Father's Day Gift Ideas from the Readers of BourbonGuy.com

A couple weeks ago, I gave away a pair of socks to a lucky reader. But, being the sneaky devil that I am, I required them to answer a question for me in order to enter. In this case, I asked them what "gift-worthy" relatively available bourbon they would give to someone for Father's Day.

That’s right, I got the readers to do my work for me. And as I had hoped, I found the information interesting and I think you might too.

10 “Gift-Worthy” Bourbons as Chosen by the Readers

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1. Henry McKenna Bottled in Bond 10-year old.

This beloved darling of a whiskey was the most submitted bourbon by the readers. And with good reason. This is an affordable bourbon that comes with a 10 year age statement. That combination is a rarity these days. Of course since this just won multiple awards at the 2019 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, including “Best in Show Whiskey” I don’t know that I would expect to see this sitting on the shelf anytime soon. But if you do, grab a bottle. It really is quite good. Spicy, rich and complex. And if you see two, maybe grab one for a gift too.

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2. Colonel E. H. Taylor Single Barrel Bourbon

One of two suggestions coming from the EH Taylor portfolio, Single Barrel is just what it sounds like. A Single Barrel, Bottled in Bond Bourbon. Clocking in at 100 proof, this one should be high enough proof for the experienced drinker but not proofed so high that it scares away the novice. I haven’t had this one personally but the distillery says this: “The aroma carries lightly toasted oak, with dried figs and butterscotch. One sip brings flavors of sweetness balanced with tobacco and dark spices. The finish is just long enough to prepare the palette for another sip. The bottle itself is a likeness to Colonel Taylor's original design used over a century ago.”

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3. Four Roses Single Barrel

This is one of my favorite bourbons and my favorite in the Four Roses line-up. In my mind when I think of “bourbon flavor” I’m thinking of Four Roses Single Barrel. Of course, I am an admitted Four Roses Fanboy so take all of this with a grain of salt. In fact, the last time I wrote about it I had a very short review of it: “This is a fantastic bourbon. If you haven't had it yet, you should. If you buy it and you don't love it, I'll be happy to drink it for you if you send it to me.” And as a gift, not only does it come in a lovely bottle but if your local store has private selections, you can get something unique as well.

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4. Blanton’s Single Barrel

This is one of five entries on the list that is made at the Buffalo Trace Distillery. This particular entry will be a bit hard to find most of the time. Though it isn’t impossible depending on where you live. Introduced way back in 1984, Blanton’s was the original Single Barrel and helped kick off the Bourbon Renaissance we are living through today. Internationally, there are multiple labels in the Blanton’s portfolio, including a Barrel Proof version that is to die for. Here in the US, we only get this one. But don’t be too sad, it is a hell of a bourbon and any person would be happy to receive it as a gift…if you don’t decide to keep it for yourself.

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5. Booker’s Bourbon

This is one that you will not want to give to everyone on your list. Regularly clocking in at well over 120° proof, this is not for the bourbon novice. If your recipient is an experienced bourbon lover though, you cannot go wrong with Bookers. Sweet, thick, chewy and delicious, I am never disappointed with a bottle of Booker’s. Makes me wish I had a bottle right now.

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6. Colonel E. H. Taylor Small Batch Bourbon

The second of two suggestions coming from the EH Taylor portfolio, Small Batch is also a bonded bourbon. I’m a bit ashamed to admit this, but I haven’t had this one either. Not sure how the entire E.H. Taylor line escaped my attention, but I should probably remedy that soon. In any case the distillery says this: “Tastes of caramel corn sweetness, mingled with butterscotch and licorice. The aftertaste is a soft mouth-feel that turns into subtle spices of pepper and tobacco.”

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7. Eagle Rare Bourbon

I’ve had this bourbon on my shelf numerous times over the course of my bourbon journey and I’m going to tell you something. I’ve never noticed that the top of the E in the logo was an eagle head until right now. As a graphic designer for almost two decades, that bothers me more than it should. But maybe I can be excused, I mean most of the time I’m looking at this bottle, I’m focused on what is inside it, not on the label. This ten year old bourbon from the Buffalo Trace company clocks in at a respectable 90° proof and is probably my favorite bourbon from the distillery that is available here in the States.

