From $121 to $150 - BourbonSphere

Old Elk Infinity Blend 2023 Whiskey Review

By Kenrick Thurston Wilcox Rating: B+ If anyone has wanted to try their hand at being a blender, infinity bottles are an interesting way for consumers to do so, with many articles on websites how to start your own at home blend. With its roots in the wine world via the solera aging system, the …

By Kenrick Thurston Wilcox

Rating: B+

Old Elk Infinity Bottle 2023
(Credit: Old Elk Distillery)

If anyone has wanted to try their hand at being a blender, infinity bottles are an interesting way for consumers to do so, with many articles on websites how to start your own at home blend. With its roots in the wine world via the solera aging system, the process sees consumers taking what whiskey they have available and over time creating their own uniquely personal blend.

Some whiskey companies, such as Old Elk, are aware of this trend and have gone a step further by creating infinity barrels, projects that see producers filling a barrel or tank, then draining a portion of the liquid, and topping it off with different products, creating an ever-evolving whiskey. Started in 2013 by entrepreneur Curt Richardson, founder and ex-CEO of OtterBox, and with Greg Metze at the helm as master distiller. Before coming over to Old Elk, Metze had an illustrious career as head distiller at MGP, where he worked for 38 years.

This is the third iteration of Old Elk’s Infinity Blend, which contains 15.3% of last years infinity blend, 40% of their unique high malted bourbon aged for 8 years, 43.2% wheat whiskey aged for 7 years and 1.5% wheat whiskey aged for 10 years and is bottled at 57.575% ABV.

The Whiskey
Once poured the whiskey is amber in color. The nose is is full, nutty and malty, with notes of toffee, coffee beans, chocolate and a slight leather scent.

On the palate the malt and wheat become more prominent though the liquid still retains the corn sweetness and thickness typical of a bourbon. Some notes of orange citrus come through along with some smoke, with the coffee bean notes fading far into the background.

The finish stays for a long time though is lacking in complexity tasting only of coffee. Adding a couple drops of water I noticed some black pepper on the nose, some leather on the the palate with more of the coffee flavor coming back, and the finish now having notes of chocolate, coffee and black licorice, although the time it lasted was shortened. This dram is great both on neat or on the rocks.

The Price
A bottle will should set you back $150 for a 750ml, but some online retailers have it listed for somewhat higher.

Bruichladdich Black Arts 11.1 Scotch Review (2023)

By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Bruichladdich (pronounced “bru-kla-dee”) is one of the distilleries that bucks against the popular image of Islay, the island of peat, or at least they do with one foot. They are one of the whisky-makers on the island that doesn’t do nothing but peated whisky, but that isn’t to say they …

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B+

Bruichladdich (pronounced “bru-kla-dee”) is one of the distilleries that bucks against the popular image of Islay, the island of peat, or at least they do with one foot. They are one of the whisky-makers on the island that doesn’t do nothing but peated whisky, but that isn’t to say they have shunned the island’s identity entirely. Octomore is one such example, lauded as the most heavily peated single malt being made today. Another is Black Arts.

As the title implies, this is the eleventh year for Black Arts. This line is renowned not because it is so heavily peated, but because it is made using “pre-renaissance” casks, which is to say they were filled prior to Bruichladdich’s closure in 1994. The distillery stood closed for more than six years, so it was a brief gap in production, but a gap and change in management nonetheless. The exact details of Black Arts releases are kept secret, adding to the hype, so we have no idea what kind of cask stock was used for aging or the mix of peated and unpeated malt (if there is such a mix). The two statistics we do have is that it is a 24 year old single malt and bottled at 44.2% ABV.

The Scotch
The color of this whisky suggests some Sherry casks in the background, because it came out as dull bronze in color. Building on that first impression is the nose, which smacks of a freshly drained Sherry solera vat sitting on a straw-strewn, damp clay floor.

Sipping yields a bowl of dried fruits: raisins, sultanas, prunes, even a little something tropical in there, but that note is a non-descript one. The earthiness has moderated down to milk chocolate, but rising up on the back end is a new, but quite modest spicy aspect: a mere fleck of pepper and cumin. The character here is soft and restrained, and that spice is really too tiny to merit the descriptor “note.” It’s just enough to give the rest of the profile a little contrast.

The finish, however, rolls straight off that gossamer of spice, and opens with a peppery kick. It’s a jolt the first time around, but that fades swiftly down to dried tobacco leaf.

The Price
Officially, Black Arts 11.1 is tagged at $140 for a 700ml bottle. For a 24 year old single malt from Islay, that is a pretty good bargain just on the face of it.

