“And so there I was, talking to some 250,000 Scotsmen on their national radio station, about all my journeys around the globe in search of whisk(e)y. The the inevitable question was asked ‘Ok Jim, so you’ve been to 150 distilleries, which country makes the best whisky in the world?’ The interviewer was a Scotsman, the interviewee had about as Scottish a name as you are ever likely to find. To say the question was loaded is to put it mildly. ‘Well, er, if you must know…’ I hesitated and then blurted out the truth. ‘Actually, it’s Kentucky. The best whiskey in the world is made there.’ I was nearly unplugged on the spot as a nation spluttered into its morning porridge.” – Jim Murray, Classic Bourbon, Tennessee and Rye Whiskey
So begins a fantastic book on bourbon and other American whiskeys written 20 years ago by Jim Murray of Whiskey Bible fame. It’s a great read so far and I highly recommend it. You can get more info below.
Also, on Wednesday, March 27, we’ll give away a bottle of Old Rip Van Winkle 10 Year Bourbon. The drawing will take place LIVE at 9pm EST on our Facebook Page. I’m in the process of setting it up but will send out coupon codes to all members next week.
All Current Basic Members will get 10 FREE entries. Premium Members get 15.
More Pappy Resources
The Pappy Raffle/Lotteries/Auctions Page (Keeps you in the know about Statewide, Store-Specific or other opportunities to locate a bottle of Pappy.)
The Pappy Events Page (Makes you aware of Tasting Events, Whiskey Festivals, etc. that offer and opportunity to taste some Pappy Van Winkle.)
Also, the Pappy List is now categorized by State. (Bars and restaurants do run out so it’s always a good idea to call and ask if that’s the only reason you’re going.)
4 Shots
Book Review: Classic Bourbon, Tennessee & Rye Whiskey
Before Jim Murray started to write his annual releases of the Whisky Bible, he wrote the book Classic Bourbon, Tennessee & Rye Whiskey. He came to the United Distillers archive to do historical research. It was well researched and a very informative look at American Whiskey of the late 20th century. Murray’s tasting notes are concise but descriptive. It is interesting to look back at his notes of brands that have changed proof, lost age statements or simply been discontinued. He has many fantastic old photographs illustrating the book as well as those he took while visiting distilleries. Tasting notes have color photographs of the label at that time.
This is a book for those who love tasting notes. Jim Murray is a master wordsmith and his tasting notes reflect this talent. He has taken the distilleries and listed them in alphabetical order, gives some brief information about their brands and their history and does tasting notes for those brands in most expressions of the brand. He places color illustrations of many of the labels with his notes so the reader can be sure exactly what brand he is writing about. It truly is a book for those readers who like tasting notes.
He starts the book with a couple of chapters of historical background of American whiskey distilling. The history is brief but for the most part accurate. He is an Englishman trying to understand American history so the reader does have to forgive some statements such as Kentucky “having gained its independence in 1792, having begun the battle in the year of Boone’s memoirs”. The reader has to wonder what battle he is talking about. Even so, as a person who is a spirits writer and not a historian, he does a very good job at explaining the history.
The book looks good. It is well designed and colorfully illustrated. The book has many illustrations of old whiskey advertising from magazines as well as postcards and other forms of advertising. It has an index that makes finding specific points very easy. It would have been nice if he had included a bibliography, but then again, this book is about tasting notes and they don’t need other sources. A book like this has value in a bourbon library if for no other reason, it looks good and is well-illustrated. However, if you like tasting notes, then it is a book that you really should read.
Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller
Kentucky could get direct wine delivery — and the bourbon industry wants in
FRANKFORT — Kentucky’s bourbon industry has a bracing message for its home state lawmakers as they consider whether to relax restrictions on wine sales: What’s good for California vineyards should also apply to the bluegrass state’s signature spirit.
The Kentucky Distillers’ Association is pushing to have the spirits industry included in a bill that, in its current form, would allow direct out-of-state shipments of wine to Kentucky consumers.
