Review 217: Gentleman Jack

Review 217

7/12/14

Gentleman Jack: 40% abv

Background: Here we go. Occasionally, the KCM crew likes to step back to the classics. We have never done a Jack Daniels review and you shouldn’t expect many more, but this is an instance where a bottle has been purchased and is ready for judgment. Gentleman Jack is Jack Daniel’s attempt at making a middle-range bottling of Jack Daniels to charge customers more for. Would you guess they would raise the proof? Increase the age time? Do some unique finishing operation or change the mash bill? You’d be wrong on all accounts. Gentleman Jack gets the Tennessee treatment  twice, instead of once. This is charcoal filtering, and that allegedly makes Tennessee whiskey differentiable from Bourbon, which I won’t refute at this very moment. In an “informative” video, a man in a Jack Daniels shirt informs us that short finishes and lack of oak flavor in Gentleman are the staple qualities that set this thing apart. It also sports a classically cheap 40% abv, and this man informs us that often times it’s not what we taste, but where we taste it that’s important. I like to taste whiskey in my mouth. I’m sure by now we’re all excited to try this velvety smooth masterpiece.

Straight

Nose: Yes, this is sweet alright. They weren’t kidding with that. Instantly, smells of anise, candied cherries, vanilla extract and white sugar pronounce themselves. There is some confectionary aroma in this glass, with a very mild hint of grains. This seems like a corn-heavy mash bill, and  the sweetness makes the complexity difficult to find. There is a distinctive alcohol smell that actually becomes more pronounced as the whiskey opens up.

Arrival: The arrival starts very candied, with sweet artificial fruit flavors. The candied cherries are very dominant, and there is a sweet, syrupy flavor up front. It is almost maple in flavor. There is some spice as well that is distinctive in the arrival. There is some bitter fruit flavors in the arrival as well, such as slight cranberry, but none of it stays for very long.

Body: There are suggestions of oak flavor in the body, and is pretty thin. Hints of anise and hot spices come across in the body, but dissipate quickly.

Finish: The finish leaves with a strong taste of sweetened corn and some wheat flavor. There is some maraschino cherry juice in the finish, which is actually the most eventful part of the whisky. Gentleman just seems to do a good job of lacking substance. There seems to be an ashy, charry wood flavor that is retained through the finish, which serves as the most interesting feature of the whiskey.

Final Comments: Sorry, sports fans. I tried adding water and unfortunately there is nothing to report. So what is there to conclude. This is the pinnacle of gimmicky drinks. I guess it isn’t too bad, but it lacks balance, it certainly lacks complexity, and the most unique thing about it is it’s “smooth”. Folks, the fallacy that Jack is trying to promote with this bottle is that complexity and ease of drinking are mutually exclusive. Those things aren’t true. The idea that WHAT you taste isn’t as important as WHERE you taste it is just madness. This isn’t worth the money, it isn’t worth the bad marketing, and it isn’t worth the ignorance. It is drinkable, and it is tolerable, but it doesn’t engage the drinker. Overall, this isn’t worth buying, and Jack Daniels will find that our generation of drinkers isn’t looking for something lacking in dynamics.  

Why you’d buy it: You’re a Jack drinker and you want to splurge on something more expensive, and just as bad.

                                                                                                          

Why you wouldn’t: See review.

Score:  6.75/10

Review 201: Blanton's Single Barrel Bourbon

Review 201

1/19/14

Blanton’s Single Barrel: 46.5% abv

Background: Blanton’s is a bourbon that is distilled at Buffalo Trace distillery. It is owned by Sazerac Company and was launched in 1984. With the very popular Kentucky Derby rooted in the traditions of many distilleries, a nifty horse figurine is placed on every bottle of Blanton’s, with 8 different figurines available (each representing a letter of BLANTONS). Collect them all (or don’t)! This is a high rye bourbon, made from mash bill #2. It is advertised as the first single barrel bourbon bottled, which really offers very little relevance to what this tastes like or if it’s worth your time…so we’ll focus on that.

Straight

Nose: This bourbon starts off with a blend of elegant, sweet, creamy flavors. A medley of berries and cherries, cream and vanilla are huge right off the bat. There is almost a sense of cheesecake in here. A nice smooth custard flavor is noticeable. A subtle oak layers in the nose, with rye coming out more as the whiskey opens up. Along with the rye, more apple and vinegar are showing up in the whiskey as well. The apple is a lot like stewed apples with cinnamon. To contrast the big sweet notes, floral notes are also present in the whisky. There is some brown sugar and cinnamon contributing more to the whisky.

Arrival: The arrival is spicy and rye-forward. There is honey on the arrival with a bit of clove adding to the spicy zing. There are notes of brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg present. There is a definite oak, with some grain. The mouth-feel starts syrupy.

