Tag: Bourbon (Page 4 of 7)

BSG Review: Rabbit Hole Bourbon (Pre-Cavehill)

September 3, 2019 / BSG / 0 Comments

Distilled By: Rabbit Hole Distillery

Location: Louisville, KY

Parent Company: Pernod Ricard (as of June 2019)

Class: KY Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Proof: 95 (47.5% ABV)

Age: 2+ years

Mashbill: 70% Corn, 10% Malted Wheat, 10% Honey Malted Barley, 10% Malted Barley

This bottle of Rabbit Hole’s signature 4-grain bourbon is from Batch #4 Bottle #1929 and is age stated at 2+ years. It is now known as Rabbit Hole Cavehill Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey as they have rebranded all of their offerings with a distinct name. Cavehill bourbon now brings an age statement of 3+ years.

This bourbon is distilled in a Vendome 24-inch copper column still. The distillate enters the Kelvin Cooperage #3 wood-fired, toasted and charred barrels at 110 proof. Each batch contains 15 barrels or less and is not chill filtered.

BSG REVIEW:

Color: Caramel/Amber

Nose: Brown sugar, nutmeg, floral, grains

Palate: Red apple, almonds, black pepper, oak, light vanilla and honey

Finish: Medium-short in length, grassy notes, lingering pepper, a hint of honey sweetness and mint

The standard bourbon offering from Rabbit Hole starts off with brown sugar and nutmeg on the nose, immediately followed by a floral note and then the grains eventually round it out. The taste transitions to a red apple note with a bit of almond up front. The oak barrel note and black pepper show up before giving up a hint of sweetness in the form of honey. The finish is short to medium in length that starts with a grassy note. There is a little black pepper that lingers for a short time before giving off a bit of that honey and some mint at the very end. I think this is a solid offering for the initial bourbon release from Rabbit Hole.

I’m looking forward to comparing this bottle to both the new Cavehill branded version of this 4-grain bourbon as well as their latest high-rye version called Rabbit Hole Heigold Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.

BSG Score: 83/100

BSG Review: Legent

August 27, 2019 / BSG / 0 Comments

Distilled By: Jim Beam Distillery

Location: Clermont, KY

Parent Company: Beam Suntory

Class: KY Straight Bourbon Whiskey partially finished in wine & sherry casks

Proof: 94 (47% ABV)

Age: NAS (appx. 4-5 years)

Mashbill: 75% Corn, 13% Rye, 12% Barley

Legent is a Beam Suntory collaboration between Fred Noe, Master Distiller at Jim Beam, and Shinji Fukuyo, Chief Blender at Suntory. It starts its life as a typical Jim Beam bourbon. Some of the bourbon is finished in wine and sherry casks before being blended back in with more straight bourbon to create this unique offering of Japanese style blended whiskey using Jim Beam bourbon as its base. The bottle is very nice with an image of the facial profiles of both Fred and Shinji on either side of the black brush stroke down the center. It also has a large engraved wooden topper on the cork with both “Kentucky” and “Japan” across the top and “Two Legends One Bourbon” underneath. The price is right at $35 for a 750 mL bottle.

BSG REVIEW:

Color: Amber/Red-tinted

Nose: Peaches, raspberries, brown sugar

Palate: Molasses, brown sugar, plum and a little hint of peanuts

Finish: Short-medium length and dry, cinnamon and oak with a very light KY hug

I get all sugary sweet aromas on the nose, with peach and raspberry dominant notes. This is typical for me with the wine and sherry finished whiskies. The taste switches it up a little with a molasses and brown sugar front end that transitions to more of a plum fruit flavor before giving off a hint of peanut as it goes down. The finish is short to medium in length and dry, which I also typically get from wine finished whiskies. It finally picks up a little spice with the cinnamon and oak coming through at the very end. This whiskey doesn’t give much of a KY hug, but the dryness lingers on the palate and is all I can concentrate on after it goes down. Legent was a cool experiment, and at this price I would recommend giving it a try if you like wine and sherry finished bourbons, but I cannot say this would be a repeat purchase for me. The nose had me reeled in, but, ultimately the finish turned me away in the end.

