SF Crusader: Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch 2015
I was in Kentucky earlier this year with a group of outstanding people, and had the good fortune to sample a small pour of the 2015 Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch. While I admittedly was not the soberest I've ever been, I knew as soon as I raised the glass to my nose that I was holding something special. Coming off of the back-to-back highs of 2012's unbelievable Limited Edition Small Batch and 2013's 125th Anniversary Edition, both of which are among the best whiskies ever produced, people weren't quite as enthused about last year's (I found it pretty tasty but a definite step down from the year before), and were holding their breath to see what this year's release would bring.Once I had tasted it, I resolved to track down a few bottles even if it meant paying secondary-market pricing on some of them since I knew I wanted to have this around for a long time. These were going to be snapped up quick regardless of how it tasted, and once people realized just how good it was, they were going to be very hard to get ahold of.
To some degree, writing reviews like this are a little silly past a few basics: is the whiskey bad, good, or outstanding? Is it worth the price of admission? Is it something that you should try at a bar, or is it worth hunting down a bottle for yourself? Beyond that, writing about a whiskey's experience is, to paraphrase Martin Mull, a bit like dancing about architecture. You can elaborate on the flavors and aromas you detect, but once you exhaust the standard repertoire of commonly-found whiskey flavors things quickly escalate into absurdity. Not only are flavor notes like "Fresh-sprayed Silly String on an hour-old apricot-mango-basil (dried basil, of course) cobbler served on a Ford F-150 tire driven coated in Mojave desert dust" thoroughly absurd, but even simpler ones like specific fruits often have very different meanings for the reviewer and the reader, if they even exist at all as reference points for the reader.To answer the fundamentals: this whiskey is outstanding. It is absolutely worth the retail price, and to me also worth a good deal more than that. And if you find a bottle of it, don't pass it up.With that out of the way, let's start dancing about architecture.On the nose there is a lick of cherry (I swear I never detected cherry this much before I started writing reviews but now that it's in my head I'm noticing that a lot of my favorite bourbons have it), or if not exactly cherry then another staining red fruit. There's a lovely baking spice aroma that fills the glass as well, and after sitting in the glass a little, some butterscotch too.The palate screams across the tongue, with a slight saltwater tannicity that barely reigns in exuberant vanilla and cinnamon spice, with a kick that drives it all home. As it rises up from the tongue back out through the nose a small flash of mint appears, along with some delicious fresh-baked dough. The finish is fantastic, with black pepper moving around the mouth like a glittering firework on the Fourth of July.Jim Rutledge knocked it out of the park with this one. Now that he's retired, Brent Elliott has some mighty big shoes to fill around this time next year, and though I look forward to trying what he puts together (and the true test will be in 8-10 years, when bourbon that he distilled will be the majority of the stock at Four Roses), this drink is in honor of Jim.Score: 4.25/5
SF Crusader: Metze's Select 2015 Medley
When Metze's Select was first announced, I was a little surprised to hear about it, but more surprised that MGP hadn't done this before. I won't go far into distillery background, but they make so much whiskey that it was kind of shocking they weren't getting in on the current whiskey boom.This one seemed to fall off the radar a little - it was announced a while ago but took a long time to reach shelves, and I haven't seen many reviews of it online yet. Which is a shame, as it's a delicious bourbon. Let's get to it then.
The first thing you notice is the bottle. A unique and distinctive shape reminiscent of both a teardrop and a molar tooth, it is an attractive, modern package. And it looks like a packaged unit of a product, more so than other bottles that I've noticed. This might be solely due to the fact that it is a unique design, and therefore that I'm examining it more closely, but it does have a round shiny appeal which is in some way similar to a real-life instantiation of a polished gem from a video game. It feels very sleek and "designed", if that makes sense. I asked MGP about how the bottle design was chosen but was given a pretty vague reply, "In making our selection, we wanted a bottle that would reflect the premium quality of Metze’s Select." So there you have it.One thing I really like about Metze's Select is that they make the sources extremely explicit. The bottle's front label has the following list.
- 38% - 2006 Bourbon (21% Rye)
- 3% - 2006 Bourbon (36% Rye)
- 59% - 2008 Bourbon (21% Rye)
I was very curious about that second item there - only 3%? I emailed MGP asking about it and here's what they had to say:
While all three of the bourbons used in Metze’s Select are the Lawrenceburg style high rye mash bills, the splash of bourbon with 36% rye added a little extra fruity note, almost raisin-like, to make the 2015 medley an even more unique expression.
