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It’s time to celebrate Fathers! If your father enjoys bourbon, here are a few gifts ideas. You’ll notice a few items that aren’t bourbon related but I’ve got to drop hints to my own son somehow (yes, he’s only a year and a half but if he hasn’t figured out Amazon Prime by now I’ve already failed him).
I try to ignore the “whiskey shortage” post as much as possible but this one hits a little too close to home. Smooth Ambler consistently lands on the Bourbonr best buy lists and their cask strength rye is one of my personal favorites. John Little, the Vice President of Smooth Ambler, announced Wednesday on their Facebook page that they were running out of rye whiskey stock (sourced from MGPI). This is obviously a good problem to have when you’re a craft distiller but as consumers this is the last thing we want to hear.
Jim Beam has released the third Booker’s of 2015 and it is also a roundtable pick (what do I have to do get get a chair at that roundtable?!). If you’re not familiar with the roundtable read Chuck Cowdery’s post on how it works. TL;DR: Fred Noe (Beam’s Master Distiller and son of Booker Noe) and several other bourbon/whiskey writers sample different batches of Booker’s and select the best. The 2015-03 bottle label will feature Booker Noe’s favorite part of the rackhouse and choice cut of meat – “The Center Cut.” Here are the other important facts about this bottle:
Perusing the bourbon aisle of any liquor store across the country it’s hard not notice the awards dolled out by whiskey competitions. “Double Gold”, “Best in Class 2014!” or “Winner of XXX Whiskey Competition” seem to be on every third bottle. I understand why brands do this. It lends confidence to the undecided buyer. “Well this bourbon won quadruple gold at the Whiskey Olympics, it must be worth $50”. The question is, should I add “whiskey competitions winner” as a factor in my decision making process?
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…