding out about these stories which seem to surround each and every creation. Nearly every distillery claims that they are the oldest 'this' or the oldest 'that', or such and such a person was the first to do 'this' and the first to do 'that'. We sometimes think that the marketing departments at bourbon distilleries appear to be the hardest working folks in the industry.

Not only are there great historical tales associated with many types of bourbon, there are also some absolutely ingenious ways companies have created new techniques of producing, extracting, and maturing the good old brown liquid. Below, and in no particular order, we have listed some of our favourites.

 

Elijah Craig

Elijah Craig, the drink, is a very well-respected bourbon from the Heaven Hill Bernheim distillery in Louisville, Kentucky. There are 3 main variations of the bourbon - small batch, barrel proof, and a number of different age statement single barrels.

Elijah Craig, the man, is supposedly the inventor of bourbon as we know it today. The claim is that the Virginian Reverend was the first to age the distillation in ‘charred’ oak barrels, thus giving the spirit its now renowned colour and unique taste.

The story goes that the origin of charring oak barrels was the consequence of a warehouse fire - and that the ever thrifty Reverend Craig decided to continue to use the burnt barrels to store his spirit, and in doing so stumbled upon the way bourbon has been produced ever since. Now there are a few obvious holes in this legend. The most puzzling of which is that it seems mighty odd that he would risk ruining his normal bourbon output by taking a vague chance that sticking it in, now very burnt barrels, would produce anything remotely drinkable...

While the warehouse fire is probably a myth, the man himself was real. You can find a nice little biography of him here over at the 'Whisky Reviewer'

In conclusion it is probably safe to say that we shall never truly know, or agree on, the inventor of the drink we all know and love today. For example there are many others who claim that the true inventor of bourbon was Jacob Spears, who allegedly came up with the name bourbon, and was the first one to use that term on the bottle labelling. However for the Gents it doesn't really matter, we're just happy that someone did it!

 

Jefferson’s Ocean

It started as an experiment. What would happen to bourbon if it was aged at sea? How would it be affected by the temperature changes? Or the constant movement of the barrels on the waves? And would the saltiness and brininess of the ocean be embedded into the liquid? Well it turned out to be liquid gold (well accoring to one of the Gents – Mr Pie) and is loved by many.

No matter what you think of the marketing story, this is an absolutely fantastic idea. Aged between 6-8 years on dry land, the barrels are then finished on a journey by sea for between 6-10 months. There are several different voyages now available but each one typically visits 5 continents, stops at over 30 ports, and crosses the equator 4 times.

The next experiment by Jefferson’s is also pretty quirky, they are recreating bourbon's first ever journey. Two barrels of aged bourbon have already started their journey on a boat from Louisville, Kentucky down the Mississippi river to New Orleans. The next stage is onto the sea via Key West and up the Atlantic Ocean to New York. You can even follow the progress of the journey on the Jefferson’s website blog Ocean Voyages

Jim Beam Devil’s Cut

Devil’s Cut is 1 of 7 current expressions (we are not counting flavoured whiskies) which are available from Jim Beam, and was first launched in 2011. According to Jim Beam, 4% of their bourbon a year is lost through evaporation. This is commonly known as the ‘Angels Share’ and is lost forever.

As much as 2 gallons of whiskey remains in the barrel wood (soakage) and used to be extracted by using an old technique called ‘sweating the barrel’. From what we understand this is simply refilling the emptied barrels with water and rolling them around a bit. Today Jim Beam has developed what they are calling a ‘proprietary twist’ on this technique using heat, water and agitation to extract what is now known as the ‘Devil’s Cut’. This is then blended with extra aged bourbon and bottled at 90 proof. Marketing baloney? Or exactly what Scotch whiskey makers have been doing for years? Either way, let’s be honest it is a greatly entertaining tale and makes for one hell (pun intended) of a name.