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8. Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon

This is the bourbon that I give as a gift most often. It is mellow and smooth, comes in a pretty bottle and tastes delicious. It is a great gift for the bourbon novice and is tasty enough for the bourbon expert. In fact, for a long while it was my go to from the Four Roses lineup before finally being overtaken by Single Barrel in the last few years.

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9. Four Roses Small Batch Select Bourbon

Small Batch Select is the most recent release from Four Roses Bourbon, and the one in my glass as I wrote this. I got mine on my last trip to Kentucky since unfortunately it isn’t available nationwide yet. Non-chill filtered and clocking in at a hefty 104° proof, this is a bourbon to give to the experienced bourbon drinker. Being a mix of OBSV, OESV, OBSK, OESK, OBSF, and OESF recipes, this bourbon caters to the floral side of the Four Roses flavor profile without skimping on the spiciness. If you live in an area where this is for sale, it’s a no brainer as a gift for a whiskey lover that lives in the rest of the country.

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10. Stagg Jr. Bourbon

This final entry on the list is another barrel proof, unfiltered bourbon. This time from Buffalo Trace. Named similarly to George T. Stagg of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, Junior is a bit younger than the 15+ years of its older brother. Stagg Jr. doesn’t carry an age statement but is assumed to be in the 6-10 year old range. And as one of the readers who suggested it said: “Separates the men from the boys.” I’m assuming he means the women from the girls as well. But the sentiment is correct, this is a burner.

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BourbonGuy.com accepts no advertising. It is solely supported by the sale of the hand-made products and bourbon-related craft supplies I sell at the BourbonGuy Gifts store. If you'd like to support BourbonGuy.com, visit BourbonGuyGifts.com. And hey, if you are an iOS user, look for Bourbon Guy in Apple News. Thanks!

BourbonGuy.com Bottom-Shelf Brackets 2019: The Championship Rounds

Well, it's finally here. The championship rounds. We are down to the last four bourbons. In Division 1 we have Old Grand Dad Bonded facing off against Larceny. And in Division Two we have Old Forester Signature 100 proof up against Wild Turkey 101.

Division 1: Old Grand-Dad Bonded (Whiskey 1) vs Larceny (Whiskey 2)

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: Both noses are sweet, but Whiskey 2 is showing a bit more graininess. I’d say this is a bit of a draw on the nose. Neither is particularly better than the other. On the mouth however, Whiskey 1 pulls way ahead. In comparison to Whiskey 2, Whiskey 1 is an explosion of deliciousness. It is the hands-down winner in the one.

Post-Reveal Thoughts: To be honest, I’m a bit shocked on the results here. I expected Larceny to put up a bit more of a fight. And even though, I knew that Old Grand-Dad might have more flavor due to the proof, I didn’t expect it to necessarily have a better flavor. And yet it did. This is why we do these things blind, to eliminate the preconceived notions. Old Grand-Dad Bonded advances.

Division 2: Wild Turkey 101 (Whiskey 1) vs Old Forester Signature 100 proof (Whiskey 2)

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: The nose on Whiskey 1 is sweeter and shows more baking spice. The nose on Whskey 2 is more tannic. Reminds me a bit of a glass of Lipton’s iced tea. Whiskey 1 follows the nose and is sweet and spicy. The mouth on Whiskey 2 is also more tannic but is sweet as well. These are both nicely complex bourbons in the mouth. I like the finish on Whiskey 1 better. It is a spice bomb which i love. Whiskey 2 has a fine finish, it follows the mouth but at this point it feels like just “more of the same.” It doesn’t really stand out or distinguish itself. Honestly, these are both delicious and it is super close, but I think that spice-bomb of a finish pushes Whiskey 1 ahead ever so slightly.

Post-Reveal Thoughts: I’m honestly surprised at what happened here. I would have bet money that Whiskey 2 was Wild Turkey. But once again, this is why we do blind tastings. I think either of these would have been a winner with a different opponent or on a different day (and I guess they were to get here) but today Wild Turkey 101 advances.