Body: The body is much busier than the arrival, with leather, rye, and wood tannins up front. There is a cherry syrup flavor, followed by apples and cinnamon. There is a lot of spice in the body too.

Finish: The finish is spicy and well rounded, with plenty of rye, oak, and fruit. There is clove, cinnamon, ginger, mint and pepper present in the finish, with some cherry sweetness to close out the rye-driven spice. The finish also contains a bit of the leather character from before. There is a little earthy char flavor in the finish.

With Water

Nose: After adding water, there is much more leather and grain flavor coming through. Along with a slight increase in vanilla smell, a small amount of acetone can be detected in the aroma.

Arrival: The arrival dulls out a lot, containing just a bit of additional spiciness.

Body: The addition of water really kills this whiskey in the body. There is not much to speak of. The whiskey even starts to taste a little young after adding water, getting back to the new-make taste.

Finish: The finish is a little more well-rounded than before, with a slightly noticeable malt flavor becoming evident. A little bit of that new make carries through into the finish, with a residual spiciness but less presence.

Final Comments: Blanton’s fits into a very specific niche. Although Blanton’s isn’t the end all, be all, it is a really solid offering. If you are looking for an easy to drink Bourbon that isn’t as sweet as some of the alternatives, then this is a great alternative. It doesn’t have the complexity to skyrocket it into our top ranks, but it does offer something in balance that can be hard to find in bourbons.

 

Why you’d buy it: You want a nice sipping whisky.

                                                                                                          

Why you wouldn’t: You are looking for something to sit down and think about.

Score: 8.5/10

KCM Onsite Report #2: Journeyman Distillery Tasting

KCM Onsite Report #2

4/19/13

Tiffany’s Wine and Spirit Shoppe/Journeyman Distillery

Overview: You might say that KCM hasn’t done a great job of talking about the Michigan distillation scene, and you’d be right. We are rectifying that, starting today, with some onsite reports of distilleries, tasting, and shops and stores where you can find good stuff. Over the summer, we hope to build on these and visit some different places. Today though, we’re going to do a hybrid and talk about Journeyman distillery AND about a place called Tiffany’s. Let’s start with the distillery.

Journeyman: Journeyman Distillery is a new business, not more than two years old, coming out of Three Oaks, MI. Three Oaks is so south-western, it may as well be Indiana. Journeyman, as we’ve said, is a pretty young distillery and they’re still learning some very valuable childhood lessons, but that hasn’t stopped them from jumping into the market with tenacity and vision. They currently have two column stills, one of which is a brand new addition to a second facility, and are aging their spirits in a variety of barrels, including some bigger barrels that they are looking to hold onto for a couple of decades. They have acquired some popularity in the surrounding area, and we hope to help them on their journey (no pun intended there) to success. One thing Journeyman is doing right is experimenting, with ideas like oak-aged gin and cabernet barrel-aged whiskey. So we attended a tasting at Tiffany’s and we’re going to report our finding on a number of their spirits, albeit it will be a general summary, not the detail we generally produce.

Ravenwood Rye: 45% abv

We started with the rye whiskey they produced, naturally being produced in column stills. The rye content in the mash is 60% and the other 40% is all wheat content, which will typically offset the harshness of rye whiskey. There was no mistaking this whiskey’s intentions, because one could easily taste the confused sweetness and underwhelming rye character in the flavor. There was a prominent honey, candied sugar, and vanilla content to this particular whiskey. There was ironically not much rye content to this whiskey, which made us a little disappointed. This is an easy drinking spirit, but it unfortunately didn’t taste like a rye whiskey should, and that’s why we buy rye whiskey.

Score: 7.25/10

Road’s End Rum: 45% abv

We decided to jump to the clear spirits. In particular, silver rum was next in line. We should mention that unaged rums generally don’t contain a large amount of complexity and are purely influenced by the molasses or sugarcane extract used in distillation. The spokesperson for Journeyman told me the rum was distilled with blackstrap molasses, and distilled by a Jamaican technique. The rum itself is pretty fresh and pure, with a mixture of sweet notes and slight bitterness, with a thick mouthfeel, and a very subtle spiciness in compliment. In all honesty, we were happy with this as a new make spirit, so we are excited what the benefits of aging does to this rum.

Score: 8.25/10

Bilberry Black Hearts Gin: 45% abv

You may notice that KCM hasn’t reviewed gin in our year of existence. Well that is partially because none of the panel is all that particular to gin, and partially because most of our stock lies in Scotch. Gin tends to be overpowered by the botanicals that are used for distillation; the primary ingredient of gin is typically juniper berries, which have very bitter and piny tasting characteristics to it. This gin is unique in that way, because, as the name implies, the star of the show is actually bilberry. Some of the ingredients include anise, coriander, lemon and cinnamon. This is not your typical gin then, with a complex list of balanced notes, not over-dominated by the typical pine qualities that gin has. This gin isn’t super dry, but it isn’t overtly sweet. It is a perfect start for what gin should be.

