Old Forester Statesman

October 12, 2017 Eric Burke

Last night I finally got to see the movie Kingsman: the Golden Circle. It was a minor miracle that it happened. My wife hates almost everything about the movie-going experience. She doesn't like spending the money on a ticket or food. She doesn't like all the other people around. She doesn't want to go during the weekend because it is too crowded and she doesn't want to go during the week because she doesn't want to leave the house after working all day. In fact, just about the only thing she does like is the fact that our local movie theater now has a bar and you can carry the drinks into the showing with you.

I, on the other hand, love going to the movies. So much so that I occasionally go by myself. But I don't go to just any movie. I'm married to an accountant, so if I'm going to spend the money, it has to be a spectacle. It has to be big and loud, with amazing special effects. Most of all it needs to be fun. You will almost never find me watching a depressing drama outside of my house.

The original Kingsman movie was one of the most fun films we'd seen in a while. It was fun, action-packed, and most importantly didn't take itself too seriously. It was fun, and better yet, funny. So when we heard that the sequel had bourbon as a backdrop? Well, that just made it easier for me to convince her to come along.

I won't give any spoilers, but there is a brand of bourbon called Statesman that is featured rather heavily in the movie. It is Old Forester in all but name. (Shoutout to WhiskyCast for an excellent interview with the folks from Old Forester about that.) In fact, as you go through the film, sharp eyed bottle history buffs will find more than one antique Old Forester bottle as set dressing. Is it any good? Yeah, I thought it was just as fun as the first one.

Oh, you meant the bourbon? Well, let's find out!

Old Forester Statesman

Purchase Info: $51.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Party Mart, Louisville, KY.

Details: 47.5% ABV. Non-age stated.

Nose: Caramel, cinnamon, ginger ale, bubble gum.

Mouth: Spicy with ginger and cinnamon spice, sweet vanilla, mint and a touch of astringent oak.

Finish: Medium length with warm spices.

Thoughts: This is another tasty Old Forester product. If you like Old Forester, give this a shot. I like it. I'm not thrilled with the price though. I'm not sure if I would pay $50+ for it again, maybe if I saw it on sale.

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Old Forester Single Barrel: Liquor Barn/Forecastle Selection

October 10, 2017 Eric Burke

Today I was up and on the road by 6 am to drive the six hours (each way) to Milwaukee to buy some empty bourbon barrels to use as raw materials for my Etsy store, BourbonGuyGifts.com. It was a fun and tiring day. Tiring because I was driving for about 12 hours. Fun because I got my hands on four great looking empty bourbon barrels and three very pretty wine barrel heads. I didn't plan on getting any wine barrel heads, I mean my store makes things for bourbon lovers. But they were in good shape, very pretty and the price was right. I'm sure I'll be able to figure out something to do with them.

In a way, those wine barrel heads are kind of like the bourbon I'm drinking tonight. When I bought each of them, I was looking for something else. But in each case the price was right so I grabbed them instead.

See, around this time every year I try to get a bottle of Birthday Bourbon for my wife. But at a suggested price of around $80 per bottle, I wasn't trying too hard this year. Instead, when I was down in Kentucky. I grabbed a bottle of Old Forester Single Barrel. It was half the price and every bottle I've picked up has been very good.

This bottle was no exception.

Old Forester Single Barrel: Liquor Barn/Forecastle Selection

Purchase Info: $38.99 for a 750 mL at Liquor Barn Middleton, Louisville, KY.

Details: 45% ABV. Chosen for the 15th Anniversary of the Forecastle Festival. Aged in Warehouse H on Floor 5.

Nose: Sweet with vanilla, mint, and almond.

Mouth: Sweet with a light spice. Notes of vanilla, mint, and almond.

Finish: Nice and spicy with lingering notes of mint and almond.

Thoughts: This is by far the best bottle of Old Forester Single Barrel I've had. I am really digging it. Which is kind of amazing to me since I basically bought it in place of a limited edition that cost twice as much (and which in recent year's has been kind of lackluster, in my view).

