Maker's 46: Revisited

Hey folks, this is going to be the last post of 2018 as I take a little time to spend with my family over the holidays. BourbonGuy.com will be back to its regularly scheduled twice per week posting as of January 3rd, 2019. Until that time, I hope you have a very fun, yet safe, holiday season and I will see you in the new year.

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It has been one thousand, five hundred and seventy-seven days since I last did a tasting of Maker’s 46. About four hundred days later I featured the entire Maker’s Mark line (to that point) in the inaugural edition of the “If you’ve had…” series.

I’ve always had a fondness for Maker’s Mark. It is one of the few wheated bourbons (those that use wheat as the secondary grain instead of the typical rye) that I like to the point where I would buy it again. The last time I reviewed it, (right at review 50 or so) I said the following:

It’s like a spicy candy. And that makes me happy.

I’ve had this on the shelf quite a few times, and every time I do I think that I should buy it more often. Then of course, I forget about it in favor of the next new shiny thing. This is the first time that I’ve sat down to do a thoughtful tasting of it, though, since those first few posts. Let’s see if anything has changed other than the price, which in this case went down.

Maker’s 46: Revisited

Purchase Info: $25.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Details: 47% ABV

Nose: Cherry, chocolate, vanilla, brown sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon.

Mouth: Overflowing with baking spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves. There is a nice toffee sweetness baking them up.

Finish: Medium length and warm. The baking spice parade continues here with the spicy notes from the mouth hanging around for a nice long while.

Thoughts: Like I said above, I tend to forget about this one. No more. At roughly $25 per bottle, I think this needs to join the rotation of “everyday” bourbons on the shelf. This, Wild Turkey 101, and a Very Old Barton. Not a bad rotation.

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Woodford Reserve Double Oaked: Revisited

Like most major changes to this site, the one that happened on March 12, 2013 was done on a whim. I’m an impulsive person and sometimes I just…do things. On March 12, 2013, I was writing a review of Woodford Reserve Double Oaked, which was fairly new at the time. I’d been blogging at what could be, charitably, referred to as a sporadic frequency since I started the site. One week, I’d post every day, but then I might go a month before I posted again. I really only did it when I thought about it. And I’m pretty easily distracted.

But on that night, I decided that if I wasn’t going to start taking the site seriously, there really wasn’t much use in continuing to pay for it. I made a pledge to post at least once a week (upped to the current twice a week about a year later). As an extremely avid photographer, I also decided that I was going to shoot good, original photographs for each post. They were going to be big, artistically composed and be something that I could be proud of.

It was a whim to start taking the site seriously. And do you know what? In the 2100 days, and over 300 whiskey reviews since that whim I never again picked up a bottle of Woodford Reserve Double Oaked. I grabbed a private selection a couple times, but never the standard release. In those intervening years, a lot has changed in this market for Woodford Reserve. Obviously the label and the bottle have changed. But since I last bought it at around $60, the price has come down in this market so that I paid roughly $45 this time. Thank you Total Wine Effect. So what else has changed? Do I like it more, less or the same as I did five and a half years ago?

Woodford Reserve Double Oaked: Revisited

Purchase Info: $45.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Details: 45.2% ABV. Finished in a second new barrel.

Nose: Toffee, Cinnamon, Brown Bread, and oak.

Mouth: Cinnamon, a creamy coffee latte, caramel, black pepper, and oak.

Finish: Longer side of medium, lingering cinnamon, toffee and coffee note.

Thoughts: 2100 days ago, I said that I liked this, but wasn’t a fan of the price. Well, that has been fixed. $46 is, sadly, right in the 2018 range for a richly flavored whiskey these days, whether that flavor is from oak, proof, or age. But since I originally paid $60 for it, I’ll take it. This is deliciously dessert-like in it’s sweetness. If you don’t like sweet bourbons, avoid this one. But if like me, you have a whiskey sweet tooth, I recommend it.