Score: 9.0/10

Barrel-Aged Bilberry Black Hearts Gin: 45% abv

Well now, here is where things get good. Something that has not been touched by a lot of distilleries is aged gin, and here we have some. And it really takes the best of both worlds, without a doubt. This helps the already well balanced gin get some complexity from the oak barrels, and really adds some dimension. It is my deepest hope that we see more things like this. I’d love to see more age to this gin and how it can change the spirit. This is not a mature spirit, and the addition of oak-induced flavors does not completely cover that, but it shows great potential for Journeyman to stand out for something incredible. You will find some vanilla notes, some spiciness, and a hint of herbal notes coming out in the gin. Highly recommended.

Score: 9.25/10

Buggy Whip Wheat: 45% abv

On the other end of the spectrum, this particular bottling represents a good experiment gone dull. We love the thought of new types of whiskey being bottled, and you do not see a lot of 100% wheat whiskies on the market, but maybe there is a good reason for that. This whiskey, although smooth and sweet, lacks complexity and is truly boring. You might, if you are a mixer or a rocks drinker, love that. We do not love that, and it is disappointing. This isn’t poorly made spirit, but it isn’t well made whiskey.

Score: 6.75

Featherbone Bourbon: 45% abv

We are going back and forth, I know, but honesty is our first priority. This bourbon produced some funny reactions at the tasting, where people exclaimed that the plastic cups were adding flavor to the bourbon and that it was spoiled. Folks, bourbon doesn’t really spoil like a glass of milk. In fact, the plastic tasting glasses were not off-setting the flavor. This is just a unique bourbon, and boy did we like it. At KCM, we have tried a number of bourbons, and few of them jump out as being truly away from the back. This particular one, with immense leathery notes, some nuttiness, big wood, and some tasting notes you would attribute with more mature whiskies, did more than just pose as a good entry into the American whiskey market. This whiskey showed that Journeyman can produce something different, although their range of whiskies might be a little under-developed in some areas.

Score: 9.0/10

Silver Cross Whiskey

Alright. Last one of the night. Well it is as I’m typing, and it was as I was drinking. This is an underlying message that hopefully Journeyman Distillery grabs onto. I don’t remember much about this whiskey, and I don’t care much about it. I remember it not being very distinctive, and although it had some small complexities to it, it was rather boring. We were not in the mind to rate this one.

Score: ?/10

Conclusion

At the beginning of this short novel, we told you Journeyman is a new distillery in the micro-distillery scene. This presents some challenges and makes it difficult to produce cheap quality spirits without going bankrupt. A new start up is akin to starting up a car company: lots of capital investment and not much return for years and years. Journeyman seems to be over this initial turbulence and charging ahead boldly with quality spirit production. For this reason, it is understandable for Journeyman to have their feelers out, trying to understand where they fit in the market. What we don’t want is for them to become a jack of all trades, master of none. It will be interesting to see how they evolve, but we as consumers should try to be patrons of businesses like these, who are working hard to make a name for themselves. KCM believes Journeyman Distillery is a worth investment and we should support the products that stand out.

~K

Review 135: Buffalo Trace Bourbon

Review 135

1/21/13

Buffalo Trace Bourbon: 45% abv

Background: Buffalo Trace is the standard offering presented by the Buffalo Trace distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky. This distillery has been known by several different names, most notably the George T. Stagg distillery, which is another bourbon to look out for. The distillery will tell you it was located at an ancient buffalo crossing, which is cool…I guess. Buffalo Trace distillery makes quite a number of spirits, not limited to bourbon or even rye, but including vodka. These include Ancient Age, Blanton’s, Eagle Rare, Thomas H. Handy, Weller, Sazerac, and Rain vodka. Today, we focus on Buffalo Trace bourbon though. This particular bourbon, their namesake, uses their mash bill #1. It is one of two mash bills, and it can be considered their more “bourbon-esque” bill. With how many different whiskies they make, it may seem impossible for them to ONLY have two bills for all of them, but don’t forget how many dimensions there are to making a whiskey. The yeast can be a huge part of the flavor content. Let’s actually take a look at the taste profile now.

