Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Private Selections

One of my favorite podcasts is The Morning Stream. It’s a daily show from hosts Scott Johnson and Brian Ibbott where they talk about weird news, geeky stuff, pop culture, gaming, and more. Every day they have segments with other geeky people who cover topics like politics, model and prop building, technology, etc. My favorite weekly segment is Therapy Thursday. It is a time where a licensed therapist, and the host’s sister, comes on the show and either helps people with their problems or just talks about things you can do to help your mental health.

A couple of weeks ago, she was talking about human mental development and midlife crises. I was particularly struck by an observation she shared (I’m paraphrasing greatly here) that part of the joy of living is that we are constantly experiencing and learning new things. And that sometimes as we get older, it is easier to fall into a rut just because we’ve lived a long time and experienced so much that truly new experiences are harder to come by. And that the things that used to be exciting no longer are, just because we know enough that it doesn’t bring us as much joy as it did when it was new and exciting.

And this can relate to hobbies, work, even relationships sometimes. I know that when I first got into the hobby of whiskey, everything was exciting. Even noticing that Wild Turkey and Four Roses were made in the same town was pretty thrilling. These days, however, I pretty much know what to expect from most of the things I buy. Either because I’ve had it before, I’ve had something else from the same distillery, or because it was sourced from a distillery that I’m familiar with. Truly exciting pours are harder to come by.

And I think that might be why I enjoy single barrel private selections so much. As I’ve discussed before, for good or ill, you never know what you are going to get out of them. I mean most of the time they follow the “house style” of the brand, but occasionally it is something strange and wonderful. Take the “Gangsta Riff” from the last post. With its strong wintergreen notes, it was very much outside the style of any of the other picks. And when that happens, I get a glimpse of the excitement that I used to get from every pour. Which is why I keep doing this.

All that said, tonight’s Private Selections are not going to stray far from the house style. Jack Daniel’s has too much invested in their style to let anything go too far astray. But they are still different from one another, and that’s fun too.

Jack Daniel's Single Barrel (Selected for Minnesota Whiskey Society)

Purchase Info: $49.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Zipps Liquor, Minneapolis, MN

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $3.33

Details: 47% ABV. Rick: L-22. Barrel: 20-01841. Bottled on 4/8/20.

Nose: Nutmeg, mint, dried bananas, and caramel.

Mouth: Huge hit of baking spice initially. Followed by banana, caramel, and more nutmeg.

Finish: Warm and medium length. Notes of mint, caramel, and baking spice.

Thoughts: Much spicier than your usual Jack Daniel's products. A strong emphasis on the banana notes. This is quite tasty and if given a glass blind, I would be initially surprised to find out it is Jack Daniel's.

Jack Daniel's Single Barrel (Selected by Binny’s)

Purchase Info: $49.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Binny’s, Bloomington, IL

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $3.33

Details: 47% ABV. Rick: R-3. Barrel: 20-02745. Bottled on 5/29/20.

Nose: Nutmeg, cinnamon, and mint.

Mouth: Cinnamon candies, orange zest, nutmeg, vanilla,

Finish: Spicy and warm. Medium length. Nutmeg, banana, cloves, and orange zest.

Thoughts: Very tasty. I'm really enjoying the baking spice and citrus combination. Dry, but not astringent. Really enjoying this one.

Comparison: Neither of these would register as Jack Daniel's if I was given a glass blind, but neither are far outside of the wheelhouse of the Jack Daniel's flavor profile. What I enjoy is how different they are from each other. My favorite thing to do with single barrel picks is to compare them. To see how closely they stick to the standard flavor profile. Both of these emphasize a different portion of that standard. Binny's is a spicier version of Jack Daniel's Single Barrel, whereas Minnesota Whiskey Society is really emphasizing the banana notes that Jack Daniel's is known for. This was a very fun comparison.

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New Riff Private Selections

So…I’m an asshole.

