Drink the Bottles

  While we can't say for certain that the 2024 release of William Larue Weller is the best BTAC bottle, it sure put a smile on our face and made us really take notice.  It's not often that we get to taste the hard-to-find releases from the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, but this was very exciting for us and we had heard grumblings from several sources that this year's expression was delicious.  They weren't wrong. At just over 12 years, this bourbon aged in barrels on the lower levels of the rickhouse after entering at 114 proof before the long and important nap.  Fruit basket, floral notes with oak and homemade caramel candies on the nose.  "Wow" was the first thing that Mutt said and he picked up shoe leather, toffee, spice and sweet tobacco.  Jeff called this a fruit bomb with caramel and a nice lingering spice along with chocolate covered candies.  Honeysuckle, orange rind and chocolate nose.  Both guys agreed that the orange marmalade and...

  The 2024 BTAC (Buffalo Trace Antique Collection) has just been released and whiskey enthusiasts are scrambling to make back alley deals and beg with their buddies at the liquor store to find these bottles for them.  Without a doubt, the BTAC bottles are some of the most difficult to capture (especially at MSRP) and there is always a frenzy around the release dates every year. This is the Eagle Rare 17 Year Old Bourbon , offered at 101 proof and highly allocated.  Compared to the standard 10 year Eagle Rare at 90 proof, this one packs a little more punch and depth, due largely in part to the additional 7 years in the barrel.  The age statement on this is actually 17 years and 4 months for the 2024 release.  We tasted this from a 100 mL sample bottle neat in Glencairn glasses... multiple times.  It's amazing how quickly that sample bottle will run out! On the nose we didn't  get the herbal tea that we often experience from Eagle Rare 10 Year.  Tha...

  This is one of those bottles that we have had "in que" for sometime and for whatever reason, we kept pushing it further to the back of the line.  Shame on us!  Mutt had never tasted O.H. Ingram and Jeff thought the previous Ingram bottle was fantastic.  Today we have the O.H. Ingram River Aged Straight Rye Whiskey and my God.......... what a treat! It's not very often that we are at a loss for words.  This whiskey took us by complete surprise and threw us for a loop - in a good way.  Tasted neat from Glencairn glasses initially, and then once the camera stopped rolling (see video below) we dug into this even more.  And then we tasted it again the next day.  It goes without saying that we cannot wait to share this bottle with some folks in the local bourbon clubs. Medium honey color and a nose like nothing we have ever experienced.  Jeff said that in a blind tasting, he may not be able to pick this out as a rye whiskey.  On the nose i...

  Due north of Boulder, Colorado sits a small town of about 2200 residents and an unsuspecting distillery, born out of the reamins of and old motorcycle repair shop.  Head distiller and co-founder CraigEngelhorn (aka Hair of the Dog) had a dream to take his home-brewed beer hobby to the next level.  With the help of some like-minded friends, Spirit Hound Distillers was born. Today we're tasting two expressions from Spirit Hound.  The first up is the Barrel Project Bourbon, a single barrel bourbon finished in Amercan single malt whiskey barrels.  We should first start by pointing out that every time SHD (Spirit Hound Distillers) refers to WHISKEY, the use the alternative, sans "e".  We don't.  We are "E" people through and through.  But we all have the same love for the stuff in the bottle. This is a really nice lower entry proof bourbon that is as laid back as a Coloradan on a holiday weekend.  Light to medium brown, full of buttery maple sy...

  Our friends at Lux Row Distillers have another hit on their hands!  This new, limited-release bottle is their Small Batch Rye finished in PX Sherry Casks.  For finished whiskey lovers, this is one you'll want to seek out.  For straight rye fans, this one will appeal to you as well.  So many distilleries are finishing whiskey in about every type of previously-used spirits container you can think of, and Lux Row has this talent fine-tuned. Tasted from sample, this is brown sugar in color.  On the nose is a sweeter fruity note, fig pudding, hints of flower bouquet and grape.  We dug right into this one and found that the palate was not as sweet as we had anticipated or that was hinted from the nose.  Mutt got spice up front while Jeff took note of the espresso bean taste.  The spice tapered off quickly and suggested cinnamon stick, fig and roasted nuts (specifically cashews) on the back end.  This was literally mouth-watering. While this...

