Archives for June 2023

A whiskey with a Prohibition-era past, Jacob’s Pardon recently launched a new expression, its Small Batch Recipe #3 that’s aged 18 years.

A statement from the brand noted it initially launched in October of 2020, with Marc D. Taub and his son Jake at the helm. They tapped F. Paul Pacult to serve as master blender, and the team has released Jacob’s Pardon Small Batch Recipe #3 nationwide with a suggested price of $195 for a 750ml bottle.

Pacult and the Taubs said they looked to create a whiskey that was completely unique within the market. That’s when the makers at Jacob’s Pardon looked toward their 18-year-old American light whiskey.

The liquid itself is produced by MGP, and Batch #3 features a mash bill of 99% corn and 1% malted barley. It was barreled at proof, 71.25% ABV, then bottled from 211 uncharred new barrels. In all, it aged 18 years.

The blender’s notes show that the wood rounded off the edges, allowing the corn in the mash bill to shine through. The resulting flavor profile consists of caramel corn, black cherry, prune Danish, baking spices such as nutmeg, clove, cinnamon and vanilla bean, as well as pipe tobacco fragrance.

Pacult, who’s served as master blender since 2019, said he was intrigued by the opportunity to work on a whiskey that is as rich in flavor as it is in history.

“We took our time with Jacob’s Pardon Small Batch #3. While it is a light American whiskey, the tasting experience is anything but light,” he said. “We chose to bottle at cask strength, allowing for less human interference and a more authentic product to be best enjoyed as is.”

Representing the third and fourth generations, respectively, of their family-owned enterprise, Marc and Jake created Jacob’s Pardon as a nod to Marc’s great uncles’ tradition of whiskey production.

They explained that the family history dates back nearly a century with Jacob and Abner Taub during Prohibition. Eventually, their operation was raided, and the brothers were charged with violation of Section 99, Title 18 U.S. Codes.

Six years later, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued presidential pardons to the Taub brothers, allowing them to return to their family business along with their brother Martin (Marc D. Taub’s grandfather). This set into motion the Taub family tradition that would span generations.

Today, the family continues the legacy with Jacob’s Pardon Whiskey, part of the Palm Bay International portfolio.

For more information on the new whiskey or the operations, check out www.palmbay.com/producers/jacob-s-pardon.

Something big has grown from the tiny town of Blanco: a distillery known as Milam & Greene Whiskey.

The company, located just an hour from Austin, was the 10th fastest-growing distillery in the U.S. last year. Now, they’re releasing Very Small Batch Bourbon, Milam & Greene’s first new core portfolio product since 2019.

Very Small Batch Bourbon is available across Texas, Canada and 16 other states in stores such as Specs, Total Wine & More and Twin Liquor. It’s also available in independent Austin retailers including The Austin Shaker, Oak Liquor Cabinet and Austin Wine Merchant.

Though the bourbon is a core portfolio product, meaning the company will sell it indefinitely, batches will only be released twice a year in the spring and fall, CEO Heather Greene said.

“People can look forward to this every year, different batches but every year, so then hopefully people will collect and kind of get to know the differences between batches.”

The product also recently won a gold medal in the 2023 San Fransisco World Spirits Competition.

Greene said the upcoming batch of bourbon entered barrels for aging in 2018 and serves as the first distillate to come from their Kentucky distillery. She also said most successful bourbons come from Kentucky as well as Tennessee, so Milam & Greene’s growth is significant not just for the company itself “but for the state of Texas and the bourbon industry.”

“We’re a very small team. There’s literally just like 10 of us, and we work around the clock,” Greene said. “Building a small business is really tough. It’s tough fighting against the big guys, your scalability, labor market, and for me, it feels like a great little success story.”

For more information please visit https://milamandgreenewhiskey.com/

The German distillery St. Kilian, located in Rüdenau, Lower Frankonia, recently debuted a whisky rarity … a single malt fully matured in a single virgin Mizunara oak cask.

A statement from the German whisky maker noted that Mizunara oak is common in several regions of Japan, and is among the rarest and most expensive wood used to mature whisky.

For this particular whisky expression, the Japanese oak for this 225-liter, medium toasted, single cask is about 250 years old. It was harvested in the forests of the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.

The statement went on to explain that the long-time coopers of Ariake Sangyo set up the casks, and tackled the often difficult task of wrangling the Mizunara oak staves, binding them together. Even the barrel heads were made of Mizunara oak.

In all, St Kilian Distillers imported four medium toasted virgin casks directly by plane from Japan in August of 2019.

Master Blender Mario Rudolf explained further that Mizunara oak is known for its unique aromas of sandalwood, oriental spices and exotic fruits, which give the whisky distinctive characterful aromas.

“This masterpiece of whisky craftsmanship reflects the synergy of Japanese finesse with German distilling art in Scottish pot stills,” he said. “The exceptional single malt promises an incomparable taste as well as an exquisite enjoyment experience for discerning connoisseurs.”

