Wild Scotsman Whisky

We had a great night reviewing bourbon last night at Nicholsons. Our main speaker Julian Van Winkle had a last minute urgent obligation to take care of ,however, I led the group in an interesting trek. We will see Julian and his bourbons this fall at an upcomming meeting.
In light of the speaker change I went out and gathered a few bourbons and American Whiskey's of my own choosing:
1) Johnny Drum Kentucky Straight Bourbon at 50.5% alc/vol. This bourbon hails from Bardstown, KY. Believe it or not this bourbon was bought by Even Kulsveen from Hamar, Norway!
I found this bourbon to be the un-bourbon..bourbon. The mashbill contains about 35% rye which is huge by bourbon standards. This high level of rye does not give this bourbon the typical earthy notes. In fact some believed there was a bit of "clove" in the taste.

2) Four Roses Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon, 50% alc/vol (8yrs). Warehouse: ME and Barrel Number: 55-6F. This was an exclusive Single Barrel bottling from The Party Source.
This distillery is currently owned by Kirin Beer of Japan. An odd fact about this brand is that they use several different yeast strains when fermenting the wash. Basically they are creating slight variations in each batch of production by using a seperate yeast each time. Bloody Brilliant!

3) Old Weller Antique The Origianal 107 BrandKentucky Straight Bourbon, 53.5% alc/vol aged 7 yrs. The was an exclusive bottling by Cork-N-bottle

This brand was created by Pappy Van Winkle ages ago and is now owned by Buffalo Trace Distillery.
Nose: A big Warm pot of brown sugar, burnt caramel, and butter rum lifesavers all mixed together on a cold winter's night.

Taste: Spicy, hot, slightly earthy with a less pronounced sweetness as compared to the nose

Finish: A quick burst of heat followed by a pleasant warm vanilla aftertaste.

4)Van Winkle Family Reserve Ryeaged 13yrs, 47.8% number: 4271

This wonderful botting is not bourbon but rather Rye Whiskey, which according by law must contain at least 51% Rye in the mashbill. Most rye whiskey is bottled at less than 5years which makes having one at 13years a one off experience.

Nose: Carrot Cake, orange zest and vanilla
Taste: Vanilla, toffee and a hint of cocoa
Finish: Smooth, sweet and just basically easy drinking!

Hope you all will make it back in the fall to meet Julian and get a real run through of their brands.

Slainte,

The Wild Scotsman

Sounds like you had a great evening! Wish I could have been with you but you're a long way from Shropshire!

Your autumn meet should really be something to look forward to. To drink whisk(e)y with the person who made it always adds a certain something to the experience and you can learn a lot, too. It really can add to your enjoyment of the whisk(e)y - and it's not often you get to say 'thank you' to the people who make life a little more worth living!

To anyone reading this - sign-up for the next tastings, I'm sure you won't regret it! If I wasn't 3,000 miles away I'd be booking my place now!

Yes, George Grant will have a great time at Nicholson's here in Cincinnati. I never miss an opportunity to attend or promote a tasting for people who actually work in the industry. In my opinion there is so much to learn about Scotch and Scotch Whisky production that one cannot dismiss or avoid listening to eveyone who works in the trade. As much as these distilleries are different they are very much the same.

Cheers,

Jeff

Wow, that's weird. I was actually thinking of George Grant (of Glenfarclas) when I wrote that post - he hosted a tour of the distillery during the recent 'Spirit of Speyside' festival.

The tour was followed by a tasting of the new Glenfarclas 'Family Casks' range of malt whiskies, each whisky in the range being from a particular year. It's often said that whisky tastes best when drunk were it was made, but hearing the story behind it from someone so intimately connected with the distillery makes the experience truly memorable.

Will George be at the next event at Nicholson's?

Yes, young George Grant from the Glenfarclas Distillery will be here in Cincinnati, OHIO presenting their brands at our next Wild Scotchmen Whisky Society meeting at Nicholson's on July 27th.

This is very exciting as the average person here in America does not get to experience meeting the real people behind the brands as I do when traveling.

Cheers,

Jeff