Nose: Oak, honey, sweet fruits, fudge, caramel, molasses, vanilla, cocoa powder, slightly floral, cabernet, sugar, brandy

            A/W: Harsher nose, harsh hot grain notes, a little more spice

Arrival: Honey, molasses, starts cool, dry spice, wheat, vanilla, caramel

            A/W: Maple, spicy

Body: Medium mouthfeel, wheat, custard, rum-like, molasses, dry

            A/W: Maple, cinnamon, ginger

Finish: Coca, touch of cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, cream, custard, vanilla, wheat, yeast, dry, medium long

A/W: Ginger, cinnamon, mint, more balanced, much more enjoyable

Final Comments: You might call this a dessert bourbon, with its sweet smooth character. It is 45% and we love how the complexity just keeps on coming after a little bit of water. Initially, its mellow nature made it seem like water was an unnecessary addition, but just a little bit can help bring out even more. The docile nature of this bourbon doesn’t take away from the uniqueness, or complexity, and we appreciate that. This isn’t the most spicy bourbon you’ll have come across, but that isn’t a bad thing. This is a good one by any standards, and when you find out how much it costs, it might make you drool.

Why you’d buy it: You want a nice, sweet bourbon with good complexity and a gentle presence.

Why you wouldn’t: You want your bourbon to put hair on your chest.

Score: 9.5/10

Review 132: Knob Creek Small Batch

Review 132

1/13/13

Knob Creek Small Batch: 50% abv

Background: Knob Creek Small Batch bourbon is part of Jim Beam’s Small Batch series (there is a connection there somewhere). It is produced at the Jim Beam distillery in Clermont, Kentucky. This particular bourbon is a nine year old bourbon, so it is quite a bit older than some of your standard bourbons, which sit at four years. It is also the oldest of the Small Batch series, outpacing Booker’s, Basil Hayden, and Baker’s. If you go on Knob Creek’s website, you’ll find out there is an obnoxiously hard to read story on there about why Knob Creek is what it is, but we’ll omit that. There is also a Knob Creek Single Barrel and a Knob Creek Rye now being produced.

Nose: Burns, strong, alcohol type nose, very hot, oak, vanilla, wheat, spice, light rye, some honey, sweetness

            A/W: Much more sweetness, sugar, sweet caramel

Arrival: Hot, spicy, cinnamon, dry, grainy, spicy, plenty of oak character

            A/W: Almonds, sugar

Body: Still hot and spicy, lots of grain

            A/W: Almonds, cinnamon, nutmeg, gingerbread, oak, maple

Finish: Again, hot and spicy, dry, wheat, nutmeg, Big Red cinnamon flavor, peppermint, nut oils

            A/W: Barley, sugar, gingerbread

Final Comments: This is obviously a hot and spicy bourbon, with tons of intensity to it. We have plenty of experience drinking spirits above 50%, and Booker’s is a great example of how that can be done right. If you look at Knob Creek, it is a little different. The heat here is overdone, and doesn’t balance well with the flavor content. Not to mention the fact that the water is necessary to make this one speak out a little. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it could be a little better.

Why you’d buy it: You want an intense, slightly older than average bourbon with some nutty qualities to it, but aren’t particularly concerned about getting the most complex spirit.

Why you wouldn’t: Maker’s 46 exists

Score: 8.25/10

Review 130: Basil Hayden's 8 Yr Bourbon

Review 130

1/10/13

Basil Hayden’s: 40% abv

Background: Basil Hayden’s is one of the four bourbons in the Jim Beam Small Batch family, and sits at 8 years old. This one is known as the lightest of the four bourbons, as is indicated by the proof of the whiskey, being at a modest 80 proof (40%). The Basil Hayden’s bourbon is named from Basil Hayden, Sr. who was a Maryland Catholic who led 25 Catholic families into Kentucky. Turns out, Hayden was also a distiller (who would have thunk?) who used a large amount of rye in his batches. His grandson Raymond Hayden founded a distillery known as Old Grand-Dad, which we still see bottling bourbon today. Here’s the deal: this bourbon is made by Jim Beam. All this history just tells you where it came from. Let’s see what it turns out to be like. 

Nose: Oak, corn, subtle rye, wheat, honey, cinnamon sugar, mint, allspice

A/W: More Floral

Arrival: Light honey, oak, caramel, vanilla, sweet, thin

A/W: Same

Body: Sweet, light, honey, mint, ginger, corn, caramel

A/W: Big oak, sweet, lightly floral

Finish: Herbal, mint, cherry sweetness, wheat, hot cinnamon, rye, oak, vanilla, dry, medium length

A/W: Same

Final Comments: Basil Hayden’s is clearly not the most complex bourbon on the market, and you pay quite a penny for it. It starts to beg the question, then, if it is worth the money. The positive part is that it has a good balance of flavors, it is a sweet bourbon, and it is certainly a quality whiskey. The bad news is that it is expensive and it isn’t an engaging whiskey. 

Why you’d buy it: It’s a smooth alternative to regular bourbon and you like having a nice social status.

