Archives for August 2023

The Jim Beam Small Batch Bourbon Collection is best known for three expressions in particular: Knob Creek, Booker’s, and Basil Hayden. But there’s a lesser known fourth member, Baker’s, that has been getting some renewed attention over the past few years. And now the older, single-barrel version of that whiskey has returned for the first time since 2019.

Baker’s Bourbon is produced at the James B. Beam Distilling Co., the home of the world-famous and best-selling Jim Beam Bourbon. The whiskey is named after Baker Beam, the grandnephew of Jim Beam himself and a distiller who worked at the distillery for nearly four decades. Baker’s relaunched in 2019 as a 107-proof, single-barrel bourbon aged for at least seven years, an impressive refresh of this whiskey. Despite all that, Baker’s just isn’t as well recognized as the other whiskeys in the Small Batch Collection, perhaps due to the more intense marketing push they tend to get.

In 2019, Beam Suntory (the parent company of Jim Beam) also released Baker’s as a limited-edition 13-year-old expression, and the reviews were favorable. The very nature of a single barrel whiskey means that each bottle will vary in flavor depending on which cask it came from, but overall you can expect notes of oak, vanilla, caramel, and brown sugar on the palate. “Baker’s Bourbon celebrates the individual characteristics in each and every barrel, and this 13 Year Old expression takes that experience even further as the distinct flavors from the barrel develop over time,” said Fred Noe, seventh generation master distiller, in a press release. “We received an overwhelming amount of positive feedback the first time we released this 13-year-old edition, and I’m proud to bring it back for whiskey fans who appreciate something special from Baker’s as a true gem within our Small Batch portfolio.”

Recognizing how eager whiskey fans are for transparency and obtaining as much information about a bottle as they possibly can, Beam set up a “single barrel journey” website for Baker’s. Here, you can enter the serial number from the bottle and find out information on exact age, warehouse location, and even how the weather affected the flavor of the bourbon. Baker’s 13 Year Old is available now (SRP $130) —but this limited release is only available in select states. You can also find the regular seven-year-old version of Baker’s available from ReserveBar, and that’s a pretty good bourbon to drink too.

For more information please visit https://www.jimbeam.com/en

Green River Distilling Co. recently launched the Green River Full Proof Single Barrel Bourbon. This is the first of a very promising line of single barrel bottlings set to be released exclusively at the distillery’s gift shop. This revitalized distillery changed ownership and head distiller not long after their first release hit the shelves last year. Given the quality of this sample, the new crew is continuing towards a very bright future.

Change is an old concept at Green River Distilling Co. Originally established in 1885 by John W. McCulloch in Owensboro, KY, Green River was granted the DSP-KY-10 (DSP stands for Distilled Spirits Producer). After a fire in 1914 wiped out the production area shortly before Prohibition, the distillery closed.

The property was rebuilt and passed through a series of investors over the years with limited success before being acquired by the Terressentia Corporation in 2014. Ron Call, a long-time distiller who worked for Jim Beam and the Florida Caribbean Distillers, oversaw the renovations of the property to restore it more closely to its original design.

In 2016, whiskey aging began under the O. Z. Taylor name. The same year, Ron’s son, Jacob Call, a well-respected distiller in his own right, took over as head distiller for the company.

In 2020, the company purchased the rights to Green River Distilling Co. name with the blessing of McCulloch’s great grandson, Rob McCulloch. In homage to the original company’s designs, the bottle heavily features a horseshoe motif and the dark green color of the original labels.

In the summer of 2022, only a few months after their first release launched, Bardstown Bourbon Company purchased Green River. Bardstown is a regarded contract distillery receiving wide praise for their collaborations and house releases. Owned by Pritzker Private Capital, Bardstown has collaborated with several big names in the alcohol industry, including Coors and Kentucky Owl.

Call stepped down as head distiller as part of the sale, and Aaron Harris took over as Master Distiller in the fall of 2022. Harris selected the barrel for this bourbon from Warehouse B, which he says is “loaded with honey barrels,” so expect more to come. It was bottled at barrel proof.

Like their Kentucky Bourbon and Wheated Bourbon, the corn for the mash is all Kentucky-grown and is purchased from local farmers. Harris describes the first release as “a rousing blend of spirituous vanilla and baking spices, coating the palate with creamy honey.”

Tasting Notes: Green River Full Proof Single Barrel Bourbon

Vital Stats: Aged for at least five years in new American oak, 59.5% ABV, mash bill: 70% Kentucky corn, 21% rye, 9% malted barley, SRP $59.99/ 750ml bottle.

For more information please visit https://www.greenriverwhiskey.com/

Lawrenceburg, Ind. — Ross & Squibb Distillery announced the newest member of the Rossville Union Straight Rye Whiskey brand family: Rossville Union Bottled in Bond Straight Rye Whiskey. Hand-selected by Ross & Squibb Distillery Master Distiller Ian Stirsman, Rossville Union Bottled in Bond Straight Rye Whiskey is set for limited release of 3,000, 6-in cases in time for National Rye Month this month and will be available at select retailers at a suggested price of $49.99 per 700 ml bottle.

Aged six years and offered at 100 proof, Rossville Union Bottled in Bond Straight Rye Whiskey features a mash bill consisting of 51% rye and 49% barley malt. This release was distilled in March of 2017.