Championship Round: Wild Turkey 101 (Whiskey 1) vs Old Grand-Dad Bonded (Whiskey 2)

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: Whiskey 1 has a sweet nose where Whiskey 2 is reminding me of rye bread. Whiskey 1 is sweeter on the mouth while Whiskey 2 is drier and much spicier. This is super, super tough. Finishes on both are great. It comes down to the fact that Whiskey 1 makes me ever slightly happier.

Post-Reveal Thoughts: I did this same matchup on three different days. It was that close. OGD and 101 each won one of the first two. On the third round, I gave up on analyzing the notes and just asked myself, “Which of these makes me happier when I drink it?” And that one was Wild Turkey 101.

Lessons learned

So was I shocked by anything this year? I mean, besides the fact that you guys have a much more high-end bottom-shelf than I do? Yeah. I actually was. I continually gave Old Grand-Dad no shot in it’s matchups. I wasn’t sure what would happen versus Beam Bonded, but I expected it to lose in every matchup after that. I just think of Old Grand-Dad as dry and ever so slightly dusty and grainy. Every time I drink it, I am reminded that it isn’t, but I can’t get that impression out of my head. I mean it won the whole thing last year and that didn’t help. And it was a tie-breaker game away from winning this year. And it lost to another former winner (2017 Wild Turkey 101 was the Champ). I think I need to reassess my thoughts on OGD Bonded and try to remember that it really is a very good bourbon.

I was also a bit shocked that the two finalists were ones that would have fit in my normal pricing rules. Those being 2.4 cents per milliliter or less (which works out to $18 per 750, $24 per liter or $40 for a 1.75 L handle). In fact, I can get a handle of Wild Turkey for just under $30 locally. And the fact that they beat out bourbons that sell for $25 per 750 mL? That’s a bit shocking as well. But it does show one of the guiding principles of this site: you don’t need to spend a lot to drink well.

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I’m off to Las Vegas for a well earned vacation next week so no posts. But I’ll be back a week from Tuesday with my review of Legent from BeamSuntory.

Bottom-Shelf Brackets 2019: Round 2: Old Grand-Dad Bonded vs. Fighting Cock and Evan Williams Single Barrel vs. Larceny

Here it is. Round 2 of the 2019 BourbonGuy.com Bottom Shelf Brackets. This is where we meet our last contestants and see if they deserved that first round bye. Let’s start at the top with Division 1 Number 1 seed Fighting Cock versus the advancing Number 5 seed Old Grand-Dad Bonded. 

We’ve already met Old Grand-Dad, but to recap, it uses the “other” Beam bourbon recipe. The higher rye recipe. This is the Bottled in Bond version. The “newcomer” is Fighting Cock. It is a product of Heaven Hill Brands. I put newcomer in quotes because Fighting Cock has competed twice before. Once, when it had a 6-year age statement, it won the whole damn thing. The very next year it had lost the age statement, gained a very grainy flavor and got knocked out of the first round. But you guys wanted to see it come back and here it is, the number one vote getter in the nomination process. Let’s see who comes out on top.

These were tasted blind in the following order. Tasting notes are from before the reveal.

Old Grand-Dad Bonded

Purchase Info: $23.99 for a 1 liter bottle, Blue Max, Burnsville, MN

Details: 50% ABV. DSP-KY-230.

Nose: Spearmint, cinnamon gum, caramel and ginger.

Mouth: Sweet and spicy with mint, ginger and green tea.

Finish: On the longer side of medium with lingering spicy ginger and a hint of molasses.

Fighting Cock

Purchase Info: $15.99 for a 750 mL bottle, Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Details: 51.5% ABV.

Nose: Caramel, mint and allspice.

Mouth: Caramel, vanilla, oak and dried grain.

Finish: Dry and spicy with a medium length.

Pre-reveal Thoughts: Whiskey 1 is the hands-down winner. Both are good, but Whiskey 1 seems to have brought a little something extra to the party.

Post Reveal Thoughts: I’m actually a bit surprised with how much of a fight Fighting Cock put up. The last time it competed, it was not very good at all. It got beaten out by a Total Wine private label. It was a grain-forward mess that was downright unpleasant. The other surprise is how much ginger the pairing bought out in Old Grand-Dad. I got none of that when it was paired with its cousin. It just goes to show how much effect the things you taste alongside a bourbon have on the notes that you find in the bourbon.

It looks like Old Grand-Dad Bonded is moving on to face the winner of the matchup below.