A few months ago, a reader reached out to me and asked if he could send me a sample of a private selection he was a part of. Just to see what I thought of it. I am almost always happy to accept free whiskey. I mean, “free” and “whiskey” are two of my favorite words. So I told him to send it over. That very nice email conversation inspired this post and I would love to thank him for both the sample and the idea. But, and here is where the asshole part of it comes in, apparently I deleted the entire email chain and then emptied my trash. So not only can I not give him a shout-out, but I also can’t let him know that the post he inspired is going live.

If you know the folks who made that little bottle above, let them know the post is finally live.

I’ve discussed how much I love to pick up whiskey store picks, I wrote an entire post on it last time around. So I’m not going to go into all that again. But as a reminder, one of the reasons I like store picks is that there is the possibility of variability. So, here is the gist of the post in a nutshell: I gathered a bunch of store picks from a couple of different stores and combined it with the sample the reader sent. I’m going to see how different they are.

Notes are in the order I tasted them in. Let’s get to it.

"Gangsta Riff" Barrel #16-10167

Purchase Info: This was generously sent in by a reader and inspired this post. I have no information on the price.

Nose: Wintergreen, nutmeg, caramel, and oak

Mouth: Nice mouthfeel with notes of nutmeg, wintergreen, and caramel.

Finish: Long and warm. Notes of nutmeg, cinnamon, honey, and mint.

Thoughts: This is delicious. Consistent notes of nutmeg and wintergreen throughout. Nice job Spa City Bourbon.

Justins' House of Bourbon Barrel #17-0068

Purchase Info: Purchased as part of a 2-bottle set from BourbonOutfitter.com. Two 750 mL bottles for $89.99.

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $3.00

Details: 52.2% ABV. Distilled: 1/4/17. Bottled: 1/28/21.

Nose: Strong toffee note along with orange zest, baking spice, and black pepper.

Mouth: Spicy with notes of nutmeg, clove, orange zest, black pepper, and caramel.

Finish: Medium length and heat. Lingering notes of cinnamon, caramel, and oak.

Thoughts: This is a very "bourbony" bourbon. Nice spice and caramel notes accented by orange zest.

The Party Source- Barrel #16-12144

Purchase Info: $49.99 for a 750 mL bottle from the Party Source, Bellevue, KY.

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $3.00

Details: 51.6% ABV. Distilled: 8/30/16. Bottled 10/6/20.

Nose: Creamy with brown sugar, black tea, cinnamon and nutmeg, and just a hint of wood smoke.

Mouth: Spicy and hot with cinnamon, black tea, caramel, and oak.

Finish: Warm and on the longer side of medium. Strong oak notes that fade to show cinnamon, creamy caramel, and milk chocolate.

Thoughts: Another very nice bourbon pick. This is much hotter and spice forward than the others have been. I'm really enjoying the tannic black tea undercurrents.

Justins' House of Bourbon-Barrel #16-3370

Purchase Info: Purchased as part of a 2-bottle set from BourbonOutfitter.com. Two 750 mL bottles for $89.99.

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $3.00

Details: 52.65% ABV. Distilled: 12/2/16. Bottled: 1/28/21.

Nose: Sweet caramel and vanilla, cherry, and a hint of baking spice.

Mouth: Almost gentle on entry, but then it blossoms with flavor. Notes of cinnamon, caramel, Earl Grey tea, and black pepper.

Finish: Sweet, warm, and long. Almost syrupy. Caramel, maple, and cinnamon notes linger.

Thoughts: A very sweet bourbon. I was intrigued by the cherry on the nose and could wish that had carried through. But that is just me musing and not a knock on what is there. I enjoy it very much. I've never found Earl Grey tea before so that's fun. And the syrupy finish with the sweet caramel and maple was divine.

The Party Source - Barrel #16-9641

Purchase Info: $49.99 for a 750 mL bottle from the Party Source, Bellevue, KY.

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $3.00

Details: 52.9% ABV. Distilled: 5/3/16. Bottled: 7/16/20.

Nose: Delicate nose on this one. We are teasing out caramel, vanilla, baking spice, and mint.

Mouth: Nice spice with citrus, ginger, cinnamon, caramel, and oak.

Finish: Warm and medium length. Lingering ginger spice and almond.

Thoughts: This is a fairly muted bourbon. The ginger and citrus notes are nice, but it feels a bit muddy overall.