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Calumet Farm 10 Year Old, Single Barrel Selection by Total Wine Kentucky

Last week, I mentioned that upon entering a Louisville total Wine, I had been surprised by an expanded line of Calumet Farm bourbons. And that after much deliberation I had gotten the Private Selection over the batched versions. It was a good choice because, as it turned out, I wasn’t able to get the Private Selection at home, but ended up having the rest of the line available for purchase.

I also teased that the only reason I picked up the 10 year old Single Rack Black was because I had this one in the closet and wanted to see how they compared. This is the second part of the Calumet Farm “series” and the review that I teased last week.

Calumet Farm 10 Year Old, Single Barrel Selection by Total Wine Kentucky

Purchase Info: $68.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine-Paddock Shops, Louisville, KY.

Details: 10 year age statement. 46% ABV. Barrel 225. Barreled on date: March 2006.

Nose: Wintergreen, artificial cherry flavor, and tobacco.

Mouth: Warm and tingly with mint, baking spice, fruit and a touch of tobacco.

Finish: Gentle at first with a blossom of heat after. Lingering baking spice and tobacco.

Thoughts: This is obviously from the same source as the batched version as it has a very similar flavor profile. Fruit, spice, mint, and oak flavors dominate. In this version oak shows as tobacco instead of wood. In the Single Rack Black the fruits were less generic in flavor and the oak on the finish is more tannic.

I like them both. And I’d probably pick this up over the Single Rack Black if they were evenly priced. But since this is priced more than $15 higher at the same store, I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to pick it up again. The difference isn’t that big (unless you are super sensitive to tannins). And, in my experience of Total Wine private selections, that is pretty much par for the course. They are seldom much, if any better, then the original.

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Calumet Farm 10-year-old Single Rack Black Bourbon

I try to keep my nose to the happenings in the whiskey front. I read and listen to whiskey news, blogs, and reviews. I used to be on twitter to follow such things (not so much anymore, Twitter can be a vile place). But sometimes, things slip through the cracks, and I get surprised at the liquor store. I mean, if the company doesn’t send me the press release, it’s not like I’m out searching for them. I’m a storyteller, not a journalist.

Take tonight’s whiskey. Apparently, this was introduced earlier this year. In researching it, I found a press release for its 12-year-old brother dated April of 2018. Looking at the archive.org snapshots of the Calumet Bourbon website show that images for this bourbon showed up on their site around the same time. But when I walked into a Total Wine in Louisville back in September, I knew none of this. I saw that they had a Private Selection of a 10-year-old Calumet and picked it up. It wasn’t until I got back home that I realized that there were bottles of 10- and 12-year-old Calumet bourbons on local shelves.

Knowing that I thought the standard “small batch” Calumet was fine, but that I felt it was overpriced, I wasn’t in a real big hurry to grab another bottle from the line. But, of course, I did have that Private Selection in the closet, and I was a fan of the Bird Dog 10-year-old released from the same company. So, yeah, I pulled the trigger and picked this up.

What does “Single Rack” mean? Apparently, that is a descriptor that the company is using because each batch of bourbon is created using the barrels from a single rack (19 barrels) in the rickhouse.

Calumet Farm 10-year-old Single Rack Black Bourbon

Purchase Info: $52.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Details: 46% ABV. 10 year age stated. Rack C0505.10. 19 barrel batch.

Nose: Bubblegum, mixed berries, a hint of soap, cinnamon, and light oak.

Mouth: Nice spice, with cinnamon, ripe fruits, mint, and oak.

Finish: Warm and of decent length. Lingering baking spice, ripe fruits, mint, and oak.

Thoughts: This tastes like it has more than its fair share of Heaven Hill juice in the batch. But, it also reminds me a bit of something from Jefferson’s. This ain’t half bad. It’s a nice “change-of-pace” bourbon as it sits solidly between the typical bourbon flavor profile and the fruity fringes of the bourbon flavor profile. I’m going to say this one will not be for everyone, but I like it. And I like it more after I’ve spent some time with it than I did when it was first opened.

