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Craft beer went through (as did I) a keepsake / cellar phase but when you talk Bourbon the shit gets real weird and in Dusty Booze: In Search of Vintage Spirits by drinks writer Aaron Goldfarb you get story after story of the hunt for old bottles of you name it, whiskey, tequila, rum, and even chartreuse.
I heard Goldfarb talk about “dusties” on the Bourbon Pursuit podcast and the stories are wild so I am heading to my local library to order.
I needed to add a bourbon to the season and have headed for the popular Smoke Wagon and their special Christmas edition….
“Embrace the holiday spirit with the Smoke Wagon Bourbon Christmas Limited Edition 2023, a special release that captures the essence of the festive season. This limited edition from the renowned distillery is a holiday delight for bourbon enthusiasts, offering a unique blend of grains and botanicals that result in a smooth, full-bodied flavor profile.”
One of my favorite bourbon stops in Kentucky was Bardstown Bourbon and they have a very craft beer like Collaborative Series.
They have a bourbon aged in Foursquare rum barrels and now an upcycled bourbon….
“Made with our friends at Goose Island, the limited release features a blend of 6- and 7-year Kentucky bourbon aged an additional 12 months in stout soaked barrels that held the brewery’s beloved Bourbon County Brand Stout. The finished blend was then married with a beautiful 9-year Kentucky bourbon, creating an expression bursting with chocolate malt and dried cherry.”
Maybe my anti-Goose Island mood is waning since (more than likely) they will be sold off like all the other craft breweries Bud bought.
In my time blogging, I have seen a lot of beer flavored foods from potato chips to candy to jerky. But I have never seen the phrasing, alcohol steeped liked this…
I would be OK with the Irish Stout and bourbon but the head scratcher is Jamaican Lager. What will that add past the salt?
Some quick bourbon news: Four Roses has done a refresh of their brand imaging and along with that they are releasing a limited edition Ten Recipe Tasting Experience. The set “will feature each of the ten unique bourbon recipes that make up Four Roses’ bourbons. It’s these ten signature recipes that set the brand’s bourbons apart, and gives the liquid in each bottle its distinctive characteristic. The kit will include 50ml bottles of each recipe for bourbon enthusiasts to get a taste of where the brand’s offerings originate. A QR code on the box will lead to a guided tasting video with Master Distiller Brent Elliott for a more immersive experience.”
Sounds like deal for suggested retail price of about $130.00 and some should make their way to California too.
Thanks to my lovely spouse, I got a Blind Barrels tasting for my birthday.
Here are my thoughts on the spirits and how it worked…
First, the first reveal of the four varieties
A. Corsair Triple Smoke American Single Malt Whiskey
B. Broken Barrel Barrel Pick Rye Whiskey
C. RY3 Cask Strength Blended Rye finished in Toasted Barrels
D. Krobar Cask Strength Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Second, my ranking was D nudging slightly ahead of B and C who were tied with A being a very far distant fourth because I am not a fan of smoke in my whiskey. The Krobar had just enough vanilla to it that it balanced out the cask strength. A was only 80 proof while B through D were all between 106 to 120 proof.
And that was my only real issue with this specific box. A was such an outlier that it was either gonna win by a country mile or be dead last. I might have liked all cask strength but maybe have one be have a finish instead of two, one be rye instead of two and have the proof range be 100 to 120. Maybe that is because I prefer teasing out the subtle difference.
But this is a fun way to taste and the reveal is as easy to do with the QR Code. And I know now to look for Krobar spirits.
As I found out in my trip to Kentucky, there is a lot and by a lot, I mean a LOT of bourbon out there and finding a favorite is hard especially at some of the bottle price points.
Enter Blind Barrels.
You can get a quarterly subscription or annual. Annual has a price saving. You get four samples of unknown whiskey. You get tasting notes and a QR Code to show who made it as well as a link to buy it if it strikes your fancy.
Thinking about this for my birthday.
Our last stop is in the Capital of Bourbon, Bardstown, Kentucky and to a brewery that honors the Bard brothers, William aka Scout and David the Scholar.
Scout & Scholar is just off the main street in a very frontiersy building with a large outdoor seating area as well as indoor seating on two floors. The beer list is quite long. So long that they have multiple personalized flights to order, like the collaboration flight that I tried first.
Got You Fam – “This Beer Was Brewed In Collaboration With Marker 48 Brewing Out Of Weeki Wachee, Florida. This Beer Is Know As An ErntBier Or A Harvest Beer. The Grain Bill Consists Of Mostly Vienna Malt Providing A Nice Bready Malt Forward Backbone. Using A Kolsch Yeast Strain And Noble Hops Helps to Cut The Sweetness Of The Vienna Malt For A Dry And Crisp Finish. Never Had An ErntBier? We Got You Fam.”
Post-Boredom Kolsch – “A collaboration between Country Boy and Scout & Scholar, Post-Boredom is our take on a refreshing German-style Kolsch with a heavy-handed dry hop pushing notes of tangerine and strawberry. This is the official beer of putting the past in the rear view and moving on. Tasting Notes: Bread dough, light cereal, slight mineral, strawberry, honeydew, gooseberry, hint of passion fruit.”
Stick and Poke – “Rum Runner Inspired Kettle Sour. Conditioned On Pineapple, Blackberry, Banana, And Key Lime. Then Aged To Perfection In Rum Barrels. Collaboration With Our Friends At Atrium Brewing In Louisville.”
Sage, Scout and Spirit – “This KristallWeizen Was Brewed In Collaboration With Our Great Friends At Log Still Distillery And Against The Grain. Aged In A Monk Road Gin Barrel This Beer Has A Unique Botanical Vibe From Start To Finish.”
I also had their Treading Paper IPA and their Miranda Belgian Dark Strong. Of the six, the Stick and Poke was my winner followed by the Miranda.
Anytime you travel, you have more photos than you know what to do with. For me, that means posting them here, there and everywhere. Here are more photos from the Kentucky Bourbon Trail…
Tour time. Bourbon tours book in advance and many distilleries don’t really have walk-in policies. So before leaving, I plotted three tours that covered new, old and cocktails.
First was NuLu and Rabbit Hole…
…this is a really cool space with my favorite bourbons of the trip plus a barrel-aged gin that was great too. Our tour took us three levels up and allowed us to see fermenting beer as well. We got a cocktail at the beginning of the tour and a tasting at the end at their bar.
Right down the street was Old Forester. This was a well oiled tour. Disney-esque. You get quick history of the brand and a nice tasting at the end. Plus you get a barrel charring show too. This bourbon was good but I liked the chocolate from the tour better.
The next day at the Bardstown Bourbon campus that is at 14 rickhouses but going to 30! This tour was cocktails both shaken and stirred…
This was fun. Our tour took us to a special bar in a rickhouse. We got instructions to make a Bourbon Mule and an Old Fashioned. I learned which gear I need and how to use it. And we got a glass at the end.
When you plan a trip, I strongly suggest planning in advance and to choosing more than just a basic tour.