The BourbonGuy.com "Stuck at Home" Bourbon Brackets: Four Roses Single Barrel vs Wild Turkey 101 & Henry McKenna Bonded vs JW Dant Bonded

You know. I’ve been doing bracket type competitions for a long time. This is the eighth contest in seven years. You wouldn’t have thought that it would take a comment on the last post to make me realize that I could do all these rounds at once and have a completely blind competition. But it did. I started these as a way to try cheap bourbons that I hadn’t had before so I really didn’t have any preconceived notions about any of them. As I’ve included more and more bourbons that I’d had before, I guess it never dawned on me to change the way I run these.

Until now. Starting with the competitors in this post, this is not just a blind matchup of two known bourbons but is instead a completely blind competition. So what changes got made? Well, the main one was instituting another layer of blindness to the competition.

• I poured 200mL of each contestant into a sample bottle. I labeled each sample bottle with a 10 digit random code. (10 digits so it was just a garbage thing that my brain wouldn’t try to remember on the off chance I saw the bottle)

• I made a bracket that just had codes on it for my wife (she doesn’t pay attention to the brackets as we do this, she just tastes what is put in front of her). This way she knew which codes go against each other, but not what those codes represent.

• She then takes that bracket and chooses any of the contests that are available and pours us each a 1-ounce sample of each contestant. She places those samples on our tasting pads and leaves the room after recording in a notebook what code was placed on which letter.

• The tasting pads have four circles on them, labeled 1, 2, A, and B respectively. After she leaves the room, I choose whether to move number 1 to letter A or letter B (and then the other goes to remaining circle) and make a note of which bourbon I moved to which circle.

• She then reenters and if all has gone as planned neither of us knows what is in our glass beyond narrowing it down to one of the 10 remaining bourbons in the contest.

• Then over the course of Friday night through Monday night, we tasted the rest of the competition and … well, let’s just say we were amazed at some of the results when we had zero preconceived notions.

Now let’s get to it.

Wild Turkey 101 vs. Four Roses Single Barrel

Whiskey 1 (Wild Turkey)

Nose: Mint, Big Red cinnamon gum, vanilla, caramel, almond

Mouth: Warm and spicy. Notes of mint, dried grains, and oak

Finish: On the longer side of medium and warm. Dusty grains and vanilla

Whiskey 2 (Four Roses)

Nose: Nutmeg, cinnamon, raisin, and a slight antiseptic note.

Mouth: Spicy with notes of cinnamon and nutmeg, leather, mint and dried fruit

Finish: Medium length and sweet. Notes of dark chocolate, ripe fruit, brown sugar, and baking spice

Pre-Reveal Thoughts:

If we had chosen based just on the nose, # 1 would have been a clear winner. As a whole though, #2 is much more complex and enjoyable. I'd take a glass of either though. # 2 wins.

Reveal: So there goes the King of the Bottom-Shelf Brackets. Its first crack at the more expensive competition and DOWN GOES TURKEY! Four Roses Single Barrel advances.

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Henry McKenna Bottled in Bond vs. JW Dant Bottled in Bond

Whiskey 1 (McKenna)

Nose: Cinnamon, mint, lots of oak

Mouth: Caramel, vanilla, cinnamon, oak

Finish: Medium with lasting warmth. Dusty oak, ripe red fruits, and baking spice.

Whiskey 2 (Dant)

Nose: Caramel corn, cinnamon

Mouth: Butterscotch, cinnamon, dried grains, vanilla, caramel

Finish: Medium and warm. Lingering Butterscotch and dried grains.

Pre-Reveal Thoughts:

Not to knock #2, but #1 is just so much better. #2 is just sweet and heat. Nice in a glass when watching tv or to sip before bed. But #1 is much more complex and interesting. #1 wins.

Reveal: Well, I guess this shouldn’t be a surprise, Henry McKenna Bottled in Bond is more than twice the age and over twice the price. It should have won. And it did Henry McKenna Bottled in Bond advances.

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The BourbonGuy.com "Stuck at Home" Bourbon Brackets

Wow. It seems like it has been just a moment since we last had a bracket around here. I mean time really flies, doesn't i...

What's that? Uh-huh. Yeah. Yeah. Huh. Ok, well.

I've just been informed that it actually was only about a minute since I last had a bracket competition around here. Well, what am I still doing here then?