Bhakta 2013 Bourbon Review

By Richard Thomas Rating: C- Although the company was notionally started earlier, it’s been more than a decade since WhistlePig 10 Year Old Rye was first released. The product was very much a creation of opportunity and moment. Raj Bhakta, a former investment banker, Apprentice contestant and Congressional candidate, wanted to start a whiskey company. …

By Richard Thomas

Rating: C-

Although the company was notionally started earlier, it’s been more than a decade since WhistlePig 10 Year Old Rye was first released. The product was very much a creation of opportunity and moment. Raj Bhakta, a former investment banker, Apprentice contestant and Congressional candidate, wanted to start a whiskey company. Bhakta sought the advice of the late and legendary Dave Pickerell, and in a move that helped cement the now familiar pattern of building a brand with sourced whiskey while making the capital-intensive investments to build a distillery and release in-house product, imported aged stocks of 100% rye from Canada for bottling in Vermont.

Bhakta was later forced out of WhistlePig under a cloud, eventually selling his stake in the company and signing a non-compete agreement. That agreement has now expired, and so the man who started WhistlePig is back with a new, namesake company, Bhakta Spirits. The new negociant company is engaged with many types of spirits (I also got to try their sourced cognac, which was great stuff), but in our wheelhouse is their Bhakta Bourbon 2013.

This is a 9 year, 5 month old sourced bourbon, made with a 99% corn mash bill (!), and finished in Armagnac casks. It’s bottled at cask strength, which in this instance proved remarkably low at 100.6 proof.

The Bourbon
My pour held a light amber, bronzed look in the glass. I found the nose grainy, a little sweet and quite spicy, kind of like a toasted corn and oat biscuit frosted with cinnamon. The flavor pivoted towards caramel, with a touch of barrel char on the back end, with the finishing changing directions yet again. The bourbon went down leaving behind a sliver of oak with a sprig of mint wrapped around it.

I was underwhelmed by this first stab at Bhakta Bourbon. I can’t tell you if it is the root bourbon or the Armangnac finish, but I feel something here is just plain off, and the whiskey never really gelled into finding its place. It’s OK, but these days one expects a little something from a mature, 9 year old bourbon with a cask finish on it.

The Price
This item is priced at $149 a bottle.

Uncle Nearest Uncut & Unfiltered Rye Whiskey Review

By Richard Thomas Rating: B- Uncle Nearest almost instantly became a well-known whiskey brand thanks to two points. First, it’s named for and honors the legacy of Nathan “Nearest” Green, the slave who is known to have worked as distiller and taught Jack Daniels the whiskey-making trade in the 1850s. Second and related, it’s a …

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B-

Uncle Nearest Rye Uncut & Unfiltered, Batch 1
(Credit: Uncle Nearest)

Uncle Nearest almost instantly became a well-known whiskey brand thanks to two points. First, it’s named for and honors the legacy of Nathan “Nearest” Green, the slave who is known to have worked as distiller and taught Jack Daniels the whiskey-making trade in the 1850s. Second and related, it’s a company founded by noted African-American entrepreneur Fawn Weaver. But once you look past those points, Uncle Nearest the brand is in the familiar situation many well-run brands making the transition from sourced to in-house whiskey.

Another noteworthy point for Uncle Nearest is their Master Blender, Victoria Eady Butler, the first African-American woman to work in that role. Butler had some interesting spirit to work with. It’s a 100% rye from Canada (although the specific source is undisclosed, many sourced 100% ryes come from Alberta Distillers), but somehow it was exported to a third party in New York State. There it matured for four years before making its way to Tennessee, whereupon Butler saw it transferred to some old Uncle Nearest barrels for a spell of finishing. The result was bottled uncut and unfiltered. There is no Lincoln County Process here, since that must take place before barreling, not after. The whiskey came out at 119.7 proof.

In an unusual reversal, this expression came before Uncle Nearest introduced their straight rye, bottled at 100 proof.

The Whiskey
Uncle Nearest pours as a golden, verging on copper whiskey. With the proof coming just a hair from 120 proof, I applied my rule of just assuming it was too strong as is, and put in a splash of water.

The aroma in my Glencairn was herbaceous. There was a side to it that was akin to a hay barn: grain bundles, bales of alfalfa and earthy dustiness. But there is another side to that coin, with hints of dill, mint and orange zest. Sipping on Nearest delivers that musty, thickly sweet style of pumpernickel that some ryes, especially malted ryes, possess, along with spicy cinnamon, white pepper and dry oak. The finish rolled off that last note, running mildly spicy and drily woody.

The Price
Expect to pay $150 a bottle for this cask strength rye.

