Bottom-Shelf Brackets 2021: Round 1: Evan Williams vs. Jim Beam

March 23, 2021 Eric Burke

IMAGE: Jim Beam White Label sitting next two Evan Williams Black Label. The number one and two best selling bourbons in the world respectively.

What a cool matchup we have in store tonight. We are featuring the world’s top two selling bourbons by volume (if you set aside that one from Tennessee that doesn’t want to be called a bourbon). Jim Beam is the world’s top-selling bourbon and Evan Williams is right behind them at number two. I didn’t plan this, it was luck of the seeding that set these two titans against each other, but that doesn’t mean that I wasn’t super excited once I realized it.

First up is our number two seed for Division One. Coming in at 86 proof and looking so good in black, please welcome: Evan Williams!

And its opponent is the number one selling bourbon across the world. Behemoth barely begins to describe this white-labeled giant, please welcome: Jim Beam!

Reminder, all of the competitions this year were tasted blind and we knew the winner of the competition prior to any reveal. Notes, thoughts, and conclusions were all from before we knew what was what. Needless to say, some of my conclusions were surprising to me. Tasting notes may be a little unusual since they were being tasted at the same time and could have influenced the perceptions of one another.

Whiskey 1 (Evan Williams)

Purchase Info: $12.99 for a 1-liter bottle, Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $0.65

Details: 43% ABV.

Nose: Spearmint, caramel, and nutmeg.

Mouth: Caramel, mint, cinnamon candies.

Finish: Shorter side of medium. Notes of cinnamon and peanut butter cookies.

Thoughts: Not bad. Not bad at all. Classic value bourbon flavor profile.

Whiskey 2 (Jim Beam)

Purchase Info: $13.99 for a 750 mL bottle, Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $0.93

Details: 40% ABV.

Nose: Peanut, caramel, green vegetables.

Mouth: Thin mouthfeel. Caramel and cinnamon.

Finish: Medium length and warm. Peanuts and dried grains.

Thoughts: Even blind, I think I know what this is. The distinctive peanut note gives it away. though considering at least half of the participants are made by-or source from- Beam, I am fully prepared to be wrong. I like the finish, the mouth leaves a bit to be desired and I'm ambivalent regarding the nose.

Winner: I like the finish on #2 better but I prefer the nose and mouth on #1. #1 wins.

IMAGE: Evan Williams advances to Round 2 over Jim Beam

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8th Annual BourbonGuy.com Bottom-Shelf Brackets: The "Find Joy in the Ordinary" Edition

March 16, 2021 Eric Burke

IMAGE: A screen capture of the time with the words “Find Joy in the Ordinary” below it.

I like to use a Chrome plugin called Momentum as a home screen for my instance of the Chrome browser. It has a new pretty photo every day. It tells me the time, local weather, and helps me with my to-do list. Recently it started showing “Mantras” below the time. I found the one pictured above to be particularly meaningful. “Find Joy in the Ordinary.”

It’s sometimes hard to do as a bourbon lover, finding joy in the ordinary. The entire purpose of a site like this is to give people a sense of what is new and exciting. Even if it is only new and exciting to me. So, this year I’ve made a commitment to myself to step back a little and to do what the computer screen told me to do. Find Joy in the Ordinary.

And, perfect timing, it’s time for the Bottom Shelf Bourbon Brackets again. Maybe it is just me, but I haven’t heard a lot of talk about the NCAA tournament this year…and I’m fully willing to admit that it may be because my beloved Golden Gophers were bad enough this year that the coach was fired at the end of the season. I might just be hiding from any news that has to do with the yearly basketball tournament.

Of course, as long-time readers know, I don’t really like basketball anyway. In fact, this series was started eight years ago as a way to play along with all the folks around me filling out their brackets, while not caring about basketball.

In recent years, I’ve gotten caught up in the excitement of more “interesting” bourbons. Two years ago, I decided to let the readers choose who participated. Last year, I threw out the concept of “Bottom-Shelf” entirely. But this year, following the advice of the computer screen, I’ve decided to find joy in the ordinary. And as such, I’m going old-school on this one. Back to the original rules. Back to some really “ordinary” bourbons. Things that would have been participants from the first few years before I started messing with the rules.