 

Wild Turkey Forgiven

So, imagine if you will, it's an ordinary day at the Wild Turkey distillery. You are busy going about your daily routine, doing whatever it is you do at a distillery, when all of a sudden... you realise you’ve actually made a huge mistake and mixed up bourbon with rye whiskey! Master Distiller Eddie Russell comes marching over to investigate, tastes the concoction and (instead of firing you on the spot) quickly realises that this is an exceptional drink and more than worthy of bringing to the market. Phew! You keep your job and turn into a workplace legend - and presumably annoy every master distiller in existence who has spent decades trying to do what you just achieved completely by luck!

The 'accidental' blend is comprised of 6 year old bourbon (78%) and a 4 year old high rye whiskey (22%). Apparently it has a bold, creamy vanilla and oak opening, a long smooth finish with hints of pepper, clove and cinnamon. The Gents have not yet tried this so we better hurry up, as Eddie Russell did declare last year that there were no plans to make it a permanent addition to their itinerary. The labelling backs this up as it is released as a limited edition small batch whiskey.

The Gents (Mr Pie & Mav) have been reviewing bourbons for a while now, so we thought it was high time we had a summary of our best scoring bottles all in one place - and this is it.

We debated over just having one long table of the top 40 highest scoring bourbons, but where is the fun in that? Instead you will find below two tables. We affectionately like to call them 'League 1' & 'League 2' & they work just like a real league in that bourbons can be promoted up a league, or even relegated down. Fun right? 

League 1:

This is the cream of the bourbons we have reviewed to date. If you buy anything from this list you will not be disappointed. 

League 2:

These are the next 20 highest scoring bourbons. We will be regularly revisiting some of these drams to see if our feelings on the scores we gave them have changed, and give them the chance to be promoted and claim a League 1 slot.

World Cup Final Wrap Up

The Bourbon Gents World Cup 2021 is over, and we have our winner.

3 weeks ago, we started with 64 bourbons, all with a chance to lift the trophy. Some fell early, some hung on longer than expected, and some seemed unbeatable, but in the end only one can remain…

The Final

Pappy Van Winkle 20-year-old was drawn as the home team, which meant William Larue Weller got the dodgy away dressing room with the broken heating and blocked toilets. Unlucky, but maybe it would give them that extra motivation to win heading into the match.

Just like last year’s final, it was one of those close, tense affairs. There would be no landslide victory here, no large leads, just neck and neck battling and tight margins with no room for error. At half time it really could have gone either way and was really too close to call.

Pappy 20 was slightly in front heading into the second day of voting but, with the gap so small, it wouldn’t take much for Weller to get back in the game. Both teams could picture themselves lifting that coveted trophy and it spurred them both on. The match was intense, the were crowd biting their nails as the clock ticked down and the victory really could have still gone to either bourbon.

Weller had been slightly behind for a good part of the match by this point, but never far enough for it to be insurmountable. They just needed that bit of luck or that one surge of energy to push them level and beyond… And then it came. Buffalo Trace gave their man a helping hand and liked the tweet and called upon their army of fans to vote for their bourbon. This was going to be close.

The gap started to close, the fans rallied and lifted their team.

There was a flurry of activity and the gap was now down to only 6%

5%

in the blink of an eye it was now 4%

Just a few minutes left

Pappy were holding on by a thread.

Could William Larue Weller keep closing that gap and take a last gasp lead to win it…

Seconds remained and still the votes poured in

The whistle was blown and the match was over!

The crowd cheered as fireworks went off all round the stadium and balloons fell from the sky. Pappy Van Winkle 20 had held on to the lead and won the Bourbon Gents World Cup 2021 - 52% to 48%.

Wow.

The End

The 2021 world cup has drawn to a close. The Gents are now busy engraving the name of Pappy Van Winkle on the trophy and will ship it to them shortly.

As always, we would like to thank each and every one of you who helped decide this year’s winner and we are already looking forward to doing it all over again next year.