Damn. Wish I'd thought of that in the store...I would have bought two and felt justified doing it.

Jack Daniel's Red Dog Saloon

August 15, 2017 Eric Burke

Jack Daniel's Red Dog Saloon is a limited release whiskey from Brown Forman's Jack Daniel's distillery. The brand tells us that they released it to commemorate the 125th Anniversary of the opening of a saloon by Jack Daniel. A casual Google search of the subject brings up no mention of Jack Daniel's saloons. Well, none that are not either from the Jack Daniel's website or liquor stores/reviewers talking about this product. Still, not knowing much of the history of Lynchburg, Tennessee, I have no real reason to doubt that statement as it seems plausible enough that a whiskey maker in a small town might have a saloon or two as well during the late 1800s.

Of course, we all know the history of Jack Daniel's well enough. Taught how to make whiskey by a local slave, Jack Daniel launched a distillery (and it seems some saloons). He passed the business to his nephew. Along the way, Prohibition forced the distillery out of Tennesee and then out of business. The family eventually sold the brand and business to Brown-Forman who grew the brand into the number one selling American Whiskey in the world. During the American whiskey slump of the 80s and 90s, they lowered the proof from 90° proof to 86° and then from 86° proof to 80° in the early 2000s. Today they still sit at 80° proof, but they've started to give a nod to folks who want a bit more by doing barrel strength versions, rye whiskey versions and limited releases like Red Dog Saloon.

Jack Daniel's Red Dog Saloon

Purchase Info: $24.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Details: 43% ABV, non-age-stated.

Nose: Caramel rolls, spearmint, banana, and baking spice.

Mouth: Mint, subtle spice, banana, and caramel.

Finish: Warm and of medium length with lingering notes of mint, spice, and caramel rolls.

Thoughts: Hands down, better than the standard Jack. The flavors are similar, that Jack Daniel's Banana note is still there, but in this case, it is supported by more caramel and spice. I don't know if it is the six degrees of proof difference between this and standard Jack or if it is barrel selection, but it makes me wish that they hadn't lowered the proof way back when. But they are the largest selling American Whiskey brand, and I'm not so what do I know? As long as they keep putting out affordable options such as this, I guess it'll be ok.

A Question for You and a review of Woodford Reserve Master's Collection Brandy Cask Finish

February 9, 2017 Eric Burke

I had to work late tonight. Worked up twelve logos for a heating and air conditioning contractor. Of those 12 I like 10 or 11 so I'm actually doing pretty good on the project. I only have to come up with a few more before I deliver concepts. But my brain is completely fried right now.

Added to that is the fact that tonight I'm reviewing a whiskey from a series that is usually regarded as being more interesting to taste than actually good to drink. And since I've talked about what the purpose of the Woodford Reserve Master's Collection is trying to accomplish, I'm going to take a hard left turn before we jump into the review.

Speaking of limited edition whiskey, I have a question for you. And I'm going to do my best to not lead you by giving any indication as to what my feelings on the matter are.

Would you rather see:

A) A person with more money than sense enjoy a limited, expensive and really tasty whiskey mixed with soda.

or:

B) A person run into a liquor store, snag a limited, expensive and really tasty whiskey, and then post it online from the car to flip it before even leaving the parking lot?

And now on to the review.

Woodford Reserve Master's Collection, Brandy Cask Finish

Purchase Info: $76.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN.

Details: 45.2% ABV

Nose: Ripe fruit and caramel jump out in front to be followed by a nice nuttiness.

Mouth: The mouth shows a lot of influence from the brandy. Very fruity with caramel and baking spices.

Finish: Short but flavorful with lingering caramel.

Thoughts: First let's get this out of the way. I'm ok with this one. It isn't a world-beater, but it isn't bad either. It tastes a lot like they dumped some brandy in some Old Forester. But since I have done exactly that on occasion, I can hardly find fault with the idea. No, in this case, it all comes down to price. I can make something that tastes as good if not better with a bottle of Korbel 12 and a bottle of Old Forester Signature. It'll cost less, I can blend it to my tastes and I have the option of having a brandy, a bourbon or a combination of them. I'm finding it really hard to recommend unless you really like exploring the Master's Collection or really like brandy finished bourbons.

