Category: review

Bulleit Manhattan Cocktail Review

By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ One of the better things to come out of the Pandemic and its associated lockdowns were the rise of good pre-mixed, bottled or canned cocktails. Stop and consider that the mixology boom was well under way thirteen years ago, when we first reported on how that boom was sweeping rye …

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B+

Bulleit Manhattan Cocktail
(Credit: Bulleit)

One of the better things to come out of the Pandemic and its associated lockdowns were the rise of good pre-mixed, bottled or canned cocktails. Stop and consider that the mixology boom was well under way thirteen years ago, when we first reported on how that boom was sweeping rye whiskey from store shelves. Quality RTD products only started reaching the market in the last few years.

Bulleit has two bottled RTDs in their inventory: a bourbon-based Old Fashioned; and a Manhattan using rye whiskey. I zeroed in on the latter for two reasons. First and foremost, I make a pretty good Old Fashioned already, but can never drain a bottle of vermouth fast enough (before it goes off) to make doing home Manhattans worthwhile. Second, it is made with rye whiskey, not bourbon, as a proper Manhattan should be. In this case, that whiskey is Bulleit 95 Rye, sourced for many years through MGP’s 95% rye stock. It’s unclear if Bulleit is making rye whiskey at their Shelbyville distillery or not, but it is clear that if they are, that in-house production isn’t in any of the bottles yet.

The Cocktail
Simply put, this is what you want from an RTD cocktail: it hits all the right notes for a good, bar quality Manhattan. The Bulleit Rye, vermouth and bitters all speak up, and at 75 proof the concoction isn’t weak or watery. Chill in the refrigerator, add a cherry and its ready to go. If you like Manhattans (and have the same problem I do with making full use of the vermouth before it goes off), this is a good choice for keeping on hand at home.

The Price
A survey of online retailers shows the RTD Bulleit Manhattan Cocktail is available in 375ml for $13 to $16 and 750ml for $26 to $35.

 

Jim Beam Kentucky Coolers Review

By Richard Thomas Rating: C- In introducing the new drinks line in early 2023, Jim Beam declared that, come summertime, Kentuckians like to drink lemonade or fruit punch with bourbon on their front porches. Well, I’m a born and bred Kentucky horse farmer’s son, and I prefer to make mules with our native Ale-8-One or …

By Richard Thomas

Rating: C-

Jim Beam Kentucky Coolers
(Credit: Beam Suntory)

In introducing the new drinks line in early 2023, Jim Beam declared that, come summertime, Kentuckians like to drink lemonade or fruit punch with bourbon on their front porches. Well, I’m a born and bred Kentucky horse farmer’s son, and I prefer to make mules with our native Ale-8-One or mint juleps, but I won’t quibble beyond that. I’m sure there are folks around who are sipping on lemonade and bourbon.

Those drinks are the basis for the RTD line of Jim Beam Kentucky Coolers. The line is a sprawling collection of smashes, punches and lemonades (the lemonade mixers alone include Black Cherry, Strawberry, Blueberry and Sweet Tea variants). Each Kentucky Cooler is formulated to be just 120 calories, fairly light compared to a typical mixer of similar size.

That lightness is where the problems with these RTDs start, and that is underscored by the alcohol content. Jim Beam did these in conjunction with the Boston Beer Company, makers of Sam Adams. So, the alcohol in the drinks is derived not from bourbon or any actual whiskey, but malt. The strength is a mere 5%, approximately the same as a typical lager, but not what one would normally get from the bourbon mixers these drinks were supposedly inspired by.

These drinks weren’t for me, but in fairness I also don’t think someone of my tastes was the target audience. With their light body, light flavor profiles and relatively low level of alcohol my guess is that these are meant to compete for the trendy seltzer market. I don’t care for those seltzers, so ’nuff said. The thing there, though, is that if a bourbon fan who enjoys a bold mixer or a strong cocktail picks up one of these, they’ll also come away as disappointed as I was by the general lack of heft, to say nothing of the absence of actual Jim Beam Bourbon.

The Price
Jim Beam Kentucky Coolers come in a 12-can variety pack for $16.99, $9.99 for a single flavor six-pack, and $3.49 for a single 24oz. can.

