Bourbon’s construction boom in Central Kentucky is raising concerns in Nelson County, home to Bardstown, the “Bourbon Capital of the World.” County officials have reached a compromise with whiskey makers for a 90-day moratorium on planning approval for new warehouses in agricultural zones. Nelson County Judge Executive Tim Hutchins wants a review of current ordinances allowing virtually unfettered development of warehouses without public input, while allowing projects in areas zoned for industrial use to move forward. We’ll talk with Judge Hutchins on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth about the moratorium and the impact of losing millions of dollars in barrel tax Read More »
Bourbon’s construction boom in Central Kentucky is raising concerns in Nelson County, home to Bardstown, the “Bourbon Capital of the World.” County officials have reached a compromise with whiskey makers for a 90-day moratorium on planning approval for new warehouses in agricultural zones. Nelson County Judge Executive Tim Hutchins wants a review of current ordinances allowing virtually unfettered development of warehouses without public input, while allowing projects in areas zoned for industrial use to move forward. We’ll talk with Judge Hutchins on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth about the moratorium and the impact of losing millions of dollars in barrel tax revenue in the coming years. In the news, Sazerac CEO Mark Brown is stepping aside in a long-planned succession, while Scotland’s Parliament has approved new rules to make it easier for whisky makers to borrow against their stockpiles of maturing whisky. We’ll also have details on a host of commemorative whiskies celebrating the coronation of King Charles III, along with the rest of the week’s whisky releases.
Woody Creek Distillers was founded in 2012. Located in Basalt, Colorado, 15 miles west of Aspen, they produce their whiskeys from locally sourced grains. In fact, they grow the potatoes that they use in their vodka and as a base for their gin themselves! I am enjoying this bourbon. While it is on the lighter side, it still has full flavors. There’s a noticeable sweetness, and some youthfulness, but they work together well. In addition, the bit of spice in the finish offers a nice contrast to those earlier flavors.
Woody Creek Distillers Colorado Bourbon 90 proof Basalt, Colorado Aged a minimum of four years MSRP: ~$45 at TW&M Review
Please enjoy my Woody Creek Distillers Colorado Bourbon Review!
“Colorado Straight Bourbon gracefully aged in new American oak and blended with Rocky Mountain spring water”
Founded in 2012 in Basalt, Colorado
Woody Creek Distillers was founded in 2012. Located in Basalt, Colorado, 15 miles west of Aspen, they produce their whiskeys from locally sourced grains. In fact, they grow the potatoes that they use in their vodka and as a base for their gin, themselves!
I have seen their spirits on store shelves and was curious about them. Consequently, while I was on a recent trip to Colorado, I picked up a bottle of their bourbon.
Mash Bill
Woody Creek Distillers Colorado Bourbon starts with a mash bill of locally grown 70% corn, 15% rye & 15% (presumably malted) barley. Subsequently, the bourbon aged in #3 char American white oak barrels for a minimum of 4 years.
Tasting Notes
Let’s taste it:
Rested for 15 minutes in a Glencairn
Nose: Honey, buttery caramel, cherry candy, cedar, oak, light cinnamon; mild alcohol Taste: Sweet, honey, light caramel, oak Finish: Sweetness lingers but some black pepper and barrel char build; mild cinnamon lingers; moderately long finish with mild burn.
Woody Creek Distillers Colorado Bourbon
Summary
I am enjoying this bourbon. While it is on the lighter side, it still has full flavors. There’s a noticeable honey sweetness, and some youthfulness, but they work together well. In addition, the bit of spice in the finish offers a nice contrast to those earlier flavors.
Would you like to learn more about distilleries and bourbon? Are you planning a trip to Kentucky Distilleries? Maybe you would like to live the bourbon life vicariously through us? If any of these are true, then check out BourbonObsessed.com today!
