Tasting Notes; American Whiskeys, 12/15/2018

Elijah Craig Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Bardstown, KY

Regular Price $30.99

Sale price $28.99

This is named for Rev. Elijah Craig, who is credited with being the first distiller to age his whiskey in charred oak barrels. Its very polished, easy to like, smooth and warm; pleasantly woody with accents of spice, smoke, and nutmeg. Perhaps not overwhelming, but solid and good

Wild Turkey Longbranch Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Lawrenceburg, KY

Regular Price $39.99

Sale price $35.99

This is the result of the much talked about ‘collaboration’ between actor Matthew McConaughey and Wild Turkey Master distiller Eddie Russell. What really sets it apart from Wild Turkey’s other products is its charcoal filtering. While certainly not revolutionary, the two step process, first with charcoal made from American white oak and then with charcoal made from Texas mesquite wood, is impactful. It’s a mild flavor alteration to their standard bourbon and when it’s combined with older stock (the current release contains 8 year bourbon) it produces a bourbon that gently offers something different. It’s less fiery and spicy, more sweet and oaky with a hint of smoke that makes it come off as a bourbon that was made to please.

Jefferson’s Ocean Voyage 16 Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Louisville, KY

Regular Price $84.99

Sale price $75.99

The official line is that the ocean ‘aging’ began as an experiment…how would the bourbon be affected by movement of the same within the barrel, as impacted by the actions of the waves, the changes in temperature and the differing humidity levels of the sea air? (Actually, everyone already knew the answer as the experiment had been conducted countless times before, by many distillers, perhaps most notably, Kelt Cognac. But no matter)…the result was more caramel and vanilla flavors, greater viscosity and a bit of salinity.

Woodford Reserve Double Oaked Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Versailles, KY

Regular Price $69.99

Sale price $64.99

Additional aging smooths the whiskey, but doesn’t necessarily add more oak flavor. To accomplish that, this whiskey is racked into a new barrel and aged for an additional year. More spicy, vanilla, smokey caramel flavors and smoother, polished sippin’ whiskey.

Pinhook ‘Rye Humor’ Rye

Lawrenceburg, IN

Regular Price $38.99

Sale price $34.99

So Pinhook doesn’t distill their own whiskeys; they select and age and proof and then release a rye and bourbon annually, connecting them whiskey to an up and coming racehorse. What’s the connection between the horse and the whiskey? No one really knows. This is a smooth and polished rye that doesn’t skimp on the rye flavor but also offers interesting secondary flavors. It’s a lot of rye for the money

HIgh West Rendezvous Rye

Lawrenceburg, IN (mostly)

Regular Price $65.99

Sale price $61.99

High West is an American success story…founded in 2006 by David Perkins, they bought whiskey stocks from other distillers; blended, aged and bottled them; and sold enough whiskey to get themselves bought out for 160 million dollars in little over ten years. (We’re secretly hoping for the same thing to happen to us.)

Anyway, this is their flagship whiskey…and its rye with a hearty dollop of rye in it. Full of spicy, uh, rye flavors, its rye for those that like rye a lot.