Fistful of Bourbon

February 10, 2022 Eric Burke

Back when I was first starting to get into whiskey, I was interested in trying it all. I wanted to learn the differences between the styles. I wanted to find my favorites in each style. I wanted to learn it all. Unfortunately, I quickly found out that I really didn't like most of the Scotch whiskey that I was trying. I used to say something like “It’s not that I don’t like Scotch, I just haven’t found the ones I like yet.” Well since I haven’t found it over a decade later, I’m thinking it might be time to admit that as a general rule, I don’t like Scotch whiskey. More for the folks that do, I guess.

However while I was still trying to learn everything about all styles of whiskey, I did pick up on a few of the names of the various producers of whiskey from around the world. One of those that stuck in my head was William Grant & Sons. They are the makers of Scotch whiskies Glenfiddich and the Balvenie, the Irish whiskey Tullamore Dew, Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum, Hendrick’s Gin and other brands across spirit types. All of which require expertise in blending, either spirits or flavors.

So it was with interest that I heard the 2018 news that William Grant & Sons was launching their own bourbon brand, Fistful of Bourbon. I wanted to see what a big company that had built their business on blending could do using bourbon. Until recently, one of the unsung portions of the bourbon industry was the blender. Though that is starting to change. Slowly. Most of the old bourbon companies still don’t like to use the term blend, whether as a noun or as a verb, due to the quirks of US law surrounding that particular term when it comes to whiskey. And it isn’t like William Grant & Sons didn’t have experience with American Whiskey, they bought Tuthilltown Spirits, makers of the Hudson Whiskey brand, in 2017.

And then I read the reviews at launch. The nicest one I remember said it was bland. There were others that were worse. So I initially passed. As much as I like letting everyone know what to avoid, I’d still have to find something to do with the rest of the bottle if I didn’t like it. Even a guy who takes photos of bottles or glasses of bourbon every week can only use so much prop whiskey. But then my wife noticed last month that our local liquor store had 50 mL bottles of Fistful of Bourbon on sale for ninety-nine cents each. For two dollars, I could ignore the reviews and find out for myself without risking the need to dump out a $25 bottle of bourbon.

Fistful of Bourbon

Purchase Info: $0.99 each for two 50 mL bottles at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $0.99

Details: "A Blend of Straight Bourbon Whiskies Aged a Minimum of 2 Years." 45% ABV.

Nose: Grain-forward. Delicate bubblegum and mint notes.

Mouth: Light in flavor with a thin mouthfeel. Bubblegum, cinnamon, and dried grains.

Finish: Short and sweet. Notes of dried grain and cinnamon.

IMAGE: A neutral face as this is really meh. Not bad, but not terribly good either.

Thoughts: This is very grain-forward. What's there tastes fine, there just isn't very much there. If this were a Canadian Whisky, I'd say that it could be the starting base of a nice blend once they add the flavoring whisky to it. As a bourbon, however? It's ok, I guess. I'd rate it very meh.

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Cooper's Mark Small Batch Bourbon

February 8, 2022 Eric Burke

My wife was wandering through a liquor store the other day. In and of itself, this is not an unusual occurrence. But on this day, she was looking for something that might be interesting for us to review, which is pretty unusual since I am the one who tends to handle that. I like when she is the one buying, and not just because she is buying. No, I like that she comes at things with a different perspective than I do. I tend to look at a shelf full of whiskey and think about what I could buy that will taste good. She looks at a shelf of whiskey and thinks about what she can buy that is inexpensive.

I mean, she likes good whiskey too. She is just more apt to take a flyer on an inexpensive one that she’s never heard of than I am these days. But since you guys are almost as frugal as she is, these flyers do tend to lead to some interesting posts. Which is how a bottle of Cooper’s Mark Bourbon landed on our kitchen table.

So what is Cooper’s Mark Bourbon? That, my friend, is a very good question. The brand has no website. Which is more than a little weird. A Google search brings up a couple of reviews, but mostly serves up results for Brown-Forman’s Cooper’s Craft Bourbon and Beam Suntory’s Maker’s Mark bourbon. So I turned to look at the bottle. A bottle that looked was a close match to the shape of Brown-Forman’s Woodford Reserve bottle. Not much there either. In fact, almost half of the 112 words on the label came from the government warning. And a lot of the words that were on the label were repeated, see below.