Oh, that's right. I can't leave at the moment. I, like many of you, are currently living under a Stay-at-Home order due to the pandemic. And though, the liquor stores are deemed an essential business in Minnesota, I'd rather not expose myself any more than I have too. Besides, when it comes to stocking up on liquor, I've been preparing for an extended stay at home for years now. 

To that end, I'm going to take the opportunity to address something that it seemed people were really looking for in the Bottom-Shelf Brackets. Parity. Specifically proof parity (I already had price parity). I had comments on more than one post that stated that certain bourbons were at a competitive disadvantage due to the wide range of proof levels amongst the competition. And while that would usually cause me to explain that the Bottom Shelf Brackets are a "what's best for the price" competition and not a "what's best" competition, this time, I had the thought of: "Well, I'm stuck here anyway." Especially when I realized that if proof was the deciding factor, then I could not only reuse a few of the bottles from the Bottom-Shelf Bracket but that I also had a lot of potential competitors in my bourbon closet.

And so I am pleased to announce the BourbonGuy.com "Stuck at Home" Bourbon Brackets. The qualification rules are simple: Be 100 or 101 proof. Of course, nothing is as easy as it seems. I had 10 qualifying bourbons in the house. I had the tough choice to make between eliminating a couple or adding a couple. When a reader donated $25 to the cause, I knew it had to be to add a couple. I called up my local liquor store and placed a delivery order for a bottle of bourbon. I also decided to let Four Roses Small Batch Select join the competition since it was only a few proof points higher. And once again, to keep it simple, seeding was done on price. The highest price equals the highest seed. After a few swaps to get rid of repeat matchups from last week, we are left with the following. I bracketed these via NFL playoff rules, meaning the top four seeds get a first-round bye. 

• Proving that price was no object in this competition, the number one seed overall is Four Roses Small Batch Select. I got this at Total Wine on my last Kentucky trip for $49.99. 

• Across the bracket from that is Division 2 number one seed Maker's Mark 101 proof. I got this at the Maker's Mark gift shop for $49.99. 

• Division one number two seed is a store pick of 1792 Bottled in Bond. I got this at South Lyndale Liquors in Minneapolis for $44.99. 

• The next one might be a bit controversial since it has been discontinued. I seeded it based on its replacement's current price instead of the price that I paid for it. Division two number two seed is Heaven Hill Bottled in Bond 6 year. I didn't have any of the 7-year around, and honestly, when I reviewed it, I didn't find much difference between the two. You can get the 7-year, when available, for around $40

• The first seed in our "Wildcard round" is division one, 3 seed Henry McKenna Bottled in Bond. I bought this at my closest Total Wine for $33.99. This was also one of the swaps that were made to reduce repetition from last week. They are going up against division one, number six seed JW Dant Bottled in Bond, which I bought at South Lyndale for $16.99. A battle of Heaven Hill Bonded Bourbons.

• Over in division two, we have number three seed Four Roses Single Barrel ($42.99 at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake) going up against Bottom-Shelf Bracket Champion Wild Turkey 101 proof ($18.49 at Total Wine, Burnsville). Let's see how Wild Turkey does against competition where it isn't overwhelming its opponent with proof.

• The final competition in division one is number four seed Johnny Drum Private Select ($33.97 at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake) versus Knob Creek Bourbon ($24.98 at Ace Spirits, Hopkins). 

• And finally, we have division 2 number four seed Old Forester 100 proof ($24.99 at Total Wine, Burnsville) versus Very Old Barton 100 proof (purchased for $12.99 at a Total Wine in Kentucky).

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I think this is going to be a fun competition. Once again, I'd like to thank reader David Brown for helping with the cost. It would have been a much smaller competition without his help as I would have probably made the decision to go down to eight contestants instead of going up to twelve without that support.

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Bottom-Shelf Brackets 2020: Round 1: Elijah Craig vs. Maker's Mark

I’ve had suggestions that the first two rounds may have been unfair contests due to the difference in the proof of the contestants. Well, those concerns should be put to rest tonight as we feature a pair of contestants that are only 2% ABV different from one another. Round 1 of the 2020 BourbonGuy.com Bottom Shelf Brackets continues with Division 1 Number 2 seed Elijah Craig versus Number 3 seed Maker’s Mark.  

