MGP-Ross and Squibb - BourbonSphere

Fox & Oden Straight Bourbon Whiskey

I’d like to thanks CraftCo and their PR team for sending me this sample with no strings attached.

…

I’d like to thanks CraftCo and their PR team for sending me this sample with no strings attached.

Hey, it’s bonus review time here at the BourbonGuy house. Samples are stacking up faster than we can taste them, so I figured, “Why not just do some bonus posts?” And here we are.

Fox & Oden is one of the many brands in the CraftCo portfolio, along with the CopperCraft bourbon we reviewed back in May. CraftCo, in turn, is part of the DeVos-owned Windquest Group based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Much like its portfolio-mate, this bourbon is also "Distilled in Indiana." According to the brand’s website, this particular bourbon is a blend of eight- and fifteen-year-old bourbons, utilizing both MGP’s 21% Rye and 36% Rye bourbon mashbills.

The company doesn’t provide much more information beyond that. However, I don’t know about you, but for me, "Distilled in Indiana" on an unknown bourbon is a plus. If it’s coming from MGP, it will probably fall somewhere between pretty darn good and great. So, let’s see how it tastes, shall we?

Fox & Oden Straight Bourbon

Purchase Info: This bottle was sent to me at no charge for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $99.99.

Price per drink (50 mL): $6.67

Details: 49.5% ABV. A blend of 8- and 15-year-old bourbons using MGP’s 21% and 36% Rye bourbon mashbills.

Nose: Brown sugar, red fruit, and a lot of oak.

Mouth: Caramel, cinnamon, leather, and oak.

Finish: Warm and medium in length, with notes of red fruit, orange zest, almond, and oak.

Thoughts: In a very rare occurrence, my oak-loving wife pronounced this as being too oaky. Once the shock of such a statement from her had worn off, I was forced to agree. But I tend to have a low bar when it comes to calling something "over-oaked." By no means does this taste like you’re sucking on a stick or anything, but oak and oak-derived notes like leather are the predominant flavors here, with other notes playing a supporting role. It’s good, but I’m not sure I’d personally pay $100 for it. That said, this would be an easy recommendation for someone who enjoys oak-forward bourbons and doesn’t think twice about dropping a hundred bucks on a single bottle.

If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.

Penelope Valencia

I’d like to thank ByrnePR and Penelope Bourbon for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

…

I’d like to thank ByrnePR and Penelope Bourbon for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

The thing I like most about these barrel-finished Penelope releases, other than the whiskey of course, is that I always learn something new about a different style of wine. I’m going to tell you right now, I had no idea what Vino de Naranja was. And if you’re like me—a curious person who enjoys learning new things, especially about unfamiliar drinks we might like—you might find this interesting.

So, what is Vino de Naranja? The simplest explanation is that it’s a Spanish white wine infused with orange peels through maceration. Basically, they soak the orange peels in the wine until they get the flavor they’re looking for. According to Wikipedia, this “orange wine” is primarily produced in Huelva and Málaga in Andalucía, Spain.

Now, let’s talk about this bourbon from MGP’s Penelope brand. As always, this is a blend of different mashbills, some using rye as a flavoring grain, and others using wheat. This is how they get to what they call their Four Grain bourbon. The composite mashbill for this one works out to 74% corn, 16% wheat, 7% rye, and 3% malted barley. The component bourbons were aged between four and five years in barrels with a No. 4 char level (No. 2 on the barrel heads). According to the brand’s website, the blend was then finished for up to a year in Vino de Naranja wine casks from Seville, Spain, before being bottled at a non-chill-filtered 95 proof.

Let’s see how it tastes.

Penelope Valencia

Purchase Info: This sample was provided for review purposes at no cost. The suggested retail price is $79.99

Price per Drink (50 mL): $5.33

Details: 47.5% ABV. A blend of three bourbon mashbills. Composite mashbill: 74% corn, 16% wheat, 7% rye, and 3% malted barley. 4- to 5-year-old bourbon finished in Vino de Naranja casks for about a year.

Nose: Caramel, nutmeg, and a hint of candied orange peel.

Mouth: Syrupy mouthfeel. Notes of Cinnamon, nutmeg, caramel, and a floral orange note.

Finish: Medium in warmth and length, with strong notes of floral orange. Baking spice and oak notes support the orange.

Thoughts: This is a bit too sweet for me when neat, but toss some bitters and just a touch of your favorite sweetener in with it, zest an orange peel over it, and boy, do you have a hell of an old-fashioned. I can also see this being a good after-dinner drink or “dessert” whiskey.