The Party Source-Barrel #16-9523

Purchase Info: $49.99 for a 750 mL bottle from the Party Source, Bellevue, KY.

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $3.00

Details: 52% ABV. Distilled on 4/27/16. Bottled on 6/16/20.

Nose: Brown sugar, mint, vanilla, and cardamom.

Mouth: Orange Creamsicle, cinnamon, mint, and nutmeg.

Finish: Sweet and spicy. Medium length. Notes of orange, nutmeg, and tobacco.

Thoughts: Nice and citrusy. Bright and vibrant on the mouth and finish. Big fan of this one.

Conclusions:

So, did I learn anything in this experiment? Well, yes. New Riff makes damn fine bourbon and as I had hoped, there is a fair bit of diversity in the flavor profiles between bottles. There isn’t a bad bourbon in this bunch. Hell, there isn’t a mediocre bourbon in the bunch. Every single one is top-notch. As we tasted them head to head to decide our “favorite,” I found it funny that the one that came out on top was the one where my notes say it was muted and muddy (16-9641). It just goes to show that tasting notes are very subjective and what a difference a couple of days will make. I really enjoyed the reader-provided “Gangsta Riff” (it came in second in the unofficial rankings). The wintergreen notes were completely different than any of the others. I’d never gotten Earl Grey Tea on a bourbon before so that made 16-3370 from Justins’ House of Bourbon pretty interesting as well. Overall, this was a fun tasting.

Wilderness Trail Private Selections from the Party Source

Private Selections or Store Picks can be a contentious topic. On one hand, you don’t know what you are going to get. Depending on the store, and the person doing the choosing, you might get something that is only a little different than the standard release. Or worse, something you don’t like as much as the standard release. And that comes down to who is doing the picking and if their palate aligns with yours. Some stores go all out and do an in-person tasting even to choose barrels, some get multiple samples sent to them for them to choose from, and some just want a barrel, any barrel, and get one chosen for them.

Of course, on the other hand, you don’t know what you are going to get! The surprise and excitement are part of the fun. It’s like opening a pack of baseball cards when I was a kid. Sure you got a lot of commons but once in a while, there was something really special in the pack you bought.

Personally, I’m aware of the first point, but I’m driven to buy by the second point. I bought a lot of baseball cards when I was a kid. Right up to the point where I discovered music and girls and traded the entire collection for some cassette tapes and a few issues of Playboy that one of my friends had swiped from his older brother. By the time I got into collecting again, I was more into comic books than baseball. But I never got over the thrill of buying something and have it turn out better than expected.

I think that is why I pick up at least one bottle of almost every Store Pick I run across. It scratches that same itch that I had as a kid. I mean you never know what you are going to get. It might be good, but it could be great. And plus, it makes a fun souvenir when you are traveling.

And speaking of traveling, tonight I’ll be looking at a couple of whiskeys from Wilderness Trail that I purchased the last time I traveled a long distance. I picked up both of these whiskeys at the Party Source (Bellevue, KY) in December 2020 and the notes were tasted in a hotel room in Duluth last month.

I’m realizing now that those are the only two nights I’ve spent outside my house since last March and it is an odd coincidence that these whiskeys were part of both trips.

Anyway, I picked up a single barrel version of both the Settler’s Select Rye and the Black Label Bourbon which is usually their small-batch product. Here is what the distillery website has to say about each:

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. [For] our Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskeys…our three-grain recipe is 56 percent rye, 33 percent corn and 11 percent malted barley. Our rye mash bill is one we created for a broader balance of flavor to offset the typical high ryes commonly found.

Wilderness Trail “Black Label” Bourbon, picked by "Lion's Share"

Purchase Information: $64.99 for a 750 mL bottle, The Party Source, Bellevue, KY

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $4.33

Details: 57.5% ABV. Barrel#: 15F01-4. Aged: 4 years, 3 months. Barrel: ISC#4 Char & Toasted. Rickhouse: E-S08R12. Yeast: FermPro1.

Nose: Cinnamon, brown sugar, herbal mint, and a hint of oak

Mouth: Nice and spicy. Notes of Caramel, cinnamon, crisp apple, and oak.

