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King of Kentucky Bourbon Review (2023)

By Richard Thomas Rating: A The revived brand King of Kentucky is the latest ultra-aged entry to enter the lists of the Autumn Release Season, the period when most of the prized annual editions are sent to market. This year, King of Kentucky enters its sixth edition. The modern rendition of King of Kentucky was …

By Richard Thomas

Rating: A

King of Kentucky Bourbon 2023
(Credit: Brown Forman)

The revived brand King of Kentucky is the latest ultra-aged entry to enter the lists of the Autumn Release Season, the period when most of the prized annual editions are sent to market. This year, King of Kentucky enters its sixth edition.

The modern rendition of King of Kentucky was conceived as a cask strength, single barrel bourbon, matured out to late middle age or older. Amazingly, this whiskey has somehow surpassed the fever surrounding all things Buffalo Trace, and especially the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection (BTAC). In most respects, King of Kentucky is an Old Forester answer to George T. Stagg; although the latter isn’t a single barrel, they are comparable in most other respects. Yet a quick check of retail data suggests the market value of a bottle of King of Kentucky outstrips that of George T. Stagg by around a thousand dollars. Doing better than BTAC is doing well indeed.

For this 2023 installment, Master Distiller Chris Morris set aside a lot of 51 barrels filled in 2007, so it is a 16 year old bourbon. The single barrel my sample came from rated 125.8 proof. The yield was a run of roughly 3,900 bottles.

The Bourbon
I really have reached the point where I look forward to the arrival of my annual sample of King of Kentucky, and now that the sixth edition has been reached, I’m debating whether to do a feature summarizing the line now or next year. It really is that consistently good.

The nose had a well-rounded, well-aged staple bourbon character to it: Brown sugar, cocoa powder and dried blueberries and cranberries served in an oaken teacup. The flavor comes forward like a slice of boozy fruitcake with vanilla syrup poured on top, except the fruity bits are chocolate-covered dried berries and raisins. On the back end, this is submerged in a wave of cinnamon, ginger and tannin seasoning, which rolls off into the finish. This particular batch of King of Kentucky — and keep in mind, it’s only one example of 51 — is velvety, full-bodied, a little sophisticated and supremely delicious.

The Price
Officially, this is supposed to go for $300 a bottle. Unofficially, the market value (not the secondary/black market, but what genuine retailers are actually asking for on-demand purchase) is $2,700. Only one year has failed to score in the A grade.

Sneak Peek: Heaven Hill Heritage Collection 20 Year Old Corn Whiskey Review (2023)

By Richard Thomas Rating: A- Heaven Hill launched their Heritage Collection last year with a 17 year old bourbon, but the distillery has a habit of using their annual series to showcase the breadth and depth of what they make there (witness the variety of Parker’s Heritage over the years). So their choice for the …

By Richard Thomas

Rating: A-

Heaven Hill launched their Heritage Collection last year with a 17 year old bourbon, but the distillery has a habit of using their annual series to showcase the breadth and depth of what they make there (witness the variety of Parker’s Heritage over the years). So their choice for the second installment of Heritage Collection makes perfect sense: a 20 year old corn whiskey.

This is an ultra-aged version of Mellow Corn, of course, drawing on stock of the same mash bill of 80% corn, 12% malted barley and 8% rye. Another feature to recall about corn whiskey is that it is aged in used barrels; this is key to separating it from what would otherwise be high-corn bourbon. They had 110 barrels of this stuff, socked away for five times as long as Mellow Corn, from the 3rd floor of Rickhouse 1K. In my opinion, it’s worth recalling that if this stuff had been bottled on the Mellow Corn maturation arc, it would have been on store shelves in the days of Bush the Younger. It’s bottled at 115 proof.