Remus Repeal Reserve Series VIII

I’d like to thank ByrnePR and Ross & Squibb Distillery for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

…

I’d like to thank ByrnePR and Ross & Squibb Distillery for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

Went to the doctor this morning for my yearly physical with labs. So far, everything's come back clean, except I need to lose a little weight and exercise more. That last bit, I already knew. I mean, I’m a middle-aged man in the Upper Midwest who loves bourbon, BBQ, beer, and pizza—comes with the territory. But still, I guess it's important to get everything checked out. You never know what might turn up in the labs, and once a year isn’t too bad, I suppose.

Unless you’re talking about the yearly fall bourbon releases, that is. Then, one could hope these things would come out more often. Especially tonight’s bourbon. I’m going to spill the beans right now and let you know this one is delicious.

This year, the team over at Ross & Squibb blended together three bourbons ranging from 10 to 17 years old. The blend includes 9% of the 17-year-old 21% rye mash bill bourbon and 24% of the 10-year-old 21% rye mash bill bourbon. But the majority of this (67%) blend is a higher rye, 36% rye mash bill bourbon. They also upped the proof by one point from previous years, going from 100° proof to 101° proof.

“We wanted to push the boundaries with this eighth edition by doing several things differently than in the past,” said Ross & Squibb Master Distiller Ian Stirsman. “We increased the proportion of the high-rye recipe bourbon compared to previous editions and returned to non-chill filtration to keep the viscosity and mouthfeel intact. We also blind-tasted the final blend at different proofs and found the 101 proof to be the favorite. These changes, along with our history of using the best barrels to create award-winning annual releases, are sure to make Remus Repeal Reserve Series VIII a memorable pour.”

And he isn’t wrong. I had a bottle of Series VII to sip on while on vacation, and this is distinctly better than last year, which is no knock on last year at all. But let’s just jump into the tasting notes before I finish my thoughts on this one.

Remus Repeal Reserve Series VIII

Purchase Info: This 200 mL sample was provided by the producer at no charge for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $99.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $6.67

Nose: Floral and sweet with notes of caramel, vanilla, oak, chamomile, and almond.

Mouth: Caramel, vanilla, cinnamon, oak, and almond.

Finish: Medium length and warmth with lingering notes of cinnamon and oak.

Thoughts: As I said up top, this is delicious. I sipped on a bottle of last year's release over vacation (which was delicious and certainly added to the fun of a week on the Maine coast... and apparently is extremely available in Bangor—just FYI, I saw five bottles on the shelf), and this is even better. I love the sweet and floral nose. The mouth is sweet and rich, and the finish is warm and spicy. I'm a big fan and hope to find a bottle to put on my fancy whiskey shelf. This one gets a heart. I love it.

Did you enjoy this post? If you want to support the work going on here at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch (tasting journals, stickers, pins, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com.

Hugh Hamer Double Oaked Bourbon & Hugh Hamer Rum Finished Bourbon

I’d like to thank West Fork Whiskey in Indianapolis, IN for providing these review samples with no strings attached.

…

I’d like to thank West Fork Whiskey in Indianapolis, IN for providing these review samples with no strings attached.

Indianapolis is an easy city to drive through. Four separate Interstate Highways converge here, and with a beltway loop as part of the Interstate system, navigating through the city is quite straightforward. I know this because I’ve driven through Indianapolis on the way to other destinations more times than I can count.

However, there has only been one time that I’ve actually spent any time in the city itself. As much as I might wish it was because my beloved Golden Gophers made it to a Big Ten title game, that’s sadly not the reason I visited (and, unfortunately, I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for that to happen anytime soon either). The one time I spent an afternoon in the city, we visited the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and took a tour before continuing on to our destination in another state. Once again, I was just passing through.

I’ve spent so little time in Indianapolis that I used to joke it wasn’t even real—that it was just a figment of our collective imagination. After all, other than being an oversized crossroad, what’s the draw if you’re not there for sports or a convention? Plus, it seems almost unnaturally situated at the exact geographical center of the state. Cities don’t usually pop up where there aren’t any navigable rivers, at least not when it was founded. It’s a bit unnerving.

Of course, I’m joking, but until now, I’ve only seen Indianapolis as a milestone on a road trip to somewhere else. It reminds me too much of my home here in Minnesota to make it a place worth visiting without a specific reason. But if I ever find that reason (maybe if my Gophers ever improve their football team to the point where I have an excuse to travel… sigh), I now know of someplace worth checking out.

Tonight, we’re looking at two bourbons from West Fork Whiskey Company, a craft distillery in the area. They produce two lines of whiskey. One, the West Fork Whiskey line, is grain-to-glass, distilled in-house. The other, which we’re focusing on tonight, is the Old Hamer line, sourced from MGP in southern Indiana. They use MGP’s 99% corn/1% rye mash bill to create this line. The two bottles we’re examining are from their barrel-finished Hugh Hamer line extension. Both are non-chill filtered, aged between four and six years, and bottled at 103° proof.

Let’s dig in.