BSG Score: 76/100

BSG Review: New Riff Bourbon

August 21, 2019 / BSG / 0 Comments

Distilled By: New Riff Distillery

Location: Covington, KY

Parent Company: N/A

Class: KY Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Proof: 100 (50% ABV)

Age: 4 Years

Mashbill: 65% Corn, 30% Rye, 5% Malted Barley

New Riff Distillery was founded in 2014 by Ken Lewis and is independently owned by one family. Ken was previously a successful liquor retailer in Kentucky and sold his business to his employees in order to legally be allowed to start his own distillery. New Riff took the route of sourcing bourbon from MGP and selling it under a different label (O.K.I.) while patiently waiting for their own stocks to age. Now that the stocks are old enough, New Riff only releases products of their own making. New Riff bourbon is distilled with the sour mash process, non-chill filtered and bottled-in-bond. The initial release was in 2018 when the first barrels came of age to be released as a bottled-in-bond bourbon.

BSG REVIEW:

Color: Classic Amber

Nose: Citrus, oak, vanilla, caramel

Palate: Cinnamon, orange zest, honey, vanilla

Finish: Long and spicy, black pepper at the end

This bourbon was definitely worth the wait for it to be released as a bottled-in-bond offering. It smells of citrus and oak with the familiar vanilla and caramel sweetness peaking through. As it hits the front of the palate, I get a pop of cinnamon that is quickly followed by a touch of orange zest. As is flows back and to the sides of the palate, a hint of honey and vanilla tries to sneak through. This is not an overly sweet tasting bourbon. The high-rye mash bill definitely puts the spicier notes front and center, then it finishes long and spicy with a lingering note of black pepper as is settles in for a mild Kentucky hug. This makes for an extremely easy to drink bourbon that will be sure to please any fan of the higher-rye bourbons.

The single barrel offerings from New Riff are some of the best on the market right now. I have tried, and bought, several of these bottles already and have never been disappointed. As for the standard bourbon offering, I’d say this was a home run for New Riff. I recommend taking the distillery tours if you are ever in the greater Cincinnati area. You won’t be disappointed in the unique offerings they provide out of the gift shop and at the Aquifer tasting bar. If you are a gin fan, give the Bourbon Barreled Kentucky Wild Gin a try as well. It was surprisingly good to this whiskey drinker.

BSG Score: 88/100

BSG Review: Four Roses Small Batch Select

August 13, 2019 / BSG / 0 Comments

Distilled By: Four Roses Distillery

Location: Lawrenceburg, KY

Parent Company: Kirin Brewery Company

Class: KY Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Proof: 104 (52% ABV)

Age: NAS (minimum 6 year old barrels)

Mashbill: Blend of Recipes… OBSV, OBSK, OBSF, OESV, OESK, OESF

Four Roses Small Batch Select is the first addition to the regular Four Roses lineup in 12 years. The initial release is only being offered for sale at the distillery and retail locations in KY, NY, CA, TX and GA. The retail price should be in the $55-$65 range. Master Distiller Brent Elliott selected and mingled 6 of the company’s 10 bourbon recipes that were each aged a minimum of 6 years. He also had the product non-chill filtered before bottling at 104 proof.

BSG REVIEW

Color: Medium Amber, long & thin legs down the glass

Nose: Heavy on the baking spices, light caramel

Palate: Red Hots cinnamon, caramel, vanilla, peaches

Finish: Medium-long, cinnamon, hint of mint, oak

OK… this one feels hotter than 104 proof to me, probably because of the Red Hots cinnamon note that comes through heavy on the palate. It wasn’t so much a cinnamon spice note on the nose, though, I did pick up some generic baking spices. After I got over the initial cinnamon bomb, I was able to pick up on the familiar caramel and vanilla notes. Plus, the fruitiness on this one came across as peaches for me. It made for a decent combination as the finish progressed from peaches back to cinnamon. The barrel was more present as the finish moved along, but it also brought a hint of mint with it. There wasn’t a deep Kentucky hug, but there was decent length to the flavors in the finish.

Ultimately, the palate felt a little hotter than expected while the finish felt just right. No big, bold burning on the way down, only lasting flavors that didn’t disappoint. I would probably recommend having this pour as a follow-up to another lower proof option rather than the first pour of the night. Additionally, the bottle seemed to open up as it had some time to get some air past the neck pour. The third pour was less powerful on the cinnamon shock to the palate than the first few, though it was still there as the dominant flavor. Maybe leave it open in the glass for a little while before diving into it for the first time.