The nose is quite pleasant, predominantly sweet vanilla with almost no alcohol burn. I also get a hint of baking spices, and a little butterscotch as well. A similar nose almost to an Elmer T Lee, but with none of that slightly sour apricot tang which I've noticed in a few Buffalo Trace whiskies.Remarkably smooth (but not boring!) on the palate. This is an easy drinker for sure. After noticing the wonderful texture, some light brown sugar emerges and nicely coats the tongue. Really a delightful sipper. There's a little oak tannin but it is in no way overpowering, and adds a good light structure to the pour.The finish brings a dusting of cocoa powder and even a whisper of dill, while that brown sugar from before remains. Revisiting the nose, I get more dill,Greg Metze has put together a great whiskey. It's definitely on the lighter side of the bourbon spectrum, but although "light", "smooth" and "sweet" aren't always things that bourbon fans seek out, Metze's Select truly delivers without sacrificing depth or complexity. The relatively high proof (46.5% ABV) certainly helps here, as this would be a very different whiskey at 80 proof. It also markedly improved in the glass over the course of 10-20 minutes.Rating: 3.5/5
Bourbonooga: Willett Family Estate Bottled Single Barrel Bourbon C17D
What a fantastic way to kick off my Bourbon Crusaders review assignments. These reviews should become a regular staple as long as the bourbon still flows, unlike the one-off masterpiece I had the fortune to review for this installment.I think I am similar to many that took a benign interest in sipping bourbon and whiskey and turned that interest into a true hobby and pursuit in the fact that I acclimated to higher end bourbons by focusing on the limited edition Buffalo Trace releases that dominate any Google search on the topic of "best bourbon out there." So much so that I still recall the week after the Kentucky Derby in 2013 when I walked into Down One off of W. Main St. and asked if any of the hush-hush Spring Derby Pappy release was available by the pour. "No, we sold out two days ago, but we have 19 different Willett Family Estate bottlings if you prefer," was the response from a bartender that I believe was truly trying to guide me in the right direction. I declined. I was stupid. I was uneducated, and the price is tough to take without previous experience when Google is distracted on Frankfort. Luckily, I did try a few bottlings not long after. I still look to Aged Truth (Barrel No. 806, 11yrs.) as one of the best bourbons I have ever tried. I try to be careful to qualify that statement because I have not had a full bottle, but it was with that same qualification and perhaps coincidentally with my past history in 2013 that I found myself reviewing a 22-year-old wheated Willett Family Estate bottle from Barrel No. C17D...C17D was released around Derby Week in 2015--almost two years after I opted out of a 19 bottle lineup of Willett Family Estate (no doubt a few having those famous block letters)--and it comes in at a hazardous 141.8 proof (70.9% abv). Barrel No. C17D yielded 112 bottles. Bottle 31 rests comfortably in my office.
I did this tasting in two separate rounds of neat vs. water with 48 hours of rest. My notes follow.APPEARANCE:C17D is one of the 3 or 4 darkest bourbons I have ever seen in person. Upon my first sight, I considered it almost full brown with a red and purple glint when presented at an angle. The color was almost cherry wood, cedar bark or cordovan leather. Two days later, I was reminded of a well-aged cognac, and I decided that this was not a standard bourbon color. Truthfully, the only bourbons I have had that I know are darker in color are Heaven Hill Select Stock 131 proof Bottled for the Bourbon Bar and the 4th Edition of William Heavenhill (135.6 proof, 15yr.). You can see @sippncorn's review of the William Heavenhill (with a remark on the Heaven Hill Select Stock as well) HERE. For potential background on C17D's genesis, take a look at @SkusRecentEats article about an April 6, 1993 wheated run at New Bernheim that interestingly occurred approximately 22 years and 1 month before the release of C17D. You can find that HERE.