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And it seems once again we have a matchup of corporate cousins. Moving on to our second matchup of the night, we have Division 1 Number 3 seed Evan Williams Single Barrel versus Number 2 seed Larceny. 

I think this one is an interesting matchup. It features Larceny, Heaven Hill’s reasonably priced wheater (now that Old Fitzgerald has been discontinued and turned into a $100+ limited release) versus Evan Williams Single Barrel, one of Heaven Hill’s bourbons that uses the standard rye as the flavor grain. It is also one of Heaven Hill’s few remaining bourbons that still tells you how old it is.

These were tasted blind in the following order. Tasting notes are from before the reveal.

Evan Williams Single Barrel (2011 vintage)

Purchase Info: $24.99 for a 750 mL bottle, Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Details: 7 years 10 months old. 43.3% ABV.

Nose: Caramel, wintergreen, black tea.

Mouth: Soft in the mouth with caramel, cinnamon red hots, vanilla, oak, and mint.

Finish: Medium length with lingering caramel, vanilla and oak.

Larceny

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

Details: 46% ABV.

Nose: Cocoa powder, hazelnut, and hints of cinnamon and oak.

Mouth: Allspice, cocoa powder, cinnamon.

Finish: Medium length with lingering oak and cinnamon.

Pre-reveal Thoughts: Whiskey 2 reminds me of a baked chocolate cookie. It is delicious. Whiskey 1 bring more of a “classic” bourbon flavor along. It is also delicious. That said, there is a “brightness” and “vitality” to Whiskey 2 that pushes me in that direction.

Post Reveal Thoughts: Higher proof beat stated age in this case. Close one, but Larceny advances.

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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 store. If you'd like to support BourbonGuy.com, visit BourbonGuyGifts.com. And if you are an iOS user, look for Bourbon Guy in Apple News. Thanks!

Bottom-Shelf Brackets 2019: Round 1: Four Roses vs. Bulleit and Jim Beam Bonded vs. Old Grand-Dad Bonded

In light of recent allegations made by the daughter of Tom Bulleit of his homophobia and mental and physical abuse toward her, I have made the decision that BourbonGuy.com can no longer endorse products bearing the Bulleit name. If I had known of these allegations previous to this article, I would have not included their bourbon in the competition.

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Round 1 of the 2019 BourbonGuy.com Bottom Shelf Brackets continues with Division 2 Number 4 seed Four Roses “Beige Label” Bourbon versus Number 5 seed Bulleit Bourbon. 

This is an interesting battle. For the longest time it was an open secret that Four Roses produced whiskey made up all or most of the bourbon in a bottle of Bulleit. But about five or six years ago, that all changed. Four Roses cancelled their contract to supply Diageo with bourbon and Bulleit began the slow transition to filling their bottles with bourbon from other manufacturers. So now that enough time has passed for Bulleit to have gotten most of the Four Roses juice through their pipeline, how does the entry-level Four Roses product compare to Bulleit now that these two companies have gone their separate ways.

These were tasted blind in the following order. Tasting notes are from before the reveal.

Bulleit Bourbon

Purchase Info: $18.99 for a 750 mL bottle, Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Details: 45% ABV.

Nose: Oak, Toffee, Vanilla, cinnamon red hots.

Mouth: Spicy cinnamon, sweet vanilla, creme brûlée and a little oak

Finish: Medium length. Lingering cinnamon, oak and chocolate.

Four Roses Bourbon

Purchase Info: $21.99 for a 750 mL bottle, Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Details: 40% ABV.

Nose: Cinnamon, oak, black tea and a little mint.

Mouth: Thin mouthfeel. Cinnamon, black pepper and a hint of vanilla.

Finish: Very gentle. Lingering vanilla, mint, black pepper and Juicyfruit gum.

Pre-reveal Thoughts: This one is tough. The bourbons are of a very similar quality level so there isn’t a hands-down winner on the quality front. They both taste good. And honestly, I think one could be forgiven for choosing either of these as you personal winner. For me though, in this head to head matchup? I think Whiskey 1 edges its way to the winner’s circle.

Post Reveal Thoughts: Higher proof can often lend itself to higher complexity and a nicer mouthfeel. It does so in this case as the higher proof Bulleit Bourbon wins the chance to meetup with Wild Turkey 101 in Round 2.

