High Spirits Pack

This month’s Whiskey News sets a new precedent for breaking news in the bourbon world, as you won’t hear ANY of these hot tips on any other podcast. With so much breaking bourbon news, we skip the Craft Shoot this month and go straight to Bourbon Bullshit, the most popular bourbon podcast segment in the universe! Addressing things like home aging whiskey, Elon Musk’s attempt to buy a coveted craft distillery, and a true bonehead move involving Blanton’s dump dates, this month’s Bourbon Bullshit hits hard and gives you the attitude you’ve come to expect from Bourbon & Banter.

You see, a few days ago I got an email from their VIP Program announcing that they were doing a Charity Raffle for the “Right to Buy” one of 30 bottles of Col. Now, I’m not a wholesaler but if the MSRP of these bottles is $65, I can’t imagine their cost from the distributor is over $55. Still, not an issue for me until you get to the part that you don’t actually win the bottle, you still have to pay the retailer for the bottle, in person, at one of their locations. This seems more like a “right to buy” lottery where you buy a ticket and the real winner is the retailer, then the charity.

As the most honest podcast in bourbon, we don't pull any punches and we tell it like we see it. Pour yourself a drink, get comfortable, and listen to Bourbon & Banter & Barrels We’ll keep the warning below but let you all know in advance that Bob stayed home for this one, so the cursing is scaled back significantly. Warning: If you're not comfortable with unapologetic, independent thinking, plus a healthy dose of swearing, you might want to skip this one folks.

I find it offers a nose of caramel, vanilla, and oak, a mouthing of caramel, fruit, and vanilla, and a palate of vanilla, caramel, toffee, corn, and oak. I picked up caramel, vanilla, toffee, corn, and oak, and the narrow mouth helps aim the liquid across my palate versus everywhere in my mouth, allowing me to pick out the individual flavors. I was able to pick up vanilla, caramel, and oak, and didn't find anything in terms of alcohol burn. I was able to pick up all of the expected flavors of corn, vanilla, caramel, toffee, and oak.

I’d like to think that eventually production will catch up a bit and some of the bottles that have been so scarce for the past 5-10 years will start to repopulate shelves. For Example, this past fall, there was a guy that was paying the delivery driver of a local grocery store chain to tip him off as to when the Old Forester Birthday Bourbon shipment was being delivered at each store. How long is it going to be before Buffalo Trace says “Hell, if all of these people are paying $120-$150 for a bottle of Blanton’s or Elmer T. Lee, If you think I’m wrong, how many of you would pass on a bottle of Blanton’s for $100 if you walked into your local store tomorrow?

Centuries later, Adam Duhamel, 38, recalls how when he was 3, his parents took him on trips to the family’s farm, which included a vast stand of sugar maples and a sugar shack. To anyone who’s worked a sap harvest, the sugar shack is a micro-factory for maple syrup making. The gathering at the sugar shack created an incredible atmosphere because it was part of something important to our family,” said Duhamel, creator of SAP56. Harvesting maple sap starts in early spring, when snow still covers the ground, but outdoor temps are ideal for working.

They've been finished separately in some rather unusual barrels: Martinique rum, Malmsey Madiera, and of all things, apricot brandy barrels. Before I get to the tasting notes and recommendation, I'd like to thank Barrell for providing me a sample in exchange for a no-strings-attached, honest review. Here's where things got really different - dried apricot and plum were sweet notes, then brine offered a barrier of sorts, separating out the grass and mustiness on the other end of the spectrum. Long and warming, the finish had plenty of wood tannin, salted chocolate, molasses, ginger, rye spice, apricot, and pineapple.

Last week I walked into my local Total Wine store and happened to find Eagle Rare on the shelf. But after I checked out and got into my car, I felt like I had been fortunate to find this bottle on the shelf at retail, and that started to bother me just a little. Some local liquor store chains here don't even put Eagle Rare on the shelf. It's unfortunate that I now feel the same about finding a bottle of Eagle Rare as I used to about finding something highly actually allocated or scarce.

Today, I'm reviewing Obtanium Bourbon Whiskey, which is a Niemuth's pick called Beautiful Swan. It consists of an MGP Bourbon utilizing its 60% corn, 36% rye, and 4% malted barley mash and was aged for six years. I'd like to thank Niemuth's for providing me a sample of Beautiful Swan in exchange for a no-strings-attached, honest review. Things started off sweet with cherry, then earthy with dark chocolate, and finally spicy with cinnamon and rye.

Single barrels and single malts can be awesome, but blending is a learned skill and unless you're very, very lucky, you don't just mix things together and wind up with a good finished product. Batch 28 is a blend of 10- and 11-year Bourbons distilled in Indiana (MGP), Kentucky, and Tennessee (George Dickel). I'd like to thank Barrell Craft Spirits for providing a sample of Batch 28 in exchange for a no-strings-attached, honest review. Appearance: In my Glencairn glass, Batch 28 presented as a hazy orange amber.