I’ve received all kinds of whiskey data for you this week, and regardless of the tribulations that the business writ massive is presently experiencing, the information is all good right this moment.
First, earlier this yr after I reintroduced you all to Andy and Charlie Nelson’s relaunch of Belle Meade Bourbon, they shared that they’d plans to collaborate with greater than 25 eating places and bars to share a portion of the proceeds from a specialty cocktail made utilizing BMB to assist finance a scholarship to the Belle Meade Spirits Fermentation Science Scholarship at Center Tennessee State College, supporting the following era of native distilling expertise. Throughout February, native bars and Belle Meade Bourbon managed to boost $3,500 to help a fortunate scholar within the upcoming semester. Cheers to all concerned!
Secondly, when I shared the information earlier this week that Jack Daniel’s had launched the newest editions of their Aged Collection, I promised I’d share my impressions after I had cracked my pattern bottles. That is some treasured stuff, with the 10-year retailing for $89.99, the 12-year for $99.99 and the Jack 14 for $149.99, so I handled my small pattern bottles like liquid gold. Luckily, these extra-aged Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskeys exhibit a lot character that it was straightforward to guage them from only a tiny snifter.
I went by means of them so as of age, beginning with the 10-year. That is the fifth version of the last decade collection, and I’ve been fortunate sufficient to strive all of them. Contemplating that each single bottle of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey has the very same mash invoice recipe of 80 % corn, 12 % malted barley and eight % rye, it’s astonishing how totally different they will style primarily based on how wooden, warmth and time have an effect on the liquid contained in the barrel.
Bottled at 97-proof, this explicit whiskey does come throughout as just a little extra aggressive than conventional Previous No. 7, however not in a nasty means. Ten years in barrel amplifies the widespread baked, banana, crème brûlée, molasses and baking spice notes that you just’d count on from Jack, however the additional time in oak is revealed in an extended, complicated end of woody vanilla that units this above Previous No. 7. Please don’t combine this with Coke at a tailgater!
The primary yr that Jack Daniel’s launched a 12-year-old Tennessee Whiskey was 2022, and I bear in mind remarking again then that it was wonderful how that additional two years of repose revealed a lot extra of the confectionery notes that have been hidden contained in the mash invoice, far more than in No. 7 and much more than 10 years found. This yr’s version is marvelous! On the primary style, I received cocoa, maple, cinnamon and caramel. Then it popped in my head that this was like consuming a chocolate chip pancake, one thing that I’d by no means complain about. They need to hand these items out to folks ready in line at Pancake Pantry to make the queue a deal with!
After the preliminary pleasure, issues grew to become just a little extra severe because the prolonged end jogged my memory that this whiskey had spent greater than a decade in barrels. The dry oak end began to lean just a little tannic, however not unpleasantly so. For under $10 greater than the 10-year-old, I’d select this 107-proof whiskey each time.
That is solely the second launch of a 14-year-old whiskey from Jack Daniel’s, simply the second time a whiskey that outdated has been bought since Mr. Jack himself walked the flooring of the distillery in his tiny little measurement 4 boots. These bottles are launched at 117.6 proof, and that additional oak could be very noticeable on the nostril. Aromas of wooden and pipe tobacco dominated the primary sniff, however after it opened up just a little bit, I received much more vanilla. It jogged my memory of a Biscoff cookie, and they’re the principle motive I fly Delta.
On the palate, extra cinnamon spice confirmed up, and it was surprisingly not as tannic as its youthful brother. The magic of the place the distillery shops these barrels could make an enormous distinction in how they find yourself, and my guess is these didn’t come from the best flooring of the rickhouse. It completed with a pleasant component of leather-based and tobacco, like sitting in an English library. I fairly appreciated it, however the 12-year remains to be my private favourite. Your mileage might range. Should you’re desirous about scoring a bottle, don’t neglect to enter the sweepstakes for the prospect to go to the distillery to choose one up!
Whereas I used to be tasting by means of extraordinary whiskey samples, I figured it will be a very good time to crack the newest bourbon I had obtained from Louisville-based grasp blenders Barrell Craft Spirits. (No, that additional L just isn’t a typo. Once you’re pretty much as good at sourcing and mixing whiskey as these guys are, idiosyncrasies are tolerated.)
“Cigar blends” are particularly designed to enhance the flavors of a high quality stogie, and so they’ve been round for the reason that Nineteen Eighties in Scotland, and for greater than a decade right here within the States. Barrell Craft Spirits would appear to be an excellent candidate for creating their very own model of a cigar mix as a result of they’ve a lot expertise mixing barrels from totally different distilleries and ending them in various kinds of casks so as to add desired nuances and flavors to the top product.
I can solely start to think about how they chose and examined these barrels to create Barrell Cigar Mix Bourbon, as a result of the variety of variables they selected to incorporate within the course of is overwhelming. This whiskey was made utilizing totally different straight bourbon whiskeys that have been created in separate distilleries in Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee. The whiskeys ranged in age from 7-and-a-half to 18 years, after which they have been completed in a mixture of Madeira, Armagnac, rum and Hungarian oak casks.
The tip product was blended, and the ultimate product got here out at a proof stage of 111.2. Barrell has launched it at that cask energy with a regular retail value of $84.99. So how did it prove?
In a phrase, stupendous! It’s laborious to talk to the consequences of the totally different distillates, as a result of we don’t know precisely what they have been and what every contributed to the top product. This juice is all concerning the end, and it’s a whirlwind of a experience. Critical fruit comes throughout on the nostril, nearly definitely from the Armagnac and the rum casks. On the tongue, this was an Eternal Gobstopper, providing an preliminary rush of jammy, plummy darkish fruits earlier than revealing just a little little bit of citrusy sweetness. Then the Madeira and the Hungarian oak took cost for the end with a salty, briny savoriness in contrast to something I’ve ever skilled.
I’m unsure everybody would love this bourbon, and I not often smoke cigars. However I’m going to make it some extent to attain a number of good sticks now that the climate is sweet sufficient to smoke outdoors with a snifter of whiskey. And the Barrell Cigar Mix Bourbon is unquestionably what might be in my glass!