You might be asking that since I felt that the “regular” small batch release was overpriced for what it was, what about this one? I’d like to say that a $50+ price point for a 10-year-old bourbon is high, but we all know that is no longer the case. So in light of that, I’m going to say that the price is on the higher side of acceptable for me but still within tolerances.

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Yellowstone Limited Edition 2018

I’ve reviewed the yearly release of Yellowstone Limited Edition for the last couple years now. I’ve always liked them enough to recommend them at retail purchase prices. But this year, we took the bold step of paying above retail prices for it.

No, we didn’t start playing the secondary market. At least, not really. Instead we picked this up at the yearly Master Distiller’s Auction to benefit the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History in Bardstown, KY. The auction is held during the Kentucky Bourbon Festival each September and we’ve been attending every year since a friend of mine suggested I check it out. We have a good system. My frugal wife holds the number and does the bidding while I, the competitive one, tell her (before the auction) what I’d be willing to pay for the things I’m interested in.

The auction is the main source of revenue for the Oscar Getz museum and since we enjoy visiting (especially now that they have started to update the exhibits) we like to try to buy something in order to support them. While I will probably never have the budget to go after some of the high ticket items like a bottle of Willett Family Estate Single Barrel whiskey ($700), an antique bourbon from 1941 ($1,100), Pappy 15 year old ($2,000), a private tour and tasting at Willett with Drew Kulsveen ($2,000) or a bottle of Pappy 23 year old ($3,600), I do try to save at least a little of my Kentucky budget for the auction.

This year the auction raised $29,930 for the museum. Of which I, and my bottle of Yellowstone, contributed $150. Was it worth it? The way I see it, I gave a $150 to a museum I enjoy and got a bottle of nice whiskey tossed in. So, yeah. It was worth it. But how does it stand up for people who are happening upon it at retail?

Yellowstone Limited Edition 2018

Purchase Info: $150 for a signed 750 mL bottle at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival Master Distiller’s Auction to benefit the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History.

Details: 50.5% ABV. The press release states this is a blend of bourbons that range from 4 to 12 years old, including some Limestone Branch distilled bourbon. Regarding the barrels used for finishing, the release quotes Steve Beam: “In 2016, we finished our Limited Edition bourbon in specially selected new wine barrels, which lent their special flavor to that year’s celebrated bourbon, but their journey had barely begun. Later that year, after the bourbon was dumped and bottled, the same 28 barrels were lightly charred and we filled them with our 2017 Limited Edition bourbon. This year, we took the very same barrels – now rich with complexity – and deeply charred them before filling them with our 2018 Limited Edition.”

Nose: Brown sugar, tobacco, tart cherry.

Mouth: Baking spices, brown sugar, salty leather (think about chewing on the laces of your baseball glove when you were a kid).

Finish: Warm, long and very flavorful. Cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and tart cherries linger.

Thoughts: Yum. This is delicious. I would certainly buy this again and since this is their last barrel finishing experiment in this line, I’m looking forward to what they try next.

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Jim Beam Repeal Batch

Last year, on a particularly cold negative twenty degree (Fahrenheit) night, I put a glass of 80° proof whiskey out on the deck to see how it would react to the extreme cold of a Minnesota winter and if it would start to freeze. Mostly, it did nothing. It got a little syrupy but it’s not like it started to crystalize or anything. I was a little disappointed but only a little. I started my college education, way back in the pre-commercial internet days, studying science so I am well versed in the idea that a hypothesis (especially one that is backed by scant actual info) often doesn’t stand up to experimental trials.

Why would I leave a glass of whiskey outside overnight? Well, mostly because I was curious. I wanted to know what happens as alcohol reaches it’s freezing point (roughly -17°F at 80 proof). Especially if that alcohol is bourbon. And since negative twenty doesn’t happen too often I thought that was my chance to find out. Maybe it didn’t get that cold, or maybe alcohol starts to gel before freezing. No idea. But it was interesting to observe. If this winter gets that cold, I’ll probably try again. It would be interesting to try frozen whiskey.