 

High West Bottled in Bond Rye Whiskey Review

By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ Utah’s High West earned its reputation as a fan favorite through their transparency. The company was among those that tried and proved the path of using sourced whiskey to develop a brand while mustering the resources and expertise to build a working distillery, develop whiskeys and mature them. What made …

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B+

High West Bottled in Bond Rye
(Credit: Richard Thomas)

Utah’s High West earned its reputation as a fan favorite through their transparency. The company was among those that tried and proved the path of using sourced whiskey to develop a brand while mustering the resources and expertise to build a working distillery, develop whiskeys and mature them. What made them the darling of so many whiskey nerds a decade ago was that they were part of a small class that disclosed their sourcing, at least insofar as their contractual obligations allowed them to. Barrell Craft Spirits and Smooth Ambler also garnered plaudits from the enthusiast community for transparency.

High West continues to rely on sourcing to this day, but their goal from the beginning was to make an in-house rye whiskey. They crossed that milestone years ago, and this rye has found its way into their products. Double Rye, for example, mixes a wide majority of MGP-sourced rye with their in-house product. That has so much been the case that I don’t actually recall any way to get at High West’s rye whiskey in and of itself, because it is so often merely part of one of their legacy expressions.

Or that was the case until High West Bottled in Bond Rye came along in February 2024. The mash behind this whiskey is 80% rye, 20% malted rye, both from a hybrid strain of grain called Guittino. As a bonded whiskey, the stock comes entirely from a single distilling year, the expression is a minimum of four years old (the batch numeration suggests it is a five year old, but that goes unstated on the labeling) and its 100 proof.

The Whiskey
The pour has a clear, bright and light amber look in the glass. The scent brings out both elements of what I would expect from its mash bill: cookie spice and peppermint on the one hand, and pumpernickel dough on the other. There is a woody note that is more cedar and than oak, plus another note of vanilla. The palate follows and develops very much in that vein: the standard pumpernickel and molasses that comes with malted rye so much of the time, plus notes of dill, peppermint, cookie spices, fennel and cedar. The finish spins out peppery and woody.

The Price
Expect to pay $80 a bottle.

Bourbonola Bourbon & Cherry Cola Review

By Richard Thomas Rating: A- Bourbonola is a nod to the long history of the Lexington Brewing Company. By that, I don’t mean the modern company, which was established in 1999 and is very much a creation of the late period of the Craft Beer 1.0 era. There is an earlier Lexington Brewing Company, one …

By Richard Thomas

Rating: A-

Bourbonola, a high strength bourbon and cola mixer
(Credit: Richard Thomas)

Bourbonola is a nod to the long history of the Lexington Brewing Company. By that, I don’t mean the modern company, which was established in 1999 and is very much a creation of the late period of the Craft Beer 1.0 era.

There is an earlier Lexington Brewing Company, one that got its start in the 1890s. Like many breweries around the country, the company struggled to survive Prohibition. As part of its efforts, they introduced a cola called “Bourbonola.” One can see the ads painted on the sides of buildings in old timey photographs of early 20th Century Lexington, Kentucky. There was no actual bourbon in the old Bourbonola, of course. It was Prohibition. But it was an effort to produce an alternate, non-alcoholic product intertwined with Kentucky’s sometimes boozy culture.

The modern, Alltech-owned Lexington Brewing and Distilling Company has revived Bourbonola as an RTD mixer. They’ve taken a blend of cherry and vanilla colas, and mixed in enough Town Branch Bourbon (I’m told it is the cask strength version, although that isn’t in the official materials) to raise the ABV to 12%. That is double the norm for RTD mixers and on par with a glass of wine. As you’ll soon learn, that makes all the difference.

The Mixer
This is the best RTD mixer I’ve ever had, flat out. It’s simply not that hard to do a mixer, so convenience can in no way make up for simply putting Coca Cola and a tiny amount of Jack Daniel’s in a can, for example. The other day I did a mixer of a crafty ginger ale (I forget which one; see the bourbon chosen for mixing) with Elijah Craigh Barrel Proof. I did this on the fly, taking a swig from the bottle and then refilling it with the cask strength bourbon. The result was better than half the RTD mixers I’ve had: in my improvised, parking lot concoction, the soft drink wasn’t boring and bourbon strong enough to make its presence felt.