Front label:
Cooper’s Mark Bourbon Whiskey
Small Batch
Charcoal Filtered • Extra Smooth
Uniquely hand crafted from specially selected barrels for a superior smooth flavor.
45.5% Alc/Vol (91 proof)
Genuine Cooper’s Mark small batch bourbon whiskey
750 ml Net Cont.
91 proof

Left Side:
Genuine Cooper’s Mark small batch bourbon whiskey is carefully hand crafted for a complex balance of flavors & aroma.

Right Side:
Government Warning
Produced & Bottled by Cooper’s Mark Whiskey Company, Princeton, MN 55371

To be honest, I’m more than a little surprised that I haven’t seen an article about Cooper’s Mark being sued for trademark infringement for this bottle. When most of the search results that come back are about other products, and your bottle looks like a third’s? That seems to be the definition of market confusion. In fact, there was another product a while back, Bison Ridge Canadian Whisky, that was sued by Sazerac for trademark infringement. So it wouldn’t be unheard of.

Anyway. This made me wonder who made this particular bottle of whiskey. So I decided to do more in-depth searching. Doing a COLA search with the TTB gave me the name of the company that is selling the whiskey, United States Distilled Products Co. in Princeton, MN. Of course, I still had no idea who that was, but after checking out a few job postings on LinkedIn, I found their website www.usdp.com which forwards to the Phillips Distilling website.

Being from Minnesota, I should have known. Until we finally got our craft distilling laws worked out, we had only one beverage alcohol distilling company: Phillips Distilling. They are the biggest liquor company in the state. They, or their parent company, United States Distilled Products Co., own Johnson Brothers Distributing, a multi-state alcohol distribution company; Prestige Beverage Group, the owners of Bison Ridge Canadian Whisky mentioned above; and others.

So, I can easily say that I am not a fan of a lot of what is in USDP’s portfolio. There are a lot of vodkas (high-end, low-end, and flavored), flavored whiskies, Scotches, liqueurs, ready-to-drink cocktails, and Windsor Canadian. Though I haven’t had Windsor Canadian in over 20 years, I still remember what it tasted like. I feel no need to try again. I do, however, like a few of the wines in their portfolio and I’d probably give the one bourbon they list on their portfolio pages a try.

I came into this just wanting to know who produced the bourbon I was tasting. As you might notice, when I want an answer I’ll spend a stupid amount of time trying to find it. So now that we know who is selling Cooper’s Mark bourbon (no mention of the state of distillation so who knows who actually distilled it), let’s see how it tastes.

Cooper's Mark Small Batch Bourbon

Purchase Info: $22.48 for a 750 mL bottle at Marketplace Foods, Menomonie, WI

Price per Drink (50 mL): $1.50

Details: 45.5% ABV. No age statement.

Nose: Caramel, wood, mixed nuts, and delicate red fruit.

Mouth: There is almost nothing to this. Hints of caramel and vanilla and a touch of eucalyptus.

Finish: Warm and of medium length. Notes of caramel, cinnamon, and something super funky that I cannot place.

IMAGE: A frowns face with it's tongue out because I did not like this.

Thoughts: I do not like this. It was a very "meh" bourbon until the finish. Then it fell off of a cliff. My wife summed it up best when she exclaimed "it tastes like a cinnamon red hot that went bad!" It's just…not good. I'd give it a very wide berth at the liquor store.

For my future tastebud’s sake, I hope that the bourbon Phillip’s claims online is better than this one. Maybe there’s a reason that the company doesn’t talk about Cooper’s Mark Bourbon.

Stellum Black Rye

February 3, 2022 Eric Burke

Going to be a short one tonight, I’m actually not here. Well, I’m not here when you are reading this…probably. This time travel thing is confusing sometimes. Anyway, at the time I would normally be writing this, I will be bringing supper to my Grandmother who I don’t get to visit very often. But since I’ve been missing a lot of time lately due to family and illness, I wanted to bang something out early.