As far as recipe comparisons go, the standard Four Roses Small Batch uses a blend of OBSK, OESK, OBSO, and OESO recipes aged a minimum of 4 years. Also, the standard Single Barrel is an OBSV recipe. Store pick single barrels could be any of the 10 recipes.

Check out some of the other Four Roses BSG Reviews such as the Four Roses Super Premium (Japan-only release).

BSG Score: 82/100

BSG Review: Barrel House Select Bourbon

August 9, 2019 / BSG / 1 Comment

Distilled By: Undisclosed for Barrel House Distilling Company

Location: Lexington, KY

Parent Company: N/A

Class: KY Bourbon Whiskey

Proof: 90 (45% ABV)

Age: NAS

Mashbill: Undisclosed percentage of Corn, Rye & Malted Barley

I had the privilege of attending a tasting event this week hosted by the Evansville Bourbon Society featuring Associate Distiller Mark Williams from Barrel House Distilling Company. During Mark’s entire talk, I felt like I was watching a seasoned stand-up comedian deliver a stellar performance. His body language and dry humor complimented his speaking style very well. He presented the company’s story with the typical historical information and stats that you would expect. But, he utilized his unique personal experiences working for the company that kept the entire room entertained at the same time. From what I understand, Mark is relatively new at having the spotlight in a tasting event setting. However, he told us that he does lead tours at the distillery on weekends. He seemed to feed off of the audience and I thoroughly enjoyed his entire presentation. He should try stand-up comedy on his off days!

Now, about the company, Barrel House Distilling Company was started during the winter of 2006 by owners and operators Jeff Wiseman and Pete Wright. They released their first product in December of 2008. The distillery is located in the barreling house of the old James E. Pepper Distillery in Lexington, Kentucky that was founded in 1780. They offer tours and tastings every week on Wednesday through Sunday. Unfortunately, their products are not widely available outside of the Kentucky market. So, I had to grab one of the empties from the tasting event to use for the bottle image in this post.

According to the distillery, Barrel House Select Bourbon is distilled using a heavy rye mash bill. It is barreled at 120 proof in #4 char barrels. Each batch consists of 3 barrels blended to meet a unique flavor profile that is then cut to 90 proof with Appalachian Mountain spring water before bottling. Now, I don’t know exactly who distilled and aged this particular product, because the bottle label only states: “Distilled in Kentucky, Bottled & Crafted by Barrel House Distilling Company in Lexington, Kentucky.” I couldn’t find any sourcing details during my research at the time of this writing.

BSG REVIEW

Color: Light copper; long, thin legs down the sides of my Glencairn glass

Nose: Straight banana pudding bomb… vanilla, banana and toasted marshmallow with very little oak at all.

Palate: Vanilla, honey and oak on the front end with faint banana notes showing up again as the bourbon crosses the back of the tongue.

Finish: Short finish that ends with more of the oak and a white pepper spiciness that did not show up for me early on in the nosing and tasting.

When I raised my glass to smell this for the first time, I was completely caught off guard by the overwhelming aroma of a freshly made banana pudding. I had this one right after tasting the barrel strength RockCastle Bourbon, also from Barrel House Distilling Company. This experience was totally different from what I had just finished. After this back-to-back tasting, I felt like I actually enjoyed the unique profile of the Barrel House Select better than the more “normal” bourbon profile of the RockCastle. This was a complete surprise to me, as I typically enjoy the higher proof bourbons better than the sub-100 proof offerings. I expected that I would review the RockCastle for this post. But, because of this curveball, I changed my mind. I could’ve continued to sip on this one all night.

BSG Score: 82/100

Tag: Bourbon (Page 4 of 7)

BSG Review: Rabbit Hole Bourbon (Pre-Cavehill)

BSG REVIEW:

BSG Review: Legent

BSG REVIEW:

BSG Review: New Riff Bourbon

BSG REVIEW:

BSG Review: Four Roses Small Batch Select

BSG REVIEW

BSG Review: Barrel House Select Bourbon

BSG REVIEW

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