Why you wouldn’t: You want to pay less for more, and Buffalo Trace exists.

Score: 7.5/10

Review 129: Woodford Reserve Doubled Oaked

Review 129

1/7/13

Woodford Reserve Double Oaked: 45.2% abv

Background: Woodford Reserve is a distillery we’ve discussed before, so there isn’t much sense in rehashing information. The idea behind this particular bottling is that a batch of bourbon is put into a fresh oak cask (remember, no bourbon can be aged in refill casks), and ages for a number of year (since this is deemed “straight” bourbon, we known it is at least 4 years), and then is thrown into a second bourbon cask which is toasted, for extra maturing. This exposes the bourbon to all new American oak with which to interact. We’re foreshadowing...

Nose: Cherry, wood intensity, oak, hot, alcohol (pure alcohol, rubbing alcohol, light nail polish), burnt sugar, molasses, honey, wheat, subtle leather, cinnamon, grain (corn, rye), grapes, rum sweetness. 

A/W: More Floral, balanced

Body: Spice, oak, cherry, ginger, cinnamon, cumin

A/W: Caramel, more dominance from cherry

Finish: Oak, cherry, wheat, cinnamon, gingerbread, spice, caramel, molasses, pepper, ginger, rye, cumin

A/W: Lingering cherry, hot

Final Comments: Woodford Reserve presents a more premium offering to their original Distiller’s Select, which we were particular to. The end result isn’t what you’d necessarily expect though. There is a lack of brilliance to this, and a horrible lack of balance which screams the oak is over-dominant. The trick with bourbon is that the fresh casks are such powerful flavor-enhancers, that adding a second one certainly changes the impact of the oak on the overall balance of the whiskey. This isn’t a bad whiskey, but we think they took a large step backwards. We also enjoy making the occasional crack at marketers. Woodford comments “How do you make the best bourbon in the world better?” (I’m paraphrasing), and we would respond “Not like that”

Score: 7.75/10

Review 105: Parker's Heritage Collection

Review 105

11/3/12

Parker’s Heritage Collection Bourbon: 65.8% abv

Is it a cask strength bourbon? Yes, yes it is. This tips the scale as our highest abv review to date, at about 66%. The difference between this and 151 rum is that you can actually do something with this, even at such a high alcohol content. So what are we really comparing this bad boy against? Well, if you were looking for other cask strength bourbons, we would first point you to Booker’s. So how does this compare to Booker’s? And how is it as a single whiskey. 

On the nose, you get some classic bourbon notes, with a large burn to it. The caramel, large oakiness, vanilla, and spiciness is all there. It can be said though, that a strong impression of alcohol is in the nose. Just plain alcohol. After a substantial amount of water, it stops melting your face off, and gives you some more complex, enjoyable notes of hazelnut, powdered sugar, wheat, rye, toffee, chocolate, and light chocolate. With any cask strength whiskeys, we always obligate ourselves to try them before adding water, so as you know the spirit in its natural state. 

The arrival is pretty simple, but gives off the standards notes of caramel, vanilla, and molasses. After adding water, this bourbon really changes. On the arrival anyway, you can start to experience some peppery notes and cinnamon. Impressions of the body include wheat, rye, caramel, vanilla, ginger, and molasses. To really get a good impression of this whiskey, water is almost entirely a necessity. You simply won’t get the complexities without it. In the finish, there is a nice variety of flavors, including wheat, semi-sweet chocolate, raspberry, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, molasses, black pepper, oak, and large grain flavors. It’s a pretty powerful whiskey, even with several teaspoons of water to it. 

To conclude about this Parker’s, we’d like to just say a few things. This bourbon is a pretty penny, so do your research before buying it. It also isn’t for everybody. We got the impression that it was trying to be a rye whiskey with all of the spiciness, but it is certainly good. It presents some unique flavors that you wouldn’t always expect from your bourbon, and it tastes pure and like any quality whiskey would. There’s a lot of technical jargon on this bourbon that I don’t care to get into. So how does it compare to Booker’s? To be honest, it really doesn’t. It just doesn’t hold the complexity, and for the price you would hope it did. All the same, it’s a wonderful spirit, and we enjoyed trying it. As a quick note, you might notice this review was done “on location”. It should also be mentioned that we did not buy the Parker’s, so to the person who did buy it, we thank you and love you as a friend and a mentor. Cheers.