Forty Creek master blender Bill Ashburn celebrated his 35th anniversary in the whisky business this week, and he’s one of those blenders content to stay out of the spotlight most of the time. Ashburn and John Hall put Canadian Whisky on a new course in 2000 when they released the Forty Creek Barrel Select and Three Grain whiskies, and Ashburn’s whiskies have won countless awards since then. He’ll join us on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, we have details on the U.S. government’s proposal to create an official definition for American Single Malt whiskies, along with Beam Suntory’s Read More »
Forty Creek master blender Bill Ashburn celebrated his 35th anniversary in the whisky business this week, and he’s one of those blenders content to stay out of the spotlight most of the time. Ashburn and John Hall put Canadian Whisky on a new course in 2000 when they released the Forty Creek Barrel Select and Three Grain whiskies, and Ashburn’s whiskies have won countless awards since then. He’ll join us on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, we have details on the U.S. government’s proposal to create an official definition for American Single Malt whiskies, along with Beam Suntory’s plans to invest $400 million to expand production at the Booker Noe Distillery in Kentucky.
The Stranahan’s Blue Peak is something they were working on when I toured the Stranahan’s Distillery a couple of years ago. Rob eluded to a new project and how they were looking at Soleras and some other experiments. I figured everything he was talking about would be for Snowflake releases, but I figured wrong. Blue […]
The Stranahan’s Blue Peak is something they were working on when I toured the Stranahan’s Distillery a couple of years ago. Rob eluded to a new project and how they were looking at Soleras and some other experiments. I figured everything he was talking about would be for Snowflake releases, but I figured wrong.
Blue Peak is a new(ish) addition to the Stranahan’s core and joins the Original Stranahan’s and Sherry Cask Stranahan’s in the lineup. To make it they start with 4-year-old whiskey which then goes into one of their large oak foeders for “finishing”. Though, I guess it’s more accurate to say that happens in reverse. The matured and finished whiskey is bottled and then more 4-year-old single malt is added to the foeder… I think you get the idea.
Let’s get to drinkin’
Stranahan’s Blue Peak – Details and Tasting Notes
Whiskey Details
Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color
Style: Single Malt (American) Region: Colorado, USA Distiller: Stranahan’s
Mash Bill: 100% Malted Barley Cask: New Charred Oak (#3), Solera Foeder Age: 4+ Years ABV: 43%
“Blue Peak is an American single malt distilled at high altitude, aged in new American oak barrels, and Solera finished, a maturation process typically used in wine, resulting in a rich and mellow whiskey.” – Stranahan’s
Stranahan’s Blue Peak Tasting Notes
EYE
Amber honey
NOSE
Dried orchard fruit, malt, banana chips, vanilla cream, cocoa, cream soda and some taffy sweetness.
Soft, warm and sweet, it’s a very approachable aroma.
PALATE
Dried orchard fruit, cocoa, banana chips, oak, malt, vanilla cream, cream soda and some spice and nuts.
Kind of a banana milkshake thing going on… an oaky banana milkshake.
FINISH
Medium -> Banana chips, oak, nuts and some spice and cocoa.
BALANCE, BODY and FEEL
Good balance, medium body and a slightly oily feel.
Stranahan’s Blue Peak – Overall Thoughts and Score
Before we hit the wrap-up for the Blue Peak I have to take a second to say that I LOVE the new bottles with the flat back and round front. They’re the perfect whisky bottle. The new labeling is pretty great too. Their updated design direction all around just looks fantastic. Though when we turn our attention to the whiskey in the Blue Peak bottle I have to say… it’s good.
This is a fun, tasty, whiskey. It’s a touch banana heavy, but not in a cloying or chemically way and there’s a pleasant malty, slightly chocolaty, sweetness that builds as it opens and it brings the oak profile with it. It’s missing a bit of depth, a bit of richness to fully take it to the next level, but it’s close. If I officially gave out .25s, the Stranahan’s Blue Peak would a 3.75. Regardless, cocktails or neat, I’m going to enjoy drinking this one.
SCORE: 3.5/5 (tasty, worth checking out ~ B | 83-86)
*Disclosure: The bottle for this American Single Malt review was graciously sent to me by the company without obligation. The views, opinions, and tasting notes are 100% my own.
Normally I’d avoid a product like this Breckenridge Bourbon Whiskey, A Blend, but it came as part of a kit for an online cocktail event I signed up for. Why would I avoid a product like this you ask? Because the label is so riddled with problems you have no idea what you’re actually drinking. […]
Normally I’d avoid a product like this Breckenridge Bourbon Whiskey, A Blend, but it came as part of a kit for an online cocktail event I signed up for. Why would I avoid a product like this you ask? Because the label is so riddled with problems you have no idea what you’re actually drinking. Couple this with there being no email or contact form on the site to reach out and it all ends up feeling rather shady.