Hugh Hamer Double Oaked

Purchase Info: This bottle was sent at no cost for review purposes. It is available on the brand website for $64.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.33

Details: 51.5% ABV. 4- 6 years old. Mash bill: 99% corn, 1% malted barley.

Nose: Caramel, cherry, leather, and wintergreen.

Mouth: Spicy cinnamon, wintergreen, caramel, oak, and a touch of cherry.

Finish: Warm and of medium length. Notes of cinnamon, cherry syrup, dusty oak, and wintergreen.

Thoughts: Pretty darn tasty. It's spicy and sweet with nice oak and cherry notes throughout. I wasn't sure what to expect with a 99% corn mash bill, but I am really enjoying it. Quite good.

Hugh Hamer Rum Finish

Purchase Info: This bottle was sent at no cost for review purposes. It is available on the brand website for $64.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.33

Details: 51.5% ABV. 4- 6 years old. Mash bill: 99% corn, 1% malted barley.

Nose: Sweet ginger and molasses. It's like a cookie.

Mouth: Funky rum and tropical notes are layered over traditional bourbon notes of caramel, baking spice and oak.

Finish: Warm and of medium length with notes of dusty oak and rum funk.

Thoughts: This is also really tasty. I really enjoy the addition of rum funk to bourbon and often will add a touch of Jamacan Rum to a glass if I want something a little different. This is even better as the rum influence is more subtle than my relatively heavy mix. I like this one too.

In fact, if you mix the two together, they are even better yet. Really enjoying these two.

BourbonGuy.com will be off next week as we are on a real vacation with just the two of us. I won’t be traveling through Indianapolis this time and, sadly, won’t have the opportunity to visit West Fork Whiskey. But you can be assured that the next time I pass through, I will be stopping.

Penelope Toasted Rye Whiskey

I’d like to thank ByrnePR and Penelope Bourbon for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

…

I’d like to thank ByrnePR and Penelope Bourbon for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

It's a good day today. I think I have the anniversary trip for my wife and me planned out. Just need to run the last bit past her. Yesterday, I reached out to Delta about why I was bumped off our direct flight to one with a layover, and they responded by changing me to a flight on a different day where I wasn’t sitting by my wife. Not at all what I was asking for, and after speaking to a manager, I decided to cancel the flight and move on from Delta for a while. So now: road trip. Not as rough of a timeline as last time, nor as long of a drive, so it should be okay.

But like I said, it's a good day. Not only did I get that pesky anniversary trip planned, but the sun is out! I swear, after a drought the last two years, Mother Nature is making it up to us by giving us all the rain we missed and then some. And though I’m glad I do not need to water the garden, I am very glad that I can see the sun today. Minnesota gets gloomy enough with our nine months of gray winter skies.

The final reason it’s a good day is I get to write about a delicious rye whiskey today. And as you can see from the photo above, I’ve been enjoying the heck out of this one. But before we get into the tasting notes, let’s take a look at what the company has to tell us about this one. They went through all the trouble of giving us all the geeky data, we might as well read it. But first, the marketing speak:

Our Toasted Series is a testament to the power of serendipity. When we began to explore toasted finishes, we weren’t expecting each barrel to be so different — so we decided to embrace this variety of chars and toasts that make every bottle in our Toasted Series truly one-of-a-kind.

After full maturation in charred new American oak barrels, we finished 100% straight rye whiskey in a new, freshly toasted barrel. While it can be hard to predict the flavor profile of each bottle in our Toasted Series, the deep notes of vanilla imbued by the toasting process add another dimension to our signature flavor profile. Whether you’re into a Heavy Toast or Lighter Char, our Toasted Series truly offers something for everyone.

That’s the serendipity of Penelope.

Now onto the good stuff. This rye whiskey is made from MGP’s 95% rye mashbill (it took me a couple of minutes to understand that the “100% straight rye whiskey” in the marketing speak above was just saying “no additives” and not referring to the mashbill). The whiskey was aged for six years before being put into a second barrel that was charred to a level two and toasted to a heavy toast level. This is the second release of Toasted Rye and has a suggested retail price of $74.99.

Penelope Toasted Rye

Purchase Info: This bottle was provided at no cost for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $74.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $5.00

Details: 6 years old. 50% ABV. Mashbill: 95% rye, 5% malted barley.

Nose: Cinnamon, spearmint, cedar, and honey.

Mouth: Strong, but not overpowering, oak hits first with notes of cinnamon, dark chocolate, caramel, mint, and cedar following after.

Finish: Bright and vibrant with medium length. Notes of cinnamon, mint, and cedar.

Thoughts: I like this one. It's hitting all my favorite rye notes like mint, cedar, and cinnamon. There is just enough oak to support the delicious rye notes without taking over. There is some sweetness to it, especially when consumed out of a rocks glass rather than tasted in a Glencairn. Overall, I really like it.