MB Roland Single Mash Whiskey: Mixed Grain

Paul and Merry Beth of MB Roland are my friends. Because I might be biased, I have decided to disclose that bias so that you can decide how much to trust the review. In the spirit of the upcoming holiday season, I am reviewing a bottle that they gave me as a gift. This was not intended by them as a review bottle, but I like it and wanted to share.

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I had originally intended this to be Tuesday night’s post. But, then I went ahead and got sick. Not sure with what, but I’ve got a Covid test ordered just in case. After feeling great yesterday, I backslid today and feel pretty rough. So I’m going to keep this pretty short.

This was a gift from my friends at MB Roland. It wasn’t intended as a review bottle, they are just nice people. For ethical reasons, I only review things that friends make with a disclaimer stating it was made by my friends so that you can use that to weigh how biased I am. And I only do it when I really like something. That said, when this arrived on my doorstep a couple of months ago, I knew after the first sip that I wanted to let everyone else know how good it is. In fact, I walked right over to the edge of my yard with the bottle and two glasses and invited my neighbor to try it as well, knowing he has a sip of whiskey now and then.

He also enjoyed it, in case you were curious.

MB Roland Single Mash Whiskey: Mixed Grain

Purchase info: This was a gift from my friends at the distillery and was not intended as a review bottle. But I can’t help wanting to brag about my friends and how much I like this particular bottle that they made.

Details: Mash bill: 32% white corn, 32% wheat, 31% rye, 5% malted barley. 55.3% ABV.

Nose: Caramel, dried grain, wheat bread, coal fire smoke.

Mouth: Cinnamon, candy bar notes of caramel, nougat, and chocolate.

Finish: Medium length and warm. Follows the mouth with cinnamon and candy bar notes, as well as hints of the coal fire smoke without being "smoky."

Thoughts: This is such an easy drinking 110° proof that I almost never have it with ice. It's sweet, spicy, thick, and rich. It somehow has hints of coal fire smoke without actually being smoky. The grain shows through but it also has lovely caramel notes. I just really like it.

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Yellowstone Limited Edition 2020

I’d like to thank Common Ground PR and Limestone Branch for providing a review sample to me with no strings attached.

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If you aren’t from Minnesota and you want to know what the “normal” weather is like in the fall, just know that we got a foot of snow at my house last week and that last year I was sitting out on the deck with a drink during the same timeframe. That is to say, there is no “normal” fall weather in Minnesota. It may snow, you might be in shorts (even if those shorts are protesting the fact that you really shouldn’t be wearing shorts any longer).

But, in the words of the great Pauly Shore in the classic film Encino Man: “That’s boring dude, normal.”

I guess that’s what I like about many of the limited releases I get sent. There is no “normal” to them. They tend to change every year. Take the Yellowstone Limited Editions, in the past three years, there have been editions finished in wine casks, bourbons with no finishing and this year’s Armagnac cask finished bourbon. Here is what the distillery has to say about this year’s release:

“When I began working on this limited edition, I knew I wanted to finish our bourbon in a cask and I was looking for one that would add complexity and a dimension that expands the flavor profile,” says Steve Beam, master distiller at Limestone Branch Distillery. “Armagnac is a rustic, full-bodied spirit that contributes dark fruit notes, complementing the vanilla notes in the bourbon. Just like a chef adds spices to enhance flavors, I believe cask-finishing should be similar, where it simply enhances the natural flavors in the bourbon.”

Yellowstone Limited Edition 2020

Purchase Info: This sample was generously proved to me for review purposes by Common Ground PR and Limestone Branch Distillery. Suggested retail price is $99.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price Per Drink (50mL): $6.67

Details: 50.5% ABV. Finished in Armagnac casks. 7 years old.

Nose: Spearmint, almond, nutmeg, and oak.

Mouth: Nice cinnamon spice, almond, oak, honeydew melon, and brown sugar.

Finish: Long and warm with lingering notes of spearmint, melon, cinnamon spice, and floral herbs.

Thoughts: This is delicious. I really like the light touch that they've used on the Armagnac influence. If I wasn't looking for it, I might not have noticed it, showing up mainly on the finish for me. Regarding the price, my wife (the accountant) says that if she sees one of these, she is buying one. $100 is a lot of a bottle of bourbon, but if you have the means to splurge this one is one to splurge on.