  The newest batch of Remus Repeal Reserve is hitting shelves now and there's a lot to be excited about with this Series VIII release.  Master Distiller Ian Stirsman made some changes by blind tasting this and ultimately deciding on 101 proof and by also using a higher proportion of high rye recipe bourbon than in previous releases.  While some Remus Repeal Reserve releases have had more components in the final blend, the ten-to-seventeen year old aged bourbons really fire on all cylinders and have created a fantastic pour. Series VIII is comprised of 9% 2007 bourbon (21% rye), 24% 2014 bourbon (21% rye) and 67% 2014 bourbon (36% rye).  The older bourbon definitely shows it hand in this expression, displaying aromas of cherry syrup, fine bound book leather, roasted nuts, vanilla and overly ripe plums.  It is mouth-watering and immediately eye-opening and it is reminiscent of your dad's bourbon that he purchased twenty years ago and occasionally sipped on when m...

  One thing you know about us is that we love unique.  And since Jeff has been heavily involved in wine for so many years, this whiskey caught his attention.  To our knowlege, this is the first whiskey aged in the "sur lie" method, or at least the only one currently on the market.  This method of aging wine (and now spirits for this example) was introduced by the French to incorporate more complex flavors and aromas to the product.  Let's take a look at this bottle and see how this process faired for the  Redemption Sur Lee Straight Rye Whiskey . The first thing we noticed is how Redemption knocked it out of the park with the label and packaging.  While some may find the label too busy, we really like how the label explains the entire process from mashing to enjoying a glass of this straight rye whiskey.  Education is a big part of this bottle as it is isolated from everything else on the market.  The 95% rye and 5% mash bill, non-chill filte...

  If you've been following the whiskey world for any period of time, you no doubt have heard the phrases "grain to glass" and "craft distillery".  For whiskey enthusiasts, these phrases have a cult-like following as many view the grain to glass designation as the best and only way  to truly make whiskey and appreciate the craft involved, beginning to end.  While we know that not every distillery has the ability to make this their practice, we certainly appreciate keeping everything in-house when possible.  To us, it often improves the quality and overall production of the spirits. Still Austin Whiskey Company was the brain child of recent retiree Cleveland Seals and he sought the help of his son Chris to explore the reality of whether or not to open a distillery.  The pair drew closer, spent a ton of time together, drank a lot of whiskey, had deep conversations and eventually arrived to the decision that the Texas hill country needed a distillery.. But not ...

  In the midwest sits a small town of under 11,000 people, producing their self-proclaimed #1 Rye Whiskey in the World.  Carroll, Iowa is home to Iowa Legendary Rye Distillery , where they create pre-Prohibition rye whiskey using a bootlegger's recipe and cooking up trouble in 26-gallon pot stills.  They age their craft in small, 15 gallon casks, always using all-natural ingredients and doing things the old fashioned way, or in their opinion....... the right way. This is the gold label is a fine example of a family owned secret that was finally and reluctantly passed down from Grandma Lorine Sextro.  Now that recipe lives in Iowa Legendary Rye and boy, were we in for a treat!  This small batch rye is a hand picked tri-barrel blend.  The team strives for excellence by using new barrels, barrels with experience and double distilled double barrels to create a spirit that is not only unique, but memorable.  And that's exactly what you're getting here. Medi...

  Hold on to your hats for this one, folks!   This is the 2024 Yellowstone Limited Edition Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey .  This creation is a blend of seven and seventeen year Kentucky bourbons from Master Distiller Stephen Beam and it is tracking to become one of our favorite limited-edition releases of the year!   We visited this bottle on three separate occasions - a "pop and pour" (see video below), a more formal tasting the next day, and a re-visit about 10 days later - all neat and all from a Glencairn.  As we describe in the video link below, we know that most folks buy a bottle and then go home and immediately taste it right away.  We knew there was something very special about this bottle which is why we tasted it multiple times and the results were so varied and incredible. Our first impression (remember, pop-and pour) was an inviting, dusty funkness that was reminiscent of a box of old baseball cards and a sweet cigar wrapper....

  Three friends - Tom, Jason and Zack - had a dream like so many spirit enthusiasts do.  They wanted to create a product that they could not only call their own, but own it from beginning to end.  A 100 gallon still helped them realize this dream, allowing them to create a line of flavored moonshines, gin, vodka, award-winning rum and now whiskey and bourbon in small batches. This is the Wise Men Distillery Bottled in Bond Bourbon out of Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Most of you know the requirements for a bourbon to be labeled "bottled in bond", but if you're new here, we're going to share that with you.  For a whiksey to be labeled Bottled in Bond (or better known as the acronym BiB), it must meet the following: The whiskey must be produced during a single distilling season (January - June) or (July - December) and it must be made from a single distiller at a single distillery. The whiskey must be aged for a minimum  of 4 years in a federally bonded warehouse...