The group, also known as KDA, is asking lawmakers to add language to the bill so bourbon drinkers in some other states can place online or phone orders with their favorite Kentucky distillers. Such long-distance transactions could only occur if other states allow spirits to be shipped directly to consumers. For now, that list of states is limited, but the spirits industry expects it to grow.
Whiskey makers see online sales as a potentially lucrative market, especially for smaller producers looking to build market share.
“We’ve got a situation where Kentucky is looking to favor another state’s signature industry over its own, and that’s going to put us at a competitive disadvantage,” KDA President Eric Gregory said. “All we’re asking for is if you let wine do that, let bourbon do that. Just give us equal treatment.”
But mixing wine with bourbon is causing queasiness among some of the bill’s supporters. And it has raised the stakes for a proposal that passed the Kentucky Senate with little fanfare and is now pending before a House committee.
Now the discussion is becoming spirited.
The bourbon industry says it opposes the wine-shipment measure without such changes. The state’s distilled spirits industry is an ever-growing economic powerhouse in Kentucky, contributing $8.6 billion annually to the state’s economy and wielding considerable influence.
Republican Sen. Max Wise, the lead sponsor of Senate Bill 99, said he prefers that the measure, however, apply only to wine shipments. It’s a response to frustrated Kentuckians who want to join out-of-state wine clubs, he said.
Wine Institute, a public policy advocacy group for nearly 1,000 California wineries and affiliated businesses, is resisting the efforts of Kentucky distillers to expand the bill. So is a group representing Kentucky package liquor stores.
“It would be much better to leave SB99 as a wine-only bill and deal with spirits and beer shipping separately,” said Wine Institute official Hunter Limbaugh.
Broadening the bill to include spirits would hurt liquor store sales, said Karen Lentz, executive director of the Kentucky Association of Beverage Retailers.
Liquor stores pay local alcohol taxes that aren’t assessed on direct shipments, Lentz said. If Kentucky whiskey is shipped to other states, it would have to reciprocate by allowing Kentuckians to order spirits directly from distillers in those states — which could be good for consumers but doesn’t have much appeal for liquor store owners.
“They can greatly undercut us on price,” she said.
Lentz said her organization is neutral on the direct wine shipments because it realizes that some wines aren’t available at liquor stores.
Kentucky law doesn’t allow whiskey connoisseurs to place online or phone orders for their favorite Kentucky bourbons, Gregory said. Out-of-state shipments now are limited to purchases made by tourists while visiting Kentucky distilleries.
Bourbon industry leaders said that lifting the ban on online and phone orders would especially help small distillers with limited distribution. Kentucky produces about 95 percent of the world’s bourbon.
A small cluster of states now allow direct spirits shipments in and out of their states to consumers, according to spirits industry officials. But bourbon industry officials expect that list to grow, Gregory said.
“More and more states are moving toward this,” he said. “So we’re saying, let’s go ahead and give us this privilege now so we can grow into it.”
The wine shipment bill sailed through the Kentucky Senate in mid-February and is pending before the House Licensing, Occupations and Administrative Regulations Committee. In its original form, the bill would allow each adult to purchase up to 24 cases of 9-liter bottles of wine each year through direct shipments. Kentucky is among five states that don’t allow direct wine shipments to consumers in their states, Wise said.
The committee chairman, Republican Rep. Adam Koenig, said he’s heard the bourbon industry’s pitch to expand the bill and lawmakers are studying those concerns.
“I’m a fan of parity,” Koenig said in an interview. “We’ve made great strides in the last couple of years trying to get everything on a level playing field.”
The bourbon sector supports expanding the bill to have it apply to beer and other alcoholic beverages, Gregory said.
“If you change it for wine, you need to change it for everybody,” he said.
7 Bottled-in-Bond Whiskeys You Must Try in 2019
It’s time to give Bottled-in-Bond whiskeys the appreciation they deserve, and we have seven bottles you should try that prove our point in 2019.
Bottled in Bond has had an important and beneficial impact on the whiskey world. On March 3rd, 1897, Congress signed the Bottled-in-Bond Act into law, marking the first ever consumer protections for distilled spirits.