Old Forester 1920 - Prohibition Style

February 2, 2017 Eric Burke

As I write this, it's Groundhog Day. And whether you are sick of what the government is doing or just sick of everyone complaining about it, I think it is safe to say that we are all starting to feel a little like Bill Murry in the film of the same name. Every day it's the same damn stuff.

That's about as political as I will get right now, but I think it's safe to say that we could all use a drink and that turning our gaze back in time wouldn't be out of the question either.

Enter Old Forester 1920 Prohibition Style Bourbon. 1920 is the latest expression in the Old Forester Whiskey Row series. As with the previous releases, it is formulated to be, at least a bit, like the bourbons that would have been available in the year it's named after.

In this case, it is proofed to 115 proof, a typical Old Forester barrel strength of the time. Now, you wouldn't have been able to get bourbon at that proof if you were just Joe Nobody on the street, but if you knew someone who knew someone, you might be able to get your hands on a little straight-from-the-barrel bourbon. And if that somebody knew somebody at Old Forester, it might have been just about this proof.

So as we turn our gaze back to what is in our glass today, how is it?

Old Forester 1920 - Prohibition Style

Purchase info: $53.99 for a 750 mL at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Details: 57.5% ABV

Nose: Fruit, leather, brown sugar oak and a light mintiness.

Mouth: Sweet honey, mint, oak, black pepper, baking spices, bubblegum, and leather.

Finish: Spicy, long and warm with lingering bubblegum, fruit, and baking spices.

Thoughts: I think that this is probably the best bourbon Brown-Forman produces. And easily was one of my favorite releases of 2016. It is an amazingly well-balanced bourbon, and I can find no faults with it. I love this. I think it is nearly perfect. It has everything I want in a bourbon: sweetness, richness, and spiciness. Plus it is very drinkable neat even at 115 proof...well maybe that is a fault. I'm kidding, but only a little.

Woodford Reserve Personal Selection

December 13, 2016 Eric Burke

So. It's official. I'm 40 now.

I mean, if you are counting from the time I was born, I was 40 a few months ago. But age is just a number, right? It's all about how you feel. And now I feel 40.

Last week, I went to the eye doctor for the first time in about 15 years.

...I know. I know. But yeah...

Anyway, I still have great vision, the lady tells me. Things are great, it's going to be great. There is only one little thing that I might need. It's optional, but it will help. You guessed it, glasses. Well, part time. For computer use, not for all the time.

When I was a much younger boy than I am now, I always wanted glasses. I understood that they were a pain in the ass, well I understood that people said they were a pain in the ass. But I liked that they were something that you could change about yourself. Get a new set of frames, and you looked completely different. It seemed like something that would be fun.

Yeah, I was an idiot. But I was young, and you do and think a lot of stupid things when you are young. Now that I have these things on my face, I just feel old. Not like I'm about to keel over, but like I'm an adult who needs to be responsible. It's just one more thing to keep track of. I actually wandered around the house today wondering where I had put them...only to find them right next to where I had been sitting.

I do find it funny, though. People always say that your body starts to go to hell at 40. I guess this is the first step. This year it's something minor like computer glasses. Next year I'll probably break a hip or something.

It's all downhill from here folks. What the hell, let's have a drink.

Woodford Reserve Personal Selection, Liquor Barn Series 10-1

Purchase Info: I seem to have lost this receipt, but I bought it at a Liquor Barn in Louisville, KY. (Fitting that I just spent over six paragraphs telling you I was feeling old, huh?)

Details: 45.2% ABV. Personal Selection from Liquor Barn. Series 10-1.

Nose: Green apple, wintergreen, brown sugar, and oak.

Mouth: Peppery heat, apple wintergreen, baking spices, and oak.

Finish: Spicy and of medium length. Lingering black pepper, cinnamon gum, and wintergreen.