Bourbonola is different. The choice of cherry and vanilla colas is perfect, because the cherry flavor adds a twist, while the vanilla enhances the bourbon. The latter is strong enough to make its presence felt and packs more of a wallop than most beer, and that is what any sane person should want from a mixer.

Get a four-pack and try it out this summer. If the roots of this mixer are your bag, you won’t regret it.

The Price
A four-pack goes for $14.99.

Clermont Steep American Single Malt Whiskey Review

By Richard Thomas Rating: B- Although some folks think malt whiskey is a thing best left to the Scots, Irish and the rest of the world, and Americans ought to stay out of it, the American Single Malt is on the precipice of becoming a thing. The American Single Malt Whiskey Commission is now very …

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B-

Clermont Steep American Single Malt
(Credit: Richard Thomas)

Although some folks think malt whiskey is a thing best left to the Scots, Irish and the rest of the world, and Americans ought to stay out of it, the American Single Malt is on the precipice of becoming a thing. The American Single Malt Whiskey Commission is now very close to seeing their vision enshrined in Federal regulations, as the TTB is considering giving their category and its definitions the force of law.

But perhaps at least as important, in terms of American malts becoming a thing, is their embrace by the big distillers. Malt whiskey had been the playground of craft and mid-sized distillers, the sector the big boys weren’t in. That scarcely changed even after Woodford Reserve Straight Malt Whiskey was introduced, because as a “Kentucky style malt” with a 51% malted barley mash bill, it was malt whiskey without being single malt whiskey.

That changed last year with two major new releases: Jack Daniel’s entered the sector with its American Single Malt, while Jim Beam introduced Clermont Steep.

Just because Clermont Steep is a single malt doesn’t mean it is merely made from all malted barley.

Borrowing a page from American craft distillers (who are heavily influenced by the craft beer sector rather than Scotland), Beam devised a mash of 80% standard barley malt and 20% golden pilsner barley malt. Although this is the first full single malt of Beam’s in regular release, their malt whiskey stock has made appearances in past Little Book releases, so we knew Beam was making the stuff. Clermont Steep is a project of Freddie Noe, Jim Beam’s 8th Master Distiller and basically co-distiller and lieutenant of his father Fred Noe. It’s five years old, aged in new oak barrels (toasted, charred to a modest Level 1) and bottled at 47% ABV.

The Whiskey
The whiskey has a mid-amber coloring. The nose reminds me of porridge flavored with brown sugar, vanilla and cocoa powder. On the palate, the whiskey has a silky texture and a light body. The porridge-like character continues, but it’s sweeter on the tongue than the scent suggested. The notes remain largely the same, but with a mild, vague herbaceous quality replacing the cocoa powder earthiness. The finish goes down sweet and mildly tannic, as if you’d taken a sip on some tea that has been so over-sweetened with honey that it’s like 1/5 honey, 4/5s tea.

The Price
A bottle of this whiskey will set you back $60.

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Bourbon Review (January 2024)

By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ When Heaven Hill finally took the 12 year age statement off Elijah Craig Barrel Proof last year, several years after taking the Elijah Craig Small Batch no age statement in 2016, it was an even noteworthy for just how little comment it attracted. Sure, some croaked, but compared to the …

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B+

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof A124
(Credit: Richard Thomas)

When Heaven Hill finally took the 12 year age statement off Elijah Craig Barrel Proof last year, several years after taking the Elijah Craig Small Batch no age statement in 2016, it was an even noteworthy for just how little comment it attracted. Sure, some croaked, but compared to the outrage that similar transitions sparked during the middle 2010s, the response was relatively muted. It seems that the folks stoking the outrage in that bygone era have all either taken their ball and gone home or else otherwise fallen into irrelevancy.

That just leaves the question of whether the transition itself is an objectively good thing, which is something we can only even take a guess at after a few years have passed. The croakers of yeseteryear would seize upon any underaged, inferior expression to declare “See! I told you so! It’s all a scam!” Really, the only justification for that declaration is if said batch became the norm for the entire series. Hence, the need to observe and comment over time.