Here are the rules:

In keeping with the theme, it had to be “ordinary.” No Single barrel, no small batch. No Bottled in Bond. Anything that might be used to call something special was thrown out. This is for true entry-level bourbons.
The original rules stated that it had to be under $15 for a 750 mL bottle or under $20 for a liter bottle. I decided to keep that.
The original rules also stated that entries had to be Straight Bourbon Whiskey. I saw no reason to change that.
Participants were seeded based on proof and then age. Higher proof equals a higher seeding. If you stated a bourbon’s age when you didn’t have to, you got a nod over those, at the same proof, who didn’t. If you stated a bourbon’s age because you were young enough that the law required it, someone else got the nod over you.
These were tasted blind. I had no idea what each of the participants was when I tasted them. I poured 200mL bottles of each bourbon. I labeled them with an alphanumeric code and then filled out an initial bracket with those codes. Until we were finished I never saw the bracket or the bottles that were being poured again. My wife (who didn’t know which code corresponded to each bourbon) poured each round and filled out the winners in secret.

So, let’s meet the 2021 competition, shall we? Coming in at the number one overall seed is Ezra Brooks from Lux Row Distillery. This seeding comes down to proof, at 90 proof, this was the highest proof bourbon in the competition. They will initially match up against number four seed, Benchmark Bourbon from Buffalo Trace. At only “36 months” and 80 proof, this was the lowest seed in the competition. Rounding out Division One is a matchup between Heaven Hill’s Evan Williams Black Label and BeamSuntory’s Jim Beam White Label. Due to being 86 proof, Evan Williams was the second seed and due to stating its age, Jim Beam White gets the nod over other 80 proof offerings to take the first number three seed.

Over in Division Two, we have Very Old Barton (86 proof) from the Barton 1792 Distillery as the number one seed. They match up against Beam Suntory’s number four seed Old Grand Dad (80 Proof). In the second matchup, we have number two seed Wild Turkey (81 proof) against number three seed Rebel Yell from Lux Row.

This should be fun. Let’s go find joy in ordinary bourbon. So who’ve you got? Let everyone know down in the comments.

Larceny Barrel Proof, Batch A121

February 25, 2021 Eric Burke

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

IMAGE: Larceny Barrel Proof Batch A121. 114.8 proof.

It’s funny how our tastes develop. There was a time in my bourbon journey that a bottle of 80 proof Ancient Age or Cabin Still was right in line with my preferred flavor profile. These days it is only the rare sub-90 proof bottle that gets me coming back for more. Somehow along the way, I’ve started to enjoy higher-proof whiskeys. I’ve decided that I really enjoy being able to put a cube of ice in there and still have something robust to enjoy.

And I’m not the only one to notice a change in my palate. My wife has also noticed a slight change over the years. Of the two of us, she is the fan of wheated bourbons in our house. I’ll drink them, but I usually prefer the “normal” bourbon that uses rye as a flavoring grain. When Larceny came out, it was her favorite bourbon. Super easy to find, affordable, and lined up exactly with her palate. These days, however, she finds herself drawn to other bourbons both wheated and not.

Yet even with that, we’ve both been big fans of the Larceny releases so far. I like the higher proof and more concentrated flavors. She likes the more robust version of the Larceny flavor profile (maybe this more concentrated version has ruined the 92 proof for her?). In fact, this is what we said about the last batch:

This typifies exactly what my wife wants in a bourbon: sweet and oaky with lots of caramel. She wants it on the record that if she sees this, and if it is allowed, she wants to buy two bottles. I also really like it in case you were curious.

Let’s see how 2021’s first batch compares.

Larceny Barrel Proof, Batch A121

Purchase info: This was graciously provided by Heaven Hill for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $49.99.

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $3.33

Details: Batch number: A121. 57.4% ABV. "Made from a mingling of 6 to 8-year-old bourbon." Non-chill filtered.

Nose: Oak, toffee, mint, baking spices, and fleeting hints of dark chocolate.

Mouth: Follows the nose with oak, dark chocolate, caramel, and baking spices.

Finish: Warm and medium length. Notes of dark chocolate, oak, and baking spices linger.

Thoughts: The one word I can think of for this is "Robust" It has a great mouthfeel and the dark chocolate notes are fantastic for a lover of dark chocolate like me. I like this more than the Elijah Craig Barrel Proof we looked at last week.

Comparison with the last batch: C920 was way sweeter on the nose showing much more caramel to A121's dominant oak notes. The sweeter notes of C920 continue on the mouth bringing added heat to the party as well. A121 has a thicker mouthfeel and more oak and cocoa notes. Overall, these are quite different and which you like more will depend on whether you prefer hot and sweet caramel flavors or robust with oak flavors. In my opinion, they are the two best batches of the four released so far. I think I like A121 better, my wife likes C920 better.