It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to do a Sneak Peak. I only name a review as such when it is both done before the whiskey goes into distribution and is the first review to get out. So, without further ado…

The Whiskey
Reflecting that the whiskey was aged in old, not new, bourbon barrels, it has a golden coloring in the glass. Corn whiskeys are often marked by their scent of sweet corn at best and corn husk at worst, but I didn’t find that here, and this despite what Heaven Hill themselves say about it. The nose was more fruity than grainy. It came across as a cinnamon and apple cookie, something like the Quaker Cinnamon and Apple oatmeal, but without those oats. The flavor is much the same, and superbly mellow. The finish is also rather on the sweet side, making this a supremely easy-drinking pour. I have a hard time seeing anyone not enjoy it.

The Price
Officially, this will go for $290 for a 750 ml bottle when it hits store shelves on March 1. Unofficially, expect mark-ups. That is the way of things nowadays… but maybe, just maybe, this one won’t be marked up that fiercely. It is a corn whiskey from a new series after all. That might just offset the 20 Year age statement.

Widow Jane The Vaults 14 Year Old Bourbon Review (2022)

By Randall H. Borkus Rating: A Fall 2022 Widow Jane Distillery launched the fourth installment in their aged whiskey series, “The Vaults,” this time (officially stated as) aged 14 years from a blend of bourbons ranging from 14 years up to 19 years old, selected and set aside in Widow Jane’s Red Hook, Brooklyn rickhouse …

By Randall H. Borkus

Rating: A

Widow Jane The Vaults 2022
(Credit: Randall H. Borkus)

Fall 2022 Widow Jane Distillery launched the fourth installment in their aged whiskey series, “The Vaults,” this time (officially stated as) aged 14 years from a blend of bourbons ranging from 14 years up to 19 years old, selected and set aside in Widow Jane’s Red Hook, Brooklyn rickhouse by their former Master Distiller Lisa Wicker. Each expression of The Vaults has explored a unique finishing wood from various regions and untypically long periods air seasoning of the barrel staves. In this instance, The Vaults 2022 is finished in Missouri Ozark oak casks that were air-seasoned for three years. The tight-grained Missouri oak is said to bring hints of vanilla, smoke and spice according to Widow Jane Distillery reports. As with all Widow Jane whiskeys, The Vaults 2022 is non-chill filtered, and proofed with limestone mineral water from the Rosendale Mines of New York, (aka The Widow Jane Mine).

This bourbon is bottled at 99 proofT, and there are only 2,000 cases or 12,000 bottles of The Vaults 2022 release. My bottle is Batch 6, Bottle #457, Release 2022.

The Bourbon
This bourbon whiskey has a dark-reddish amber appearance in my Glencairn glass and coats it nicely leaving traces of syrupy tears dancing before my eyes. The nose extends hints of bold toasted vanilla, burnt sugary fruits, a hint of Citrus limon oil and minerals. The front-palate opens with a spicy dryness leading to sweet vanilla powdered oven baked cherries, roasted nuts and dry burnt oak mist. The mid-palate continues dry and spicy bursting with mineral infused overcooked sweet fruits and over ripe Bananas. The finish was warm and inviting with a light sprinkle of powdered sugar, wood spices folding into a dry oak buttery sweetness. Once my glass has sat empty for a few minutes, the afterglow aromas in my glass are pronounced with Missouri oak holding remnants of sweet bold oak wrapped in cherry candy spiciness.

I thoroughly enjoyed this bourbon whiskey. It is rich and full bodied with loads of flavors and mature oak. It sits well on its own neat, yet with a few drops of water the flavor continues to burst with cherry cough drops and it holds up very well with a My Father The Judge Grand Robusto cigar.

The Price
The suggested retail is priced at $249.00 and I see it in Chicago for as much as $269 per 750ml bottle.

* Editor’s Note: This is not to be confused with the 2019 installment with the same age statement.