Which brings me to Elijah Craig Barrel Proof A124, the first batch of this year. This one is aged 10 years, 9 months, and came out at 119 proof. That makes it the youngest ever “ECBP,” and the second lowest ever in proof (including when the 12 year statement was in effect). Fans should have an inkling of the latter point instinctively, since Elijah Craig Barrel Proof is routinely above 120 proof. One way to look at this latest batch is that it’s Elijah Craig Small Batch, but a little past the upper end of its age range and uncut.

So, it’s an atypical batch. And you know what? I dug that atypical batch.

The Bourbon
The pour had a pretty standard amber appearance. The nose is akin to somehow turning fruit cocktail into a caramel candy fruit, with a current of dry wood and cookie spices.

Taking a sip, one gets the biting into brown sugar and cinnamon dusted graham cracker kind of sweetness. The spice blend here is hotter than in the nose. It’s a hefty dose of cinnamon, but now with ginger too. That spicy kick turns things dry on the back end. The finish rolls out of that too, with cinnamon fading to peppery and woody before disappearing all together.

The Price
ECBP is currently running at $75 per fifth bottle. Taken in the long view, it’s come up about $15 over the past decade, but has been holding steady this past few years.

Another thing to think about when considering how much or whether the loss of the age statement matters is this: Elijah Craig Small Batch costs $28 to $32 a bottle. This is a little older than the oldest barrels used to form that small batch, uncut, and costs maybe 2 1/2 times as much. Whether those two pluses are worth the extra price paid is a question worth asking, but most people agreed it was based just on the difference of 1 year, 3 months plus.

 

Bruichladdich Re/Define 30 Scotch Review

By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ This is one of a pair of expressions released by Islay distillery Bruichladdich in early 2024 as part of a “Luxury Redefined” series. The whiskies represented two sides of a pivot point in Bruichladdich history. The distillery was mothballed for several years, covering the mid- to late 1990s, with production …

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B+

Bruichladdich Re/Define 30
(Credit: Remy Cointreau)

This is one of a pair of expressions released by Islay distillery Bruichladdich in early 2024 as part of a “Luxury Redefined” series. The whiskies represented two sides of a pivot point in Bruichladdich history. The distillery was mothballed for several years, covering the mid- to late 1990s, with production restarting in 2000. The post-2000 whisky production was focused on a grain-forward style, emphasizing estate-grown barley identity and a relative youthful maturation profile. For many years, Bruichladdich releases followed two patterns representing this divide in style: 20th Century malts, often quite aged and usually appearing in the Black Arts series; and unpeated, youngish, grain-rooted malts made in the 21st Century.

But now some of the initial production runs of post-Y2K Bruichladdich are mature enough to count as middle aged malts, which is where Luxury Re/Defined came in. The 18 year old expression was certainly not youthful, but made in the 21st Century. The 30 year old expression covered here is very much “old” Bruichladdich.

Bottled at 43% ABV, Bruichladdich Re/Define 30 is drawn entirely from ex-bourbon barrel-aged stock.

The Scotch
My pouring had a faded, dulled copper look to it, so on that note it’s already showing some age, being a little darker than the standard gilded Scotch look. The whisky is strongly aromatic, with the aroma rising to greet you from the table. The nose has a rich, sweet character, which is like a citrus blossom honey at its core, plus lesser notes of coconut, almond and vanilla.

Sipping takes the malt on about a 45 degree turn, as the whisky brings up new elements and comes into better balance (although the scent is just lovely with its emphasis on that wonderful place of citrus blossom honey).  That honey is still there, but now sharing the spotlight with drying leaf tobacco and a mix of cloves, black pepper and slivers of wood. The finish brings the coconut and almond back to share some time with the tobacco leaf note, this fading down to leave a hint of oakiness.

The Price
Bruichladdich asks £1,500.00 (or $2,000) for this bottle, so it’s not nearly as approachable as the Re/Define 18.

Larceny Barrel Proof Bourbon Review (January 2024)

By Richard Thomas Rating: A- Larceny Barrel Proof has been bucking the expectations for what wheated bourbon is supposed to be lately. Through 2023, the expression became quite spice-driven, although how much so varied from batch to batch. Although they still had a softened character, and were certainly not falling into the spicy and dry …

By Richard Thomas

Rating: A-

Larceny Barrel Proof Bourbon

Larceny Barrel Proof
(Credit: Heaven Hill)

Larceny Barrel Proof has been bucking the expectations for what wheated bourbon is supposed to be lately. Through 2023, the expression became quite spice-driven, although how much so varied from batch to batch. Although they still had a softened character, and were certainly not falling into the spicy and dry character attributed to high rye bourbons, they were all well outside the floral and/or fruity territory associated with using wheat as the flavoring grain in the mash.