The mystery does get resolved, so stick with me, but first, let’s review the problems, starting with some of the most infamous words in whiskeydom: “Produced and Bottled by”. If you see this on a label, and they are a “distillery”, set the bottle down and buy some Wild Turkey 101 instead. This way you know what you’re drinking and who actually made it.
One notable exception to this rule is if the label also carries “Distilled In Indiana” on the back. If says IN, then you know it came from MGP and leaves you with just one major question: how much are you willing to pay for that bottle of MGP whiskey in the window? Breckenridge fully misses the state of distillation mark, which we’ll touch on again in a bit.
The next problem with this confusing label is actually the one that would stop me from even picking it up in the first place, the words “A Blend”. I have no problem with blended straight whiskeys, like Barrell, but this misses that key designation: straight. Meaning all kinds of crap could be in this whiskey besides bourbon. And since they don’t actually tell you, it’s up to you to guess.
However, on the side of the bottle, in teeny-tiny print, are the words 100% Bourbon. Finally, adding to the frustration of this terrible label, there’s no declaration of age. If you look around online, you’ll see many references to the whiskey they bottle being 2-3 years old, but who knows. Are you following along? It’s labeled as “a blend” but states 100% Bourbon yet is not labeled as straight. It’s also missing the state of distillation and the age… WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH THIS WHISKEY?
Hoping to get some answers I went to their site for info and that only made it worse. Their awful site copy ignores everything on the bottle and makes it sound like a straight bourbon. This is where I found myself when I picked up the phone. With no helpful info found online, and out of other options I called the Breckenridge gift shop.
I had a polite, quick, conversation with the lady who answered, but she had no answers. So, she transferred me over to their production department where I met a helpful fellow who let me know this is their standard bourbon which is a blend of Breckenridge distilled and MGP distilled straight bourbon aged 3+ years. I.e., this is a blend of straight bourbons and the label is missing the required state of distillation… and required age… and the words “of straight bourbon whiskey”.
When I asked about the massively confusing label the response I got back, in summary, was that Breckenridge was planning on moving it to a blended bourbon (51%+ bourbon + NGS), but decided not to. But, since the new label was already done and printed, they kept the label. I told you if you stuck with me it would get resolved… kinda. It doesn’t explain the 100% bourbon on the label, but in essence they designed it for a different product, changed their minds, probably added the 100% Bourbon, and then pushed it out to a confused public.
Now that we’ve straightened out what’s on the bottle, it’s time to see what the liquid in the bottle is all about. But, before we get to drinkin’ and dig into this Breckenridge Bourbon Whiskey, A Blend review there is one thing still bothering me: the “made with snowmelt” water crap. Who seriously sees that and thinks “that’s amazing, I’m going to buy it.” Also, who actually believes it?
Breckenridge doesn’t go out, gather up snow, melt it, and make their whiskey. This line is ridiculous, they get their water from the same aquifers and municipal sources as everyone around them does. Yes, some of the water in those aquifers does come from snowmelt, so it is technically true, it’s an utterly absurd thing to say and market with. Stop the gimmicks, stop the stories, stop putting out garbage labels, just focus on making good whiskey.
And now… the review.
Breckenridge Bourbon Whiskey, A Blend – Details and Tasting Notes
Whiskey Details
Region: USA
Distiller: Breckenridge + MGP Bottler: Breckenridge Distillery Mash Bill: 56% Corn, 38% Green Rye, 6% Unmalted Barley (their bourbon component only) Cask: New Charred Oak Age: NAS (Verbally told it was 3+ years) ABV: 43%
Price: $45
“Our award-winning, high-rye Bourbon Whiskey is aged for a minimum of three years, in charred, new American oak barrels, and blended to reveal the unique qualities of the Bourbon Whiskey.” – Breckenridge Distillery
Tasting Notes
EYE
Medium caramel
NOSE
Metallic herbal, raw corn, vanilla, coconut, sugary apple juice, butterscotch and some pops of spirit, mustiness, wood and minerality.
Very light, not much happening and what is happening isn’t interesting. It’s basic, rather watered down and youthful.
