Back in July we listed the Fall Bourbon Releases and now it is time to vote for your favorite. Several of these bourbons/whiskies have already won various awards this year but I would like to hear the favorite among Bourbonr’s.
You don’t need to have tried every release to cast your vote.
[wpgform id=’2423′]
A couple of months ago FiveThirtyEight posted an article about the secondary market in the sneaker industry. Now, I’m no sneakerhead (although I do still have a pair of gray Jordan XI in my closet) but the article was extremely interesting and I couldn’t help but draw comparisons from what is going on in the sneaker industry to the current bourbon market. The sneaker industry releases special edition shoes to which people camp out for, riot over and in general go a little too crazy over what is, in my mind, “just a shoe”. Sound familiar? Nike (Buffalo Trace) releases special edition Air Jordan’s (Pappy) which are by far the most popular and bring the highest secondary prices. However, there are other releases like the Lebron’s, Kobe’s and KD’s (BTAC) that also fetch multiples on MSRP on the secondary market.
TLDR: Buffalo Trace aged 5 barrels of their wheated mash bill for 12 years on floors 1, 5 and 9 and is releasing each floor under the Experimental Collection. See my tasting notes below.
FRANKFORT, FRANKLIN COUNTY, KY (Dec. 9, 2014) Earlier this year, Buffalo Trace Distillery released an experiment consisting of barrels aged for the same length of time on different floors in the same warehouse. The experiment was met with great interest, as many bourbon connoisseurs are thirsty for knowledge about how atmosphere affects the taste of their favorite spirit.
100% Rye Whiskey
117-124 Proof
Aged nearly 14 years
50 Barrels selected (probably around 6,500 bottles based on a rough calculation)
Retail: $189
Overall:
If you’re not familiar with Willett XCF here’s a brief summary. Willett has taken a 7 year old rye whiskey from MGPI and aged it in Curacao Casks. Curacao Casks are just old bourbon barrels with an orange peel distillate that was aged for 2 years. After the the aged orange peel distilate is mixed with Congac and sweetener to create Grand Marnier.
Not sure what to buy the bourbon/whiskey drinker in your life? We’ve got you covered.
PSA: Some, not all, of these links are affiliate and I will make a small percentage off of the purchase. The links are to make it easier for you to find and buy. The affiliate part is so that I can buy myself more bourbon :)
Last week I had a chance to participate in a bourbon dinner/tasting with Jim Beam Master Distiller, Fred Noe. Beam ran a competition that let people submit toasts or statements and the winner would be on their new Single Barrel release.The new Beam Single Barrel will be released soon and will be around the 6-8 year mark. Per Fred, they will be pulling barrels from all around the warehouse to show off the diversity that aging in different portions provides. Each bottle has a winning toast on the back inside of the bottle.
Admittedly, this is probably the most sensationalized titles I’ve used for a post on Bourbonr but there’s a reason. With the Pappy Van Winkle release in full swing there have been multiple Bourbonr’s that noticed the laser code on their bottles were 2013. In fact, there have been several states releases composed only of laser codes reflecting 2013. This led to speculations and accusations of Pappy hoarding (a felony in the bourbon world) aimed at retailers, distributors and Buffalo Trace (BT) themselves. Questions began to fly! Was Illuminati involved? Does Skull & Bones control the Pappy distribution? Did Dick Cheney have anything to do with this? All valid (sarcasm) questions so I decided to hunt for answers.
If you didn’t read the original post you can check it out here: How to Age Whiskey at Home
Over the past year I changed the location of the whiskey several time. I started by leaving it outside in the elements but this caused some rust on the lid of the jar. I then moved it to the screen porch and subsequently to it’s final resting place in the garage. The change in temperature helps with the aging process.
Thanksgiving is a great time to eat, drink and be merry with friends and family. For bourbon drinkers it also caps off some of the best bourbon releases of the year (unless you’re in FL or some other unlucky states like me). But, how do you work bourbon in to your Thanksgiving? This post is not about bourbon recipes but rather bourbon/whiskey pairings to enjoy with your Thanksgiving feast.