In my mind, that underlines just how loose these broad categories should be or perhaps how much association with a single distillery’s style has come to define a much larger category. That is a matter I should give more thought to, but the main thing is Larceny Barrel Proof has lately been a spicy bourbon for one that doesn’t have a speck of rye in it, and Batch A124 has continued in that vein. We will all see if the expression continues in this trend in May.

The Bourbon
Larceny Barrel Proof A124 (the January 2024 batch ) came out at 124.2 proof and with a surprisingly light coloring. Even without a splash of water, the whisky had a look of light amber with brown tones in the glass. I found the scent to caramel with clove and cinnamon spiced chocolate, which when combined with the light current of tea tannin are quite reminiscent of a chai/hot chocolate combo I made last winter. Further nosing brings out a faint hint of dill, an odd but interesting twist.

Sipping on this Larceny batch pushes that spiciness more into the background. In the main, it has the body of benchmark bourbon: caramel and candy corn, baking spices, a sliver of wood. What separates it from the rank and file is how complex the spicy aspect is. It really is as if in making the pie, the baker went for more than the usual cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Half the spice rack is in there. The finish curiously rolls out of the caramel, not the spiciness, and as it fades down the whiskey goes to a hint of barrel char.

Fans tend to go for barrel proof whiskeys because they love the big and ballsy flavors, often to the point of trying to drink a hot spirit with no added water. What I found here is that if you dial down Larceny Barrel Proof A124 just a little, it becomes both approachable and sophisticated, winningly so on the latter point.

The Price
A bottle of this sleeper bourbon is priced at $65, and at that price point is well worth acquiring.

Roe & Co. Solera Single Malt Irish Whiskey Review

By David Lavine Rating: B- Roe & Co.’s newest entry into the market is a solera-aged and blended single malt Irish Whiskey. Taking an inventive spin on the solera method, Roe & Co. intends this to be a periodic release, each version showcasing another element of the process. The solera method is most associated with …

By David Lavine

Rating: B-

Roe & Co. Solera Single Malt
(Credit: Diageo)

Roe & Co.’s newest entry into the market is a solera-aged and blended single malt Irish Whiskey. Taking an inventive spin on the solera method, Roe & Co. intends this to be a periodic release, each version showcasing another element of the process.

The solera method is most associated with Sherry, where tiers of casks are filled from top to bottom with progressively newer spirit entering at the highest level and finished spirit drawn from the bottom casks. The core idea is consistency: each product draw is, in theory, imbued with a portion of the previous fill, leading to flavor being reliably familiar regardless of the vintage. Some producers will replace the casks regularly, refreshing the wood’s influence, whereas others will use the casks more as blending and oxidizing vessels, where the wood is little more than a neutral, breathable container.

Roe & Co. has clearly gone with the former.

The initial offering includes, from the brand website, “…refill and first fill American Oak ex Bourbon barrels, Alligator charred American oak barrels, Chestnut barrels with custom toasting profiles, and Sherry casks” in the solera. Their four-tier solera system goes in that order: ex-bourbon at the top, new char #4 (alligator) right below, Chestnut below that, and Sherry casks on the bottom.

This is, notably, the first single malt coming from Roe & Co., and moreover the first single malt Irish whiskey to come out of Dublin in a century. I’ll admit to wanting to try the single malt in a more “traditional” way, perhaps just an ex-bourbon cask, to get a baseline for comparison, but I’ll similarly admit to looking a gift horse in the mouth. The other Roe & Co. whiskey I’ve had – the Blended Irish Whiskey – is a vanilla pastry bomb. Mouthwatering, velvety, and sweet, it is simpler in profile than the Single Malt (with a different mash bill, of course). The Blended Irish Whiskey does show a starting point from which the Single Malt emerges down the line, but it’s not a perfect base of comparison.

All that said, let’s dig into the Roe & Co. Single Malt Irish Whiskey.