NOSE:I found C17D to be warm, but it did not singe the nose. There was a surprising amount of pepper, with oak, cherry and leather predominating. Not long after that initial nose, I was reminded of dark chocolate raspberry candy bars because there was a sugariness, almost like a donut glaze, that worked with the chocolate and cherry aspects. C17D was very sweet, but there was hefty char as well. As to be expected with a 22-year-old whiskey.After a few minutes, I could tell that there was significant red berry that wanted to come forward out across the wall of peppery heat in its way. In that respect, I thought back to 2014 William Larue Weller--another wheated bourbon north of 140.0 proof. C17D was turning into a hot, sugary red berry bomb. I suspected a cut of water would knock out the white pepper.After ten minutes of air, C17D gave hints that it was going to turn into a brown sugar, caramel and bread pudding nose. I was really enjoying the turn to a rich, dark dessert sweet as I am a sucker for that type of nose. As I neared the end of the first neat pour, I was reminded of a great cheesecake crust sitting in raspberry and caramel drizzle after you have scraped away nearly all of the cream cheese filling. There was also a touch of buckwheat and syrup. I did not want to cut this pour with water. C17D remained spicy and warm after all of those minutes, but the spice toward the end was due to the mix of dry, spicy oak, sugar and salty caramel.With water, the first neat pour lost all fruity character. I was left with salted cow tails with a spicy oak bite and cocoa dusting.After a few days of taking the air, the bottle calmed the alcohol and left merely a warm oak spice, and lots of it, with that same cherry predominating. There was less leather than the first pour, which was already not overpowering, but the leather that left after the first pour was replaced with even more sweetness. Vanillin and caramel with a faint toffee and malt bar toward the end of the caramel.A few more minutes of air for the second pour brought out that lower level rickhouse musk. The damp oak and char started to dominate the rest of the way. Some may not like this much oak, but it was not green oak. This was that smell that drapes you like a veil when you duck your head and step into Warehouse C at Buffalo Trace. Or, if perhaps Warehouse C had a damp, musky and oaky basement. This was not Pappy 20, or the 20-year-old Elijah Craig impressions. This was decades of evaporating oak mingling with damp, well-shaded oak. This was that great smell sitting at the bottom of your glencairn the next morning.The second pour did not hold up well to water. The spice really geared up and kicked with oak and leather. I was most reminded of a strong and bitter Four Roses OESO.
TASTE:Shockingly, I could not find the amount of cherry teased by the initial nose. This was pervasive oak and caramel--not bad at all--just unexpected. There was no pepper either. Just oak and caramel.After a few minutes, the taste shifted to oak and old leather.Water did improve the taste on the first pour. I got a sea salted Mr. Goodbar with the same oak and a hint of raspberry and pomegranate seeds that came up right before the finish started. The heat was certainly still there, but the kick took a few seconds longer to onset.The second pour was sublime. Oh, every pour should be like the second pour! I mean, wow. It was so different after 48 hours open. I was blessed with a straight stunner first sip packed with the flavors you want to chase the rest of your life. I was going to split this second pour between neat and water. Then, I decided to split the second pour into two pours--one neat and one with water--so as to prolong the enjoyment of C17D neat.From the start of the second pour, I was punched with warm vanilla french toast and some bite from pure maple syrup that rolls into a cinnamon and chili-infused dark chocolate bar. The second pour had a taste that closed out with tiramisu sweetness. So fantastic.Water, unlike with the first pour, depressed the taste on my second pour. I got muted oak and leather, a bit of scented marker and some red berry. I was reminded of Old Charter 8YO if it came in a much higher proof.
FINISH:The first pour finished warm and everlasting. I usually expect a big proofer with this much age to be very dry with a bite on the sides of the tongue. C17D started mid-palate and then moved to the tip of the tongue with cinnamon red hot heat that subsided and went back to squarely mid-palate oak and leather. The mid-palate finish was unique because it felt like I had a round peppermint sitting heavy smack dab in the middle of my tongue giving off cool, minty heat. That doesn't mean that it tasted minty like Four Roses. It had that cool, lasting menthol effect that you get from strong breath mints. Oaky. Again, long. Most interestingly, however, there was a heartburn feel on the chest. This was the first bourbon I have had that put pressure on the chest.With water, that mid-palate finish left and instead sat on the very tip of the tongue and the back sides of the tongue. Yet, the heartburn grip remained. Again, oaky, but cherry cordial peaked out at the very end of the finish. C17D--she grips and steps on your chest.The first pour's taste and second pour's taste produced widely different reactions. Likewise, the second pour's finish came out with a new look. The finish was still long and warm, but this time it was jammed with salty caramel, salty peanuts (Beam like) and oak. It didn't start as dry as the first pour, but closed its act very dry. C17D--she no longer grips and steps on your chest. Instead, she has that nice fireside winter warming burn. Perhaps the only similarity was that the finish still sat squarely on the mid-palate. Although, even that aspect was more subdued because of the numbing front-palate and top of the mouth burn.With water, I just got oak and stale cinnamon red hots as though the red hot flavor was an aftertaste from chewing Big Red gum.