Score: 9.0/10

Review 100: Woodford Reserve Master's Collection New Cask Rye

Review 100
10/13/12
Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection New Cask Rye: 46.2% abv

Wow...that’s a mouthful. Can you imagine asking for that at the bar? You probably wouldn’t, because there is a 99% likelihood that they don’t have it. So this is it! It is KCM’s 100th review, and man what an exciting one it is. We worked hard not to review anything until we got the perfect thing for it, and it’s a two part series. This is a half of a two bottle set of rye whiskies, and so Review 101 will be of the other one, but I won’t go into the details of that until the next review. So...why are we doing this one? Well, it’s our first rye whiskey, and it’s a rather expensive and rare bottling. Woodford Reserve’s Master’s Collection is a series of craft whiskies that get released yearly around Christmas time. For example, in 2010 they had a Maple Wood Finished Bourbon that they produced (that we will also be reviewing sometime in the future), and in 2011 these Ryes. They are expensive, but having already tried the Bourbon once, I had good faith that this wouldn’t be a bomb. So here’s a little background on Rye whiskies, since this is our first one. Rye whiskey is almost exactly like Bourbon in the fact that it can only be aged in new charred white oak casks, and it has to be bottled between 40 and 80% abv. The difference is that while Bourbon has to made up of 51% corn, Rye has to be made of 51%...take a guess...rye!

So now let’s talk about the whiskey itself. If you’ve ever taken a big smell of a whiskey, you have probably leaned in and smelled, and then felt like your nose was on fire. The alcohol can be really off-putting, and at 46.2%, we expected similar things from this one, but to our surprise, it was not at all like this. The nose was balanced and tame, but not understated. It had a lot of complexities to it as it opened up. And open up it did. There is so much to this nose, I don’t know how to proceed. The nose was very spicy, with some mild sweet notes, but even moreso, there was a subtle floral, aromatic character to the nose. The aroma greets you with dark sweetness of brown sugar, honey, molasses, caramel, vanilla, and even a slightly buttery character. There is also a smooth, but powerful oakiness in the smell, followed by very diverse set of spices. Here was our best crack at trying to identify these spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, gingerbread, and light cloves all adorned the aroma of this rye. Even more unique, though, was the subtle banana and coconut smells that came out later on, when the rye opened up even further.

The arrival isn’t anything to write home about, and for that matter neither is the body of this rye. The arrival is definitely spicy, but quick and not very prominent. The body takes on a dry, almost tannin-y character. There is prominent cinnamon and nutmeg, with warm oak to please your mouth, and even some creamy and banana notes to it. After adding water, the body will start to open up and you’ll get some good grainy rye character to it, and more oakiness, as well as some definite salt. If you don’t like salt, you can drink this without water. The finish is pretty much what takes the cake with this. Not that the body isn’t good, but it doesn’t compare to the finish. The finish has so much to it, and after that whiskey goes down, you’ll spend time basking in the experience. Spiciness defines rye, and thus a Christmas spice collage is what you’ll get here, with strong nutmeg overpowering the cinnamon, but also gingerbread, allspice, cloves, and mint all mixed in there. The mint and cinnamon will be accentuated after a fair bit of water. There is an earthiness to the finish, and you’ll still get the darker, sweeter notes of vanilla, caramel, and oak. Interestingly though, a slight, dry piny bitterness comes through, as well as the butter that we smelled at the beginning. So that’s it.

Here are some closing notes for review 100; This rye is fantastic, and worth trying at least once. The nose and finish are great, and the finish sticks around for a while, but the body and arrival to the spirit is a little lacking in comparison. After water, the slight sweetness backs off on this one, and it adds to the spiciness and hotness, while still remaining smooth and enjoyable. If you are looking for a more mild experience by adding water, you’ll not be happy with the result, but it adds some different dimensions to the rye. A few of our reviewers said they preferred it without the water, while others were ambivalent. Either way, this is a wonderful expression of a craft whiskey and it’s well worth the time and money. We can’t wait to try the next one. 

Score: 9.25/10

Review 97: Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select

Review 97

9/3/12

Woodford Reserve Distiller’s Select: 45.2% abv

Woodford Reserve is quite a distillery. This is our first WR review, so let’s talk about them for a second. Located in Kentucky, Woodford comes with one buzz word that has been quite extra buzzy lately. Lincoln Henderson is the man responsible for many things in the world of bourbon. Mr. Henderson, being in the Bourbon Hall of Fame, which apparently exists (I guess), is in the news today because he, at the age of 72, helped his son found a new Bourbon, called Angle’s Envy, from Louisville Distilling Company. But before all this buzz, he helped build up Woodford Reserve, one of the most successful distilleries in Kentucky. 

So what cool facts do we know about Woodford? None, but Wikipedia probably knows one or two. Hold on...okay. So Woodford Reserve is the oldest of the 9 bourbon distilleries in operation in Kentucky. That’s sort of interesting, right? Okay. We have more WR reviews coming up, so I will hold our other riveting facts for later. About this one? It’s good. Sorry, I blew it. I knew you were looking forward to the anticipation. How about why it’s good? 