First up, the formerly twelve-year-old release from Heaven Hill. Now non-age stated but claimed to be around eight years old. Named for the man that Heaven Hill’s marketing department claims is “the Father of Bourbon,” please welcome to the stage: Elijah Craig!!!

And their opponent, the bourbon that once advertised itself as “it tastes expensive because it is” but is now available in the sub $25 range. Please welcome one of my favorite bourbons: Maker’s Mark!!!

We strive to have a clean competition so these were tasted blind in the following order. Tasting notes are from before the reveal and may be a little unusual since they were being tasted at the same time and may influence one another.

Whiskey 1 (Maker’s Mark)

Purchase Info: $19.99 for a 750 mL bottle, Blue Max, Burnsville, MN

Details: 45% ABV.

Nose: Spearmint, nutmeg, vanilla, caramel.

Mouth: Follows the nose with mint, nutmeg, vanilla, caramel.

Finish: Longer side of medium. Spearmint, caramel, nutmeg.

Whiskey 2 (Elijah Craig)

Purchase Info: $21.98 for a 750 mL bottle, Ace Spirits, Hopkins, MN

Details: 47% ABV.

Nose: Oak, cinnamon, strawberry candy.

Mouth: Cinnamon, oak, butterscotch.

Finish: Medium length. Cinnamon, old-fashioned strawberry candy.

Pre-reveal Thoughts: I really like both of these. A lot. I am going to have to be super nit-picky in order to come up with a winner. There is a very slight sharp "punky" oak note to number two that number one does not have. Even this isn't so much of a flaw as a preference. And I prefer number one by a very slight margin.

Post-Reveal Thoughts: Close one tonight. Had to really nit-pick to choose a winner. And picking that nit lead to an upset. Number three seed Maker’s Mark advances over Number two seed Elijah Craig.

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7th Annual BourbonGuy.com Bottom-Shelf Brackets: The Not-So-Bottom-Shelf Edition

So, wow. A lot has happened in the last few weeks, huh?

A couple of weeks ago, I got the bright idea that I wanted to up the level of competition this year on the Bottom-Shelf Brackets. At the time it wasn’t for any real reason, I just thought it might be fun. Over the previous six years, we’ve explored the best of worst that bourbon has to offer. And, if we are being honest, some of the worst of the worst as well. This year, I had the idea to do something a little different.

In the past, I’ve had a definition of “bottom-shelf” that ranged from $15-$18 (or under) per 750, $20-$24 per liter and $35 per 1.75 liter. That definition got me a lot of entries by Heaven Hill and Jim Beam but only a couple from any other distilleries. I had one year where half of the entrants were Jim Beam products and another where half were from Heaven Hill. So this year I decided to limit each distillery to one entrant.

Of course, not all distilleries have products that meet the definitions that I had defined for “Bottom-Shelf.” So what was I to do? Well, for this year, I’ve decided to throw out any pretense that this is a competition between “bottom-shelf” bourbons. But that doesn’t mean that I’m going to go all-in and jump to the top of the price point. I mean, this is still a contest about being frugal.

That and I have to buy all of these things and I am still a freelancer…

So, here are the new rules:

1. One entry per distillery

2. Purchased for under $25. No matter the size. No matter if it was on sale.

3. Available in the Twin Cities metro area.

That’s it. As a general guideline, I tried to find the “best” offering from each distillery at the price point. Once I purchased all the entrants, I needed to seed them into brackets. For that, I usually use proof and stated age, but since all of these are non-age stated, I went by proof and then flipped a coin when two were the same proof. In order to maintain balanced divisions, I alternated which division chooses first, so Division One got to chose first on the first round, but Division Two got to choose first on the second round, then One on the third and back to Two on the fourth.

So let’s meet the competition in this “Not-So-Bottom-Shelf” Bracket, shall we? It should come as no surprise that I was able to find entrants from Jim Beam, Heaven Hill, Wild Turkey, and Barton 1792. Each of these has produced winners in the past. In fact, some of those past winners are represented this year in Division Two, number four seed Very Old Barton 86 proof and Division One, number one seed Wild Turkey 101 proof. But I was a bit shocked to find that the Heaven Hill entry was Division One, number two seed Elijah Craig and that the Jim Beam entry was Division Two, number one seed Knob Creek. Though I’ve been able to find Knob Creek for about $25 for a while now, so it really shouldn’t have been that surprising. Rounding out the rest of our entrants from Division One are number three seed Makers Mark and number four seed Four Roses. In Division Two are number two seed Old Forester 100 proof and number three seed Buffalo Trace.

