Typically, a bourbon mash bill includes three ingredients: corn (at least 51%), rye and barley. Distilleries replace the rye portion of the mash bill with wheat to create a “wheated” or “wheater” bourbon. Wheated bourbon is softer and often a sweeter bourbon. What does “soft” taste like? Eat a piece of rye toast next to a piece of wheat toast. You’ll quickly understand the difference. Legend has it that Marge Samuels, wife of Maker’s Mark founder Bill Samuels, made 150 different loaves of bread to select the original Maker’s Mark mash bill. read more

You may remember that we launched the new BourbonHunt site last summer as a way to add more features for the Bourbonr readers.  As I’m sure, you’ve noticed, nothing about Bourbonr has changed nor will it change in the future. BourbonHunt and the “pro” membership is a completely separate site with its own benefits. I greatly appreciated everyone that decided to support Bourbonr with a “pro” membership. read more

I know what you’re thinking. No, this isn’t another post about the Pappy heist. This is a PSA for the Bourbonr community. Make sure you destroy all empty bottles of Pappy Van Winkle and other limited releases [insert joke about people not drinking Pappy]. As prices increase scoundrels will find their way into the bourbon market. Fake Pappy isn’t a matter of if but when. I’m sure it’s currently happening at some level but luckily it doesn’t seem to be a huge issue. Guys will refill empty bottles, reseal them and sell them for secondary prices. Why else would someone pay hundreds of dollars for an empty bottle?  The scotch industry has already experienced this problem. Collectors were shocked to find that their rare/antique bottles of Macallan were actually fakes. read more

There’s no topic more controversial in bourbon right now than the secondary market. Whether it’s Craigslist, Facebook groups or BottleSpot bourbonr’s usually have a strong feeling about the secondary. There are some that delight in the secondary (not just flippers)  while others despise it. If you’ve followed bourbon for the past couple of years you’ll know that the secondary exploded after Ebay shut down all alcohol sales. Prices have also exploded with the increased popularity of bourbon. There’s even a site dedicated to the  market value of bottles. read more

There is way too much bourbon information out there to keep it all straight. I’ve put together a Distillery Summary chart to help you remember each distillery’s mash bills, char level and barrel entry proof. There will be several posts in the upcoming weeks about how each item affects the finished bourbon. Part two of Distillery Summary will be posted next week with the remaining major distilleries. read more

With only a few days remaining in 2015 it’s time to reflect on the year in bourbon. While price increases continue to be the norm we also lost some good whiskey: Four Roses discontinues their Single Barrel Limited Edition. Smooth Ambler announces a shortage of rye whiskey and subsequent freeze on their Old Scout Rye. Buffalo Trace continues to talk about shortages but also officially recognized the secondary as an issue. read more

Want to host your own bourbon tasting but not sure how to get started? Or, are you looking for a gift for the bourbon drinker in your life. The Bourbonr Tasting Kit is an educational tool that helps facilitate home tastings. Sure, hunting rare bourbons is fun but the community aspect of bourbon is by far my favorite part. Sitting around a table with friends drinking bourbon is always a good time. read more

*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!  read more

Bourbonr Notes

*I’m not a retailer. There’s no list on this site to buy Pappy. I think some people may have Bourbonr confused. This is just a blog that talks about bourbon.

• Less 15-year-old Pappy Van Winkle than usual, and far less 20-year-old and 23-year-old. About half as much as last year. Seems to be the theme for Buffalo Trace this year. Fewer bottles will mean insurmountable odds for a lot of Bourbonr’s. However, I’m not one to back down from a challenge
• “We have not raised prices and do not intend to do so drastically in the future.” – Julian Van Winkle “Drastically” is an interesting word here since BT/VW has always commented that they won’t be increasing prices. The biggest jump seems to be the rye at an additional $30 per bottle. Nothing too drastic in my opinion. Either way retailers have the right to charge what they want. Hopefully, this doesn’t mean gouging. I still consider anything 1.5X or less the listed retail to be “retail” pricing.
• Available starting in November. That’s about a week later than last year. It will be interesting to see if any distributors jump the gun and release in October.
• The Bourbonr Pappy release map is coming soon! Probably the beginning of next week.

            FRANKFORT, FRANKLIN COUNTY, KY (Oct. 14, 2015) – The long anticipated annual release of the Van Winkle bourbons is nearly here, but unfortunately some of the angels were extra greedy over the past two decades, leaving us less bourbon than in previous years. read more