Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Release Cheat Sheet

UPDATED: ECBP Cheat Sheet

In the fall of 2013 Heaven Hill Distillery released the first Elijah Craig Barrel Proof (ECBP) which quickly became one of the hottest bourbons in the market. ECBP is a 12 year old uncut, unfiltered bourbon which Heaven Hill releases once a quarter. Aside from the great flavor and high proof what make ECBP even greater is it’s retail price is between $40-$55. With such a low price it’s hard to find a better bourbon for the money. That’s assuming you’re able to find a bottle in the first place 🙂 read more

2014 Four Roses Single Barrel LE

The 2014 Four Roses Single Barrel Limited Edition is an 11 year old from the Four Roses OESF mash bill. The OESF mash bill is 20% rye with a more herbal tasting yeast strand. Since this is a single barrel release proof will vary but will be between 108.3 and 127.6 proof. My sample was right at 120 proof (60.0% ABV) read more

Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition Announced

The Four Roses Single Barrel Limited Edition hasn’t even released across the country but we already have more great bourbon to look forward to this fall. According to the TTB the 2014 Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition will be a blend of 4 Four Roses mash bills, OBSK 9 year, OBSV 13 year, OESV12 year and OBSF 11 year. This barrel proof release comes in at 120.3. The 2014 comes with a pretty significant drop in age and increase in proof compared to the 2013 which was a blend of OBSV 18 year, OBSK 13 year and OESK 13 year and 100 proof. read more

Breckenridge Bourbon Review:

It seems like there is a new “craft” bourbon or whiskey on the shelf every time I walk in to a liquor store. Unfortunately, most of these “craft” distilleries are nothing more than Non-Distiller Producers or young whiskey that taste terrible. After my first sip of Breckenridge Bourbon I realized this was something interesting. read more

Heaven Hill distillery has a rich bourbon history. Currently, they’re the largest family-owned distillery in the United States and the second largest holder of Kentucky Bourbon in the world (I’m still trying to work my way up the list). The distillery was founded in 1935 by the Shapira family with Master Distiller Joseph Beam (yes, his cousin is Jim). read more

History of the BTAC

The Buffalo Trace Distillery releases some of the best bourbons and rye whiskies every fall under their Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. Currently, the BTAC is made up of 3 bourbons and 2 rye whiskies, George T. Stagg, William Larue Weller, Eagle Rare 17, Sazerac 18 and Thomas H. Handy. However, this was not always the lineup for the BTAC. Let’s take a look at the origins of the Antique Collection and how it has evolved over the years. read more

Old Weller Antique and Special Reserve Profiled

If you’ve ever read the label on any of the Weller bottles you’ll notice they all include the tagline “The Original Wheated Bourbon”. While a different wheated bourbon has claimed most of the lime light recently the Weller brand is truly the original wheated bourbon. You may have also noticed that Weller bourbon line, specifically W.L. Weller 12 year, has become increasingly harder to find recently. This is probably due to a mixture of factors including the popularity of Pappy Van Winkle (a wheated bourbon), popularity of bourbon in general and the fact that it’s excellent bourbon for under $30. read more

Pappy Van Winkle 15 Year Review

Typically, I write reviews on this site as a way to help readers make better decisions on what to buy. I review a lot of bourbons and whiskies on my MyWhiskey page but only a select few make it to the blog. Because of this I have not reviewed any of the Pappy Van Winkles on the blog. My reasoning, no one is on the fence of whether or not to buy Pappy Van Winkle. People don’t wait in line for hours; drive hundreds of miles and then google “Pappy Van Winkle reviews” to decide whether or not to buy. However, because allocations are so slim stores are moving to lottery systems or only allowing one bottle per customer. Because of this I decided it was time to post my review. read more

Blend(ed) Bourbon: An Experiment in Hyperdecanting

Back in 2012 Nathan Myhrvold released his epic (think Iliad and the Odyssey) culinary book Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking. The book includes a method of “hyperdecanting” wine by blending for 30-60 seconds at the blenders’ highest speed.

Aeration exposes the liquid to air but why aerate or decant in the first place? Wine is aerated because two things happen when it is exposed to air. First aeration triggers oxidation. Oxidation helps mellow out some of the more harsh flavors in wine. Second, aeration causes evaporation. Because some of the ethanol (the rubbing alcohol smell) evaporates you’re able to smell more of the wine. Hypedecating takes the aeration process and uses dynamite instead of a chisel. read more