It is that same curiosity that led me to a certain thought when I first saw that Jim Beam was coming out with a non-chill filtered. We’ve all learned that bourbons are chill-filtered because at a lower proof there is the possibility of a cloudiness occurring if it gets too cold. This is deemed to be a turn-off to customers (I’d guess rightly so). And so the producers pre-chill the bourbon to filter that cloudiness out. But, the follow-up thought also says that chill-filtered bourbon also removes some of the flavor. And so it is fitting that, with a limited edition bourbon, a company would skip that step and give geeks what they are clamoring for, even if it is at a lower proof.

Of course, the first thing I thought of was if I could make that cloudiness happen. I’ve never seen it and I would like to. Why? Curiosity, I guess. But then I went and finished the bottle before thinking about it. Maybe I’ll have to get get another one.

Jim Beam Repeal Batch

Purchase Info: $17.99 for a 750 ml bottle, Liquor Barn Jefferson Commons, Louisville, KY. Available locally starting at $18.99 for a one liter bottle.

Details: 43% ABV. Non-Chill filtered.

Nose: Peanut Brittle, dried leaves

Mouth: Peanut, baking spice and a hint of mint.

Finish: Gentle with a long lasting unsalted peanut note.

Thoughts: This is a limited edition whiskey. Is it worth grabbing instead of other Beam products? To find out, I picked up a little Beam White label and Beam Black label. It found that this has a nose that is more similar to Beam Black than it is to Beam White, though not as woody as Black Label. The mouth is a sweeter and smoother version of Beam White. It doesn’t show the sharp wood flavors that Beam White often does. I’d say that if you were to view the difference between Beam White and Beam Black on a spectrum, that this would fall somewhere on the one quarter mark (on the Beam White side).

Should you buy it? If you are a Beam fan, yes. Even if it is just for curiosity’s sake. In a vacuum, it is pretty meh. But it is a better version of Beam White and due to the price, I might pick up a liter for use in cocktails. Or for experimentation’s sake.

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Bourbon Justice: How Whiskey Law Shaped America by Brian Haara

I state in my Statement of Ethics that, if I ever discuss a product that is produced by one of my friends, I will disclose it at the beginning of the article. I also state that I will disclose if I received a review copy. Brian Haara is a friend of mine. I did buy the book to support his work, but I also received a review copy prior to the publication date as well. All opinions on the work are my own, but it won’t hurt to keep in mind that I might be biased.

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I had been reading SippnCorn.com (now housed on BrianHaara.com) long before I met its author in real life. It was, and is, a great resource into bourbon history. I interviewed Brian Haara, lawyer and the proprietor of the site back in 2015. In it, he let loose the secret that he was starting to write a book and ever since that time, I have been eagerly waiting for it to arrive.

Back in April, it finally hit Amazon as a pre-order. I immediately placed my order, without even knowing the publication date, and settled in to wait for my copy to arrive. Interestingly, the publisher reached out to me to see if I wanted a review copy of the book. Since I was anxiously awaiting the book, I decided to accept so that I could read it early.

Let me tell you, Bourbon Justice: How Whiskey Law Shaped America is a great book! Brian Haara tells us the fascinating story of how many very litigious bourbon folks ended up, often accidentally, crafting a new and different American commercial society that is still with us today. Lawsuits that started with bourbon ended up affecting industries as far reaching as women's lingerie and mouthwash.

Brian covers topics such as the development of Trade Mark and Brand Name rights, advertising and "puffery," consumer protection, and truth in labeling. And along the way, he delves into the history of many familiar Bourbon brands and distilleries. He even included topical tasting notes. In the end, you will learn something about bourbon, you will learn something about business, and you will learn something about the less talked about history that made America the country it is today. I highly recommend that you run right out and buy it.

But one of you won't have to do that! Remember how I said I had preordered it, but that I ended up with a review copy? Well, I like supporting my friends so I wanted to make sure that I still bought a copy. But as you might expect, I do not need two of the same book. My purchased copy is set to arrive on Monday and as soon as it does, I'd like to ship it off to one of my readers. If you'd like an opportunity for that to be you, enter below! The winner will be drawn on November 7th, 2018 and notified via email. I’m sorry, but I can only ship this to addresses in the United States and Canada due to international shipping costs. Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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BourbonGuy.com accepts no advertising. It is solely supported by the sale of the hand-made products I sell at the BourbonGuy Gifts Etsy store. If you'd like to support BourbonGuy.com, visit BourbonGuyGifts.com. Thanks!

