Review - Michter’s 10 Year Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon
...contains every characteristic it is supposed to as a well put together and aged spirit and just does those Bourbon-y things so darned well.
Rating 4 Glasses
- Distillery: Michter's Distillery, LLC - Louisville Kentucky
- Years Aged: 10
- Proof: 94.4
- Local Price (USD): $120.00
- Availability: Rare
- Local Price (USD): $120.00
Tasting Notes
- Color & Consistency: Golden honey with slowly developing skinny legs. Random comment of the night "Like little caterpillar legs" - Jeff
- Nose: Relatively light. Subtle amounts of alcohol, cherry & vanilla
- Taste: Not very sweet like most traditional bourbons. Oak is "IN YO' FACE!" & the tannins are more present than Elijah Craig 18 even though it's 8 years younger.
- Finish: Peppery and very long lasting.
- Conclusion: Batch 16 / Barrel No. 195
- This is the first special release from Michter's new master distiller Pam Heilmann. She is the first female master distiller at a Kentucky Distillers Association distillery since prohibition. It contains every characteristic it is supposed to as a well put together and aged spirit and just does those Bourbon-y things so darned well. Not really bold in any one direction (except maybe a little extra oak) but extremely well balanced and just really good. Yearly release and definitely would buy again if we can find it.
Review - Elijah Craig 18 Year Single Barrel Bourbon
A good step up from Elijah Craig 12 and truly one of the best bourbons we have had to date... This thing lingers longer than your eccentric uncle Randall after a hearty holiday dinner.
Rating 4 Glasses
- Distillery: Heaven Hill Distillery
- Years Aged: 18
- Proof: 90
- Local Price (USD): $112.00
- Availability: Rare
- Local Price (USD): $112.00
Tasting Notes
- Color & Consistency: Rich maple syrup tapped straight from the tree. No log cabin crap here. Crooked legs but we're not sure what that means.
- Nose: A dusty oak cabinet with cherry cough medicine spilled inside that just fell off the wall and was pieced back together with heavy construction adhesive.
- Taste: Cherries and vanilla up front then caramel and blood orange. Oak on the nose doesn't translate into the flavor.
- Finish: Vanilla. This thing lingers longer than your eccentric uncle Randall after a hearty holiday dinner.
- Conclusion: Delicious. A good step up from Elijah Craig 12 and truly one of the best bourbons we have had to date. We would call it almost an endangered species so if you can find, buy it.
Review - Orphan Barrel Rhetoric 22 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon
This one we gotta say is good for a collector or to experience once but for the price we will pass on a chance to buy again.
Rating 3 Glasses
- Distillery: Orphan Barrel Whiskey Distilling Co.
- Years Aged: 22
- Proof: 90.4
- Local Price (USD): $110.00
- Availability: Rare
- Local Price (USD): $110.00
Tasting Notes
- Color & Consistency: The color of Bourbon. Legs like the facets of a Hibiki bottle.
- Nose: Oooooooaaaaaaaaak & brown sugar coated cherries.
- Taste: Heavy on the tannins like a very dry red wine & the oak coming all the way through overshadows everything else.
- Finish: Muted but still sweet. For the proof and the age we thought the finish would last a bit longer. Couldn't pick it out at first but then BANG! Banana at the end.
- Conclusion: Mash bill: 86% Corn, 8% Barley, 6% Rye. Even being aged 22 years it doesn't hold a candle to the Elijah Craig 18 YR that we sampled on the same evening. Bottle looks cool and its definitely a rare throwback style bourbon but the amount of oak kinda killed it for us. If we can find it we are looking forward to reviewing the next release (23 Year) in the Rhetoric line from Orphan Barrel. This one we gotta say is good for a collector or to experience once but for the price we will pass on a chance to buy again.
Review - STRONG'eR Limited Edition American Light Whiskey - Solar Eclipse 2017
It's just darned good. Got a little Razzle Dazzle to it & bravo to New Basin as this is one of the better craft whiskeys we have had in a long time.
Rating 3.5 Glasses
- Distillery: New Basin Distilling Company
- Years Aged: 10
- Proof: 97
- Local Price (USD): $97.00
- Availability: Very Rare
- Local Price (USD): $97.00
Tasting Notes
- Color & Consistency: Light in color comparable to a pilsner. Slow wobbly legs
- Nose: Vanilla, alcohol, nutmeg with a hint of apple
- Taste: Definite Oakiness & best friends caramel and honey are hanging with vanilla causing trouble
- Finish: Smooth, light & peppery.
- Conclusion: Barrel No. 7 / Bottle #180. It's just darned good. Got a little Razzle Dazzle to it & bravo to New Basin as this is one of the better craft whiskeys we have had in a long time. We would recommend grabbing this one-off if you can find it and don't mind the sticker shock. Not the most complex 10 year aged American whiskey we have sampled but we would have rated it 4 glasses had the price been 20 bucks less. (As of the date of this review there are a few bottles still scattered around Oregon liquor stores)
Background Info
As the company has been in business for the past 5 years and only officially open for the last 2 you might wonder how they get a 10 year aged whiskey? Well, after talking with Jeremiah at their booth @ Solarfest he informed us that their whiskey currently comes from back east and they finish age it in Oregon oak barrels. This at first was slightly disappointing but he followed up by saying that they hope to be all Oregon made very soon. Diane was also at the booth as well and said that currently their vodka & gin as well as their rye are completely Oregon made with grains grown by her brother right in Madras, Oregon just a few miles from the distillery. Little known fact.... Their logo is actually NBW and was derived from the names of the founders: Norton, Boyle & Williams.
Jeremiah & Diane of New Basin at the New Basin booth - Solartown Madras, OR
STRONG'eR During 2017 Solar Eclipse - Madras, OR
Review - Old Forester Statesman™ Bourbon
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.
Rating 2.5 Glasses
- Distillery: Old Forester Distillery
- Years Aged: N/A
- Proof: 95
- Local Price (USD): $54.95
- Availability: Widespread
- Local Price (USD): $54.95
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.