Tonight we are looking at the last entry in the Stellum lineup that I have access to. We haven’t covered a single-barrel rye, but I think this should cover the brand for a while. Here is what the producer has to say about the brand on their website:

Stellum Black Rye is an evolution of the Stellum Rye flavor profile. Think of it as Stellum Rye in high-def. We used a meticulous blending approach to layer older reserve barrels into the original Stellum Rye blend. The result is a surprisingly mellow cask-strength rye whiskey combining iconic rye spice with a deep complexity that reveals new facets with every sip.

I was impressed, but “priced out” on the Black Bourbon, let’s see how the Black Rye does.

Stellum Black Rye

Purchase Info: $93.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $6.27

Details: Distilled in Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. 57.13% ABV.

Nose: Cedar, cola, ginger, clove, and herbal mint.

Mouth: Very warm in the mouth. Notes of cedar, honey, mint, and cinnamon.

Finish: Warm and dry. Medium to long. Notes of oak, cedar, mint, cola, and cinnamon candies.

A hand-drawn smile to show I like this one.

Thoughts: Another very tasty offering from the folks at Stellum. I probably won't be spending the money on this again. Mostly because I really liked how the standard Stellum rye prominently featured the MGP-Style 95% Rye flavor profile. This is more of a balance of the various flavor profiles along with the addition of mature oak notes. Like I said, very tasty. I just happen to like the more inexpensive offering better.

For once, my bank account will be happy with my taste buds.

Stellum Black Bourbon

February 1, 2022 Eric Burke

I got the following comment from ZX when we took our initial look at the flagship offerings in the Stellum lineup:

Bit the bullet on these this morning before your review posted. $50 each at the Kroger. Total Wine wants $63. Huge fan of Barrell before they priced me out of the market. Excited to try these!

So what are we looking at tonight? Why a Stellum offering that is priced roughly the same as the Barrell bourbons, of course! I thought I’d just take the one thing that ZX was most excited about by the brand and completely ignore it.

I’m going to let you know right off the bat that I was pretty excited to try this guy. I really liked the standard release and the single barrel was good enough that I’m going to be grabbing another for the closet here before too long. I wasn’t thrilled with the $100+ price tag, but I wanted to at least give it a try to see if the “more mature” bourbons in the blend would justify it.

Let’s dig in.

Stellum Black Bourbon

Purchase Info: $104.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Price per drink (50 mL): $7.00

Details: Distilled in Indiana, Kentucky & Tennessee 54.61% ABV.

Nose: Cinnamon candies, caramel, chocolate, mint, and just a hint of smoke.

Mouth: Very spicy. Cinnamon, chocolate, oak, and mint.

Finish: Medium to long and warm with notes of cinnamon, mint, and after a while, cedar.

Thoughts: This is a very lovely bourbon that I will not be buying again. It was a nice one-time splurge but at over $7 per drink, I just can't see myself getting a second bottle. The standard Stellum Bourbon is a very tasty pour and is within, though at the high end of, my usual price range.

Stellum Single Barrel Bourbon, Vega Release - Top Ten Liquors Selection

January 25, 2022 Eric Burke

IMAGE: Front Label of Stellum Single Barrel. Selected by Top Ten Liquors. Single Barrel M2, Vega, 109.26 Proof, 54.63% ABV.

Something strange happened to me as I was researching last week’s post on the latest Elijah Craig Barrel Proof release. I found a new liquor store chain in my area. This is not the sort of thing that happens to me very often. I mean I try to keep tabs on this sort of thing. But I was looking for a press release, which lead me to the website of a liquor store industry publication who had a cover story about a Twin Cities liquor store chain.

My curiosity being piqued, I read the story only to find out that this particular chain had popped up way back in 2019. I’m sure there is some reason why I wasn’t out exploring between then and now, but I’m just going to chalk this up to the fact that they didn’t have a location in my immediate area. They do happen to have one very near to where my wife works. So being the good husband, I sent her shopping for me on her way home from the office. Mostly to scope out the place and see if it is worth making a journey to a location that seems bigger but is more out of the way. Her response was a definitive yes.

