. There was a lot of pushback about calling $60 a “budget” purchase. I agree. But, the point of the poll was to identify Bourbonr favorites below the $60 price point. With that in mind, I’d say the poll was a success. Here’s a breakdown of the results.
The 2017 Bourbonr Whiskey of the Year vote is in! For the past few years, Bourbonr has crowdsourced the Whiskey of the Year selection. I’ll still add my favorite whiskey but this is about the whiskey you loved. Plus, I disagree with most books/sites for “Whiskey of the Year”.
Every year there seems to be a clear-cut winner. This year was no different. Four Roses Al Young 50th Anniversary Limited Edition is the 2017 Bourbonr Whiskey of the Year! It beat out the second place whiskey by more than 50%. There’s no doubt that Al Young’s 50th was a great release. It’s interesting that it didn’t do as well in the Bourbonr blind tasting. If you’re unfamiliar with the Al Young release it’s a blend of 23-year-old OBSV, 15-year-old OBSK, 13-year-old OESV and 12-year-old OBSF. It was released to honor the 50th anniversary of Four Roses Senior Brand Ambassador, Al Young.
As I mentioned early this week, Pappy Van Winkle started to release. However, with everyone hypersensitive to spotting fake bottles the same picture started to circulate on Bourbon and the Facebook bourbon world. It was a picture of a 15-year Pappy Van Winkle with a red cap (thanks, Blake Cloninger for this picture). Many claimed the bottle was fake. A bad fake at that. Then more 15 years popped up without the traditional black cap.
Last week, I had the opportunity to attend a Taste of the Decades at the Tousey House in Burlington, KY. I promoted it on Bourbonr and was pretty excited going into the tasting. I ended up completely blown away by the tasting and organization the event raised money for. I don’t want this buried in the post. I’m going to mention the Dragonfly Foundation before the details of the tasting. Dragonfly mission is simple “Helping young cancer and bone marrow transplant patients (ages 0-30) and their families find strength.” They provide support, quality of life enhancements, multiple weekly events, and opportunities to patients and families enduring treatment and the emotional, physical and financial toll of treatment. If you’re looking for an organization to support, please consider the Dragonfly Foundation.
Please Read: Each state is highlighted when one bottle is reported in that state. There’s a good chance that means that store, and a lot of times that city, is already sold out. This map isn’t an official release tracker from Buffalo Trace. This is a network of bourbon drinkers looking to help each other. Stores are dealing with smaller allocations and greatly increased demand. Please be understanding of this fact. Happy Hunting!
Update: Here are a few things I want to clear up with this post.
FRANKFORT, FRANKLIN COUNTY, KY (Oct. 26, 2017) – This is the favorite time of the year for bourbon fans, the annual release of the Van Winkle Bourbons is near. Yields are a bit higher for the 10, 15 and 23 year old whiskies, but the 13-Year-Old Van Winkle Reserve Rye will not be released this year.
Please Read: Each state is highlighted when one bottle is reported in that state. There’s a good chance that means that store, and a lot of times that city, is already sold out. This map isn’t an official release tracker from Buffalo Trace. This is a network of bourbon drinkers looking to help each other. Stores are dealing with smaller allocations and greatly increased demand. Please be understanding of this fact. Happy Hunting!
Even with large improvements in automation bourbon flavor is still more of an art than a science. This is why Master Distillers spend a lot of time taste testing different barrels (tough job!). Here is how the following processes affect the taste of bourbon. This is a look from 10,000 feet. Each segment could fill an encyclopedia with information (
Walk into any bar across the country, and you’ll find an orange label with “Bulleit” on the front. The words “Frontier Whiskey” prominently displayed on the bottle. Bulleit (pronounced “Bullet”) has been a gateway bourbon for new drinkers over the last two decades. Everyone tries Jim Beam or Makers. Bulleit’s high-rye mash bill provides a different flavor profile from the standard “shelf” bourbons. Most know that Diageo owns the Bulleit brand. But, the brand has a whiskey family history dating back to the 1850’s. This post is a story about the brand. Not the history of the name. This is the story of the Bulleit brand that most Bourbonr’s don’t know.
*Please Read:* Each state is highlighted once one bottle is reported. Generally, that means that store, and a lot of times that city, is already sold out. This map isn’t an official release tracker from Buffalo Trace but a network of bourbon drinkers looking to help each other. Stores are dealing with smaller allocations and greatly increased demand. Please be understanding of this fact. Also, I’m not a retailer. I don’t have a list to buy Pappy nor do I know where you can buy online at retail. If I did I’d buy it all myself 🙂 Happy Hunting!