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And once again, in order to finish this competition sometime before summer, we are doing two in each post. So moving on to our second 4v5 matchup, we have Division 1 Number 4 seed Jim Beam Bonded versus Number 5 seed (and corporate cousin) Old Grand-Dad Bonded. 

This is also a super interesting matchup. It features the Bottled in Bond version of both of Jim Beam’s main bourbon recipes. Jim Beam and Old Grand-Dad are both BeamSuntory brands. Both are produced by Jim Beam at one of their two big distilleries in either Clermont or Boston, Kentucky. Old Grand-Dad is often touted as using Beam’s “High Rye” recipe. How much higher is it than the standard Beam recipe? Well the good folks over at ModernThirst.com have a handy, and sortable, table of all the known, assumed, and estimated bourbon mash bills. According to that Old Grand-Dad clocks in at 63% corn, 27% rye and 10% malted barley compared to Jim Beam’s 75% corn, 13% rye and 12% malted barley. So let’s see who wins head-to-head, shall we?

These were tasted blind in the following order. Tasting notes are from before the reveal.

Old Grand-Dad Bonded

Purchase Info: $23.99 for a 1 liter bottle, Blue Max, Burnsville, MN

Details: 50% ABV. DSP-KY-230.

Nose: Mint, toasted grains, caramel, oak, green tea.

Mouth: Mint, spicy cinnamon, oak and green tea.

Finish: On the longer side of medium and warm. Lingering mint, green tea and oak.

Jim Beam Bonded

Purchase Info: $21.49 for a 1 liter bottle, Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Details: 50% ABV. DSP-KY-230.

Nose: Vanilla, cinnamon, corn, almond, and toffee.

Mouth: Oak, a generic “fruitiness,” cinnamon candies and caramel.

Finish: Medium length and warm. Lingering mint, corn, cinnamon candies and a hint of peanut.

Pre-reveal Thoughts: Whiskey 2 is a lot sweeter than whiskey 1. So this basically comes down to if you like your bourbon on the sweet and spicy side or the dry and spicy side of the equation. That’ll be a personal preference issue. For me, I choose whiskey 1 to advance. My wife went back and forth before agreeing with me.

Post Reveal Thoughts: This was much closer than I expected it to be. Going into the matchup, I expected that Old Grand-Dad would win this one hands down with no contest. It turns out that Old Grand-Dad did win, but it really close. And now they will face Fighting Cock in Round 2.

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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 store. If you'd like to support BourbonGuy.com, visit BourbonGuyGifts.com. And if you are an iOS user, look for Bourbon Guy in Apple News. Thanks!

Bottom-Shelf Brackets 2019: Round 1: Jim Beam Repeal Batch vs. Evan Williams Single Barrel and Buffalo Trace vs. Old Forester Signature

The time is finally here! Let’s get down to the competitions. Round 1 of the 2019 BourbonGuy.com Bottom Shelf Brackets opens with Division 1 Number 3 seed Evan Williams Single Barrel (2011 vintage) versus Number 6 seed Jim Beam Repeal Batch. 

This is a battle of Limited Edition Releases. Jim Beam’s Repeal Batch is a non-chill filtered, slightly higher proof version of the standard Jim Beam White. It was released to celebrate the 85th Anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition. Evan Williams Single Barrel is a limited release only in that each new release is named for the year that the bourbon was put in oak. For many years this was released after 10 years in the barrel. These days you are down to a little under 8 years. Which Limited Release will win out? Let’s find out!

These were tasted blind in the following order. Tasting notes are from before the reveal.

Jim Beam Repeal Batch

Purchase Info: $18.99 for a 1 liter bottle, Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Details: Non-chill filtered. 43% ABV.

Nose: Melon, cinnamon, mint, caramel corn.

Mouth: Spearmint, wintergreen, baking spice and caramel.

Finish: Medium length with lingering vanilla corn and mint.

Evan Williams Single Barrel (2011 vintage)

Purchase Info: $24.99 for a 750 mL bottle, Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Details: 7 years 10 months old. 43.3% ABV.

Nose: Caramel, cinnamon, wintergreen.