And on top of that, she brought home a present for me, which happens to be tonight’s bourbon. It is a store pick of Stellum Single Barrel bourbon. This one from the most recent “Vega” release of single barrels. We’ve covered Stellum before, but the brief version of the brand is that it is created by the same folks that produce the Barrell line of whiskies. Like that brand, Stellum is sourced from multiple distilleries in multiple states and then blended to make a unique product. Seeing how this bottle is a single barrel, it is labeled as having been distilled in Indiana. We can probably make an assumption as to which very large distillery it came from.

So let’s see how it tastes.

Stellum Single Barrel Bourbon, Vega M2 selected by Top Ten Liquors

Purchase Info: $54.95 at Top Ten Liquors, Rosemount, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.67

Details: 54.63% ABV. Selections made in the Spring and Autumn of 2021. Mash bill: 75% Corn, 21% Rye, 4% Barley Malt. Distilled in Indiana.

Nose: Ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, caramel, and cedar.

Mouth: Spicy with oak, cedar, baking spice, caramel, and red fruit.

Finish: Medium to long and warm with notes of cinnamon candies and caramel.

Thoughts: This was very good. I’m particularly enjoying the sweet, spicy notes. The rye presence shows itself nicely. If you have a local store that has a pick from the Vega release, I'd grab it. This is a delicious example of very good MGP (I’m assuming) bourbon.

Jefferson's Ocean, Voyage 23

January 6, 2022 Eric Burke

My stepfather is in recovery tonight after an eight-hour surgery today at the VA hospital. During this time my mother is staying with us. Because who makes their mother stay alone in a hotel while she worries over her hospitalized husband? As such, I’m going to be spending as much time as possible distracting her from her worry. As such, it’s going to have to be a quick one tonight. In fact, as he is going to be recovering for at least the next week, I may miss an article or more next week. Sorry about that, but family comes first.

But I thought tonight’s whiskey might be fitting. When my mom arrived earlier this week, she brought a little something to repay me for letting her stay and for driving her to the hospital and back every day. And as luck would have it, it is something that I’ve never purchased before.

Jefferson’s Ocean is the fourth whiskey from the Jefferson’s Bourbon line that I’ve reviewed. I did their two standard releases back in 2017 and 2018 and then their now discontinued 18-year-old version way back in 2014. Jefferson’s is a sourced whiskey and they are very open about that fact. I described them in a previous review as “good chefs” that use their ingredients (sourced bourbon) to make something better than the sum of its parts. And as I admire the blender’s skill as much if not more than the distiller’s skill, that seems good enough for me.

Ocean is a bourbon that they put on an ocean-going vessel and then send around the world for a bit. Tonight’s version started in Savannah, GA, and visited Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia, South Korea, Japan, and the US West Coast before making its way back to Savannah. If you are super curious, you can read about its voyage here.

Let’s see how it tastes.

Jefferson's Ocean, Voyage 23

Purchase Info: I got this as a gift, but my mom says it ran her almost $90.

Price per Drink (50 mL): about $6.00

Details: 45% ABV

Nose: Delicate and floral. Hints of caramel, mint, and fruit.

Mouth: Mint, baking spice, fruit, caramel, and vanilla.

Finish: Gentle and medium length. Notes of cinnamon, fruit, and eucalyptus.

Thoughts: This is a pretty underwhelming bourbon. Especially for the price it goes for. There is nothing wrong with the bourbon and I'll finish the bottle with no complaints. But it is just doesn’t taste like a $90 bourbon. In fact, it doesn't seem all that different than their entry-level Jefferson's Very Small Batch that goes for less than $30 locally. I like it, but due to the price, I'd give this one a pass unless you are a big fan of Jefferson's Bourbon.

Bib & Tucker 12-Year-Old Single Barrel Select, Total Wine Selection

December 28, 2021 Eric Burke

IMAGE: A bottle of BIB & TUCKER 12-Year-Old Single Barrel Select sitting in the snow.

I am going to whine for just a moment. And boy oh boy, I’m certainly going to show my privilege. But my beloved Minnesota Golden Gophers are playing in a bowl game against West Virginia. The game is in Pheonix and starts at 8:15 pm local time. This means it starts at 9:15 pm in the home market of one of the teams and at 10:15 pm in the home market of the other. On a Tuesday. Now I’m not a TV exec or a Bowl Game President, but since most of the viewership of bowl games is happening via television broadcast, don’t you think it might have been smart to allow the fans of the two teams to actually watch the game? It’s driving me nuts. I hope it’s a boring game because I’ll probably be asleep before halftime.