Angel’s Envy Cask Strength Bourbon Review (2022)

By Richard Thomas Rating: A- We’ve been covering Angel’s Envy Cask Strength from the beginning here at The Whiskey Reviewer, and it’s not like there is a complicated story behind this fan favorite whiskey. That said, it is a bit more than just a cask strength batch of the flagship Angel’s Envy Port-finished bourbon. The …

By Richard Thomas

Rating: A-

Angel’s Envy Cask Strength 2022
(Credit: Bacardi)

We’ve been covering Angel’s Envy Cask Strength from the beginning here at The Whiskey Reviewer, and it’s not like there is a complicated story behind this fan favorite whiskey. That said, it is a bit more than just a cask strength batch of the flagship Angel’s Envy Port-finished bourbon. The barrels are specially chosen for the stronger release, but they come from the same general source material.

That wasn’t always the case. They used to finish the bourbon for two years before bottling a batch of Cask Strength, but that changed several years ago. Wes Henderson decided the two year finish was creating too deep of a Port influence, this compared to the 3 to 6 months the standard Angel’s Envy gets, and that needed to be rolled back. However, whenever I have asked this in the half dozen years since the change was made, I’ve been told the finishing period for Angel’s Envy Cask Strength is still always longer than for the normal product.

So, contrary to what some folks have written, alcohol strength isn’t the only thing that varies from year to year when it comes to Angel’s Envy Cask Strength. Speaking of which, this batch came out at 119.8 proof.

The Bourbon
The amber coloring of the whiskey has a nut brown tint to it in the glass. Seeing as how the bourbon was almost 60% ABV, I defaulted to putting a splash of water in.

The nose leads with a dry and toasty oak quality, lightly dusted with cinnamon, with a fruity vanilla current following behind. The flavor flips that order, with the red berries, raisins and vanilla coming on first, and the tannic and spicy notes bringing up the rear, the latter carrying over into the finish. It’s a full-bodied, balanced and moderately dry bourbon, very much in keeping with what we’ve come to expect from Angel’s Envy each year.

The Price
A bottle of this is now officially placed at $230. Looking at what the online retailers are asking, that actually is right on the money vis-a-vis market value, with many prices ranging from $200 to $260.

However, some retailers are treating past years as collector’s items, asking as much as $700 for a bottle. Given that the main difference between batches of Angel’s Envy Cask Strength isn’t from year to year, but between before 2016 and after (that year being when they dialed down the finishing period), it’s unjustifiable to ask almost triple the official price for a “vintage” bottle. Post-2016, the difference from year to year is really rather small.

Leopold Brothers Three Chamber Rye Whiskey Review

By Kenrick Thurston-Wilcox Rating: A Leopold Bros Three Chamber Rye is the culmination of research, patience, and the idea to look to the past to see what could be done differently. This is an attempt to create something that has not been on the market in almost a century; to transport people back to a …

By Kenrick Thurston-Wilcox

Rating: A

Leopold Bros Three Chamber Rye
(Credit: Leopold Bros)

Leopold Bros Three Chamber Rye is the culmination of research, patience, and the idea to look to the past to see what could be done differently. This is an attempt to create something that has not been on the market in almost a century; to transport people back to a different time, when rye was king in America, not bourbon.

Does it deliver? In one word: yes. It is quite unlike any other whiskey I’ve tried. To truly understand this whiskey, one must also know the backstory, and the innovations that went into making it.

The heart of what makes the whiskey is in the name: the Three Chamber Still. It allows for a more heavy bodied, oily, mouth filling and aromatic whiskey. The example at Colorado’s Leopold Brothers is also the first still of its kind to operate in over fifty years, a true innovation for the industry. Todd Leopold discovered the still type while perusing old tax documents (as one does in their free time), and discovered that many Pennsylvania distillers were using this type of still before prohibition.

To make a truly pre-Prohibition style whiskey, Leopold Bros also had to look to the grain of the past. Working with local farmers they brought back an old strain of rye, abruzzi. Compared to modern grains abruzzi has less starch, resulting in more flavor. Leopold Bros are also one of the few American distillers who malt their own barley, another call back to pre-Prohibition days. That practice helps explain why their liquors are typically considered malt forward. All of this work and preparation results in a whiskey quite unlike any other on the market. So how is it?