I can’t wait for this one. It should be fun!

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Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, Batch A120

I’d like to thank Heaven Hill for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

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Writing from the bar tonight. I normally don’t, but today is tax day today. Well tax appointment day anyway. The day where I find myself strangely relieved that I only owe the various government entities $3500.

On tax day, I figure I’m either going to be very happy or very sad. Either of those emotions call for post-appointment beers. If I’m happy when I leave the appointment, they are celebratory beers. In not, then I have the beers to console me. Either way, beers are certainly called for.

Of course, another way that I could commiserate the news that I get the opportunity to pay the government multiple thousands of dollars would be with tonight’s bourbon. Elijah Craig Barrel Proof is released about three times a year. Each time the proof is different, but the age is always twelve years old. This time around, the proof is really high at 136.6° proof. Though as I think about it, this is still lower than the last release of last year. Luckily I keep a little of the last batch on hand to see if the comparable proof level equates to a comparable flavor.

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, Batch A120

Purchase info: This sample was graciously provided by Heaven Hill for review purposes. Locally Elijah Craig Barrel Proof sells for as low as $64.99 for a 750 mL bottle when not on sale.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.33

Details: 68.3% ABV, 12 years old

Nose: The high proof on this one means that you'll want to let it sit for a few minutes unless you want a snootful of acetone. After a few minutes rest, notes of green apple, caramel, baking spice, and oak appear.

Mouth: Hot and spicy with notes of cinnamon and oak.

Finish: Long and very warm. Lingering oak, browned butter and caramel.

Thoughts: If you drink this neat you are either a crazy person or you have previously burned off your taste buds. This is a delicious bourbon, but it is begging for a little water.

So how does it compare to the last release of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof (C919)? I think that A120 is more balanced than the previous batch. C919 is sweeter but, oddly, also has a more bitter finish. A120 is hotter, even though it has a slightly lower proof. Overall, both are delicious but if I had the choice, I'd pick A120.

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Elijah Craig Straight Rye Whiskey

I’d like to thank Heaven Hill for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

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Much of my family is under the impression that because I am self-employed, I can just take any day off. The reality is, of course, that I never really have a day off. Even while on vacation I am taking phone calls from clients and answering emails.

But guess what?

Tomorrow I am taking a real day off! (Well, unless something urgent comes up. Damn my Midwestern work ethic…) But the plan is to take tomorrow off to research some projects I’m working on for the Etsy store. So I guess I’m not really taking it off so much as allocating the day to a more fun kind of work. And I can’t wait! I’ll be in the garage playing with wood and tools. I’ll be online researching 3D printers and materials casting/metalwork. It will be so much fun. I can’t wait!

Elijah Craig Straight Rye Whiskey

Purchase info: This sample was graciously provided by Heaven Hill for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $29.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $2.00

Details: 47% ABV. Mash bill: 51% rye, 35% corn, 14% malted barley. Initially available in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Oregon.

Nose: Cinnamon, caramel, and mint, with hints of cedar and bubblegum.

Mouth: Cinnamon, mint leaves, spearmint, almond, and oak.

Finish: Nice and spicy without being super hot. Lingering baking spice and mint.

Thoughts: I like this, it’s a pretty tasty rye. I’ll probably consume this most often either neat or in a cocktail. Like with most "Kentucky-style" barely-legal ryes, I wouldn't reach for this when making a cocktail that calls for rye (like a Sazerac) but I'd use the heck out of it in cocktails that call for bourbon that can handle some extra spice.

In the name of Science! I tried this next to a couple of other ryes I had in the house (Rittenhouse, Old Forester, and Jack Daniels). I’d say that, for obvious reasons, this is most like Rittenhouse. Now, this is lower proof than Rittenhouse but the press release reads as if it is a bit older. And my experience mirrors that. Tasting them side by side, both my wife and I like the Elijah Craig better than the Rittenhouse. My favorite of the group was Old Forester, then Elijah Craig, with Rittenhouse and Jack Daniels bringing up the rear.