Thoughts: I like this one a lot. It's spicier than I would have guessed it would be from its proof and provenance. The typical "Brown-Forman" note is downplayed to the point where I might not have guessed this was Woodford if I'd been given it blind. The folks at Liquor Barn did a nice job picking this one. Makes me wish I could find a store doing Personal Selections of Woodford around here in Minnesota.

I've told you about my Etsy store over at BourbonGuyGifts.com, right? It's only the internet's newest source for tasting journals and bourbon-inspired home decor made by hand, by me! You can also find things like vintage whiskey bottles as I trim my collection down.

Coopers' Craft Bourbon

November 8, 2016 Eric Burke

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 Green Olive Media for providing this sample to me with no strings attached.

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen that this past weekend I bought a barrel. It's for a series of projects that I'm currently working on behind the scenes. The thought of purchasing a barrel is one that I think a lot of whiskey fans at least consider at one point or another. For me, it's because I want to use the wood. As such, after I got it home, I immediately took it apart.

Taking the barrel apart gave me an appreciation for the people that put the things together. The barrel heads are pretty heavy. The staves are pretty heavy. And you need to balance things, so the whole mess doesn't fall over. Holding the pieces in my hands was much more informative to the process than watching the demonstrations at a cooperage. It's really pretty cool.

It was one of those weird coincidences that life sometimes throws at you when I noticed that this week's first post was about a bourbon that is dedicated to those people that make barrels for a living. Coopers' Craft is a bourbon released by Brown-Forman. As they are the only Kentucky Bourbon maker that also owns it's own cooperage, it is fitting that they exploit that for marketing purposes. But don't think that this is just Old Forester in a different bottle. According to news reports when the product was released, this has a slightly different mash bill than Old Forester. More corn, less rye.

Does that make for a better bourbon than Old Forester, though? Let's find out.

Coopers' Craft Bourbon

Purchase info: This review sample was supplied by Green Olive Media. Suggested retail price is $29 for a 750 mL. (I did purchase two 50 mL bottles at the Party Source in Bellevue, KY for $0.99 each.)

Details: 41.1% ABV

Nose: Wintergreen candies, honey, vanilla pudding and oak.

Mouth: Vanilla Pudding, baked apple, baking spices and oak.

Finish: Short finish with vanilla, grapefruit peel, baked apple and oak.

Thoughts: This is an ok bourbon when taken neat. It's nothing to write home about, honestly. It's good for playing cards or chatting with friends, but nothing for deep contemplation. Think something on the level of Evan Williams black, except with more oak and less grain. So fine, but not great neat. But here's the thing, this really shines in an Old Fashioned. I made mine with Angostura Bitters and the smoky simple syrup made from the Smoked Sugar from BourbonBarrel Foods. The wintergreen from the nose really shows up in the mouth as well. It's sweet but interesting.

I'd say this is a very nice mixer that'll work neat in a pinch.

Using Old Forester Birthday Bourbon to Celebrate a Serious Milestone

September 27, 2016 Eric Burke

Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2016 release

Old Forester Birthday Bourbon is one of those releases that my wife probably shouldn’t want as much as she does. The gimmick is that it is the product of one day’s production. The good thing is that it is also 12 years old. The bad thing is that it is now $79.99.

As it is announced on September 2 each year and both of our birthdays and our wedding anniversary follow closely behind that, the coincidence of it is too much for her. She asks for it every year as a belated birthday present. And it is a present that is getting harder and harder to get my hands on. This year I actually had to pull a few strings with a local retailer (who asked not to be named) in order to make my lady happy. Next year? No idea what will happen.

September is a pretty good month for us. Not only do we each get a birthday present and take a trip to Kentucky to celebrate our anniversary with friends, but it is also Bourbon Heritage Month. As we are big bourbon fans, that just adds to the nice set of coincidences.