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Sample Roulette: Tasting 5 Blind Samples

I used to keep a lot of small sample bottles of whiskey. Until one day, I didn’t. I stopped mostly because the overwhelming urge to never finish a bottle had worn off. I’d finish the bottle without remembering to put aside a sample of it. I summed up my reasoning for initially keeping samples pretty nicely back in 2017 so I’m just going to let Past Me do some of the work for a moment.

There was a time, not so long ago in the grand scheme of things, that I fell victim to a touch of hoarding. Whiskey hoarding to be exact. I had the urge to make sure I never finished a bottle. I had some vague thought that I might never have that whiskey again. And if I never actually finished the bottle, I could still have it anytime I wanted. 

Yes, I imagined the nostalgia I would have in the future for the time I was currently living in. If that is confusing for you, try living it. As part of my need to deal with my, then undiagnosed, anxiety disorder I decided that I was worrying too much about what was still in the bottles. And so I came up with the plan to set aside two sample bottles from each bottle of whiskey I opened. I told myself it was for the blog. It was for posterity. It was long term research to see if things changed over time. But I was really trying to put off that future regret and nostalgia. 

Now back in 2017, I realized that this wasn’t something I needed to do any longer. So, I decided to split my samples between those that I was going to drink immediately and those that I might have a use for in the future. I wasn’t exactly sure what use that might be, but I figured that was a problem for Future Me to deal with.

Now, these samples were sitting pretty high up and pretty far back in the old whiskey closet. To be honest I’d forgotten about them until I started pulling out the old bottles of Four Roses Limited Small Batch. As I pulled the five or six boxes of bottles out, I came to a conclusion.

I didn’t need these anymore.

And as I looked through the bottles, I had a thought. Seeing as it is Bourbon Heritage Month, I might as well start drinking some “heritage” bourbon. Well, if you can call samples from 2011-2017 “heritage,” that is. And what is more fun than drinking a sample of bourbon? That’s right. Not knowing ahead of time what bourbon it is or if it is any good or not.

I mean, I had things mostly set up for a lot of fun blind tastings, anyway. I had limited editions sitting next to bottom-shelf turds. I had ryes, bourbons, and Irish whiskey all mingled together. I had craft distiller experiments sitting next to brands almost as old as bourbon itself. All sitting in identical bottles. And all I needed to do was put a little piece of tape over the label to completely obscure what I was pouring into my glass.

So I did. And then I thought that since it is Bourbon Heritage month, maybe you guys would like to come along for the ride with us.

Blind Whiskey Sample #1:

Nose: Mint, garden greens, caramel.

Mouth: Cinnamon, caramel, mint, snap peas.

Finish: Short and mercifully so. Cinnamon, oak, and more snap peas.

Thoughts: Not exactly sure why I decided that I needed to save a sample from every bottle back then... but I did and you get to enjoy my discomfort. Yeah, this one is not good. Snap peas are not a note I look for in bourbon. This one would have been better off being used for flavored whiskey.

Reveal: Old Crow Reserve.

Blind Whiskey Sample #2:

Nose: Cinnamon, cola, oak.

Mouth: Oak, cinnamon, cedar, cola, ginger, mint.

Finish: On the longer side of medium. Lingering notes of cedar, ginger, mint, and after everything else fades, coffee.

Thoughts: This is really good. I'm digging it. A very nice rye whiskey. Kinda wishing I could go back in time to snag another of whatever this is. Who knows, maybe it's still for sale.

Reveal: Col. E. H. Taylor Bottled in Bond Rye

Blind Whiskey Sample #3:

Nose: Peanut butter, clove, caramel.

Mouth: Follows the nose. Sweet. Peanut butter, caramel, and cinnamon.

Finish: Short side of medium. More peanut butter, cinnamon, butterscotch, and a touch of dried grain.

Thoughts: This really reminds me of peanut-brittle. It's very sweet. Almost too sweet. Very candy-like. Dessert in a glass. I'm very interested to see what this is because I can't quite place it.

Reveal: JW Dant Bottled in Bond.

Blind Whiskey Sample #4

Nose: Cedar, mint, cherry pipe tobacco.