For the World cup geeks among you here is the full 2021 World Cup wall chart complete with the scores and winners of all the matches.

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Semi-Final Wrap Up

The Semi-finals are over and we have our finalists. Two hard fought matches took place but who made it through? Keep reading to find out…

With 3-time champion Four Roses Single Barrel out of the competition and having beaten both last years runner up and last year’s winner in the previous rounds, George T Stagg was the hot favourite to make the final. The only thing standing in their way was a little-known bourbon called Pappy Van Winkle 20…

We joke of course. This was a match of the titans and the stage was set for an epic battle.

It was a cagey affair, with both teams getting plenty of support but neither of them able to pull away from the other. Back and forth the lead changed hands with no one able to stay in front for long. The crowd watched this tense match wondering who would come out on top and make it to the final. Then Stagg started to edge ahead. Here we go, we all thought, Stagg will win from here and set up the possibility of an all BTAC final (as William Larue Weller was due to play in the other Semi-final later). Surely it was just a matter of time before they won…

But wait… Pappy 20 was not ready to throw in the towel yet. They mounted a stunning counterattack and took Stagg by surprise. This wasn’t in the script. Soon the slender lead that Stagg had built up was gone and instead they found themselves behind by 6%. This was the biggest gap between the two the whole match. Pappy kept up the pressure and from then on never allowed Stagg back into the match. They won 53% to 47% and made it to their first ever world cup final.

Now the question on everyone’s lips was - “who will they meet in the final”. Let us find out…

Now it was the turn of the second Semi-Final between Blanton’s Single Barrel and William Larue Weller.

It was always going to be tough to follow the previous semi-final, and so it was no big shock when it didn’t.

Weller was the clear favourite and, even though Blanton’s had been getting huge support throughout the competition, it was still a very one-sided contest in the end. Weller took an early lead and was never really in any danger of losing it. They dominated the proceedings and kept themselves at least 10 or more percent in front the whole match. Those who bought tickets to watch this one must have been kicking themselves they didn’t pick the other semi.

The result was 58% to 42% and William Larue Weller join Pappy 20 in our final.

The Final

For the second year running this years final will see two completely new faces, and the World Cup will crown a first-time winner whatever the result.

So head over to our twitter account now and vote for your favourite to win the Bourbon Gents World Cup 2021.

Quarter Final Wrap Up

Welcome back to this year’s Bourbon Gents World Cup. The competition is nearing its end and we are down to only 4 bourbons. Who are those four we hear you ask? Well, let us have a look shall we…?

Results

We start our round up with a look at the left-hand side of the draw.

First up we had Blanton’s Straight From The Barrel vs Pappy 20 year old. The Gents are lucky enough to own both fine bourbons, and have enjoyed them on many occasions, so we knew it was going to be a close match. Blanton’s have had huge support during this year’s competition, and it showed during the early voting. They went toe to toe with Pappy 20 and looked like serious contenders until well into the latter stages. With only an hour left in the voting Pappy were only a few percent ahead and it was anyone’s game. In the end though it was just a stretch too far for the Straight From The Barrel offering, and Pappy reached the finish line first, winning 53% to 47%. They march on to the semi-finals where they would meet the winners of the next match… George T Stagg vs Old Rip Van Winkle.

Old Rip Van Winkle is of course the current world cup holder and they were looking to take one more step to retaining their title. In their way stood the mighty Stagg (multiple times winner of the Gents ‘Bourbon of the year’ award). The match started and right away Stagg looked like they wanted the win more. Old Rip were startled and immediately fell behind. We wish we could write some wonderful prose about how Old Rip fought back and levelled the scores just in time to produce a match worthy of these two titans of the bourbon world… but it never happened. Stagg raced into the lead and never let Old Rip gain on them. By the time the voting closed Stagg were so far ahead that they were just a blip on the horizon. Last year’s winners are out! That means (with Four Roses Single Barrel also having been knocked out) that this year will see a new bourbon crowned winner for the first time.