CONCLUSION:I prefer C17D neat to water. I would suggest taking a few quick nips on a fresh pour and then let air do its magic. I am very excited about the way the bottle improved after opening. I have had a few recent bottles that peak on the first pour. I want a bourbon that gets better with each pour until, inevitably around the half-empty mark, simple nature starts its work and its time to get into maintenance mode.How does this compare to C14D, another 22-year-old wheated bourbon released not long before C17D? Too hard for me to say. I like the nose on C17D considerably better after both pours, with "considerably" being as big a difference as you can squeeze when you are at this level of quality. As for the taste, C14D was considerably better (again, caveat) after my first C17D pour, and that one-off Tootsie Roll pop flavor takes the crown, but my second C17D pour hit nearly all of the warm, rich dessert flavor I want in my baseline for an elite bourbon. This is a push. The finish on C14D wins the flavor battle between the two, but C17D had that unique chest pinch and pressure on the first pour that kept me more focused than the flavor of the C14D finish. Flip a coin, I say.SCORE:Nose -8.5/10.0 Day 18.5/10.0 Day 2(Nose weighted 35%) = 2.98Taste -9.25/10.0 Day 19.5/10.0 Day 2(Taste weighted 45%) = 4.22Finish-7.5/10.0 Day 17.0/10.0 Day 2(Finish weighted 20%) = 1.45TOTAL = 8.65/10.0******9.5-10.0 bourbon basically does not exist in my scoring system. It is a figure left for the life-altering bourbons.9.0-9.5 bourbon is as best as they come.8.5-9.0 bourbon is fantastic, and it is a mark that a limited edition release should hit. Obviously, not all do.8.0-8.5 bourbon is a bourbon that likely has one superb feature and above average remainders, or it is a bourbon that is more than above average across the board. This is a mark that a limited edition release must hit to avoid underperformance.7.0-8.0 bourbon is a bourbon that is probably above average across the board. There may be one close to average aspect about it. This is the worst bourbon that I want to pour each night when I am rich.6.0-7.0 bourbon is a bourbon with nearly every facet near average, but not yet average. Expect slightly less reviews to fall here.5.0-6.0 bourbon is average bourbon. Expect most reviews to fall here.4.0-5.0 bourbon is a bourbon with nearly every facet near average, but on the wrong side of average. Expect most reviews to fall here.3.0-4.0 bourbon is a bourbon with probably one average or near average aspect, with the others being below average. Expect slightly less reviews to fall here.2.0-3.0 bourbon is solidly below average bourbon. I suspect I could be reviewing a few of these bourbons.1.0-2.0 bourbon is bad. I hope I do not have to review many bourbons in this category.0.0-1.0 bourbon should be avoided at all costs. I highly doubt I ever review a bourbon in this category.
SF Crusader: Loch & K(e)y Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve 2015
Jim Beam puts out a lot of whiskey. In addition to their signature brand, the Clermont distillery is responsible for a set of bourbons they call their Small Batch Bourbons - these are Knob Creek, Basil Hayden's, Booker's and Baker's. It also produces Old Grand-Dad but this post is going to focus on the Knob Creek brand.Within this brand there are a few expressions. The standard 100-proof small batch, a rye (also 100 proof), a flavored "Smoked Maple" and last but not least a single barrel 120-proofer.On a recent trip to Kentucky I had the pleasure of spending a delightful day visiting the Jim Beam facility and participating in a barrel pick (as detailed in this excellent writeup by bourbonooga). The usual single barrel disclaimers apply here: different barrels of bourbon can exhibit wildly different tastes even if everything else (distillation batch, barrel date, age, etc.) remain the same.We picked from three barrels and this was the obvious favorite. I remember distinctly thinking "this is it" when I first tried it, and though I also tried to keep an open mind and sample each a few times, my first impression was right.