Parker's Heritage Collection 2020: Heavy Char Bourbon

November 19, 2020 Eric Burke

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

IMAGE: Empty Sample Bottle of Parker’s Heritage Collection 2020: Heavy Char

So I got my COVID test back. Turns out I’m negative for COVID and am just sick with a helluva cold. Very happy about that. Especially since that means that I hopefully won’t be losing my sense of smell or taste. Both of which are super useful for tasting whiskey. Luckily I had a backlog of tasting notes that I’ve been working through posting that should, hopefully, cover me until I can get back to tasting whiskey in a critical manner.

For now, I guess I’ll just have to drink it in a medicinal manner. Did anyone get a prescription for me?

Tonight’s set of tasting notes is for the sample of Parker’s Heritage that Heaven Hill was nice enough to send me. It’s the 14th release in the series which is named for former Master Distiller Parker Beam, who sadly passed back in 2017. Like every release going back to 2013, some of the proceeds from this year’s bottling will be going toward ALS research.

This year’s release features Heaven Hill’s traditional bourbon mash bill of 78% corn, 12% malted barley, and 10% Rye. It was aged for 10 years in “heavy char” barrels (Level 5 char) on the sixth floor of Warehouse Y. There were 102 barrels in the batch. The suggested retail price is $120.

Parker's Heritage Collection 2020: Heavy Char Bourbon

Purchase info: This was graciously provided by Heaven Hill for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $120.00.

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $8.00

Details: 60% ABV. Mash bill: 78% corn, 12% malted barley, and 10% Rye. 10 years old. Level 5 char. Aged on the sixth floor of Warehouse Y. 102 barrel batch.

Nose: Vanilla, oak, caramel, and cocoa powder.

Mouth: Nice and spicy with cinnamon, caramel, vanilla, chocolate, and just a hint of mint.

Finish: Warm and on the longer side of medium length. Lingering sweet notes of cinnamon, caramel, leather, and mint.

Thoughts: This is just straight-up good bourbon. There are no gimmicks, just the flavors that made us all fall in love with bourbon. The flavors I would list if you asked me to describe bourbon to a novice: caramel, vanilla, cinnamon, spice, a nice burn, and some dark chocolate and leather for depth. I really like it.

With water: This is 120° proof so I should probably add some water to see how it reacts. Water really brings out the caramel on the nose. It reduces some of the richer notes in the mouth allowing the drier and spicier notes to shine. Personally, I'm thinking I prefer this neat.

Larceny Barrel Proof C920

November 5, 2020 Eric Burke

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

IMAGE: Sample bottle of Larceny Barrel Proof C920 (122.4° proof) sitting in the late afternoon sunlight.

Soooo…need a drink yet? Welcome to Election Day: Day Three and, at least as of the time of writing, we are no closer to knowing which fifty-ish percent of the population is going to get what they want. And if that isn’t reason enough to reach for a drink, realize that we might set a modern record for voter turnout as a percentage of the eligible population and still have about one-third of the eligible population not vote. That’s nuts to me, but then I live in a state with some of the highest voter turnout percentages in the last few elections.

Anyway, I hope your super-old white guy wins…unless you didn’t vote for my super-old white guy.

Tonight’s bourbon is the third batch of Larceny Barrel Proof, a cask strength version of Heaven Hill’s flagship wheated bourbon brand. The first two batches were extremely hot so much so that it prompted me to write the following for batch B520.

Wow! That's a hot one! This screams for water. And it doesn't suffer from even the addition of a fairly substantial splash. In fact, after trying a couple of different dilution levels, I think my favorite was 100° proof. Water brings out the sweet notes of caramel and brown sugar, tames the heat, transforms the individual spice notes on the mouth and finish into a more generic "baking spice" note, and allows the oak notes to move more to the forefront of the experience.

Let’s see if this trend continues.

Larceny Barrel Proof, Batch C920

Purchase info: This was graciously provided by Heaven Hill for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $49.99.

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $3.33

Details: Batch number: C920. 61.2% ABV

Nose: This is like a caramel drenched sugar cookie on the nose. Strong notes of caramel and vanilla with light baking spices.

Mouth: Warm with caramel, cinnamon, oak, and a touch of apple.

Finish: Warm and long with lingering notes of cinnamon and caramel.

