Review - Hudson Baby Bourbon Whiskey

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Rating 2.5 Glasses

Distillery: Tuthilltown Spririts (Gardiner, NY)
Years Aged: < 4
Proof: 92
Local Price (USD): $49.95
Availability: Widespread

Tasting Notes

Color & Consistency: Honey with medium legs and pretty close to the consistency of fresh motor oil.
Nose: Rubbing alcohol, burns pretty good, citrus, oaky. Peeled the phlegm off the back of Russ' throat.
Taste: The initial hit burns just like the nose followed by dark fruits, red grapes and raisins.
Finish: A bit weak with tanniny sweetness and hints of charred oak and maple.
Conclusion: Year 2016, Batch 13, Bottle 3973, non-chill filtered, 100% New York Corn and the “first legal pot-distilled whiskey made in New York since prohibition”. Tuthilltown ages their Baby in “special small American Oak Barrels” which explains how they achieve such a dark color and heavy oak influence from such a young whiskey. The other unique thing about Hudson Baby Bourbon apart from aging in 3-gallon instead of 53-gallon barrels and the fact that it’s 100% instead of the required 51% corn, is their use of sonic maturation by playing loud music to agitate the whiskey inside the barrels instead of moving the barrels themselves for the liquid to interact with the wood.
The oak is really the front man of the band but feels just a bit sharp in this particular batch. Definitely makes a killer (albeit expensive) whiskey & coke and would feel right at home in an old fashioned but we would hold off seeking this one out and stick to your local watering hole for a short pour. It’s balls still haven’t dropped and feels too young despite its forced aging to demand a $50 price point. All this along with the acquired flavor profile brought the glass rating for us down to 2.5.

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Review - Jim Beam Kentucky Straight Bourbon

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Rating 2.5 Glasses

• Distillery: James B. Beam Distilling Co.
  • Years Aged: 4
  • Proof: 80
    • Local Price (USD): $19.95
      • Availability: Widespread

 

Tasting Notes

• Color & Consistency: Straw Yellow. Usain Bolt legs (quick and runny).
• Nose: Lighter on the nose than Evan Williams but still alcohol forward & sour.
• Taste: Watery, sugary, corny & alcoholy, Burns pretty good going down.
• Finish: Runs away as fast as it showed up leaving you with a bit of bitter citrus & sugar.
• Conclusion: As our palates have matured we realize that whiskeys of this caliber just don't quite make the grade as far as a sipper goes. Definitely fine as a mixer or if you want to re-live your your lost college days. If you like the Beam we suggest you check out Evan Williams as we feel it is more interesting in flavor profile and cheaper to boot! Even though we gave it a lower rating due to its in-your-faceness and low complexity, the majority do not agree with us anyway as it is still one of the top selling bourbons in the world.

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Review - Knappogue Castle 12 Single Malt Irish Whiskey

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Rating 2.5 Glasses

• Distillery: More than likely Old Bushmills
  • Years Aged: 12
  • Proof: 80
    • Local Price (USD): $34.95
      • Availability: Widespread

 

Background:

• From the Knappogue Whiskey Website -
• "In 1966, Mark Edwin Andrews purchased Knappogue Castle, a 15th century castle in Ireland, which was then in ruins. He and his wife, a prominent architect, then embarked on an ambitious program of restoration, in an effort to return the structure to its original state of glory and grandeur. It was around this time that Andrews began buying casks of fine pot still whiskey from top distilleries in the country. The casks were further aged and bottled under what is now the Knappogue Castle label. His last bottling, a 1951 vintage aged 36 years, is revered by connoisseurs as the oldest and rarest commercially available Irish whiskey on the market. Many years later, his son, Mark Andrews III, would bring Knappogue 1951 and his father's legacy to the United States and other international markets."
•  

Tasting Notes

• Color & Consistency: Dried straw, thin and quick legs.
• Nose: Cherry with a minor hit of alcohol, spice & vanilla. 
• Taste: Underlying sweetness, fruit & grass notes. Cherry flavor follows from the nose and clean mouth feel.
• Finish: Medium & clean not oily. Decent spice.
• Conclusion: It's an Irish for sure but kinda run-o-the-mill if you ask us. We weren't able to discern many unique flavors or characteristics to set it apart from other similarly aged Irish selections. Yes, it's clean, smooth, refined and has all of the great things you would expect from an aged selection out of Ireland maybe 5-10 years ago, but with all of the good competition recently attacking this price point it really seems hard to justify the purchase. We would prefer other options in the $20-49 dollar range and as such had to knock it on the glass rating but you won't be breaking the bank if you decide to pick one up for you or a friend to try.

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Review - Hell-Cat Maggie Irish Whiskey

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Rating 2.5 Glasses

• Distillery: Cooley Distillery
  • Years Aged: NAS
  • Proof: 80
    • Local Price (USD): $21.95
      • Availability: Widespread

 

Background:

• This whiskey is named after Hell-Cat Maggie (fl. 1840–1845). This was the pseudonym of an American criminal and early member of the Dead Rabbits. She was a well-known personality in Manhattan's Five Points district and a noted fighter, her teeth reportedly filed into points and who wore long claw-like brass fingernails,[1] who fought alongside the Dead Rabbits and other Five Pointers against rival nativist gangs from the Bowery, most especially the Bowery Boys, during the early 1840s. Although there is little information on her life, she is one of the earliest female criminals of the "Gangs of New York" era and has been compared to later women criminals such as Gallus Mag and Battle Annie, the latter leading the female auxiliary of the Gopher Gang during the 1870s.[2][3] - Wikipedia

Tasting Notes

• Color & Consistency: Golden hay, thin.
• Nose: Sweet-ish (like the chef), light citrus and alcohol
• Taste: Perfect medicine for a cold like a Honey lemon Ricola. Smooth with hints of rubbing alcohol.
• Finish: Slight bitterness, fades quickly.
• Conclusion: This whiskey is aptly named as it has all the aspects of a traditional Irish Whiskey but rougher around the edges. For the price its OK and would definitely make for a good mixer. Just because of the backstory this would be a good conversation starter if brought to the party.

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Review - Old Forester Statesman™ Bourbon

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Rating 2.5 Glasses

• Distillery: Old Forester Distillery
  • Years Aged: N/A
  • Proof: 95
    • Local Price (USD): $54.95
      • Availability: Widespread

 

Tasting Notes

• Color & Consistency: Tarnished gold with slowly burning matchsticks for legs
• Nose: Floral with lemon & vanilla spice
• Taste: Light on the palate with a hit of cracked black pepper and citrus
  • Finish: Some caramel and spice that just can't hang on long enough to appreciate and gives up the ghost.
• Conclusion: Not bad and definitely welcome proof bump compared to the original but overall pretty unimpressive blend for all the fanfare that was put into this bottling. This particular selection would be a better value at $30 price point. 

• Background: Statesman: In the movie they are a secret American organization posing as a bourbon whiskey distillery in Kentucky. Branded with the Statesman™ name and released to the public one month before the theater date of "Kingsman: The Golden Circle", Old Forester's Website claims that it was inspired by the dynamic characters in the film. Interestingly, this release is blended from casks of their Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky they pulled from the warmest areas of the warehouse.

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