PALATE
Wood, grits, imitation vanilla, metallic, herbal, dried fruit, hazelnut syrup, and an odd alcohol pop with a bit of minerality.
The aroma isn’t unpleasant, but the palate is getting there. A weird, cloying, and slightly metallic note appears as the Breckenridge Bourbon Whiskey, A Blend opens. I can’t quite place the exact note, but it gets more prominent with each sip and I’m not enjoying it.
FINISH
Short -> Raw wood, alcohol, flour, copper and raw grain dissipate quickly.
BALANCE, BODY and FEEL
Not balanced, light-thin body with a watery feel.
Breckenridge Bourbon Whiskey, A Blend – Overall Thoughts and Score
As it opens it takes on more of an artificial herbal quality with growing notes of raw wood and metal. These notes keep creeping higher and higher till it’s all I can focus on and comes across as raw and artificial. It’s like someone read a description of bourbon and tried to make it using things around the kitchen. I don’t like it and neither did the Southern California Whiskey Club. It came 11/20 in our last blind tasting with some of our members not wanting to mark it as bourbon or rye.
In reviews, I typically avoid talking about price and value because it’s relative to everyone, but I seriously can’t believe they charge $45 for this. I could get two bottles of Wild Turkey 101 for that and know exactly what’s in it: Wild Turkey Bourbon. This is the reason I avoid hard-to-identify products like this Breckenridge Bourbon Whiskey, A Blend – they’re rarely worth the money or the wear on your liver.
SCORE: 1.5/5
Breckenridge Bourbon Whiskey, A Blend Review
$45
Summary
This is not a good whiskey, I don’t exactly know who the market is for this, but there is a LOT of better whiskey out there at half the price.
Make sure your battery’s charged for this one, since we spent nearly two hours talking the other night with longtime Scotch Whisky and Bourbon ambassdors Steve Beal, David Blackmore, and Ewan Morgan, along with Stranahan’s head distiller Owen Martin. We covered everything from Steve’s ongoing fight against pancreatic cancer to life on the road and Owen’s latest distillery exclusive bottling for Stranahan’s. Join us each Friday night for our #HappyHourLive webcast at 5pm New York time on the WhiskyCast YouTube channel, our Facebook page, Twitter, and Twitch. Links: Stranahan’s | Glenmorangie | Ardbeg | Classic Malts | Bulleit Bourbon
Make sure your battery’s charged for this one, since we spent nearly two hours talking the other night with longtime Scotch Whisky and Bourbon ambassdors Steve Beal, David Blackmore, and Ewan Morgan, along with Stranahan’s head distiller Owen Martin. We covered everything from Steve’s ongoing fight against pancreatic cancer to life on the road and Owen’s latest distillery exclusive bottling for Stranahan’s. Join us each Friday night for our #HappyHourLive webcast at 5pm New York time on the WhiskyCast YouTube channel, our Facebook page, Twitter, and Twitch.
Bob Baxter distills the award-winning Two Brewers Canadian single malts with co-founder Alan Hansen at their Yukon Spirits distillery in Whitehorse, Yukon, and Todd Leopold makes equally renowned whiskies with his brother Scott at Denver’s Leopold Bros. Distilling. Bob and Todd joined us on the latest #HappyHourLive webcast to talk about their whiskies, along with the unique three-chamber still now being used at Leopold Bros. We also talked a bit of hockey, shared heritage in the Detroit area, and much more on the webcast, too! Links: Two Brewers Whisky | Leopold Bros.
Bob Baxter distills the award-winning Two Brewers Canadian single malts with co-founder Alan Hansen at their Yukon Spirits distillery in Whitehorse, Yukon, and Todd Leopold makes equally renowned whiskies with his brother Scott at Denver’s Leopold Bros. Distilling. Bob and Todd joined us on the latest #HappyHourLive webcast to talk about their whiskies, along with the unique three-chamber still now being used at Leopold Bros. We also talked a bit of hockey, shared heritage in the Detroit area, and much more on the webcast, too!
Rested for 15 minutes in a Glencairn
Nose: Honey, buttery caramel, cherry candy, cedar, oak, light cinnamon; mild alcohol
If any of these are true, then check out 