The Whiskey
In a Glencairn, the color is pale straw, a bit darker than the Blended Irish Whiskey but not by much.

The nose reveals a solid malt character – you know this is a full malted barley mash bill immediately. The grain outshines the finishing casks, with none of those casks coming through in any identifiable way beyond perhaps some light fruitiness. Dryness characteristic of grape brandy cuts into the sweetness. A bit of barnyard funk and preserved lemons with a slight sulfur note a the end.

The palate is creamy and malty right out of the gate, the preserved lemons from the nose now thrown on the grill for some smokiness. Oak pepperiness hits the tip of my tongue. Granny Smith apples and Anjou pears, orchard fruits both tart and sweet. Mouthfeel is medium-bodied, coating like a thin custard. Front half of my tongue is still lightly burning in a pleasant way. The finish allows much more vanilla character from those ex-bourbon and new American oak casks to come through and balance out the maltiness on a medium-to-long finish.

Overall, this is an intriguing idea that, while tasty, doesn’t meet the expectations set by its producer. The whiskey itself is mouthwatering and invites a second sip, and at the price point it’s a high-quality Irish whiskey. Where it falls short is in showcasing the unique solera method Roe & Co. has developed.

My understanding is that future releases in the Solera line will explore these flavors more specifically. I take this to mean that certain elements, such as the chestnut casks on the third tier or sherry casks at the bottom of the solera will be highlighted. This remains to be seen, and I welcome correction from Roe & Co. if my interpretation is misguided.

My rating of a B- is based on solid marks for nose and palate and a well-rounded whiskey experience. Detractions on the overall score came from a failure to communicate in the liquid what was communicated in the literature and marketing. Had this been released simply as a Single Malt Irish Whiskey that happened to be solera aged or blended, it would have rated higher.

This sample was provided to me indirectly from Roe & Co. All opinions and evaluations are my own.

The Price
When the first batch was released, this was priced at €85 (approximately $92). So, beware of online retailers who have it marked up to $300.

Wilderness Trail Single Barrel Rye Whiskey Review

By Richard Thomas Rating: B+ The first time I called on Wilderness Trail was a long time ago. I was still living in Europe, and they had only just changed their name from Wilderness Trace and moved from their original storage space-style set-up to their current farm property. That was the summer of 2016, and …

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B+

Wilderness Trail Single Barrel Rye
(Credit: Richard Thomas)

The first time I called on Wilderness Trail was a long time ago. I was still living in Europe, and they had only just changed their name from Wilderness Trace and moved from their original storage space-style set-up to their current farm property. That was the summer of 2016, and just about the only thing I can think of that hasn’t changed since then is that their digs in Danville, Kentucky remain very much on the outskirts of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.

Not as the crow flies, mind you. Danville just occupies an odd spot for a county seat cum college town in Kentucky, in that it isn’t anywhere near a major highway. Despite definitely being in the Bluegrass, it’s a bit out of the way, and compounding that is that Wilderness Trail is all by themselves down in Boyle County.

Wilderness Trail was founded by Shane Baker and Pat Heist, who are also the founders of industry consultants Ferm Solutions. Thus, they were well-situated to develop a production process that spotlighted yeast selection and the sweet mash process, two features that define Wilderness Trail’s corner of Kentucky bourbon.

This Settlers Select Single Barrel Rye was made with 56% rye, 33% corn and 11% malted barley. It’s also a cask strength, a point not even mentioned on the label, probably because it’s only 52.6% ABV. Another feature of Wilderness Trail is that they prefer a low entry proof for their whiskeys, which results in a low dump proof after just several years.

The Whiskey
The pour has a red tinted amber look to it. I found the nose to have a certain Christmas cake quality. The spiciness, driven by mint and especially clove, was certainly in the main. But along side that sweet and spicy main body were earthy and nutty notes.

Sipping adds pepper and dill to the spice blend, as the character of the whiskey turns sharply away from cake. It’s still sweet under an oily texture–simple syrup infused with vanilla–but the spice takes over. Add cardamom to the mint and clove, plus a sliver of oak. The finish slides right off that spicy peak, developing a sweet pipe tobacco note that lingers for just a short time.

The Price
A bottle of this should set you back $65, but some retailers have it listed for $55 or $75. So, buyer beware and shop around before picking up a bottle.