The bourbon’s basic recipe is a low-rye mash bill of 77% corn, 13% rye, and 10% malted barley. It’s aged for 4 years (probably exactly, considering the volume that the company puts out), allowing it to be called “Straight Bourbon” without an age statement on the bottle.
Prohibition edition sounds like what it is: a transparent attempt to cast a pallor of history over an unabashedly modern product. It was first released in 2013 to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the repeal of prohibition of alcohol in the United States. … Cutty Prohibition is bottled at the robust (and unusual, for a blend) strength of 50% ABV, and supposedly has a different blend of grains and malts than the typical Cutty Sark bottle.
When a bottle label says that it was a “small batch” of whiskey “aged in 5 different barrels” my mind automatically Google Translates that into “made from leftover barrels that we didn’t know what to do with.” That may or may not be fair but I just write a blog so I don’t have to be fair. Apparently the blend started as a personal project for the owner…
The Double Cask is a NAS vatting of Glen Scotia single malt aged in first-fill ex-bourbon casks, and which is finished for “up to a year” in Pedro Ximénez (PX) sherry casks. … Glen Scotia, one of the two remaining Campbeltown distilleries, is known for a house character that involves mild peat (like the lesser-peated Springbanks), an oily mouthfeel, and some variant of lemon peel notes.
The Pikesville brand was a pre-Prohibition (and post- until distillation ceased in 1972) Maryland rye. The brand now claims the distinction of being the last Maryland rye brand to fall, despite the category’s once prolific market presence. Heaven Hill brought the brand (although not the Maryland origin) back to life in 2015, using stocks of 6 year-old rye.
Milford, a single malt aged in ex-bourbon casks, was distilled at the now-closed Willowbank Distillery on New Zealand’s South Island. The distiller started distilling in 1969 and closed in 1997 after changing hands between Seagram and Fosters. Small amounts of the distillery’s output were being released by the New Zealand Whiskey Collection at ages from 10 to 20.
…what Brown-Forman realized is that by taking their standard 72% corn, 18% rye, 10% malted barley bourbon and re-casking it into one of these brand-new casks for a little under a year, you restart the process and get a double dose of those “early” readily-available compounds into the whiskey. Further, by heavily toasting and lightly charring (instead of the usual heavy charring) the second barrel, you encourage a slightly different set of compounds to develop in the charred surface of the oak. Brilliant.
Priced where 16 year-old single malts used to be priced, it’s bottled at the basement strength of 40% ABV after aging in extremely usual ex-bourbon barrels. … A tasty, easygoing malt that has been murdered by the addition of far too much water.
According to the marketing spin on Forgiven, a warehouse worker accidentally blended some Wild Turkey straight rye into some Wild Turkey straight bourbon, which automatically made a blended American whiskey that can’t be called “straight” anymore. Presumably the accident tasted pretty good so Wild Turkey bottled it as a limited edition, small batch blend at 45.5% ABV…
GlenDronach The Hielan’ is an 8 year-old ‘Dronach that only seems to retail in the UK. The whisky comes from a combination of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, which makes me think it’s an attempt to compete with a number of “double cask” expressions proliferating on the market such as The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 year. It seems odd to me to compete with a popular $40 whisky by releasing a $40 whisky that is 4 years younger, but nobody asked me.