Well, starting on the nose, we get some good sweet flavors that we love in our bourbons, and much sweeter and friendly than Jim Beam. Molasses, caramel, sugarcane, and honey all keep the sweetness going, but we won’t keep it boring! Interestingly, we get some creamy notes, butter, oak and nut, although we weren’t sure what kind. Also, an interesting thing we noted was peach. Dunno where that comes from. In any case, we enjoyed the smell and it left curiosity and excitement to the taste. On the arrival when you first taste this bourbon, you will be greeted by sweetness and saltiness, slight orange and vanilla, some raspberry and vanilla. The arrival is wonderfully full and complex, something we generally don’t experience. 

The body of the flavor contains intense oak, mild but pleasant salt, butter, molasses and caramel, with graininess to boot. The graininess includes wheat and corn, with some yeast. The whole package is finished off with some honey and cream. After water, the saltiness backs off a bit, which says if you don’t like the salt, add water. It doesn’t kill the flavor with it’s higher alcohol content. The finish is very similar to the taste, with saltiness, molasses, vanilla, wheat and cinnamon. The fruitiness in the smell comes back in the finish, with some orange cherry, and a unique note of mint and rye. And of course, in the notes, we see notes that make no sense. 

Sorry. In general, this is a fantastic statement of bourbon, and for the sweeter and saltier statements of bourbon, this will do you well, but be warned it is a powerful flavor. Highly recommended and worth the price. 

Score: 9.0/10

Review 95: Elijah Craig 12 Year

Review 95:
8/27/12
Elijah Craig 12 yr: 47% abv

Representing Heaven Hill Distillery, Elijah Craig brings us a 12 year old statement of their bourbon. This should probably make you raise an eyebrow, methinks. With Jim Beam being 4 years old, and Jack Daniels being 4 years old, and even Jim Beam Black at 8 years old, this is quite an old Bourbon. We haven’t seen a ton of age statements, so this is unique. What does it matter? Well at the price of this whiskey (~$25), you should be surprised it’s as old as it is. Then again, this means that there is a potential that it just sucks in quality as a compromise. Well we wanted to find out. And if 12 years old seems a little young for your bourbon, they also sell an 18 year, which we might review in the future. Let’s also get this piece out of the way: 47%...yes, it is noticeable, and more distilleries need to bottle at this abv. Let’s dig into it now.

Elijah Craig will greet you with a classic nose you’d expect out of a bourbon, but don’t rush past it. This whiskey puts some heavy emphasis on the grain characters to it, like malted barley, corn, and wheat are all prominent. There is a strong oakiness to it, along with some dark caramel, honey, and molasses notes to it. We also found some spicy notes of nutmeg, and even a slight pear-like fruitiness to it. The strong nose is intoxicating, and makes the taste even more anticipated. So we stopped anticipating it, and drank it.

The arrival had oak, cinnamon, and honey to it, all though it was relatively mild. In the body, there is still oakiness to it, but also strong vanilla intrinsic to the bourbon character. The maltiness that was in the nose before is still around, but some unique notes of black pepper, oatmeal, and then the classic cinnamon resides in the body. The body did not have great depth, but covered unique flavors, and strong flavors as well. The finish to Elijah Craig is medium-long, and adds some character to the bourbon. Some things you’ve already tasted which linger: vanilla, oak, and pepper. Things you haven’t tasted before that make you happy you didn’t stop thinking about it: red apple, ginger, and brown sugar. So there you are. That’s it. This isn’t a bourbon that will keep you in your seat for weeks, thinking about it. It’s a bourbon that will be thoroughly enjoyable, with depth and moderate complexity for a very affordable price. The oak might be a little over-dominant, which makes us skeptical of the 18 year statement, but we’ll cross that bridge when we reach it. It’s worth buying, and it’s worth drinking. 
Score: 8.5/10

Review 93: Jim Beam Black Label Double Aged

Review 93
8/24/12
Jim Beam Black Label Double Aged: 43% abv

Well, since I’m the main “editor” of KCM’s reviews and I’ve pretty much been failing at my job due to having real jobs, I haven’t been too invested in writing up reviews. Fret not, because KCM has been doing reviews! We just haven’t gotten around to posting them. So here is one. Jim Beam Black Label is the upper class of the Jim Beam line, before you get into the Small Batch products, like Booker’s (We’ve reviewed Booker’s, so check it out!) What a good showing by Jim Beam, this one. Just off of presentation, they do a good job with this one. It starts off telling you its age, at 8 years. Young compared to our Scottish whiskies, but still a decent age. We don’t make a big deal out of price, but if you’re bargain shopping for whiskies, (I’m not talking to you college blonde drinking Mohawk vodka) this is the way to go. You’ll be pleasantly surprised to find that Black runs you in Michigan around $25 a bottle. For that, you get a 43% bourbon with good flavor, simple presentation, and good quality. Is that a spoiler alert? Yes. Yes it is. “M” quickly cited at the beginning of the review that he noticed a note of bourbon in the bourbon...there’s always got to be something that doesn’t help anybody.