Mouth: Follows the nose with cedar, mint, cherry pipe tobacco and cinnamon.

Finish: Medium to short. Cinnamon, mint, tobacco.

Thoughts: I'm going to guess this is a fine example of a producer who bought some 95% rye from MGP and dumped it in a bottle. Of course, since I am a big fan of MGP rye, I only ever minded that if said producer lied about it. And since this is from back when folks were doing that, I'm guessing I was irritated by this one. In any case, I like this one a lot.

Reveal: James E. Pepper 1776 Rye, 6 year old.

Blind Whiskey Sample #5

Nose: Ripe fruits, baking spice, bubblegum.

Mouth: Thin mouthfeel. Strong ripe fruit notes. Cinnamon.

Finish: Medium length and warm. Cherry (almost like cherry cough syrup), cinnamon.

Thoughts: This is either a Brandy or a bourbon that was barrel finished. If it is a brandy, cool. Tastes like brandy. If barrel-finished they overshot the mark because the finish took over. If it isn't either, then hell, I don't know. I do know I don't think I care for this one.

Reveal: New Holland Beer Barrel Bourbon.

Well, there you have it. The first set of blind tastings. I’m sure that there will be more in the future because I had a lot of fun with this. I really enjoyed the two ryes and the Dant. I bought Beer Barrel Bourbon exactly once, and now I think I remember why. And I have two questions on the Old Crow Reserve: why did I feel like I needed to save this? And why did I feel the need to save it a second time? Not to worry though…this time it got dumped out after tasting notes were finished.

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Dad's Hat Pennsylvania Straight Rye Whiskey

Just a little over five years ago, I took my first look at a product from Dad’s Hat. It was a nine-month-old rye whiskey that had been finished in Vermouth barrels. I wasn’t really a fan. I rated it a meh and said the following:

Not being a fan of really young ryes, this is not quite to my palate. That said, it feels like it was a nicely crafted rye before the barrel finishing and I hope they have some stuck away in big barrels for the future.

Honestly, it was the vermouth that threw me on the last one as much as the age. (Turns out, I’m not really a fan of vermouth.) So when I noticed this four-year-old version sitting on the shelf of my local Total Wine during a recent “content run” I knew that I’d need to take another look at the brand. And of course, I picked one that had been aged long enough that it no longer needed an age-statement, even though they were kind enough to put one on the label anyway.

Dad's Hat Pennsylvania Straight Rye Whiskey

Purchase Info: $59.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.00

Details: Aged a minimum of four years. 47.58 ABV. Mash bill: 80% rye, 20% malt. Aged in 53-gallon barrels.

Nose: Cedar greenery and mint.

Mouth: Cedar, oak, mint, caramel, ginger.

Finish: Medium and warm. Lingering notes of pine needles, anise, and greenery.

Thoughts: Lots of cedar and mint on this one. A good hit of rye malt flavor on the finish, even though the mash bill doesn't list malted rye in it. This pairs very nicely with the Summit "Juicy" IPA I'm having with it. There are similar pine/cedar flavors in them.

Fun fact, I like this better when tasting in a Glencairn glass than I do while drinking it out of my usual old fashioned glass. That’s kind of a knock against it for me as I don’t like drinking out of a Glencairn. Overall I like this because it is interesting but I don’t know that I’ll be reaching for it frequently. Definitely a “change of pace” neat pour for me. It makes a hell of a cocktail though. That said, I’m not sure I’m willing to dish out another $60 for a product I’ll mainly be using as a mixer.

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Wilderness Trail Small Batch Bourbon (Batch 15D01)

I used to head to Kentucky in order to bring home bourbon that I couldn’t find at home. Minnesota was very much a “you gotta know a guy” sort of place when it came to anything that was out of the ordinary. Which got more than a bit irritating when you are a blogger who very much did not know anyone who would even remotely qualify as one of those “guys.”

These days, I travel there more often to just “get away” and visit with friends and go to great bourbon bars. Sometimes all at once. See, while we here in Minnesota still aren’t usually in the first round of states that brands roll out to, we do seem hit the early-ish rounds fairly often. Which is nice. Driving 1500 miles (round-trip) for what is essentially a shopping trip is ridiculous, even for me.