Mouth: Thin mouthfeel. Almond, brown sugar, baking spice and a light mint.

Finish: On the longer side of medium and warm. Lingering almond, berry and spice.

Pre-reveal Thoughts: Whiskey two (Evan Williams Single Barrel) is the clear winner here. The nose and mouth are richer and the finish is much more satisfying.

Post Reveal Thoughts: No upset here, the higher seed (and higher age) wins in this one. Evan Williams Single Barrel is moving on to face corporate cousin Larceny in Round 2

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In order to finish this competition sometime before summer, we are doing two in each post. So moving on to our second 3v6 matchup, we have Division 2 Number 3 seed Buffalo Trace versus Number 6 seed Old Forester Signature. 

This match-up lands squarely on the shoulders of you, the readers. Buffalo Trace is the higher seed due to more people nominating it even though it is the lower proof bourbon. Buffalo Trace is the namesake product of the Sazerac-owned Buffalo Trace Distillery. The distillery is located in Frankfort, Kentucky and is claimed by the company to be the oldest continuously-operating distillery in the United States. If you haven’t been there you owe it to yourself to make sure that you do. Far from being the oldest distillery, the Old Forester Distillery is one of the youngest. Though that doesn’t matter much since almost none of the juice that will be going into Old Forester bottles (one day) is produced there. All of the juice in this bottle having been produced in Brown-Forman’s Shively distillery.

These were tasted blind in the following order. Tasting notes are from before the reveal.

Buffalo Trace

Purchase Info: $24.99 for a 750 mL bottle, Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Details: 45% ABV.

Nose: Vanilla, caramel, Cheerios cereal, a hint of green apples.

Mouth: Spicy and warm with brown sugar, baking spice, berries and apples.

Finish: Medium length with lingering vanilla, berries and baking spice.

Old Forester Signature 100 Proof

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

Details: 50% ABV.

Nose: Hickory, caramel, wintergreen, almond.

Mouth: Spicy and warm with vanilla, oak, green apple, clove and cinnamon.

Finish: Spicy and of medium length. Lingering brown sugar, spice, apple and wintergreen.

Pre-reveal Thoughts: This one was a very difficult matchup. In the end, whiskey two won on the strength of its finish. The spice must flow.

Post Reveal Thoughts: And just like that we have our first upset of the competition. Proof won out in this case. Old Forester Signature is moving on to match up against Evan Williams Bottled in Bond in Round 2.

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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 store. If you'd like to support BourbonGuy.com, visit BourbonGuyGifts.com. And if you are an iOS user, look for Bourbon Guy in Apple News. Thanks!

6th Annual BourbonGuy.com Bottom-Shelf Brackets: Reader's Choice Edition

As it is March, it is probably time for brackets of one sort or another. And even though my beloved Minnesota Gophers will actually make an appearance in a basketball tournament this year...I still don't really care. I mean, I'm happy to hear they are doing ok, but it isn't going to ruin my day should they not beat Louisville. 

No, once again it is time to get our fill of competitive bracketing by finding inexpensive bourbons and pitting them against each other head-to-head to see if there is one that stands head and shoulders above the rest. Normally I run all over the Metro trying to find bourbons that fulfill a stringent set of qualifications while minimizing bourbons from the same producer. But this year, I decided to be lazy…errr…crowd-source the decision by opening the nomination process up to you, the readers.

And boy did the nominations roll in (it might have helped that I asked the question as part of couple different give-aways). It’s funny, a couple of years ago, I got chastised in the comments for having an elevated Bottom-Shelf. But let me tell you, ya’ll have a much more high-end bottom shelf than I do.

So how does this competition work? Well, the bourbons included were all nominated by the readers. After the nomination process, I tallied the number of nomination each bourbon received, cross referenced that with bourbons I could buy for less than $25 (750 mL bottle or larger) and figured out which of those were actually available in my market.

