Double Oak’s approach to the industry meme of “do something different to the base whiskey so we can charge more for it” is about as simple as you can get, and yet is oddly rare in the bourbon business. They took Jim Beam, having aged it like all bourbons in new charred American white oak barrels, and they…
Nothing wrong with this bourbon, although I can’t say there’s anything special about it, either. “High-Rye Bourbon” is not exactly a new concept, and LDI/MGP bourbons are a dime a dozen. Ten years ago I would have complained about paying $30 for…
Unlike many other bourbon brands which lately have been spinning off new releases several times a year, Maker’s mostly just makes Maker’s Mark. And Maker’s 46, and a cask-strength edition. Now, this 101 proof version has been added to the lineup as a Limited Edition, where previously it was only available at the distillery…
Dickel’s bottled-in-bond release is 50% ABV (of course), distilled in one distilling season which is printed on the label, and displays an age statement as well. The whiskey is Tennessee whiskey, which means it’s essentially bourbon that’s been chill filtered through sugar maple charcoal. The website, although unclear, seems to indicate they all share the same mash bill as other whiskies from the distillery: 84% corn, 8% rye, 8% malted barley. For more…
This bourbon is bottled-in-bond, which means it has the requisite 50% ABV, is a straight bourbon, and was distilled in Leopold Bros.’ pot still during one distilling season. The bottle indicates it is 5 years old. My bottle is from the Fall 2015 season (bottled 2020). The website reveals the mash bill to be 64% Corn, 21% Malted Barley, and 15% Abruzzi Heritage Rye, which is…
Smoke Wagon, a sourced bourbon from Las Vegas distillery Nevada H&C (founded in 2010), uses a batching technique to combine older and younger barrels of MGP bourbon from Indiana – both high-rye mash bills – aiming for youthful rye spices paired with the richness of older bourbon. In this particular bottling, the bourbon is bottled at batch strength and is not chill-filtered. Normally at this point in the review I would…
Breckenridge is located so high in the mountains of Colorado that it is the highest-elevation distillery in the world … this Flaviar blend chooses four blends of straight bourbons with high-rye mashbills and bottles them at 43% ABV. Yes, you read that right. This is a blend of blends. Luckily, everything involved is a straight bourbon, so it just comes down to percentages
Fast forward a scant few years, and while Willett aka the “Old Bardstown Distilling Company” is still producing their own whiskey, some of the bottles in their lineup are still sourced. This “Estate Bottled” (to distinguish from “Estate Distilled” I guess) bourbon is a “High Corn” (aka low rye) mash bill straight bourbon sourced from some Kentucky distillery (the rumor is that it’s…
My favorite retailer and all-around whiskey personality, David Driscoll, recently offered a package deal at Mission Liquor in Pasadena, California, to showcase New Riff’s flagship bottled-in-bond range … He suggested we do a comparative tasting to see how New Riff stacks up against the Biggest of Boys in the whiskey game: Buffalo Trace. This week: Bourbon.
New Riff was founded in 2014 and already has a massive following. All of its flagship bottlings – rye and bourbon – are bottled-in-bond and also bottled without chill filtration. This is a “high rye” Kentucky Straight bourbon with a mash bill of…