The Whiskey
The whiskey has a beautiful, deep color of amber. The nose is a lot to take in; a lot of peppercorn and heat in the front (the whiskey is bottled at 100 proof), but supported by a beautiful bouquet of lavender, cinnamon, and baking spice. The mash bill is 80% rye, 20% malted barley, resulting in some maltiness coming in the rear. Just from the nose you can tell this a different beast, with a very deeply layered, complex aroma.

The palate is just as complex and does not disappoint. The initial reaction when sipping is a lot of heat and spice (you can really feel that 100 proof), a warming sensation that fills and coats the inside of your mouth in oil. Lavender comes in behind the spice, balanced with some candied orange, chamomile and bitter black tea. The finish is long and oily, courtesy of the still, with chamomile and black tea dominating the palate. This whiskey punches you in the face in the flavor department and as such may be a little overwhelming at first. Once you adjust though, it is an extremely enjoyable experience. A couple drops of water tame the spiciness on both the nose and mouth, leaving room for the lavender and fruity notes to come forward and balance out with the peppercorn. Still a lot of flavor, yet tempered just enough to enjoy more of the subtleties the whiskey has to offer.

As the first whiskey of its type in over one hundred years, Leopold Bros has distilled history in a bottle. I’m hopeful more distillers take note of this historic whiskey and maybe in ten years we’ll see more of its type, along with different variations. Though if you’re looking for something that harkens back to simpler times, look no further.

The Price
Officially, this item is $250 a bottle, and that isn’t too far removed from what it commands on the store shelf. Retailers seem to be asking between $240 and $270.

Heaven Hill 17 Year Old Heritage Collection Bourbon Review

By Richard Thomas Rating: A Whenever a new annual limited edition series gets started, I cross my fingers and hope the list of hard-to-get bottles has finally reached critical mass. It’s a dream of mine: that someday soon, there will be so many of these expressions out there that demand will break and one might …

By Richard Thomas

Rating: A

Heaven Hill 17 Year Old Heritage Collection Bourbon (2022)
(Credit: Heaven Hill)

Whenever a new annual limited edition series gets started, I cross my fingers and hope the list of hard-to-get bottles has finally reached critical mass. It’s a dream of mine: that someday soon, there will be so many of these expressions out there that demand will break and one might be able to pick most of them up for their recommended retail prices. Not the Buffalo Trace stuff, mind you, but explaining the retail pricing of those bottles is beyond mere supply and demand.

Heaven Hill has kicked off just such a new annual series, The Heritage Collection, so maybe my dream will finally come true. The way I think this new expression should be seen is as an offshoot of Parker’s Heritage, taking over some territory previously covered by the distillery’s premiere annual series. Parker’s Heritage has become more experimental in recent years (the last three installments were aged in barrels with extra heavy charring, for example), but for many years the series alternated between experiments on the one hand and ultra-aged or honey barrel versions of their standard whiskeys on the other. The Heritage Collection is to be based around Heaven Hill’s standard whiskeys, and takes over the honey barrel and ultra-aged side of things. Parker’s Heritage has been an autumnal release before the hot, autumnal bourbon release season even came into being; The Heritage Collection will come out in springtime.

This inaugural release is from their 78% corn, 10% rye, and 12% malted barley bourbon stock, the same as Elijah Craig. Officially, this is a 17 year old release, but in reality almost 3/4s of the stock used in making it is older than that. Said stock came from all over Heaven Hill’s sprawling warehouse properties. As with many releases of this type, it is bottled at cask strength, in this instance 118.2 proof.

The Bourbon
This one did not require much in the way of water to bring it into line with my particular wants, that despite coming close to 120 proof. A few drops and it was ready to go. The scent has that sticky, dense kind of mustiness to it, and in that thick atmosphere it carries strong currents of cocoa powder and tart, dark fruits, with light notes of caramel and oaky spices.

