Experimental mash bills are continuously popping up on on store shelves but Jim Beam has been playing around with different mash bills for quite some time. Last fall they announced their Harvest Bourbon Collection which included 6 different experimental mash bills all aged 11+ years. Here’s some more information from Beam:
The bourbon world (myself included) has become overly obsessed with limited editions (LE’s) or rare bottles. Is this the pot calling the kettle black? It’s more like the pot acknowledging its faults. About 80% of what I write on this blog is LE related. Why? Because that’s what is fun, interesting and exciting. I don’t think this is a problem as long as there’s the occasional reality check.
The 9th installment of the Parker’s Heritage collection will be a Malt Whiskey. The mash bill for the Malt Whiskey is 65% Malted Barley and 35% Corn. The whiskey will be aged 8 years, 108 proof and unfiltered. The price will probably follow prior year releases and be around $85-$90. Heaven Hill seems to be enjoying their non-bourbon releases after last years Wheat Whiskey.
We’ve all been beaten down with talks of a bourbon shortage so it’s nice every now and then to hear how the distilleries are handling the situation. There’s no earth shattering information here but it is nice to know that there are no plans to discontinue any brands (stop the “Elmer T Lee is being discontinued” rumors) and that there is sufficient supplies of Blanton’s, Weller and Sazerac. All 3 of these whiskies are among my favorite “everyday” whiskies.
A few months back I wrote about blending or vatting bourbons. In that post I combined different bourbons to see how they tasted together. While that post was about experimenting this post is about taking those experiments and selecting a “house” bourbon. This is your daily drinker, what you give to guests and the bourbon that defines your taste. It’s a big decision!
Heaven Hill continues to pump out new batches of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof on a quarterly or tri-annually basis. This release is the standard 12 years and weighs in at 139.8 proof. That makes it the second highest in the ECBP line up and misses “Hazmat” status by only 2/10 of a point.
For more information about the ECBP releases read here…
In 2015 Jim Beam added a cool new feature to the Booker’s bottle. First, they simplified the batch numbers by making it simply the year and batch number (2015-01). Second, each batch would have a symbol which represented the Booker brand. Everything from Booker’s dog to his rocking chair. I like this idea and was excited to see the new batches on the shelf. It’s not a limited or special release but Booker’s is so consistently good I don’t think it matters.