Finish: Warm and on the longer side of medium. Notes of black tea, cinnamon, and honey.

Thoughts: This is a fantastic bottle of bourbon. My first sip caused me to breathe: "Oh, that's good" under my breath. It's complex, spicy, sweet, and fruity with a wonderful finish. I'm not sure who "Lion's Share" is, but they picked a fantastic bourbon.

Wilderness Trail Settler's Select Rye, picked by the Party Source.

Purchase Information: $64.99 for a 750 mL bottle, The Party Source, Bellevue, KY

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $4.33

Details: 56.5% ABV. Barrel#: 15L21-2. Aged: 4 years, 5 months. Barrel: ISC #4 Char & Toasted. Rickhouse: A-N04A7. Yeast: FermPro1.

Nose: Dominant mint. Brown sugar, baking spice, and black tea.

Mouth: Mint, Cherry pipe tobacco, honey, and allspice.

Finish: Very warm and medium length. Very minty, cherry pipe tobacco, lots of spice, honey.

Thoughts: If I could give a standing ovation in writing, I would. I'm in love. This is delicious! Since I live nowhere near where I bought this, it is going on the special shelf to be had only occasionally. I love the pipe tobacco notes, the mint, the spice. I'd keep gushing but I think I've made my point.

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Did you enjoy this post? If so, maybe you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee in return. Go to ko-fi.com/bourbonguy to support. And thank you, BourbonGuy.com is solely supported via your generosity.

Of course, if you want to support BourbonGuy.com and get a little something back in return, you can always head over to BourbonGuyGifts.com and purchase some merch. I’ve made tasting journals, stickers, pins, and more.

Bottom-Shelf Brackets 2021: Round 1: Wild Turkey vs. Rebel Yell

I am going to let you know right now, that neither of these bourbons have ever made it past the first round. In fact, I’d made pretty disparaging remarks about both of these during their prior appearances. I really did not like Rebel Yell in 2014. In fact, Old Crow Reserve (remember that one?) beat it. In the intervening years, the bourbon has gotten better, but I’ve also grown more tolerant of heated bourbons. And in 2016, I described Wild Turkey as “gentle” which isn’t something that I’d have historically thought to use for anything from the brand.

Of course, one of these has to win tonight. So no matter who wins, it’ll be their first. And when the entire contest is blind from start to finish, and you have no preconceived notions about what is in the glass other than “this is one of eight bourbons,” well, then all bets are off. So let’s watch history being made.

Our first whiskey is our number two seed for Division Two. Coming in at 81 proof and looking to see if its rye grains can run over the wheated competition, please welcome: Wild Turkey!

And their opponent is the only wheated bourbon in the competition. Please welcome Rebel Yell!

Reminder, all of the competitions this year were tasted blind and we knew what juice won the competition prior to the reveal of what any of the names were. 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 (Wild Turkey)

Purchase Info: $18.49 for a 1-liter bottle, Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $0.93

Details: 40.5% ABV.

Nose: Mint leaves, hints of cinnamon, caramel, and almond.

Mouth: Thin mouthfeel. Notes of cinnamon, caramel, and citrus zest.

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

Thoughts:  Not bad. The citrus zest was an interesting "twist" I hadn't expected.

Whiskey 2 (Rebel Yell)

Purchase Info: $14.99 for a 750 mL bottle, MGM Wine & Spirits, Burnsville, MN

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $1.00

Details: 40% ABV.

Nose: Herbal and grassy like a mint chamomile tea blend.

Mouth: Follows the nose with the addition of a cinnamon note.

Finish: Short and uncomplicated. Notes of caramel, cinnamon, dried grains, and an old stick you found in the yard.

Thoughts: Not much going on in this one. It's fine for what it is, but it isn't much.

Winner: This is a pretty easy decision. I like everything going on with #2, I just need it to be more concentrated. It was just a bit too delicate for me. #1 also isn't a great whiskey but is enough to hold my interest. #1 wins, though I'm not sure either would advance against stronger competition.