On the nose I get a pretty hot blast of alcohol, which makes sense as this is fairly overproof, but also some darker cherry notes and a smell that I'm going to describe as a little glue-y but in a good way (make what you will of that). After a few minutes the initial cherry has deepened slightly into a cherry-caramel smell that I can almost chew on.On the tongue there is a blast of cherry cola along with no small amount of oak barrel - the high proof along with the oak really help elevate this bourbon, as although it isn't the most complex whiskey I've ever tasted, it is definitely better than other Knob Creek bottles I've tried.On the finish cherry remains predominant, gaining a slightly medicinal and syrupy quality (think: the best cherry cough syrup you have ever tasted).Upon adding water, I'm amazed at how the nose opens, with that strong cherry now taking a backseat to lighter caramel-vanilla-toffee along with a slight tanginess reminiscent of dried apricot (though with no other qualities of that fruit). The nose smells really, really good. Maybe even a minor walnut note? I'm getting some pepper spice on the palate now, in addition to a hint of smokiness which also complements the flavors immensely. Definitely some leather in there as well.A pleasant sensation of crushed black pepper dances across the tongue during the finish,In sharp contrast to the Booker's 25th Anniversary (also produced by Jim Beam), water improves this Knob Creek Single Barrel considerably. After adding a couple drops of water this is a pretty delicious and well-balanced drink, although certainly on the toothier, heftier side.Rating: 3.5 / 5
SF Crusader: Booker's 25th
Booker's 25th Anniversary is a huge bourbon. Clocking in at 130.8°, it's shockingly drinkable neat. The packaging is beautiful too, with a gorgeous gold and dark wood combination.
NoseI've always thought that Booker's has a distinct peanut, or maybe peanut-butter note (both nose and palate)1, and this is no exception. Nosing neat I get caramel-coated peanuts, toffee, some lighter leather (as opposed to the dusty leather I've gotten off of some scotches) and of course some alcohol, though again not as much as I would have expected.PalateWithout water, immediately getting that strong, delicious roasted peanut. This bourbon is not a tannic oak bomb (though there is a great amount of barrel in there), and is in fact surprisingly sweet, maybe a maple-type sweetness, for being that such a high proof. I'm still shocked that I'm sipping it -- and enjoying it! -- at 65.4% ABV. Picking up some fresh-baked cinnamon bun (the heat from the alcohol is simulates a fresh-out-of-the-oven warmth to complement the flavors). I just got a blast of mint, which I definitely didn't notice previously. This bourbon is very complex - even though there's only 13% rye in the mashbill I think I'm starting to notice it here and there.FinishPretty good finish. No bitterness at all, this finish isn't the longest I've ever tasted, and while I'm not picking up any new flavors on the finish I'm still getting a lot of the nose and tongue. Actually I take that back, I'm getting a little chocolate which was hidden before behind that nutty nougat flavor. The heat is gone now, and a delicate sweetness remains. After about 20 seconds, it's time to reach for the glass again.I almost don't want to add water to this but I'll take one for the team and add a few drops for this review2.After adding water the nose is much sweeter, almost a Cinnamon Toast Crunch sort of quality combined with those maple notes from before. The peanut thing I was picking up on has disappeared. The palate is sweeter as well, though certainly not overly so. I can still taste the nutty flavors I mentioned above, but they're much weaker. The finish is shorter as well.This particular bottle has been open for upwards of a year, so it's definitely had time to open up. I would continue drinking this without water in the future. Pretty wonderful stuff.1 - This has historically lended itself to an outstanding Old Fashioned variant I call the Peanut Butter Cup, with a few drops of water, a little simple syrup and some Xocolatl Mole bitters2 - David Perkins of High West has talked about "bottle shock" with respect to blending whiskies, where he'll put a blend together that tastes great and then a week or a month later it will taste completely different. I've heard Drew Kulsveen of Willett say similar things about Noah's Mill, I think, that in an ideal world they'd sit on the bottles for a few months more so that things get a chance to settle. I think the same is true with adding water - at the very least, when you first add it you can immediately see the viscosity difference with an oily-looking shimmer that disappears when you swirl it enough, but I do generally find that after adding water it's best to let it sit for a few more minutes. Nothing wrong with that, this is definitely a bourbon to be savored.Rating: 4 / 5