Peerless Double Oak Bourbon Review

By Randall H. Borkus Rating: B+ Kentucky Peerless Double Oak Bourbon is a twice-aged bourbon that was inspired by an accident, which required the distillery to transfer the bourbon from one leaky barrel to another barrel to salvage the contents. Mind you, double new oak bourbon predates the start of Peerless by several years, but …

By Randall H. Borkus

Rating: B+

Peerless Double Oak Bourbon
(Credit: Randall H. Borkus)

Kentucky Peerless Double Oak Bourbon is a twice-aged bourbon that was inspired by an accident, which required the distillery to transfer the bourbon from one leaky barrel to another barrel to salvage the contents. Mind you, double new oak bourbon predates the start of Peerless by several years, but the accident no doubt inspired them to move in this direction. Initially only released as single barrels because of this incident, the response from bourbon lovers inspired Kentucky Peerless to make it a regular, not-single barrel product.

Double Oak Bourbon is distilled and aged by Kentucky Peerless from a sweet mash, made in small batches, and bottled at barrel proof with non-chill filtration. As a result, the proof will vary from batch to batch.

I visited the Peerless Distillery this year in October and was lucky enough to purchase a couple of bottles of Double Oak Bourbon. My bottle today is serial number 150511102 at 108.4 proof (54.2% ABV) with no age statement. This Bourbon is aged for at least four years in new oak barrels, then it is transferred to another set of new barrels for an undisclosed term until the master distiller decides “it’s deemed ready.” The double-barreling results in a complex flavor profile that reliably brings out richer oak notes that give me the impression the bourbon is much older than it really is and significantly increases the appearance of Peerless Double Oak Bourbon.

The Bourbon
The color resembles a deep Sherried Scotch with a dark chocolate hue. The initial nose jumps out of my glass with hints of mocha café sprinkled with caramel dust and gives me notice of an inviting warmth to come. The front palate is tantalizingly warm with toffee notes, baking spice, followed by rich leather, dried tobacco, mocha dust, and a heavy burnt oak dryness. The mid and back palate is loaded with a weighty dose of dark chocolate infused with oak, burnt raisin bread and more fresh dried leather. The finish is intensely dry with loads of Carmel laced dark toffee and a satisfying oak spice that leaves me wanting more.

I really enjoyed this bourbon a lot, as after about an hour I noticed at least 8 ounces has just vanished. It is a great choice when I am in the mood for an oak bomb bourbon to accompany a good maduro cigar while sitting outside on a fall day.

So if you like serious oaked bourbons like you might find in a mature whiskey similar to an Elijah Craig 21, this is a bourbon option for you as the hearty finish just lasts.

The Price
Kentucky Peerless Double Oak Bourbon is selling for $134.00 at the distillery, but in a reverse of expectations, it can be found online for as low as $99.00 a bottle.

Kentucky Owl Takumi Bourbon Review

By Richard Thomas Rating: B Kentucky Owl released their St. Patrick’s Edition earlier this year, I rolled my eyes so hard the thud on the floor was audible in Louisville, Cincinnati and Bowling Green. Kentucky Bourbon for an Irish holiday stretches things a bit far for even a casual drinker, I should think. For those …

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B

Kentucky Owl Takumi
(Credit: Richard Thomas)

Kentucky Owl released their St. Patrick’s Edition earlier this year, I rolled my eyes so hard the thud on the floor was audible in Louisville, Cincinnati and Bowling Green. Kentucky Bourbon for an Irish holiday stretches things a bit far for even a casual drinker, I should think. For those of us who have spent years beating the drum of the Irish single malt whiskey revival and celebrated their explosion of distillery construction … well, at the time, I felt it best to stay quiet.

But here I am writing about the next Kentucky Owl release, and I bring it up because I am relieved to say it is not nearly as odious a concept. Kentucky Owl Master Blender John Rhea and Nagahama Distillery Master Blender Yusuke Yahisa. My initial reaction to Takumi, before reading anything about it, was that it must have been finished in Mizunara casks. Alas, that is not the case. Instead, it’s a collaborative effort. Rhea sent Yahisa samples of bourbon (4 to 6 and 13 years old; no wheated bourbon) to work with, and Yahisa fashioned these into a blending recipe at 100 proof.

So, rather than fall into the tiny class of American whiskeys finished in Mizunara wood, it instead falls into the also tiny class of American whiskeys fashioned by master blenders from other countries. It’s still a worthy idea, all the more so against the backdrop of a bourbon elbowing into St. Patrick’s Day.