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Did you enjoy this post? If so, maybe you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee in return. Go to ko-fi.com/bourbonguy to support. And thank you, BourbonGuy.com is solely supported via your generosity.

Of course, if you want to support BourbonGuy.com and get a little something back in return, you can always head over to BourbonGuyGifts.com and purchase some merch. I’ve made tasting journals, stickers, pins, and more.

Bottom-Shelf Brackets 2021: Round 1: Very Old Barton 86 proof vs. Old Grand-Dad 80 proof

Fun fact. Both of the names on tonight’s labels have won this annual contest before. In the case of Very Old Barton, the 86 proof version was the winner in 2016. For Old Grand-Dad, it was the Bottled-in-Bond version that won in 2018. Old Grand-Dad 80 proof has never made it out of the first round. Let’s see if history repeats itself tonight.

Our first whiskey is our number one seed for Division Two. Coming in at 86 proof and looking to notch its second bracket championship, please welcome: Very Old Barton 86 proof!

And their opponent is the lowest-proof bourbon in Beam’s Old Grand-Dad line. The lower price (and lower quality?) version of Basil Hayden’s, please welcome Old Grand-Dad 80 proof!

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 (Very Old Barton)

Purchase Info: $15.99 for a 1-liter bottle, Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $0.80

Details: 43% ABV.

Nose: Delicate. Mint, cinnamon, and floral notes.

Mouth: Follows the nose with mint, cinnamon, caramel, and floral notes.

Finish: Medium length and warm. Cinnamon and dried grains with a little caramel thrown in.

Thoughts:  The nose is so delicate as to be almost non-existent. The mouth and finish provide more punch than the nose would suggest. Not a bad value bourbon.

Whiskey 2 (Old Grand-Dad)

Purchase Info: $17.99 for a 1-liter bottle, Blue Max, Burnsville, MN

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $0.90

Details: 40% ABV.

Nose: Caramel, red fruit, and a hint of mint.

Mouth: Caramel, cinnamon, vanilla, red fruit.

Finish: Gentle and medium length. Caramel, cinnamon, and a mineral note.

Thoughts: This is ok. That mineral note on the finish is throwing me a little. There is definitely a lot of flavor, I'm just not sure that it's a good flavor.

Winner: This was a fairly easy decision. #1 has a classic "value bourbon" flavor. Good, uncomplicated, tasty, and showing a touch of grain. #2 is a caramel bomb with an odd funk to it. It isn't bad, but I'm not sure I'm likely to reach for it once I know what it is. #1 wins easily.

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Did you enjoy this post? If so, maybe you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee in return. Go to ko-fi.com/bourbonguy to support. And thank you, BourbonGuy.com is solely supported via your generosity.

Of course, if you want to support BourbonGuy.com and get a little something back in return, you can always head over to BourbonGuyGifts.com and purchase some merch. I’ve made tasting journals, stickers, pins, and more.

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

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.

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Bottom-Shelf Brackets 2021: Round 1: Ezra Brooks vs. Benchmark

Here we go! Let’s get down to the competitions. I hope that you guys are as excited by this as I am. Round 1 of the 2021 BourbonGuy.com Bottom Shelf Brackets opens with Division 1 Number 1 seed Ezra Brooks versus Number 4 seed Benchmark. 

An interesting thing about both of these products is that neither of the brands originated with their current producers. Benchmark was a Seagram’s brand and Ezra Brooks was created by Frank Silverman in 1957 as a brand to directly compete with Jack Daniels. Current iterations are produced by Buffalo Trace and Lux Row Distillers respectively.

So, first up is the flagship product, and namesake of the Ezra Brooks lineup, and a long-time product of the Luxco/Lux Row. Spawning two current line extensions (Old Ezra 7 Year Barrel Proof and Ezra Brooks 99) and even more discontinued ones, please welcome to the stage the one that started them all: Ezra Brooks!

And their opponent is a true bottom-shelf release. Produced by the Buffalo Trace Distillery and aged for only three years before bottling, please welcome: Benchmark Bourbon!

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 (Ezra Brooks)

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

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $0.65

Details: 45% ABV.

Nose: Spearmint, dried grain, and vanilla.

