BOURBON NEWS
Old Forester has released its 117 series, the first bottle in 150 years to feature a woman’s signature (Master Taster Jackie Zykan.) It’s $49.99 retail only at the Old Forester Distillery in Louisville. Secondary prices are about $250 (And I’ll pass at that)
Japan’s Mars Distillery has released the Mars IWAI 45. It’s 70% corn and 30% malted barley, and since it’s not made in America, it can’t call itself bourbon. Lots of early raves for this $40 product. Yes, I’m trying to get one.
Wanna gets handsy … with bourbon? Fist Full of Bourbon is looking for a hand model for its whiskey.
Brough Brothers Distillery, the first African-American owned distillery in Kentucky, has released its first bourbon
WHAT’S NEW ON MY SHELF
Bomberger’s Declaration. $89.99 retail, $450 secondary
Funny story. I went to a friend’s house recently and he said we could drink whatever bourbon he had. I saw a bottle of Bomberger’s Declaration, the 2019 release, and said, “Dude, this stuff is worth $450 on the secondary market.”
He grabbed the bottle, tucked it under his arm, and put it in a safe place.
Good move. Michter’s distills Bomberger’s, a homage to an 1800’s era distillery. I had no hope of finding one of these at retail price because this release contains just 1,753 bottles. But I did scour the secondary market and found a steal --- two of them for $350. I pounced like a lion going after a wounded zebra.
Now you might think that $175 each is outrageous but understand the market. If I wanted to, I could have sold one of my bottles and still made a profit. But that’s not what I do. I don’t buy to sell. I buy to drink.
If you can get this drinker, get it.
The nose had more going on than a Tarantino movie. Is that a little orange? Some oak? Some deep …. Something? I couldn’t quite make it out.
The first sip blew me away. Huge, and I mean huge, toffee, followed by burnt sugar, caramel, and vanilla. It’s a big, rich, deep color that makes sense because the juice sits dark and bold in the glass. It has a long finish and the heat isn’t huge, even at 108 proof.
It’s an amazing bourbon. The only problem: Just 1,753 bottles.
I wouldn’t pay the full secondary price because I wouldn’t on any bottle. At some point, the cost-benefit ratio doesn’t make sense. But at $175 each secondary, this is a terrific buy for collectors.
I just don’t think you’ll find many more at price. If they’re out there, I’m buying.
Sorry, there is no available mash bill or age statement, which is becoming annoyingly standard in the industry, Eventually, customers are going to push back because they’re going to want to know exactly what they’re paying for.
BOURBON PICKS
Affordable bourbon that would be good on your shelf
Early Times 100 proof Bottled-in-Bond. $30
So that we have the nomenclature right, bottled-in-bond bourbons must be aged at least four years and at 100 proof. For the price of, really, two movie tickets, the Early Times is a steal, especially since it comes in a 1-liter bottle. And there’s another bonus. This bourbon is distilled at an honest-to-goodness Kentucky distillery, which doesn’t make a difference to a lot of folks. Me, I always like to see that because I equate distilleries to locally owned restaurants and MGP to fast-food chains. But that’s just me.
Early Times is a winner. It has no burn but lots of spice up front, so much so you would think this mix has more than 11% rye. Some reviewers get citrus when they taste, but to me, the spice gives way to pepper and lings for a surprisingly long time.
This Early Times is one of the better buys on the market and I’d load up. The market is such that good, inexpensive stuff ends up winning some award and doubling in price (see: McKenna). Here’s hoping Early Times BiB stays under the radar.
Mashbill: 79% corn, 11% rye, and 10% malted barley
Distillery: Brown-Foreman
SCAM ALERT
Unfortunately, the bourbon community, like anything else, is replete with scammers. So for the growing reader base of this newsletter (THANK YOU!) drop a line if you wonder whether a place is legit. And we’ll bring news of places that don’t seem like they are.
One such account making its way on Twitter belongs to the Bourbon Whiskey Retail Shop. The only experience I have with these people is a Twitter direct message exchange that left me suspicious, especially since the process of hard-to-get allocated bourbons was barely above retail. That’s the first clue. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.
Lo and behold, after doing LOTS of checking, one of the internet sleuth companies that identifies potentially nefarious posts listed the Bourbon Whiskey Retail Shop. So this is just a warning. If you see them online, tread carefully.
BOURBON REVIEWS
This newsletter doesn’t do wholesale bourbon reviews because there are lots of other resources out there that do so. Here are five outstanding sources and I’ll add more as we go along:
Breaking Bourbon: The best overall website offers reviews and release dates
Whiskey Consensus rates, on a 1-10 scale, just about any bourbon you can imagine
Bourbon Banter offers reviews of the bottles it tastes
Modern Thirst: Reviews and a blog
Whiskey Advocate: A great place to find out the latest about the varying Whiskey Fests.
BOURBON EVENTS
Note: There are lots of scheduled bourbon events coming up but, due to Covid, I’m only listing events happening after April and will adjust as I go along. But it seems as if things are starting to loosen up and plans are becoming more formal. And as usual, there are more events than I can possibly list. In future newsletters, I’ll probably only go 2-3 months and include signature events that sell out fast.
APRIL
Whiskey Obsession will be April 8 in Tampa, Fl.
Biscuits and Bourbon --- a biscuit bar with fried chicken, other toppings, and bourbon --- kicks off Derby week at the Kentucky Derby Museum on April 28
MAY
A new event, Bourbon and Bubbles, will be May 22 in Franklin, KY
JULY
The Bacon, Bourbon, and Brew Festival is scheduled for July 8-11 in Cincinnati
AUGUST
The Bourbon Tasting event in Grove City, OH will be on August 8
The Bourbon and Bowties fundraiser for Children’s Hospital in Prospect, KY has been moved to August 26
The Bourbon on the Banks festival is scheduled for August 27 and 28 in Frankfort, KY
SEPTEMBER
The Bourbon Burn, a bike tour of distilleries and horse farms, will be Sept. 24 in Kentucky
The Kentucky Bourbon Festival plans to hold its event from Sept. 16-21 in Bardstown. General admission tickets are available. VIP tickets are already sold out
OCTOBER
The Edge Bourbon Festival in Northern Kentucky is scheduled for October 1.
The Detroit Bourbon Festival will be on October 16.
Whiskey Fest has new dates: Oct. 30 in Hollywood, Fl; Nov. 5 in Chicago; Nov. 11 in NY; and Dec. 2 in San Francisco
NOVEMBER
Bourbon Classic in Louisville, KY, is November 4, 5, and 6. Tickets are on sale.
First Capital Bourbon Dinner is scheduled for November 5 in Chillicothe, OH
ON HOLD, TBA
Whiskey’s of the World in San Francisco has been postponed a couple of times. We’ll see how that goes.
Bourbon and Bubbles, the premier annual event of the Dayton (OH) Art Institute is on hold
The Nth Whiskey Experience (Nth is not a typo) in Las Vegas has been moved to April 2022