Prior to the bill being made law, many “straight” whiskeys on the market were filled with additives not mentioned on their labels. A barrel of bourbon in the general store could be topped off with molasses, tobacco juice, formaldehyde, or worse. Distillers in Kentucky were fed up with their product getting a bad name, and led by Col. E. H. Taylor Jr, they pushed for the passage of the Bottled-in-Bond Act.
The law states that bottled-in-bond bourbons must be distilled by the same master distiller, in the same distilling season, at the same distillery, aged at least four years in a federally bonded warehouse, and bottled at 100 proof to bear this seal of quality. The label must also include the distillery (or distilleries) where the spirit was made and then bottled. All these regulations may seem a bit over the top, but for the past 122 years it’s been a transparent way for consumers to know the quality of their bourbon at a glance.
Dozens of different whiskeys have earned this distinction in the past, and with the current bourbon boom we’re lucky to find new ones every year. Read on to find seven of our favorites released since we last celebrated Bottled-in-Bond Day.
1. Woodford Reserve Distillery Series Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon
Each year, Woodford Reserve releases three Distillery Series bottlings designed to showcase the creativity of the students beyond their four regularly released whiskeys. While distillation has been taking place at the property now known as Woodford Reserve since 1812, this limited-edition run is the first ever bottled-in-bond bourbon released under their label. Find it only at the distillery in Versailles, Kentucky in 375ml bottles for $50.
2. Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond
Pat Heist and Shane Baker ran Ferm Solutions for years, fixing problems in stills and tanks all around the world. After deciding the time was right to start their own distillery, the two waited a full four years to release their own whiskey. Their self-titled Wilderness Trail wheated bourbon hit shelves last spring. This single barrel, 100-proof release can be found only in Kentucky for around $50.
3. Buffalo Trace E.H. Taylor Four Grain
Okay, so the most recent release was actually a second batch of the famous Four Grain, but honestly, it’s a crime to write a bottled-in-bond list without mentioning an E.H. Taylor bottle. As the Godfather of the Bottled-in-Bond Act, his namesake line of whiskeys from Buffalo Trace all meet the requirements set out in 1897 (with the exception of E.H. Taylor Barrel Proof—if it’s not 100 proof, it’s not bottled-in-bond).
The Four Grain name refers to bourbon’s mashbill—while all bourbons have at least 51 percent corn, most use rye as a secondary grain, and top it with a little malted barley. Other bourbons use wheat. This unicorn E.H. Taylor uses all four grains: corn, rye, wheat, and malted barley. If you’re lucky enough to find one on shelves at retail, it will cost you $100, but expect it to go for six times that on the secondary market.
4. New Riff Bottled-in-Bond
New Riff’s first distillate hit the market in a big way in the last half of 2018: first with their bottled-in-bond, followed quickly by Single Barrel, and soon thereafter by rye (and their barrel picks aren’t to be missed, either). No matter how many options they give us, though, we can’t quit their high rye, bottled-in-bond bourbon as a go-to bottle at a great price. As an added bonus, this one is non-chill filtered, giving it a rich, palate-coating mouthfeel. Find it on shelves in Ohio and Kentucky for around $40.
5. Catoctin Creek Rabble Rouser Rye
This year’s Rabble Rouser Rye release is the oldest distillate we’ve seen yet from Virginia-based Catoctin Creek Distilling Co. They use a 100 percent rye mash distilled to a lower proof to craft their rye whiskey, citing a richer flavor profile that can be lost in a traditional pot-stilling process. This year’s release is the first to bear the bottled-in-bond distinction – and you can find it on shelves now for around $95.
6. Heaven Hill Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond
First produced by legendary distillery Stitzel-Weller in the 1940’s, the Old Fitzgerald name is now owned by Heaven Hill. The distillery announced last year that they’d be honoring the label with both fall and spring releases of a bottled-in-bond bourbon, with spring releases sporting green labels and fall, black. Staying true to historic labeling, a tax strip atop each bottle denotes distillation and bottling years. Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond comes packaged in an ornate glass decanter, and retails between $90 and $120 for a 750ml bottle depending on age.