And it was at that point that I realized there were way too many interesting suggestions for an eight bourbon bracket. So this year we are bracketing it NFL-style with 12 whiskeys, the top four seeds of which have earned first-round byes. Which leads me to how these were seeded. I have a very precise algorithm which I …

nah. I just went by the number of nominations each bourbon got. After that I broke any ties first by age and then by proof. The divisions were chosen in alternating order so Division 1 chose the top seed as first, then Division 2 got to choose the second seed first and so on down the line. And now, the moment you were waiting for:

The number one overall seed, with 5 nominations and 103 proof is Heaven Hill’s Fighting Cock. Following that with the number one seed in Division 2, also with 5 nominations, is Wild Turkey 101. The third overall seed and the number two seed in Division 2 is Evan Williams Bottled in Bond (four nominations and 100 proof). Following that as the number two seed in Division 1 is Larceny (Four nominations and 92 proof). The number three seeds are Evan Williams Single Barrel (Division 1, three nominations, 7 years old) and Buffalo Trace (Division 2, three nominations, 90 proof). Number four seeds are Four Roses Bourbon (Division 2, three nominations, 80 proof) and Jim Beam Bonded (Division 1, two nominations, 100 proof). Number 5 seeds are Old Grand-Dad Bonded (Division 1, two nominations, 100 proof) and Bulleit Bourbon (Division 2, two nominations, 90 proof). There were a lot of suggestions that only had one nomination, so I chose ones I thought might be interesting as the number six seeds. They are Old Forester Signature (Division 2, one nominations, 100 proof) and Jim Beam Repeal Batch (Division 1, one nominations, 100 proof).

There are a lot of interesting story lines this time (that tends to happen when you elevate the level of competition). We start out with Jim Beam Bonded versus Old Grand-Dad Bonded. Which of the two Beam Bourbon recipes will win out? We also have Four Roses versus Bulleit. So we have a Four Roses product versus one that used to be mostly Four Roses, but is no longer so. And honestly, I’m curious to see how the Beam Limited Release fares against the Heaven Hill Limited Release in Repeal Batch versus Evan Williams Single Barrel. And if Evan Williams wins, which of the Heaven Hill Bourbon recipes will win out? The wheat or the rye based?

Anyway competition starts Thursday. Check back then to see which of the bourbon in the Reader’s Choice Bottom-Shelf comes out on top!

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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 store. If you'd like to support BourbonGuy.com, visit BourbonGuyGifts.com. And if you are an iOS user, look for Bourbon Guy in Apple News. Thanks!

Basil Hayden's 10 Year Old: A perfectly acceptable $30 bourbon.

In the amazing and still missed TV show Justified, Raylan Givens gives one of the best lines of all time:

“If you run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole. If you run into assholes all day, you're the asshole.”

So when I noticed that the neighbor dog, who I love dearly, was one of the many things that was irritating me, I realized that today I was “the asshole." I had the brief thought that I should just take a break from work and write tonight’s post on the spot. Asshole seemed like the right frame of mind to be in for tonight’s whiskey. But then I remembered a line from His Holiness the Dalai Lama’ March 7th, 2014 address to the US Senate (you’ve probably seen this as inspirational #content on Instagram or Facebook numerous times):

“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” 

This is a very poetic and less crude version of the mantra I live by: “Don’t be a dick.” Yes, I just compared myself to both the Dalai Lama and to Raylan Givens. No, I do not feel bad about it.

So I decided to put off writing tonight’s post until my frame of mind was more amenable to being kind. I’m sorry. I’m sure that one would have been much funnier.

Basil Hayden’s 10 Year Old

Purchase Info: $59.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Details: 40% ABV. 10 year age statement

Nose: Green apple Jolly Rancher candy, cinnamon, spearmint.

Mouth: Gentle. This is an easy one to hold in your mouth to try to tease out all the flavor notes. I got Custard, mint, cinnamon, and maybe some oak if I’m feeling generous.

Finish: Gentle and on the shorter side of medium. I get mint, spice and some oak.

Thoughts: This bourbon is fine. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with this except the price. This is a perfectly acceptable $25-30 bourbon. The travesty is that it sells for twice that.

In the past, I have excused the price of the original Basil Hayden. I had the thought that it was less of a cash grab for underproofed bourbon and more a brilliant way to get new bourbon drinkers into the fold. Knowing, from my own experiences that people new to any liquor category, at least those that don’t live on the bottom shelf, want “something good” to try out and also knowing that for most uniformed people “something good” actually means “something with a pretty bottle that has a bit of a higher price tag,” it stands to reason that this new-to-bourbon person might grab a bottle of super gentle Basil Hayden with it’s higher price and pretty bottle. Then after trying it—and not being scared off by the “burn”—maybe find they enjoy it. And then eventually move on to real bourbon.