Now over to the right hand side of the draw.

Having just seen their sister bourbon go out of the competition, Blanton’s Single Barrel were extra fired up for their match against underdog Bakers 13. This match was about as one sided as it gets. Baker’s were on the ropes the entire time and the end couldn’t come soon enough for them. Blanton’s took the win 78% to 22% and on this form look unbeatable.

In the final match of the quarter-finals there was yet another Blanton’s offering. This time it was Blanton’s Gold, and they were up against William Larue Weller. Could Blanton’s Gold pull off an upset and produce a giant killing display to set up a semi-final against Blanton’s Single Barrel? Unfortunately (for Blanton’s at least) they couldn’t. It wasn't as one sided as the Baker’s 13 defeat, but it certainly wasn’t a close match. Weller were commanding in their win and took the match (and a ticket to the semi-final) 68% to 32%.

As always, the World Cup chart has been updated so you can click below to look at the semi-final line up.

Semi-Final look ahead

what a line up we have for you in the semis.

George T Stagg vs Pappy 20 on one side, and Blanton’s Single Barrel vs William Larue Weller on the other. Wow!

Personally, we would love to see a battle of the BTACs in the final. However, it’s not our vote that counts. So get over to Twitter tomorrow and get behind your bourbon and give that push it needs to make the final of the 2021 Bourbon Gents world cup.

As always you need to be on our Twitter account to vote. We wish all the bourbons good luck, and we await to see who will contest this year final.

3rd Round Wrap Up

8…

Only 8 of the 64 bourbons who started the competition remain.

The Cup is getting closer to finding its winner so lets see who made it through…

Highlights of this round

Where else could we start but with the crushing defeat for Mav’s favourite bourbon - Noah’s Mill. They were up against Blanton’s Single Barrel and, although Noah’s Mill were the underdogs, a tight battle was still expected. It the end though, it didn’t turn out that way. Blanton’s steamed ahead and never looked back. Mav and Noah’s Mill were in shock, and the end result was 76% to 24%. Please take a moments silence for this sad event before we move on.

Now on to the reigning champions - Old Rip Van Winkle. Their match was against Booker’s. Nobody expected anything other than an Old Rip win and… that is exactly what happened. No drama here just an easy victory, 69% to 31% and the cup holder goes through to the quarters and a step closer to retaining the title.

In the other matches…

Former world cup runner up, George T Stagg, beat the competition dark horse Weller 12. It was a tight match and at some points it looked like Weller may be in with a chance. However, ultimately Stagg were too strong, and it is they who march into the nest round.

No shocks in this round result wise, but there were some who expected Elijah Craig 18 to put up a better fight against Blanton’s Straight From The Barrel than they did. The end result was not even close, and Elijah Craig never looked like winning. An easy match for Blanton’s as the won 59% to 41%.

Talking of Blanton’s. They now have 3 entries into the last 8. Blanton’s Gold was also a 3rd round winner, seeing off Henry McKenna 10 convincingly 63% to 37%.

For the full results, and to see who else made it through to the quarterfinals, see our handy wall chart below.

Quarter-final look ahead

What a line up we have in store for you in the quarter-final. Some of the best bourbons ever to exist are going to be battling it out for that place in the Semi, and a shot at reaching the world cup final.

As always, it is hard to pick a stand out match from so many good ones, but our pick is going to be Stagg vs Old Rip Van Winkle. Last years winner vs a previous world cup finalist. Too close to call a clear favourite but if we had to bet then we would go for a Stagg win. Only time will tell though!

Tickets to this one have already sold out so grab a seat on the couch and enjoy the contest on Twitter.

2nd Round Wrap Up

The 2nd round is over, which means another 16 bourbons have ended their world cup journey and must wait another year to try again. However, it also means we have 16 lucky bourbons left in the world cup who get to do it all again in the next round. .