On the nose though, you get a light nose, which opens up over time. This nose will make you work to get the scents you might be looking for, but be patient with it. It is a rewarding experience when you get around to it. Let’s see what we dug down for. Bourbon always has some sweetness in the nose, even though there is often harsh spiciness to be found as well. Indeed there is sweetness, and many layers of sweetness. Caramel, honey, vanilla, confectioner’s sugar, and malt all greet the nose, but it’s at different times that you’ll start to realize it. Interestingly, there are some other notes which we found to be compelling. There is a small hint of mint that you’ll catch if you pay attention, with gingerbread, wheat and unripened banana also nestled in the aroma. There isn’t a ton of complexity to the smell, but it certainly has some compelling aspects to it. There was enough to it that we were excited to try it. When we tried this bourbon, we were pleasantly surprised.

On the arrival, you can find molasses, caramel ginger, and cinnamon. There is a nice, healthy spiciness to this bourbon, but it doesn’t overpower you. Once again, Jim Beam wants to throw some curveballs at you, so what have we found that you don’t expect to hear in a bourbon review: Blackberry, malted barley, and sugarcane. There is some slight rye to it as well. But hey, not too shabby for a cheap bourbon. We don’t have a lot to report on the finish, but it doesn’t disappoint either. It is a medium length finish, lingering slightly. There is wheat, barley, molasses, a large amount of oakiness, ginger, and vanilla involved in the finish. It isn’t complex, but it certainly is enjoyable. And on that bombshell, here’s what we roll this up to be. A less than powerful, but still wonderful expression of Beam, which wouldn’t be too bruised by going up to 46% abv. It is good, and we enjoy a healthy dram of it. We think you will too. 
Score: 8.0/10

Review 91: Jim Beam White Label

Review 91
8/22/12
Jim Beam White Label: 40% abv

Alright, in a new series of liquors, we will be reviewing bourbons to build up a cache of reviews, to give you an idea of what’s out there. And what is the quintessential bourbon? It’s on the top of the review, you idiots. There is no bigger name in the world of bourbon than Jim Beam. So let’s talk about what makes bourbon...well...bourbon! Jim Beam, found in Clermont, Kentucky is one of several Kentucky distilleries to produce legendary whiskey. So for all of you Michigan folks, you might not realize how close you are to a hub of real history. Bourbons don’t have to be made in Kentucky to be considered bourbons, like Scotch’s do in Scotland, but there are other strict regulations on bourbon. Several of these include being made up of 51% corn, being aged in never-before-used white oak casks, normally Hogshead or ASBs, and being TOTALLY AWESOME. Jim Beam does go back a while, but we want to focus on what it is right now, and what it should be. Jim Beam creates a range of products, many of which you might be familiar with, including their double aged, their 5 year, Red Stag’s line, and their Rye whiskey, along with their small batch whiskey’s and many others. Today’s attention goes to the one you’ve probably had the most of, if you’ve had Jim Beam: the White Label standard. The most affordable, eclectic of all the Jim Beam’s. So a practical review for the practical bourbon drinker? Is it only good in a mint julep, or on the rocks, or can it be drank straight, as a grade-A sipping drink.

On the nose, KCM found the standard, classic bourbon smell, with sweet notes of honey, caramel, corn, wheat molasses, cherry and a decent oak note. This surprised us, considering its young age of 4 years. The nose is not terribly complex, but does provide standard sweetness and burn you’d expect from this spirit.

The arrival will lend itself to oak and molasses notes, leading into stronger oak on the body, with honey, cinnamon, wheat and caramel. We were honestly not very impressed by the lack of complexity to the flavor, but it lent itself to strong flavor, nonetheless. The finish is spicy, with cinnamon and ginger to it, and some cereal notes of rye. The sweetness isn’t gone, keeping the honey, but adding some cherry as well. Unfortunately, when you get different notetakers, you also get different notes. Some of the other things we concluded about Jim Beam was that one of our reviewers thought that the spirit was called Jim BEAN, and that this same reviewer smelt some stenographer(????) on the nose. Also, the reviewer in question thought that easy listening might include Rage Against the Machine. So there you have it, some unrelated notes to Jim Beam that completely add nothing to this review! And what do we score it? Well, for the price, it isn’t at all a bad spirit, with good quality and pleasant flavors, but it certainly lacks the complexity and uniqueness that we expect out of top-tier whiskies. So it get’s to be somewhat of a middle man. 
Score: 7.5/10