But September has another meaning for us as well. September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness month. It’s hard to notice the teal sometimes when the pink for breast cancer is so much more pervasive and spills over it’s month on both ends. Buying something pink feels good. Like you are making a difference. And to be honest who doesn’t love boobs? None of us would be alive if ovaries didn’t exist, but they are inside. In the parts that make boys squeamish. The parts that are near where a period happens. The parts that people don’t talk about in polite company. Right?

Wrong. Grow up boys.

Today my wife had her four and a half year check-up after surviving Ovarian Cancer. Once again, she is all clear. One more good check-up and the cancer doctor turns her over to a regular doctor to monitor her. This is great news. But it almost wasn’t. When she was diagnosed, it was a fluke accident. She knew something wasn’t right with her body and every doctor she talked to told her she was fine.

A year later she ended up having a cyst on an ovary surgically removed and the doctor that was supposed to do the surgery had a family emergency and so his boss took over. His boss was one of the best gynecological oncologists in the state. Since it was her specialty, she nosed around a little while she was inside and found something. My wife had multiple tumors. Tests confirmed that they were cancerous. She was at Stage 3. She went into immediate chemotherapy and within a few months she was given the all clear. She was lucky on so many levels. She happened to have another issue in the same area, she ended up with a specialist doing the surgery instead of the scheduled doctor and she had a particularly slow growing form of the cancer.

Today 1 in 75 women will develop Ovarian Cancer in their lifetime. And not just old women, but women as young as preteen have died of this horrible disease. 75% of those diagnosed are still alive after one year, but that number drops to only 44% at five years. Less than half of the women diagnosed will survive five years. Think about that. There are over 150 million women in the US. That means over two million of them will develop Ovarian Cancer in their lifetime and after diagnosis almost 1.5 million will be dead within 5 years.

But the good news is that in those women where it is diagnosed early, 94% survive to five years. And more and more women are being diagnosed early. Three years ago it was less than 15%. Today it is about 20%. Still not a lot, but trending the right direction. The problem is that many of the symptoms are also symptoms of other things. Bloating, pelvic pain, feeling full quickly and needing to pee are not exactly uncommon in women. And many doctors are willing to dismiss them. What we’ve learned through this is that if your doctor won’t listen to you when you know something isn’t right, find a new doctor. And keep doing it until you find one will at least check it out.

My wife was lucky, but if the first doctor had listened to her maybe should wouldn’t have needed to be. Tonight we are celebrating four and a half years clear with the Old Forester Birthday Bourbon I mentioned above. I’m thinking that we might even do two pours before the night is over.

If you want to know more about this disease, please go to http://www.ovariancancer.org. I know this is a whiskey blog. But what is whiskey without someone to share it with? My wife loves whiskey. She helps with the tasting notes and is the “silent” partner of this site. I want each and every one of you to have someone to share your whiskey with and I don’t want you to lose them or yourself because talking about “girl parts” is hard.

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Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2016

Purchase Info: $79.99 at a retailer who has requested to be left unnamed.

Details: 12 years old. 48.5% ABV.

Nose: Warm and rich with brown sugar, pipe tobacco, apricot and baking spices.

Mouth: Sweet and oaky with brown sugar, baking spices, dried apples, and that “Brown Forman Latex Paint” note typical of their bourbons.

Finish: Warm and of decent length with oak, baking spices and fruity latex paint.

Thoughts: This used to be a fun release to pick up on a whim back when you could find it. It was $40 or less, it was tasty enough and the gimmick was fun. Today, you could be excused for wondering why someone would pay $80 for a 12 year old bourbon. But then I’d point you to sites online where people pay over $100 for Weller 12. That said, I feel like this has reached the point where if the price goes up any further, I’ll probably find another way to celebrate my wife’s birthday each year. I like this, but the quality to price ratio gives me pause.

Blog

Old Forester Statesman

Old Forester Single Barrel: Liquor Barn/Forecastle Selection

Jack Daniel's Red Dog Saloon

Would you rather see:

Woodford Reserve Master's Collection, Brandy Cask Finish

Old Forester 1920 - Prohibition Style

Woodford Reserve Personal Selection, Liquor Barn Series 10-1

Coopers' Craft Bourbon

Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2016