Anyway. That is neither here nor there to you unless you happen to be a fan of either the Gophers or the Mountaineers. What you are here for is whiskey. And I have a pretty good one for you tonight. It’s gift-giving season at the moment so I chose one that would make a pretty attractive gift for the bourbon-lover on your list.

And yes, I know I’m doing this after Christmas…just go with it. Pretend the recipient has an upcoming birthday.

Last year we talked about the 6-year-old and 10-year-old versions of Bib & Tucker bourbon. I liked them both, though I mentioned that I thought they were a bit overpriced for me to buy for myself but that they would make a good gift. Let’s see if the older and more expensive version lives up to those standards.

Bib & Tucker 12-Year-Old Single Barrel Select, Total Wine Selection

Purchase Info: $99.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $6.67

Details: 49.5% ABV. Barrel number: 102418. Bottle number: 6. Age: 12-years-old. Distilled in TN.

Nose: Pear, cinnamon, caramel, and vanilla.

Mouth: Pear, milk chocolate, caramel, vanilla, and baking spice.

Finish: Medium heat and length. Notes of caramel, chocolate, honey, and fruit.

Thoughts: This is a tasty whiskey. It's probably not $100 tasty. At least not to me, considering what a 12-year-old from Knob Creek or a 15-year-old from Dickel is going for. However, it is tasty and the bottle is pretty so I'd be perfectly fine buying this as a gift for someone.

Stellum Bourbon

August 12, 2021 Eric Burke

Last week I regaled you with the mundane tale of how I, almost accidentally, got my hands on a couple of bottles of Stellum Whiskey. I'm not going to bore you with that again, but I think I might jump straight into the "About This Bourbon" section of the post.

Stellum is a line of whiskeys produced by the same folks that make the Barrell line of sprits. Like the Rye, this bourbon is a blend of bourbons produced in Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. I'll let them give you the flowery version. From the Stellum website:

Stellum Bourbon finds its flavor in the tension of three Indiana Bourbon mash bills, two of which are high-rye, with the third being almost exclusively corn. Older barrels from both Kentucky and Tennessee are folded in slowly, through a multi-step blending process. This brings added layers of depth and complexity, ultimately allowing us to round out a uniquely Stellum flavor profile.

They don’t come right out and say MGP, but in my opinion, there is a good likelihood of the “Indiana Bourbons” they describe come from MGP. A look at the MGP site shows two “high-rye” bourbons (mash bills: 75% Corn, 21% Rye, and 4% Barley Malt and 60% Corn, 36% Rye, and 4% Barley Malt) and a 99% corn bourbon (mash bill: 99% Corn and 1% Barley Malt). The interview Fred Minnick did with the bourbon’s creator describes it as such: “The Stellum Bourbon blend is focused on a 5–6-year-old IN/KY/TN profile using 3 different Indiana mash bills and includes barrels from 4-16 years old.” Stellum bourbon is officially non-age-stated, non-chill filtered, and cask strength at 114.98° proof.

Stellum Bourbon

Purchase Info: $52.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Lakeville Liquors, Lakeville, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.53

Details: Distilled in Indiana, Kentucky & Tennessee 57.49% ABV.

Nose: Cap'N Crunch, caramel, cherry, cinnamon.

Mouth: Spicy and hot. Caramel, cherry, cinnamon, nutmeg, and maple.

Finish: Long and warm. Notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cherry.

Thoughts: This is really good. It has a nice balance of sweet and spicy when neat. A little water doesn't hurt this one at all. Water brings the sweetness to the forefront and allows the spicy notes to play a supporting role.

Blog

Fistful of Bourbon

Cooper's Mark Small Batch Bourbon

Stellum Black Rye

Stellum Black Bourbon

Stellum Single Barrel Bourbon, Vega M2 selected by Top Ten Liquors

Jefferson's Ocean, Voyage 23

Bib & Tucker 12-Year-Old Single Barrel Select, Total Wine Selection

Stellum Bourbon