As always, we would like to thank all of you who took part and supported the competition. We’ve had over 5,000 votes and the cup is hotting up.

Highlights of this round

Let’s start with Four Roses. 3-time winners of the world cup and last year’s beaten finalists - in fact, last year’s final was their only loss since the competition started way back in 2017. The shock at the time was huge, but everyone expected them to come back bigger and better this year. Judging from their easy first round win it looked like the prediction was solid. But (you knew there was going to be a ‘but’) they hadn’t counted on having such a tough match as early as this. They were up against Blanton’s Gold, who had no intention of letting Four Roses have it all their way. The match was hotly contested to begin with, but slowly Blanton’s started to pull away until there was a gap of over 20% between them. Four Roses rallied and gained some ground back, but ultimately it was all too little too late and they ran out of time to finish their come back. It ended 56% to 44% in favour of Blanton’s Gold. Which means, for the first time in our world cup history, the final will not contain Four Roses Single Barrel! Wow.

Another shock result, although not quite as earth shattering, was Eagle Rare 10 beating Michters 20. We certainly didn’t see that coming and nor did the fans. One of whom took to Twitter to comment on the result and declare the voters ‘fools’. Do you agree?

Mav’s favourite bourbon Noah’s Mill is having its best world cup for years. Confidently sweeping aside Blade & Bow to make it to the 3rd round. A good result for what many had considered the underdog in that tie.

Finally, the dark horse many are secretly tipping for this year’s cup - Weller 12, beat Elmer T Lee by a narrow margin (52% to 48%) to advance to the next round.

As always, the full results of the draw can be found by clicking on our lovely World Cup wall chart below. There may be zooming in required or just follow the craze and print it out in full and hang it on your wall.

3rd round key ties

So what lies ahead in the 3rd round?

The pick of the left-hand side of the draw is a hard one this year as there are so many top shelf bourbons drawn in that half that still remain. Seriously, just look at these names - George T Stagg, Weller 12, Pappy 20, Old Rip, Elijah Craig 18 and Blanton’s Straight from the barrel! This is by far the most difficult half to be in. We have to choose one to watch though, so we are going to call out Stagg vs Weller 12 as our pick of the bunch.

On the other side of the draw things are a little more balanced. Our pick though is going to be Noah’s Mill vs Blanton’s Single Barrel. Can the plucky underdog cause an upset? Or will Blanton’s continue to dominate this years world cup matches?

Don't miss out on your opportunity to influence the results, just head over to our twitter account and vote.

1st Round Wrap Up

The 5th annual Bourbon Gents World Cup is here and, as always, it means that the stars of the music world were knocking at our door hoping to be the chosen one selected to perform at the opening ceremony.

In previous years we have had the likes of Beyonce, Drake and Ariana Grande open the tournament for us. This year though we shocked the crowd with the reveal of… BTS. Who? We hear you say. Well they are only the biggest most famous band on the planet right now (if you happen to be a teenage girl). They have broken records held for years by the likes of the Beatles and Michael Jackson and also recently got nominated for a Grammy.

Initially confused by the flamboyant boy band, the crowd were quickly won over and were up on their feet dancing to their hit song Dynamite. Although thinking about it now it may just have been the influence of the Elijah Craig barrel proof the bar was serving.

Once the ceremony was out of the way, it was down to the serious business of the ties themselves. An amazing 3,000 votes were cast in the first round and we would like to say a huge thank all of you for taking part and supporting your favourite bourbon.

Highlights of this round

We always start with a check on last years winner first just in case there was an upset. Old Rip Van Winkle were not about to let their hold on the trophy slip away that easily though, as they convincingly beat Evan Williams Single Barrel with 76% of the vote.

The biggest margin of victory for this round went to Pappy 20-year-old. They destroyed Widow Jane 92% to 8%. Which from our perspective is a bit harsh as it is not at all a reflective view of the drinking experience.