Managing Director Philipp Trützler said that according to their research, this is the first non-Japanese single malt whisky to be matured in a single, fresh, unoccupied Mizunara oak cask.

The result of the maturation, he said, provides a taste of ripe fruit and exotic melon paired with warming oak notes, oriental spices and fragrant sandalwood aromas.

Further details on Cask No. 3886 show that the angels’ share was 4.7% of the initial content, much higher than the normal 2-3%. The age of the single malt was three years prior to the few months of finishing.

“The cask filling strength was lower than regular, at 55.2 % ABV, as we intended to generate more sweetness in the whisky,” Rudolf said. In all, 300 bottles of St Kilian’s Exceptional Mizunara were produced.

This is the first of a new St Kilian range, which will see future casks and thematic, exclusive single malts that have matured in one of the 371 different cask types in the nearby St Kilian Bunker City.

There are a few Exceptional Mizunara St Kilian bottles left at the distillery for direct sale, and they carry a price tag of €249.

To find out more or to find a bottle, check out www.stkiliandistillers.com.

Denver’s Laws Whiskey House recently announced the 2023 release of its annual Bottled in Bond Centennial Straight Wheat Whiskey.

A statement from the whiskey maker noted that this seven-year-old limited release will be available for tasting and for purchase in the Laws Whiskey House tasting room in Denver on June 8th, then available for purchase online and in key markets in late June. It’ll have a suggested price of $79.99.

What’s special about this wheat, the distiller noted, is that it’s also the same soft white Centennial wheat that Laws uses for its flagship Four Grain Bourbon.

This particular heirloom varietal is grown for Laws Whiskey House by the Cody Family Farm in Alamosa, Colorado.

As this whiskey qualifies as a Bottled in Bond whiskey, the spirit is made by one distillery in a single season, bottled at 100 proof (50% ABV), and aged at least four years in a federally bonded warehouse.

The distiller’s notes show that this year’s expression is the oldest wheat whiskey that Laws has released to date. They filled nine barrels in July and August of 2015, and they were emptied in April of 2023. This whiskey has an average age of seven years and nine months.

In all, only 2,100 bottles of Batch 5 were made.

Last year’s release had an average age of five years and five months. The distiller noted that Batch 5’s additional two years of maturation gave a pronounced oak profile layered with the spicy, sweet bread, and citrus notes of the Centennial Wheat. The whiskey also has tastes and aromas of strawberries, orange marmalade, jasmine tea, and pink peppercorn.

“We celebrate the grain and the role our farmers play in our whiskey more than most distilleries,” said Al Laws, founder. “This is a whiskey that showcases a unique wheat grain that is grown in a unique place, the San Luis Valley of Colorado.”

He said the Cody Family grows this soft spring wheat for the whiskey brand, for the balance it offers between flavor and sweetness.

“Soft spring wheat has more starch than hard winter wheat, adding sweetness and aiding with fermentation. Like our San Luis Valley Straight Rye Whiskey in particular, you can taste the influence of the land in this whiskey,” Laws added. “It has a minerality that comes from the soil that, combined with the whiskey’s sweet, fruity profile, makes this whiskey the perfect summer sipper.”

For more information on the Bonded Centennial Straight Wheat Whiskey or to find out where to get a bottle in late June, check out www.lawswhiskeyhouse.com.

VERSAILLES, Ky. — Today, Woodford Reserve releases a new limited-edition bottle as part of its annual Distillery Series – Wheat Whiskey Bottled in Bond.

For a whiskey to be Bottled In Bond, it must meet a strict set of rules that have been in place since the late 1800’s, including that the whiskey must be produced by a single distillery in one distillation session, stored in a bonded warehouse for a minimum of four years, and bottled at 50% ABV. This new product is Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Wheat Whiskey selected from one distilling season and then aged in a bonded warehouse and bottled at 100 proof.

“One of the best parts of my job is being able to work with Chris Morris to experiment with new ways of making Woodford Reserve,” said Master Distiller Elizabeth McCall. “Bottled in Bond whiskey has a long history in Kentucky and it has been exciting for Woodford Reserve to create this wheat whiskey within the Bottled in Bond requirements.”

An eclectic line of one-of-a-kind expressions, Woodford Reserve’s Distillery Series pushes the creative boundaries of whiskeys to the extreme. Each selection is masterminded by McCall and Master Distiller Emeritus Chris Morris, and is available in limited quantities with a purchase limit of two bottles per person at the Woodford Reserve Distillery and limited Kentucky retailers. There are three annual releases of the Distillery Series.

This limited-edition collection has an SRP of $59.99 for a 375ml bottle and is available in limited quantities at select Kentucky retailers and at Woodford Reserve Distillery starting on June 13 at 9 a.m.

Tasting Notes

Color: Whole wheat toast

Aroma: Toasted whole wheat bread smothered in apple butter

Flavor: Delicate apple butter and dried berry compote fruitiness atop a wheat cracker

Finish: Long with dried berry fruit

For More Information:
https://www.woodfordreserve.com/