7. Jack Daniel’s Bottled-in-Bond Tennessee Whiskey
While the majority of bottled-in-bond whiskeys on shelves and on our list are bourbons, any American whiskey can bear the label. Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey is differentiated from Kentucky Bourbon by its charcoal mellowed finishing technique, but this new member of the Jack Daniel Distillery’s permanent family meets all the requirements laid out by the Bottled-in-Bond Act. It’s available now in duty free shops around the world for $40 for a 1L bottle.
Whiskey Review: Heaven Hill 27 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Editor’s Note: This whiskey was provided to us as a review sample by Heaven Hill. This in no way, per our editorial policies, influenced the final outcome of this review.
27 years of age is a really long, long time for a bourbon.
I’m currently staring at a media review sample of the two decades and seven years old bourbon from Heaven Hill that predates a legendary fire there over 20 years ago. This fire, which gained a high degree of notoriety for the intensity of the burning, destroyed a staggering over 90,000 barrels of aging whiskey that had been produced at the Old Heaven Hill Springs Distillery before it was gutted in 1996.
What is tempting me in the small bottle to the side of my laptop is part curiosity in taste, and part intellectual wonder. This Kentucky straight bourbon was drawn from just 41 barrels produced in 1989 and 1990 that were ultimately mingled together recently for this very limited release after passing taste testing at the distillery. I’ve certainly personally tasted my share of older whiskeys in my time running this website, but this is one of the oldest bourbons I’ve tried to date, and certainly one which has my mind wandering pre-taste as to the selection process the Heaven Hill team went through in putting this together.
It is said this was chosen from limited remaining stocks of pre-fire barrels that have been closely monitored post-fire. Of the stock that was left over, including this, did the fire heat and accompanying heavy smoke play into this product’s development, or were these barrels somehow isolated enough to not have this as an item of concern? Heaven Hill didn’t spell out specifically where these barrels were in relation to the events of that day, so we are only left to guess.
What is known is that all but five of the barrels in this small batch were aged on the first and second floors of an aging warehouse, where increased humidity and evaporation caused the proof to drop to a low 47.35% ABV at the time of bottling. Given that the older a bourbon gets the higher chance it has to become over-oaked in its flavor profile, I was eager to see how such an old spirit played on my palate in relation to the various factors it has experienced over the years.
Heaven Hill 27 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon (image via Heaven Hill)
Tasting Notes: Heaven Hill 27 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Vital Stats: 27 year old bourbon; 94.7 proof (47.35% ABV); 750 ml bottle housed in special wooden box with magnetic closure; prices around $400, though prices at the time of this review are significantly higher.
Appearance: A beautiful brownish orange in the glass, this bourbon has warm earth tones and wonderful legs as I swirl it around.
Nose: There is a subtle play of sweet and oak aromas on first smell, highlighting the fact this older bourbon appears not to be over-oaked. Hints of sweet peach and pear drift up from the glass after a short bit, and half an hour later brown sugar and toffee compliment the balanced oak.
Palate: There is little heat in this bourbon, so watering it down isn’t really needed. Orange, jam, vanilla and some wood emerge in my mouth as I taste it, along with some hints of maple and caramel. There’s a warm mouth feel, complimented half an hour later by some rather odd notes of candy corn and caramel corn. This is definitely showcasing itself as almost a dessert bourbon.
On the finish side it holds long in the back of my throat after I swallow, being smooth going down and offering a full bodied warmth for a very pleasant conclusion.
Summary
Bourbon this old never tasted so good. Though some oak is present one cannot say this is an overly woody whiskey, especially given the number of years it spent in barrel. This is an investment in a bottle, something you’ll want to savor a small amount at a time as bottles of it are not cheap to come by.
Though a good sipper on its own, this would also work well accompanying certain desserts, and is certainly something I would consider after dinner. An American whiskey well worthy of the Heaven Hill name.
4.5 Stars (Out of 5)
Cheers!
-Chris Brantley