Of course that doesn’t mean I don’t bring whiskey home with me. There is usually a store selection that makes it into the trunk of my car for the ride home. Or bottles from a growing number of really good craft distilleries.

Well, that last one might need to be scratched off the shopping list since some of those really good craft distilleries have recently started appearing on shelves that are only a couple of blocks from my house. Brands like New Riff and as of last month, Wilderness Trail. Wilderness Trail bourbon has been brought back from Kentucky numerous times. But for some reason, the small batch, black-labeled one has never made the trip. I’m not sure why. I guess even a guy who spends his time trying every new whiskey he can, can gravitate toward those he’s liked in the past.

So aside from the number of barrels that were combined in to make the juice in the bottle, what exactly is the difference between the yellow label with black writing and the black label with yellow writing? Well, the biggest difference is that the yellow-labeled Single Barrel is also a wheated bourbon. Small batch uses rye as the flavoring grain. Both are produced using a sweet-mash process and both are 100 proof and Bottled-in-Bond. Also, both are pretty delicious…though I guess I’m getting ahead of myself here. Let’s see what the distillery has to say about their product before I get into my thoughts:

Our Small Batch release mash bill is 64 percent corn, 24 percent rye and 12 percent malted barley using our yeast strains. We entered the cooper select, toasted and #4 char barrel at 110 proof after coming off the still around 137 proof. Aged in both our Rickhouse A at a mid- to upper-floor and in our Rickhouse B in the center of the warehouse.

Wilderness Trail Small Batch Bourbon (Batch 15D01)

Purchase Info: $47.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Price per Drink (50mL): $3.20

Details: 50% ABV. Bottled in Bond. Batch 15D01

Nose: Fruity and floral with baking spice.

Mouth: Fruity and floral with caramel, vanilla, cinnamon, and clove

Finish: Medium length and warm. Fruity Floral, and herbal with caramel, baking spice, and just a hint of dill.

Thoughts: This. Is. Delicious. It reminds me of my favorite Four Roses expressions. (I prefer the floral/herbal ones.) It has enough heat and spice to balance the floral/fruit/herbal notes nicely. Tell you what, I'm headed back to the store tomorrow so I can be sure to grab a couple more from the same batch. It is that good.

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Blood Oath Pact No. 6

I’d like to thank Common Ground PR and Lux Row Distillers for providing a review sample to me with no strings attached.

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Welcome to the 2020 BourbonGuy.co…

What? Excuse me, I’m getting a note…ok. really? Ok. No, no that’s fine. Sure.

Sorry about that folks, it seems that for the first time in six weeks, we are not doing a bracket competition tonight. Wow. I’m not even sure what to write in an actual review anymore. Well, never mind that let’s just do what I always do: jump in and wing it!

While I was off doing fun brackety-type competitions, I had a few samples delivered to the house. The first one we will look at is the sixth edition of the annual Blood Oath release from Lux Row Distillers. As usual, Pact No. 6 is a combination of three different bourbons, blended together by Head Distiller and Master Blender John Rempe. Quoting the Press Release:

For Pact No. 6, Rempe chose a 14-year ryed bourbon with notes of oak and leather, melded with an 8-year warm toasty ryed bourbon and complemented them with a 7-year ryed bourbon rested in cognac casks. The memorable combination brings caramel notes and hints of spice, along extra flavor from the cognac barrels.

When I got the press release, I was interested by the Cognac-finished component bourbon. Last year’s rum-finished bourbon component was masterfully handled. It had a subtle but noticeable impact on Pact No. 5. So I was curious to see if the Cognac-finished one was handled similarly. In my own blending experiments, I’ve found that Cognac and Bourbon work well together due to their similar barrel influences. You do need a light hand, however, as the fruit notes can quickly become overpowering. So as an amateur blender, I’m always curious to see how a Master handles it.

Blood Oath Pact No. 6

Purchase Info: This sample was graciously sent to me for review purposes by Lux Row Distillers via their PR agency. The suggested retail price is $99.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 ml): $6.67

Nose: Salted Caramel and chocolate chip cookies (vanilla, chocolate, sweetness, and hints of baking spice).

Mouth: Salted caramel, baking spice, ripe fruit, and a touch of dried grains.