Noah’s Mill, a big favourite of the Gents and our first ever winner of our ‘Bourbon of the Year’, saw a very comfortable victory against Jim Beam Black (83% to 17%).

There was almost the biggest shock result in world cup history in one of our final matches of the 1st round. Buffalo Trace was up against William Larue Weller and no one expected much from this other than a large win for the mighty BTAC bourbon. However, Weller didn’t get its own way in this match, and it turned out to be a lot tougher than it had any right to be. With 5 minutes left in the match Buffalo Trace still had a chance of winning as the score was delicately balanced at 52% to 48% in Weller’s favour. The crowd watched on with bated breath waiting to see if there would be a final push from the Buffalo… but it wasn’t to be! It ended 54% to 46% and William Larue Weller move on to the second round.

And finally, it isn’t a Bourbon Gents World Cup without Four Roses Single Barrel, who won their match with a canter against Evan Williams Bottled in Bond 83% to 18%.

For the full results of the 1st round, and the match ups for the second round, check out the handy World Cup wall chart below.

2nd round

There are some very interesting match-ups to look forward to in the next round. Our pick of the bunch is a former World Cup final - Blanton’s Gold vs Four Roses. We think this is way too close to call but from experience we never bet against Four Roses!

Whatever happens, it will be exciting stuff so don't miss your chance to vote - just head over to our twitter account now to vote for your favourite bourbon.

The only bourbon award worth winning

The Bourbon Gents World Cup is just days away and the Gents are busy readying the opening ceromony.

This will be the 5th year of the competition to find the worlds best bourbon and, for the first time, we will have a new defending champion.

Before last years World Cup the competiiton had only ever been won by one single bourbon - the amazing Four Roses Single Barrel. It managed to win 3 times in row and the Gents were just thinking of renaming it the Four Roses World Cup. However, that all changed last year when Four Roses Single Barrel was finally defeated, and Old Rip Van Winkle won the trophy.

So can they do it again and retain the title? Can Four Roses hit back and lift the cup for the 4th time? Or will an outsider take us all by surprise and win? Only time will tell, but first, we have to do the all important draw and find out who will be facing who in the first set of matches.

The 1st Round Draw

Only 64 teams can enter the competition and, with so many different bourbons out there, it is impossible to choose who should be included. Thus the Gents have devised the fairest way possible to get the cut of bourbons for the first round. We write the name of every single bourbon we can possibly think of and throw them all into a hat (bowler of course) the take turns drawing them out until all 64 slots are filled.

Below you will find the results of that process and the exciting matches to come!

The Schedule:

All matches begin at 18:00 GMT and will start appearing on Twitter (the only place to cast your vote) from the 15th March and will then follow the schedule below;

1st Round

• Monday 15th March - First round part 1

• Tuesday 16th March - First round part 2

• Wednesday 17th March – First round part 3

• Thursday 18th March – First round part 4

2nd Round

• Saturday 20th March – Second round part 1

• Sunday 21st March – Second round part 2

3rd Round

• Tuesday 23rd March – Third round part 1

• Wednesday 24th March – Third round part 2

 Quarter Final

• Friday 26th March – Quarter Finals part 1

• Saturday 27th March – Quarter Finals part 2

 Semi Finals

• Monday 29th March – Semi Finals

 Final

• Wednesday 31st March – Final

Result

• Friday 2nd April 18:00 - The winner will be known

After you have finished looking through the 1st round match ups we have some house keeping to do before the competition begins;

The Rules:

• Last year’s winner has automatic entry into this years competition

• Only bourbons have been allowed entry

• There is no seeding

• It is a straight head to head vote, one bourbon against another

• If there is a tie the Bourbon Gents will have the casting vote

• Voting can only be made via Twitter

So there it is. The Bourbon Gents World Cup 2021 is almost ready, the opening ceremony will be at 18:00 GMT on the 15th March on Twitter, don’t miss it.

Happy voting bourbon lovers and may the best bourbon win.