Old Ezra Barrel Strength, 7-year-old bourbon

I state in my Statement of Ethics that if I accept a review sample, I will disclose it at the beginning of the article. Please consider it disclosed. I’d like to thank the folks at Common Ground PR for providing this sample to me with no strings attached. As always, all thoughts are just my opinion.

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I fear I might have made a grievous error. Last week I wrote a post that ended up with my wife getting a little miffed at me. My mistake was not in writing or in even posting said article. She is my proofreader, after all, and she agreed it was an apt description of the whiskey in question. No, my mistake was in telling...basically anyone that would listen...the story of how I got her to let me put that story on the internet. Which naturally included a repeat of the story itself.

In what I am assured is an entirely unrelated set of circumstances, my HoneyDo list for the weekend grew immensely. For example: the leaves needed to be raked and bagged, the lawn needed to be mowed, the floors needed to be scrubbed, the bathroom tub needed to be recaulked, the shower needed to have the grout cleaned and the tiles resealed, a bit of broken trim needed to be fixed, the carpet needed to be shampooed, the gutters cleaned, the siding washed, the walls, pictures and surfaces dusted...

You get the idea.

But now after a long weekend where the chores lasted from the time I got up in the morning to the time I went to bed at night, my penance has been paid...I mean, all those things that "just happened to need finishing" are done. I can finally sit down, relax and think about a whiskey.

And a decent whiskey at that. Recently, I received a sample of Old Ezra Barrel Strength, 7-year-old bourbon. You might be familiar with Old Ezra 101 proof, 7-year-old bourbon. Well as you might expect, this is a barrel proof version of that.

Old Ezra 101 proof has long been a favorite in my house. Even as the price was gradually increasing in my area, I still found it to be an excellent value. That was until I could no longer find it at all. I'd noticed it slowly disappearing from local store shelves. And at some point, it clicked that no one had it anymore.

Once I received this sample, I asked them if the Barrel Strength was a replacement for the 101 proof. Their answer: "We stopped producing Old Ezra 101 last summer and have been selling through the remaining bottles before releasing the new package this fall with the new bottle and barrel proof."

So I wasn't crazy. 101 was gone. I got sad momentarily, but then I remembered that the barrel proof version exists and that 117 proof is higher than 101 proof. After that all was right with the world.

Old Ezra Barrel Strength, 7-year-old bourbon

Purchase Info: This sample was generously provided for review purposes. Suggested retail is $39.99 per 750 mL bottle.

Details: 58.5% ABV. Age stated at 7 years old.

Nose: Oak, cloves, nutmeg, vanilla, and brown sugar

Mouth: Nice and warm with vanilla, brown sugar, nutmeg, cloves, and an oak sharpness.

Finish: Long and very warm. Lingering notes of oak and baking spice.

Thoughts: This is delicious. The proof bump does really well for this whiskey, allowing more concentrated flavors to come through. It’s a very nice step up from the previous 101 proof version. Unfortunately, the price has also taken a nice step up. But when I compare this to other barrel proof bourbons, I think price is more than fair.

In an era where other companies are removing age statements from products or discontinuing those age stated products altogether, it’s nice to see a company relaunch a product with both a proof bump while also keeping the age statement. And keeping it prominently displayed across the bottle at that.

Overall, there should be no reason to not have this be the barrel proof bourbon you keep on your home bar. Inexpensive enough to use in cocktails. Rich and complex enough to drink on its own.

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BourbonGuy.com accepts no advertising. It is solely supported by the sale of the hand-made products I sell at the BourbonGuy Gifts Etsy store. If you'd like to support BourbonGuy.com, please visit BourbonGuyGifts.com. Thanks!