Thoughts: Good news, this isn’t nearly as hot as the last two have been. In fact, I just realized that my, admittedly tiny, pour that I’ve been having while I wrote tonight didn’t have any water in it at all. Huh, at 122.4° proof, maybe it being that drinkable isn’t great news.

This typifies exactly what my wife wants in a bourbon: sweet and oaks with lots of caramel. She wants it on the record that if she sees this, and it is allowed, she wants to buy two bottles. I also really like it in case you were curious.

Comparison with the last batch: C920 is much sweeter and caramel forward on the nose. B520 is much more spice forward and nutty on the mouth whereas C920 is sweeter and rounder, showing a lot more caramel. And of course, there are the previously mentioned relative levels of mouth burning.

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, Batch C920

October 29, 2020 Eric Burke

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

IMAGE: Front Label of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, Batch C920. 132.8° Proof

As I was getting ready to write this tonight, I remembered that one of my local liquor stores had Elijah Craig Barrel Proof for $58 or so the last time I was there and made the decision that I was going to get one. I made the bold declaration that batch B520 was my favorite yet when I reviewed it back in May. And even though I had already done a comparison tasting of B520 and C920, I wanted one more chance to compare them.

But when I arrived, wouldn’t you know it, the shelf was empty. This is why you don’t wait when you see something you want, especially for a price that good. Ah well. I’ll just have to console myself with C920. I mean, it’s probably pretty good too, right?

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, Batch C920

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: 66.4% ABV, 12 years old

Nose: Brown sugar, dark chocolate, a nutty note, and a hint of mint.

Mouth: Thick and rich. Very spicy due to the proof. Lots of "tingle" on this one. Caramel, cinnamon, chocolate, roasted nuts, mint, and oak.

Finish: Medium and warm. Lingering chocolate, mint, and oak.

With Water: Caramel bomb on the nose. Really tames the heat, but amps up the mint in the mouth. still a lot of cocoa and caramel.

Comparison with B520: C920 is much sweeter than B520 on the nose and mouth. Really enjoying the more prominent cocoa notes.

Thoughts: Delicious! As much as I enjoyed the last release (and I gave it a rare Heart rating), when I tasted them side by side, I liked this one even more. I'm loving the cocoa/chocolate notes mixed with cinnamon and caramel. It tastes like an alcoholic chocolate cookie. Big fan! I guess it is ok that I “have” to “console myself” with the C920

Elijah Craig Old Fashioned Week and Elijah Craig Old Fashioned Cocktail Syrup

October 20, 2020 Eric Burke

The cocktail syrup reviewed below was provided by Heaven Hill as part of a media kit announcing Elijah Craig Old Fashioned Week. Also included was branded merchandise which I will be holding onto for a future giveaway. These were provided with no strings attached.

I’ll admit it. I’m late to letting folks know about this. In fact, I’d missed the press release when this was announced and only found out about it when a media kit arrived on my doorstep. I don’t normally reprint Press Releases, but I’ll be quoting the included Press Release below as I think that the cause they are promoting is a good one.

Dear Friend of Heaven Hill Distillery,

Welcome to the inaugural Elijah Craig Old Fashioned Week. While we knew the original concept for this week would be great, as 2020 morphed into a banner year of unprecedented times we quickly understood the greater impact we could have on the hospitality industry. Many of our friends and family in this community have felt the effects of COVID-19, so to support them we have committed to raising up to $100,000 for the Restaurant Workers' Community Foundation from this week's events.

You'll see some familiar faces on our schedule at OldFashionedWeek.com, where you can register for events or donate. The event lineup includes 'Old Fashioned Bar Trivia' with Heaven Hill Distillery Ambassadors Bernie Lubbers and Jack Choate, 'The Art of Crafting Ice' with Portland-based bartender and author Jeffrey Morgenthaler, and ‘Elevating Your Home Bar’ with Devin Kennedy, bartender at Pouring Ribbons.

Chef Richard Blais headlines the week as host of an "Old Fashioned Cocktail Hour" on Wednesday, Oct. 21. Included in this media kit are several items to assist in your preparation of an Elijah Craig Old Fashioned, as well as other necessary cocktail accessories for your home bar. The Elijah Craig Old Fashioned Syrup was specifically formulated to highlight the flavor profile of Elijah Craig Bourbon within this classic cocktail. Starting at 8 p.m. eastern time, Chef Blais will take you through a night of discovering the Greatness Within® the hospitality community as he shares recipes, tips and tricks, and Q & A sessions with special guests. This live event will be available on OldFashionedWeek.com, as well as streamed on Elijah Craig's YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.