And that probably worked when there weren’t so many crap bourbons in pretty bottles on your local shelf with a price tag over $50. These days, original Basil Hayden can be one of the less expensive of the “pretty bottle crowd.” I saw it on sale for less than $30 as I was researching its local price tonight and have seen it that low (and bought it) in the past. So I thought Beam was reacting to the changing market by correcting the price downward. With the recent brand expansions, we have seen that is not the case. Original Basil Hayden may be cheaper these days, but all the new ones that share its name are not. And the worst offender is this 10 year old version. Like I said earlier, this is a perfectly acceptable bourbon. In fact, I wish more of the Old Grand Dad line had this kind of barrel influence on it. But the flavor is comparable to Buffalo Trace or maybe Henry McKenna Bottled in Bond. Notice I said flavor, not heat or complexity. This suffers from the same issue that Original Basil Hayden’s has: it’s too gentle and low proof for the price, but this doesn’t have the excuse of being a “gateway” bourbon.

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Knob Creek Twice Barreled Rye

Did I miss the memo letting everyone know that the new hotness was putting your rye whiskey into a second new barrel for finishing? Sure, I ran across one this fall, but it was a distillery-only release. It came in half bottles that sold for $50 each. That was a company playing around and stumbling upon something good. Cool, right?

But then, I started seeing reports that Beam was doing something extremely similar as a limited release in the Knob Creek line. Two data points isn’t a trend, but it could be the beginning of a trend. I mean, finishing your whiskey in a second barrel is nothing new. People have been doing that for years. But finishing it in a second, new barrel? Well, that’s new. At least to my limited memory. I mean, barrels are expensive. And sure, the big guys can resell them for somewhere around the price they bought them for, but still that seems like a serious outlay of cash.

So what are they getting for that extra expense? Well, think of it this way. A new charred oak barrel is like a basket full of freshly ground coffee beans. They smell good, they are full of flavor and they impart that flavor to the liquid that is interacting with them. But once you use them? Well most of that flavor is gone. Ever been so tired that you accidentally made today’s coffee with yesterday’s grounds? Yeah. Barrels are kinda like that too. Only in this case, they are running that metaphorical coffee through a new set of grounds imparting even more of that flavor to the resulting liquid.

Hmmm…I wonder if that would work? I love coffee, it might be the one thing I love more than whiskey.

Anyway, the result for both of the double-barreled whiskeys from this week was to impart a richness that was lacking in the standard releases. After tasting each of them side-by-side with their respective standard release rye, I’d say that running these particular whiskeys though the barrel again definitely had an effect. But did in Knob Creek’s case, did it make it better?

Knob Creek Twice Barreled Rye

Purchase Info: $49.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Ace Spirits, Hopkins, MN

Details: 50% ABV

Nose: Black pepper, dried fruit, and cloves

Mouth: Spicy and sweet with black pepper, clove, cinnamon, apricot, maple, caramel, honey, and oak.

Finish: Spicy and warm. Medium length. Lingering cinnamon and clove along with a fruity sweetness.

Thoughts: This is good. I like it much better than the standard release Knob Creek Rye. Of course, since I am finding my self falling further and further out of love with the Knob Creek Rye, is that really saying anything? In this case, yeah, it is. Lately I’m finding standard Knob Creek Rye to be very grain forward and since there is a hefty portion of corn in there, unfortunately, one of the grains that is coming through the most is corn. That kinda defeats the purpose of a rye to me. If I want a high rye bourbon, I’ll buy one. When I want a rye, I’d rather have one that tastes more of rye than bourbon.

And in a way, this is also very bourbony. There is a lot of the bourbon-like sweetness coming through. Luckily, in this case it is in the form of maple, caramel and honey, not grain flavors. And that really does make a difference as I think the sweetness helps complement the typical “rye” flavors that you would expect in a rye whiskey. There is also a richness that is severely lacking in standard Knob Creek Rye. All in all, I’m a fan. At the price, I’m not sure I’ll be buying a second bottle. But I don’t regret buying the first.

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