“I’m proud to continue Ross & Squibb’s tradition of creating high-quality rye whiskey that dates back to 1847. Since that time, we have worked to perfect our craft, giving our rye whiskeys unmatched character,” said Stirsman. “For our Rossville Union Bottled in Bond Straight Rye Whiskey we combined our industry leading rye expertise with a new high malt mashbill to create something truly special.  We then let the barrels mature for a minimum of 6 years, resulting in aromas of sweet malt, dark chocolate, raisin and saddle leather with tasting notes highlighted by caramel and mocha with a rich, candied-fruit body, followed by a slight green-apple, malted-chocolate and cinnamon finish.”

“With the growing American whiskey market, compounded by the craft-cocktail revival across America, we are seeing a growing interest and demand for dark, more-complex spirits,” said Shanae Randolph, Marketing Director-Brands for MGP’s Luxco Branded Spirits. “Rossville Union Bottled in Bond Straight Rye Whiskey arrives at just the right time, as it is made the way rye whiskeys are supposed to be and is perfect in cocktails made the way they used to be.”

About Luxco

Founded in St. Louis in 1958 by the Lux Family, Luxco is a leading producer, supplier, importer and bottler of beverage alcohol products. Our mission is to meet the needs and exceed the expectations of consumers, associates and business partners. Merged with MGP Ingredients, Inc. in 2021 (Nasdaq: MGPI), Luxco operates as MGP’s Brands Division and manages all MGP/Luxco brands. This extensive and award-winning spirits portfolio includes well-known brands from four distilleries: Bardstown, Kentucky-based Lux Row Distillers, home of Ezra Brooks, Rebel, Blood Oath, David Nicholson and Daviess County; Lebanon, Kentucky-based Limestone Branch Distillery, maker of Yellowstone Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Minor Case Straight Rye Whiskey and Bowling & Burch Gin; Jalisco, Mexico-based Destiladora González Lux, producer of 100% agave tequilas, El Mayor, Exotico and Dos Primos; and Ross & Squibb Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, where Remus Straight Bourbon Whiskey and Rossville Union Straight Rye Whiskey are produced. The innovative and high-quality brand portfolio also includes Penelope Bourbon, Everclear Grain Alcohol, Pearl Vodka, Saint Brendan’s Irish Cream, The Quiet Man Irish Whiskey, Green Hat Gin and other well-recognized brands.

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

Maker’s Mark is one of those quietly appreciated bourbon brands, churning out reliable, high-quality whiskey minus the fanfare that other distilleries sometimes operate under. One thing that has been on many whiskey fans’ wishlists, however, is an older, age-stated expression from Maker’s. At long last, that has arrived in the form of Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged, and we got an early preview of the liquid.

I visited the distillery earlier this month to taste the new bourbon and talk to the team about how it came to be. Regular Maker’s is aged for an average of six to seven years, and according to a rep for the brand every single barrel is rotated by hand and moved from the upper levels of the rickhouses down to the lower levels to ensure flavor consistency. Innovation manager Beth Buckner said that even with that barrel rotation, Maker’s aged for much longer doesn’t quite fit the brand’s “taste vision.” “The number one objective for our taste vision is ‘yummy,’ which for us means bitter free,” she said. “For years, people asked if we could go older. . .We listen to what consumers want, but we’re never gonna innovate solely on that. If we did, we’d have RTDs and all of these trends that last three years and then [disappear].”

That all changed when the distillery opened its proprietary limestone maturation cellar in 2016. The temperature here is always 50 degrees or colder, making this an environment more akin to Scotland than Kentucky. “What if you could take fully mature Maker’s Mark and move it out of the warehouse and into the cellar?” said Buckner. “You change the aging environment where you stop or slow the tannic extraction from the barrel, but allow the whiskey to continue to oxidize and age and create more complex flavor notes.”
That’s exactly what they did, moving six-year-old bourbon from the rickhouses into the cellar to mature for another five to six years. The final blend of Cellar Aged is 13 percent 11-year-old bourbon and 87 percent 12-year-old bourbon bottled at cask strength of 115.7 proof (the TTB label some people saw online erroneously had the proof at 90). According to senior director and head of innovation, Blake Layfield, they sampled about 100 different blends before deciding on the final one.

Cellar Aged is a delicious bourbon, starting off with a strong whiff of honey on the nose. It’s still recognizably Maker’s Mark on the palate, but with deeper, more tannic notes and a huge amount of fruit. There is dried fruit and fresh dark berries, along with caramel, citrus, cinnamon, and other baking spices, and just a hint of menthol on the finish. I was able to sample a 12-year-old Maker’s bourbon aged entirely in the rickhouses to compare, and while that was also pretty good the palate was entirely different with much drier oaky notes.

Buckner said there are more barrels aging in the cellar, and that Cellar Aged will be an annual release going forward with the ages and percentages of the whiskey in the blend changing each year. 30,000 bottles are being released globally, and the whiskey will be available here in the U.S. in September. The price tag is $150, but who knows if this whiskey will go the way of Russell’s Reserve 13 Year Old and sell for triple that on the secondary market. In the meantime, you can find the entire Maker’s Mark lineup, including some of the recent Wood Finishing Series releases, available for purchase from ReserveBar.

For more information please visit https://www.makersmark.com/distillery