Join us as we raise a glass to celebrating one great cocktail for an even greater cause through Elijah Craig Old Fashioned Week.

Though my own businesses have suffered throughout the pandemic, I know that there are others out there that have it worse than I do. I still have the income to pay the bills and even buy whiskey. Many, especially in the hospitality industry do not. If you have the means, please join me in helping out by making a donation to the Restaurant Workers Community foundation at OldFashionedWeek.com.

Elijah Craig Old Fashioned Cocktail Syrup

Purchase Info: This was graciously provided as part of a media kit. Pricing was not included but a google search showed it selling online for about $12.

Details: 4.06% ABV. 40 calories per 0.5 fl. oz.

Mouth: Orange, lemon, ginger, cinnamon, and a bitter note.

In an Old Fashioned: (I followed the recipe on the bottle of 2 oz Elijah Craig to 1 tablespoon of syrup in an ice-filled glass garnished with a cocktail cherry.) Sweet, cinnamon, ginger, Vanilla, mint. As they stated, it plays nicely with Elijah Craig in an old fashioned.

Thoughts: I like but don’t love this. It makes a sweeter Old fashioned than I, personally, care for. But then my favorite Non-Alcoholic drinks are black coffee and soda water with bitters in it. The flavors pair very nicely with Elijah Craig, so if you like a sweet Old Fashioned and don't feel like making a batch of simple syrup, then this is the perfect option for you. I probably wouldn't buy it for my home bar due to the sweetness level, but I can certainly see a place for it for those with a sweet tooth. Or for those who need to make a batch of Old Fashioneds for a gathering... Once we can have gatherings again.

Though when we can have gatherings again, I’ll probably be heading to a bar to have my favorite bartenders make it for me. And tip them generously for their work.

Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond, Fall 2020 edition

October 15, 2020 Eric Burke

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

IMAGE: Sample bottle of Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond, Fall 2020 Edition. Made Fall 2005, bottled Fall 2020. 14 years old. 100 proof.

Well, it finally caught up to me. That thing people have been talking about since Work From Home became a thing? It happened. I spent most of the week with no idea what day it was. This is why there was no post on Tuesday. I realized about a half-hour before I went to bed that it was Tuesday. And I should have known since I had a business call with a freelance client that day…which I also forgot.

I never expected that I would lose track of the days. I mean, I’ve been working from home for over five years now. But apparently, I relied on everyone else leaving the house to set my own internal clock. And it has been happening all week. Monday I thought it was Tuesday. Tuesday I thought it was Monday. Yesterday I thought it was Friday. Which also carried over into today. If this post goes up on time, it will be a minor miracle.

But guess who hasn’t forgotten what time of year it is? That’s right Heaven Hill. They are back with yet another edition of Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond. This edition is 14 years old, was distilled in the fall of 2005, and bottled in fall 2020. the suggested retail price is $140 continuing their trend of $10 per year of age.

But let’s see how it tastes before I forget to finish this thing.

Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond, Fall 2020 edition

Purchase Price: Heaven Hill graciously provided this sample for review purposes. The suggested retail price is about $140.

Price per Drink (50mL): $9.33

Details: Fall 2005, Bottled Fall 2020, 50% ABV, 14-year-old

Nose: Caramel, mint, a stack of dry oak, and a hint of cherry.

Mouth: Strong oak presence. Nice spice. Sweet caramel and vanilla. Cinnamon and mint.

Finish: Sweet and on the longer side of medium. Notes of caramel, cinnamon, and almond.

Thoughts: This is absolutely delicious. I'm sensing a trend that these might just have delicious as their baseline. I've been happy with every sample I've had. If I ever see one in a store priced anywhere near retail, I plan to pounce. Of course, as that is unlikely to happen in my neck of the woods, I'll be happy with the sample they sent.

Comparison to Spring 2020 edition: Fall 2020 is much sweeter on the nose with more oak. Spring 2020 Shows more fruit notes, whereas Fall 2020 is more oak and caramel forward. Fall 2020 has the butter finish.

Blog

Whiskey 1 (Evan Williams)

Whiskey 2 (Jim Beam)

Larceny Barrel Proof, Batch A121

Parker's Heritage Collection 2020: Heavy Char Bourbon

Larceny Barrel Proof, Batch C920

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, Batch C920

Elijah Craig Old Fashioned Cocktail Syrup

Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond, Fall 2020 edition