The Bourbon

This middle amber pour has a crisp nose, one that raises up the caramel with notes of sandalwood. The palate flows out of that to become fruity and spicy in fairly equal measures, but spicy in a decidedly herbaceous, minty way. The finish goes down peppery and a bit hot.

The Price
Kentucky Owl Takumi Bourbon is priced at $150 per bottle.

Black Button Port-Finished Single Barrel Bourbon Review

By Richard Thomas Rating: B Of the two single barrel reserves made by Rochester’s Black Button Distilling, my impression is that their Port Barrel-finish is better known than the Apple Brandy finished bourbon I took up a few weeks ago. The pedigree is quite similar: Black Button made it with their four grain mash bill, …

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B

Black Button Port-Finished Single Barrel Reserve Bourbon
(Credit: Black Button)

Of the two single barrel reserves made by Rochester’s Black Button Distilling, my impression is that their Port Barrel-finish is better known than the Apple Brandy finished bourbon I took up a few weeks ago. The pedigree is quite similar: Black Button made it with their four grain mash bill, and aged it for somewhat more than two years before putting it in the finishing barrel for secondary maturation. The difference is that it reportedly spent three years in a Port cask. It’s also a cask strength whiskey, coming out at 118 proof.

The Bourbon
This Black Button bourbon takes a deep, dark and very reddened amber tone in the glass. Since I was trying this out in the summer (and it was 98F outside that day, no less), I put a splash of water in by default.

The nose tells you what you need to know about this whiskey: it is a nuke among Port bombs. The sweetness is black grapes and raisins; the woody side is leathery. There is a vanilla note there, with a current of pumpernickel style rye spiciness, but it’s the Port cask that really sings here. It’s akin to what Kavalan does to cover for their (tropically driven, necessarily short) aging period: don’t just lean into, but lead with the cask flavors.

The vanilla comes more forward on the palate, and the spices and wood turn into each other and merge into a potent current of sandalwood. The finish runs dry and continues in the sandalwood vein.

The Price
This item is $150 a bottle.

Fable & Folly 14 Year Old Whiskey Review

By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Reading the specifications behind the new Orphan Barrel release, Fable & Folly, makes it sound like the swan song of this Diageo-made series. Series Master Blender Andrew Mackay drew on “remaining stocks of Barterhouse, Forged Oak and various Rhetoric releases with aged rye and corn whiskies.” Knowing a bit about …

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B+

Fable & Folly 14 Year Old American Whiskey
(Credit: Diageo)

Reading the specifications behind the new Orphan Barrel release, Fable & Folly, makes it sound like the swan song of this Diageo-made series. Series Master Blender Andrew Mackay drew on “remaining stocks of Barterhouse, Forged Oak and various Rhetoric releases with aged rye and corn whiskies.” Knowing a bit about those past Orphan Barrels is an important point here, because Forged Oak was the youngest of the named predecessors at 15 years. Barterhouse was 20 years old and Rhetoric started at 20 years. Age statements follow the most youthful whiskey in the blend, so it’s those aged rye and corn whiskeys that give us the 14 years.

This was bottled at 90 proof. In addition to their silence in regards as to the proportions of the blend, Diageo also said nothing about how big of a production run there was for this limited edition. However, I have seen reports of bottles numbered above 50,000, so it was quite a big run by limited edition standards.

The Whiskey
Fable & Folly takes on a light, polished copper appearance in the glass. I have described the ultra-aged constituents of this American Whiskey, but if I hadn’t said anything, the nose would have spoken straight to that point. It leads with it’s leathery, hoary woodiness. Behind this are notes of caramel, mint and cookie spices. The flavor brings things into better balance, with that cookie-sweet and spicy side coming into balance with the old horse barn tack quality that lead in the scent. The two sides of Fable & Folly’s character continue their hand-off on the finish, which surprisingly turns light and sweet as it fades away; I was surprised because if a whiskey has a woody aspect, that is what asserts itself at the close, but not here.

Stirring in the middle-aged rye and corn whiskeys was a good thing here, because Fable & Folly is no over-oaked beastie. Instead, it’s an easy sipping whiskey that puts an interesting twist on the experience. The only problem with it is the price tag, which even by prevailing standards is a steep.

The Price
Officially, this bottle goes for $150. Given the size of the production run and the fine, but not outstanding quality of the release, it’s hard to justify paying a mark-up for the bottle. So, if the retailer wants much more than $150, don’t pay it.

