BOURBON NEWS
Buffalo Trace plans to release an EH Taylor Warehouse C, a one-time, 10-year, Bottled in Bond bourbon, according to the Alcohol, Tobacco, Tax, and Trade bureau. The reported retail value clocks in at $70 and will be available in June.
Bob Dylan’s whiskey brand, Heaven’s Door (get it?) will issue a limited-release 10-year bourbon in June. Retail $104. It’s another entry into the expensive (and often overrated) craft market.
Angel’s Envy will release its limited-edition Madeira Cask finished product on June 6. It’ll be a tough get with only 4,000 bottles released. On that day, 400 bottles will be available at the Angel’s Envy Louisville distillery starting at 1 p.m. Retail: $229.99
Two other sought-after bourbons are expected to be available in June --- the Stagg Jr. Batch 16 and the Wild Turkey Master’s Keep Toasted Oak finish. There’s little information about either.
Tennis great Andy Roderick has released his label called Sweetens Cove
An Update On Our Barrel
A group of eight of us toured Starlight Distillery in Borden, IN on May 14. We were all surprised by the outfit’s operation and more than happy with the staff’s tremendous attentiveness. Starlight started making brandy in 2001 and bourbon thereafter. Most of its standard product is 4.5 years old and comes in about $40 retail.
I’ve always liked Starlight. I purchased a bottle through a local group that’s excellent and another from Papa Joe’s in Richmond. Both have a slight alcohol tint (though my friend Bob says I’m alcohol sensitive) that hits you with vanilla, caramel, and chocolate. I love the long finish. While many smaller distilleries charge premiums, Starlight’s single barrel, bottled at five years six months at 110 proof, retails for $50. It’s the real deal and a good bargain.
Our group selected two half barrels --- a double oak and rye that’s not easily found on retail shelves. Starlight let us taste until we cried uncle. I was thinking, using past experiences as a guide, we might have five or so tastes and select from that. No. I lost count at eight tastes and by then my pallet could have used a turpentine cleanser. Not that the bourbon was bad. None of it was. There was just so much of it starting at 10 a.m. I kept telling myself we were tasting in Helsinki because they’re seven hours ahead.
In a blind taste test we actually thought the double oak was the rye, showing the bourbon’s smoothness and character. I am not a rye fan but this is one I’m happy to have. I’ll have a more detailed review when we get the bottles, which will be sometime in July. I’m hoping we don’t get any bottle shock as we did with Few.
Oh, and here’s what the label looks like. The label has been named after Gary’s son, Eric, and his soon-to-be wife. Cool.
As I always do I have held back a few bottles in the case our new members want one or two, or in case someone gets a last-minute itch to get more. I anticipate both happening given the circumstances (can’t get it off the shelf).
For those who get this newsletter and live outside of Ohio, I can make arrangements to mail a bottle (if there are any left) with the additional UPS cost.
Justin’s House of Bourbon, Louisville
I’ve been to a lot of bourbon bars and I’ve never seen anything like Justin’s House of Bourbon. The place has bourbon from the prohibition era to today. It has pretty much every hard-to-get bourbon you can imagine, and yes, the prices come in at or above secondary for bottles and for pours from their bar.
But Justin pours some of those hard-to-get bourbons (think Pappy) and also arranges private tastings. It is pricey but seems like one of those experiences worth the bucks. Next time we’re there ……..
Trouble in paradise
I belong to several local and national bourbon groups and there is a raft of angst in all of them. Members of one are angry because a barrel purchase has gone bad and members can’t get their money back. Members of another are furious that a group can’t control a known scammer who keeps promising bourbon, taking money, and not delivering. Another is in an uproar because sellers try to change purchase terms after an agreed-upon deal. And there’s always the quibbling over far market.
This is just a way of saying: If you’re going to play in the fireball and secondary markets, be sure you’re with people you trust, knowing that those people might have issues beyond their control that will screw up a sale. Be especially careful sending money electronically because that could go into a black hole.
Just. Be. Careful.
Private Blending: All the Rage
First, it was limited releases. Then it was jacking up the price once your bourbon made a “best of” list. Now come the latest --- private blending experiences.
Here’s one from the Nashville-based Pennington Distillery, which produces Davidson Reserve Small Batch Bourbon, a sour mash.
You can go to the distillery for a tour; sample a few barrels; blend the barrels based on flavor profile, and then use the blend to create your own unique bottle.
While I think it’s interesting, and something I’d do if there was a large enough group interested, it’s nothing I’m excited to do. Why? Value.
As I read through the impressive experience list, I kept wondering, what does this cost. Answer: $200 per person. You can buy up to five additional bottles at $75 each. My bad math says the experience and those five additional bottles will cost me $575, and that’s before all of the expenses of going to Nashville. I figure the whole trip (hotel and food, too) at about $1,000 if you go all in. If you think that’s an outrageous cost think again. The tasting groups normally go big when we go to dinner.
I’m having a hard time finding the value, especially since the Davidson’s Reserve straight Tennessee bourbon retails for $44. That’s a $31 premium to blend together some barrels. I blended the FEW bottles and it didn’t cost me a cent (and I liked the blend best).
Yes, it’s nice to have a personally engraved bottle. And yes, you can spend less by leaving with just one bottle. But what’s the point? If you’re making a somewhat proprietary blend, you’ll want extra bottles, right? I know I would.
There are other private blending experiences that, to me, are preferable. At Glenn’s Creek, for example, we can go to the distillery, create our own mash bill, let the barrels age for two years, and then pick them up. Yes, you have to wait but waiting is no big deal, especially for those who dabble in wine futures.
And frankly, I haven’t found a Tennessee bourbon I like. Granted, a blend might be OK but do I really want to invest the time and money to find out?
I’d rather buy a bottle of George T. Stagg and Old Fitzgerald on the secondary for that $1,000 and call it a day.
Events
Members have already let me know that the events portion of the newsletter doesn’t help them, so I’ll forgo that for now. If I see amazing events I think I need to let you about I will.