Mouth: Cinnamon red hots, spearmint, and just a hint of dried grain.

Finish: Sweet and Spicy. Cinnamon red hots and spearmint linger.

Thoughts:  This is a relatively spicy one. A nice flavor of cinnamon red hots playing with spearmint.

Whiskey 2 (Benchmark)

Purchase Info: $13.49 for a 1-liter bottle, MGM Wine & Spirits, Burnsville, MN

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $0.67

Details: 40% ABV.

Nose: Caramel, buttered popcorn, and a hint of vanilla.

Mouth: Caramel, cinnamon, and milk chocolate.

Finish: Warm and medium length. Follows the month with cinnamon, caramel, and milk chocolate.

Thoughts: Sweet like a piece of candy. this is nice. Uncomplicated but very nice.

Winner: Whiskey 2 has a thinner mouthfeel and a candy-like flavor. Whiskey 1 is spicier and drier. If #2 had the mouthfeel and complexity of # 1, it would be the clear winner. Same if #1 had the sweetness of #2. As it stands each of these has a lot going for it, but also has one aspect that holds me back from an easy decision. In the end, I think the spicy cinnamon and nicer mouthfeel gives #1 an edge over #2. I look forward to finishing both of these bottles, but #1 is advancing to round 2.

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Did you enjoy this post? If so, maybe you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee in return. Go to ko-fi.com/bourbonguy to support. And thank you, BourbonGuy.com is solely supported via your generosity.

Of course, if you want to support BourbonGuy.com and get a little something back in return, you can always head over to BourbonGuyGifts.com and purchase some merch. I’ve made tasting journals, stickers, pins, and more.

Redbreast 12 year old

One of the things that I dislike about running this site is that I tend to focus on the “new.” New whiskeys, new experiences. Even if a whiskey isn’t new, it might be new to me. And I know what you’re thinking. “Why that sounds like the dream, right there.” And honestly, it is. But there is a downside. The downside is that when you don’t repeat often, you kind of lose track of what you’ve liked previously. You know that you like it, but you just don’t ever buy it. And it’s partly because of the need for content and also because there are limited funds and (contrary to popular opinion) limited capacity for responsible consumption.

A case in point is tonight’s whiskey. Before this bottle you see above, I last bought this in June of 2012. I know that because that early in this site’s history (my third ever post), I was still trying to find my voice and wrote about everything, even buying a new bottle of whiskey. I wrote about that because buying a new-to-me bottle of whiskey was exciting. And the reason I never bought it again wasn’t that I didn’t like it, but because…well…there was everything else that needed to be experienced, tasted, and then written about.

I think 2021 might end up being the year where I force myself to just buy things that I like but haven’t bought in a while. Not everything needs to be new and exciting. Some things are just consistently good. And I need to revisit as much of that as I can. Even if I don’t end up writing about it.

So, Redbreast. I’m sure I’m not surprising anyone by saying that my area of expertise (if I have one) is not Irish Whiskey. Considering that I think this is the third or fourth Irish Whiskey post in the last nine years, I think it might be better to leave the background section to the people who make their living talking about this whiskey.

Our signature bottling, Redbreast 12 boasts the flavour complexity and distinctive qualities of Pot Still whiskey. Matured in a combination of bourbon and sherry casks, the distinctive Redbreast sherry style is a joy to behold in each and every bottle. Made from a mash of malted and unmalted barley and then triple distilled in copper pot stills, Redbreast 12 boasts the flavour complexity and distinctive qualities of Pot Still whiskey.

Ok. Now that we have that out of the way, let’s dig in.

Redbreast 12 year old

Purchase Info: $49.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.33

Details: 40% ABV. 12 years old.

Nose: Red Delicious apples, mint, and a hint of baking spice.

Mouth: Dried fruit, baking spices, mint, oak.

Finish: Delicate and on the longer side of medium. Notes of cinnamon, dried fruit, and oak.

Thoughts: This is so good. This just underscores my desire to revisit more things that I’ve liked but then never picked up again. It’s delicate. It’s fruity. It’s delicious. It is a really nice change of pace for a bourbon guy like me.

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