The whiskey was not nearly as heavy on the palate as the nose, having a light-but-creamy mouthfeel, but still punches above it’s weight in terms of flavor. It drinks like a dark chocolate bar chock full of raisins, dried cherries and pockets of caramel, with a dusting of cookie spices on the top. An oak note rises on the back end and carries over into the finish, but one thing this ultra-aged bourbon is not is “oaky.” Keep in mind what I wrote before about how almost three quarters of what is in the bottle is actually older than 17 years; it’s surprisingly supple and un-tannic for it’s time in the barrel.

My original intent for my sample was to pour half of it to just plain enjoy at the end of an especially grueling day, and keep the other half for evaluation. My first sip changed my mind; I immediately began taking notes and poured all 200 ml that evening. Heaven Hill Heritage Collection 1st Edition is so much better than Pappy Van Winkle, it’s staggering. I enjoyed every drop, and I urge you to go find a bottle while you can still pay anything like MSRP for it.

The Price
The official price on this offering is $275. Alas, Wine-Searcher already indicates the market value is above $2,200. It seems my dream has yet to achieve fruition.

Paul John Mithuna Indian Single Malt Review

By Randall H. Borkus Rating: A India’s Paul John stepped up a notch again with a stellar single malt in 2021, Mithuna. I received two sample bottles (50ml) earlier this year, and I need to tell you that I enjoyed them. This is an unpeated, not-chill-filtered single whisky. It is matured in virgin American oak …

By Randall H. Borkus

Rating: A

Paul John Mithuna Single Malt
(Credit: Paul John)

India’s Paul John stepped up a notch again with a stellar single malt in 2021, Mithuna. I received two sample bottles (50ml) earlier this year, and I need to tell you that I enjoyed them. This is an unpeated, not-chill-filtered single whisky. It is matured in virgin American oak (the way folks following the Scotch model say “new”) and finished in ex-bourbon casks, before bottling at 58% ABV (116 proof).

John Distilleries was founded in 1996, and presently boasts sales of more than 15 million cases, John Distilleries is also the manufacturer of the world’s sixth-largest whisky brand (if you count Indian whisky as true whisky, and many do not), Original Choice Whisky. Paul John, a single malt whisky from John Distilleries. Its other major brands include Bangalore Malt, Black Pelican Fine Whisky, Mont Castle French Grape Brandy and Big Banyan Wines. Sazerac, the second-largest family-owned spirits company in the US, has made a significant investment in John Distilleries.

John Distilleries uses six row barley sourced from across the lands of Rajasthan and Haryana to the foothills of Himalayas. Because of the high fiber and protein content, the six row barley offers a distinct and bold depth of character to the whiskey. The more proteins and tannins in the barley the more of fatty acids that add to a whiskey’s character.

Because of the higher husk content, the barley produces an oilier wash which translates to an oilier, richer whiskey. To make the most of that, all Paul John malts go unfiltered.

It’s the second whisky in Paul John’s Zodiac series, Mithuna being the Indian equivalent of Gemini. (The first, called Kanya, which is Indian equivalent of Virgo) The whisky carries no age statement; however, the distillery states it is at least five years old.

The Whisky
The whisky is a mild oak colored oily liquid rolling in my glass. The nose is full of fresh grainy malt with tropical fruit overtones dancing within my senses.

The front and mid-palate are warm and malty, filled with fresh cut tropical fruits reminding me of pineapple, passion fruit and mature oak. The mouthfeel is oily and viscus with hints of citrus peels and exotic candy. The finish is long and complex with multi-levels of fruit sugars, notes of sugared apple sprinkles, vanilla and subtle honey oak wood essence. The afterglow in my glass is an oak bomb which is impressive for a five year old whiskey. This is an enjoyable bold complex whiskey which really surprised me.

The Price
It is a steep price tag for a 5-year-old at $299 a bottle in my home of Chicago, if you can find it.