Finish: Medium length. lingering notes of caramel, vanilla, and dark chocolate.

Thoughts: Like last year's rum-finished edition, this Cognac-finished Bourbon shows subtle influence from the finishing barrel. And while I preferred last year's edition to this year's, that is only because I prefer rum to Cognac. This is another very good release in the Blood Oath line.

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New Richmond Rye Cask Strength

Way back in 2012, I stumbled upon a semi-local distillery. At the time, the Minnesota tax system was set up so that only the largest distilleries could afford a license. And so, aspiring craft distillers jumped the border in order to pay a license fee that was about 1/30th the size. So when I say semi-local, think about an hour and a half away. And this particular distiller paid homage to that border jumping by naming his first whiskey “Border Bourbon.” I reviewed it back in 2012, but there really isn’t much point in linking you to that since in the intervening seven and a half years, that young bourbon has grown up into a fully mature one. The website says four years old, the branded shelf-talker said five years old. So It’s somewhere in there.

But I’m not here to talk about the bourbon from 45th Parallel Distillery. No, when I stopped off to check out a couple of cross-border liquor stores recently, I noticed that there was a Cask Strength version of their rye on the shelf. I’d had exactly one bottle of their rye and wasn’t impressed with it to ever review it. It was just too young for me at the time. Well, guess what? This guy has grown up too. And seeing a 120 proof version on top of it made me think it was just about time to give this semi-local product another look.

New Richmond Rye Cask Strength

Purchase Info: $59.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Chicone’s Liquor Mart, Hudson, WI

Price per Drink (50mL): $4.00

Details: Non-age stated (over 4 years old). 60% ABV.

Nose: Mint, vanilla bean ice cream, and cedar.

Mouth: Hot and Spicy. Mint, vanilla, cedar, and cinnamon.

Finish: Long and warm. Notes of mint, cinnamon, and cedar.

Thoughts: I’m very glad that I stopped to stretch my legs on my way back from Wisconsin. I’ve even more glad that on a whim I decided that a liquor store was the appropriate place to do so. I grabbed this during a fit of nostalgic curiosity and I am glad I did. It is quite good (and quite drinkable neat despite being 120° proof). Heck, even my wife who doesn’t like rye as much agrees that this one is going on the "special shelf" so we don’t go through it too quickly.

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J. Henry & Sons Bourbon

I am sick tonight so this will be short. It’s the type of sick where my mouth tastes a little like vomit even though I’ve brushed my teeth about three times today.

Speaking of a bad taste in my mouth, tonight’s bourbon is J. Henry & Sons Wisconsin Straight Bourbon Whiskey. My mom lives in Wisconsin and is very proud of where she comes from. One day last fall, she was watching a local PBS station when she saw a segment on J Henry Bourbon. My step-dad is a bourbon drinker so she looked it up, saw it was for sale at my local Total Wine, and picked it up for him the next time she came to visit me. My sample is from this bottle.

Ordinarily, this is where I would do a lot of research and tell you all a little about the bourbon. But as I said, I am sick and in no mood to research bad bourbon. Luckily the folks over at Bourbon and Banter have done it for us. Though it seems they have a much different opinion of this bourbon than I do. Maybe it is a batch difference or Total Wine got a poorly treated case.

Because, yes sometimes you just get a bad bottle. I’ve had it happen a couple of times over the years. For example, I recently bought a bottle of Larceny from Total Wine that tasted super funky. Before proclaiming that the brand had gone downhill I decided to buy another bottle from a different retailer. That second one tasted normal.

But in any event, I can only review the bottle I have in front of me. And in this case, the cost of the bottle is a little high to take the risk on a second one.

Note: these notes were taken before I was sick.

J. Henry Bourbon

Purchase Info: $56.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.80

Details: 5 years old. Batch 57. 46% ABV.

Nose: Dried grains, bubblegum, and mint

Mouth: Bitter almond, dried grains, and cinnamon.

Finish: Medium length with lingering bitter almond notes, as well as mint and cinnamon notes.

Thoughts: This is...not good. It’s bitter, it’s grainy. It's actually unpleasant to drink. I can't recommend this to any but the most fervent localvores. And even then I'd probably try something else.

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