Jack Ryan 15 Year Old Irish Whiskey Review

By Randall H. Borkus Rating: A+ The Jack Ryan Whiskey Company presents small releases of malt whiskeys, aged and finished in their own stock of select barrels. Jack Ryan whiskey finishes range from classic ex-bourbon casks to innovative rum and Madeira casks, and include collaborations with small, quality spirit producers. Jack Ryan “The Centenary” is …

By Randall H. Borkus

Rating: A+

Jack Ryan 15 Year Old Irish Whiskey
(Credit: Randall H. Borkus)

The Jack Ryan Whiskey Company presents small releases of malt whiskeys, aged and finished in their own stock of select barrels. Jack Ryan whiskey finishes range from classic ex-bourbon casks to innovative rum and Madeira casks, and include collaborations with small, quality spirit producers.

Jack Ryan “The Centenary” is a limited-edition Cask Strength 15 Year Old Single Malt at 56.5% ABV, released to celebrate the centenary of the 1915 birth of Jack Ryan. The 500 bottles were hand signed and numbered by Eunan Ryan, my bottle is number 424/500.

The Ryan whiskey family has been creating great expressions since the mid-19th Century. The earlier generations moved from barley growing and distillery management in Munster, to the legendary Dublin vintner’s trade and moved into the marrying of malt and casks to finish their Irish single malt in 1913 with “Ryan’s Malt” in their string of Dublin pubs including the Beggars Bush (still family-owned).

“The Ryans have been six generations in the whiskey business. In the 1820’s, John learned his craft in the Limerick Distillery (later Walker’s), before moving to manage Birch’s in Roscrea, Tipperary, near to his home farm in Toomevara. Son Michael worked with him and also supplied barley from the farm. Thomas (1873) oldest of his and Maria’s 12 children, was born when Irish whiskey still ruled the world (there were 5 distilleries within 50 miles of home), though Ireland itself was recovering from the Great Famine his grandparents had lived through, and Europe was in a turmoil of republican fervor. Thomas preferred the whiskey business to tillage, fascinated by the finishing of barley rather than its sowing.”

“At twenty one, he made the move to Dublin, second city of the British Empire, home to legendary distilleries, intent on making his mark, through the vintner’s trade, on the whiskey world. Following a long apprenticeship, he specialized in what became his life’s passion – to source, finish and bottle his very own whiskey, one that would display the family name. He finally hit on Ryan’s Malt, which became a firm favorite of Dubliners, the astute Thomas supplying the trade and dispensing in the string of city public houses he purchased along the way.”

The Whiskey
The whiskey color is a bright gold. The nose is loaded with fresh fruit and solid oak tannins. The mouth feel is smooth and oily. The front to mid palate is delightfully warm and full of fresh kiwi, pineapple, citrus, Marmalade fruit preserve with a touch of honey enveloped in oak. The finish is complex and long reminding me of a slightly burnt honey biscuit covered in a malty candy citrus Marmalade preserve shrouded in oak chips.

I have grown to have new respect and appreciation for Irish whiskey over the past five years; however, this limited edition expression, similar to what Blue Spot and High N’ Wicked – The Wild Rover has brought to the Irish whiskey tasting table, has vaulted 15-year old Jack Ryan Irish whiskey to the top of my list for 2021!

The Price
I found bottles at retail in Chicago from $129.00 to $149.00.

Benriach Malting Season Scotch Review

By Richard Thomas Rating: B The second in the new Benriach “Season” series whiskies is Malting Season, so named because Benriach is one of just seven Scottish distilleries still engaged in on-site, in-house floor malting. Indeed, Benriach itself only resumed the practice in 2012. For this particular single malt, the wort was made using Concerto …

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B

Benriach Malting Season Single Malt
(Credit: Brown-Forman)

The second in the new Benriach “Season” series whiskies is Malting Season, so named because Benriach is one of just seven Scottish distilleries still engaged in on-site, in-house floor malting. Indeed, Benriach itself only resumed the practice in 2012. For this particular single malt, the wort was made using Concerto barley, specifically chosen by Master Blender Rachel Barrie for the purpose. This first installment of the series drew on 23 casks, both ex-bourbon barrels and new oak, and the single malt was bottled at 48.7% ABV. I have seen a reliable report a that this is a 9 year old whisky, but that doesn’t come directly or from an official source.

The Scotch
Malting Season has the look of white wine, and a nose smacking of green apples and pears, drizzled with honey and vanilla, and served in a field of dry grass. When I took a sip, that dry grass becomes dry wood, couples itself onto a dollop of spiciness, and pole-vaults right over the sweet aspects of the malt to take the foreground. That sweet side is now firmly on the bottom, becoming the foundation; the green apples are now a baked apple dish, with brown sugar and lemon juice stirred in. The finish turns decidedly dry and oaky, but mildly so.

The Price
The first production run for Benriach Malting Season yielded 6,672 bottles, one of which should run you $140 to $150.