Bradshaw Kentucky Straight Bourbon sitting on our shelf on the bar since the Super Bowl when we purchased it for the game. What better than a bourbon from 4x Super Bowl winner Terry Bradshaw. Not a knock on my childhood hero by any means, but this is what we were stuck with on the shelf here in New Hampshire the week of the Super Bowl. The biggest enemy of this website is the New Hampshire […]
Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond is one of those bourbons you never see on the shelf at MSRP. The secondary market takes the bottle that should retail for $109.99 to northward of $500. For this I blame the liquor industry who allows price gouging. Distilleries ship their product to wholesalers, who then in turn sell them to stores. It is at the store level the price goes unchecked. The loser in this proposition is the […]
According to the website, “Barrell Craft Spirits Gold Label Bourbon is a blend of straight bourbons aged up to 18 years. Barrels for this release were selected from four different collections: barrels with rich cherry and nutty notes, spicy tropical fruit-forward barrels, barrels with pronounced herbal and dark chocolate notes, and barrels with oak-forward coconut notes. The last group underwent a secondary maturation in toasted virgin American oak casks before being added to this intricate […]
The information about Wild Turkey Rare Breed Barrel proof on the company website is an example of poor marketing as there is a very little information available. What is stated is, “Wild Turkey Rare Breed is a “barrel proof bourbon”, meaning it has no added water to lower the proof or dilute the flavor after it’s been distilled. It’s a unique marriage of Wild Turkey 6, 8, and 12-year-old stocks, giving it a remarkably smooth […]
The history of the Jim Beam family begins in 1740 when the Boehm family came to the 13 colonies, determined to live the colonial dream. 48 years later, they moved where Kentucky is now and changed their name to Beam. By the late 1700s, German, Scottish and Irish settlers were making rye whiskey in Western Pennsylvania. With government incentives to move west and grow corn, many moved to the Kentucky region. Among them was Jacob […]
Penelope Barrel Strength comes from Penelope Bourbon which was crafted and created to celebrate the impending birth of a cigar in 1998. To commemorate this occasion, the company quickly realized they wanted to create a spirit that embodied the daily joy of celebrating life’s pleasures – big and small. Mike Paladini teamed up with his close childhood friend and neighbor, Danny Polise\to discover and produce a Straight Bourbon Whiskey everyone could appreciate and enjoy. A […]
Blanton’s is known for three offerings all of which are increasingly difficult to find as the bourbon market grows. The basic entry is the Blanton’s Original which is followed by Blanton’s Gold and lastly today’s review Blanton’s Straight From The Barrel. There is a fourth offering only available in the international markets called, Blanton’s Reserve which comes in at 80 proof. According to the Buffalo Trace website, “Named after former distillery president Colonel Albert B. […]
Over the course of the year I had a fun time tasting the alcohol that would become the Top 5 Liquors of 2023. Perhaps on certain days, a little too much fun. The requirements to be named liquor of the year were simple. I had to review them in the course of the year from January 1st, 2023 until the publishing of this list. The score awarded to the bourbon wasn’t the only requirement in […]
A few weeks ago we ran a press release from Vermont’s Lost Lantern. We weren’t shy and asked for a sample of Brooklyn Bakery being it hails from a distillery in Kings County, aka Brooklyn. My hometown where I spent the first 40 years of my life. The press release stated, “Kings County Distillery, the oldest distillery in New York City, creates some of the country’s most acclaimed and sought-after whiskies using New York-grown grains. […]
With four releases in 2023, we take a look at Booker’s 2023-03 Rare Uncut & Unfiltered “Mighty Fine Batch.” It was a bourbon I picked up to share at Friendsgiving but I a Monday morning quarterback mentality I wish I kept it all for myself. From the website, “Booker’s® Bourbon is a rare barrel-strength bourbon, bottled uncut and unfiltered. But you obviously know a good bit about bourbon, because you don’t end up here by […]