Final verdict: if it is in your area, it is certainly worth as look as the price is great for how good it is. If you are a fan of barely legal ryes this is a good one. I, however like a bit more rye in my ryes.

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Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond, Fall 2019 Edition

I’d like to thank Heaven Hill for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

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Ok. Time for me to eat a little crow tonight. When I first heard about this new Air Fryer fad. I was skeptical. In fact, I’d tell anyone who would listen that the one time I had “air fried” food, it arrived cold and burned. Well, it seems my wife did not listen to me because she bought one on Black Friday. We didn’t start out too fancy. Just a few breaded chicken tenders (yes, I’m actually a child). I’d been making that kind for a long time and these were the crispiest I’d had. So we tried burgers. The burgers were great too. I was such an instant convert that I opened the larger one that I had purchased for my mother so I could have two and make two things at once. I really like mine. So I need to eat crow. My wife was correct and I was not.

And just like I was initially skeptical about the air fryer fad, I was also skeptical about the new Limited Edition versions of Old Fitzgerald when they first came out. I figured it would be good, but I was a bit butthurt that the price was so high. As you know I am an innately frugal person. I’ve had trouble accepting the new pricing reality that the last ten years have brought. So I assumed that there was no way that an 11-year-old bourbon would be good enough to charge $110. And when I read the reviews, I figured I was right. Not that it mattered much, the only time I saw that one on a shelf they were asking over $200 for it.

So when the sample of the Fall 2019 edition came in, I was interested. When I saw that the price had gone up to $150, I was skeptical. Let’s see if that skepticism was warranted.

Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond Fall 2019 Edition

Purchase Price: This sample was graciously provided by Heaven Hill for review purposes. The suggested retail price is about $150.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $10

Details: Made: Fall 2004. Bottled: Fall2019. 50% ABV. 15-years-old. Wheated.

Nose: Caramel, oak, vanilla, cinnamon

Mouth: Mouth-coating, rich mouthfeel. Sweet caramel, chocolate, and vanilla with oak and baking spice.

Finish: Warm and on the longer end of medium length. Lingering caramel, coffee, cocoa, and cinnamon.

Thoughts: This is delicious. Next time I'm in Louisville, I just might plunk down the cash in one of the bourbon bars for a pour of this one since I doubt I will find a bottle. Though if I did, I would certainly consider it, doubt my frugal nature would allow me to pull the trigger, but I would at least think about it.

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Old Fitzgerald Prime Bourbon: Revisited

It has been two thousand, one hundred and twelve days since I last reviewed Old Fitzgerald Prime. It was during the first edition of the Bottom Shelf Brackets. Back then, Old Fitzgerald was the name that Heaven Hill sold their wheated recipe under. It was available in most of the US in both a bottled in bond version and an 80° proof “Prime” version.

Over the course of the last five to six years, Heaven Hill released Larceny as their new flagship wheated label and pulled Old Fitzgerald Prime back to being sold in a very small and select number of states. They also discontinued the affordable Bottled in Bond version and in the last few years, started to release a yearly luxury release of Limited Edition Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond. Its been a busy few years for the brand that Pappy started so many years ago.

Back in 2014, I had this to say about it:

This is a tv watching bourbon. It’s something to sip that tastes good for when you don’t want to concentrate on, or think too hard about your bourbon. It wouldn’t be my first choice for a pour, but I’d be happy enough to have it brought to me.

Let’s see how it holds up, shall we?

Old Fitzgerald Prime

Purchase Info: $16.99 for a 750 mL bottle, The Party Source, Bellevue, KY

Price per Drink (50 mL): $1.13

Details: 40% ABV, NAS

Nose: Spearmint, bubble gum, hints of baking spice

Mouth: Caramel, baking spice, hints of mint

Finish: Short and gentle with notes of cinnamon and caramel.

Thoughts: This is a very gentle bourbon. A decent enough sipper in a pinch if you aren't a proof-chaser. If like me, you like a little more heat in your bourbon, you might find this more than a little on the tame side. But the flavors that are there are very good and I agree with 2014 me. This would work just fine when you are playing cards, bullshitting with a group of friends, and not really paying attention to what is in your glass. I’m giving this one a meh. But I wouldn’t fault you at all if you liked this or even if it was your favorite. My rating comes solely down to how gentle it is.

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