Bottom-Shelf Brackets 2019: Round 2: Old Grand-Dad Bonded vs. Fighting Cock and Evan Williams Single Barrel vs. Larceny
March 28, 2019 Eric Burke
Here it is. Round 2 of the 2019 BourbonGuy.com Bottom Shelf Brackets. This is where we meet our last contestants and see if they deserved that first round bye. Let's start at the top with Division 1 Number 1 seed Fighting Cock versus the advancing Number 5 seed Old Grand-Dad Bonded.
We've already met Old Grand-Dad, but to recap, it uses the "other" Beam bourbon recipe. The higher rye recipe. This is the Bottled in Bond version. The "newcomer" is Fighting Cock. It is a product of Heaven Hill Brands. I put newcomer in quotes because Fighting Cock has competed twice before. Once, when it had a 6-year age statement, it won the whole damn thing. The very next year it had lost the age statement, gained a very grainy flavor and got knocked out of the first round. But you guys wanted to see it come back and here it is, the number one vote getter in the nomination process. Let's see who comes out on top.
These were tasted blind in the following order. Tasting notes are from before the reveal.
Old Grand-Dad Bonded
Purchase Info: $23.99 for a 1 liter bottle, Blue Max, Burnsville, MN
Details: 50% ABV. DSP-KY-230.
Nose: Spearmint, cinnamon gum, caramel and ginger.
Mouth: Sweet and spicy with mint, ginger and green tea.
Finish: On the longer side of medium with lingering spicy ginger and a hint of molasses.
Purchase Info: $15.99 for a 750 mL bottle, Total Wine, Burnsville, MN
Details: 51.5% ABV.
Nose: Caramel, mint and allspice.
Mouth: Caramel, vanilla, oak and dried grain.
Finish: Dry and spicy with a medium length.
Pre-reveal Thoughts: Whiskey 1 is the hands-down winner. Both are good, but Whiskey 1 seems to have brought a little something extra to the party.
Post Reveal Thoughts: I'm actually a bit surprised with how much of a fight Fighting Cock put up. The last time it competed, it was not very good at all. It got beaten out by a Total Wine private label. It was a grain-forward mess that was downright unpleasant. The other surprise is how much ginger the pairing bought out in Old Grand-Dad. I got none of that when it was paired with its cousin. It just goes to show how much effect the things you taste alongside a bourbon have on the notes that you find in the bourbon.
It looks like Old Grand-Dad Bonded is moving on to face the winner of the matchup below.
And it seems once again we have a matchup of corporate cousins. Moving on to our second matchup of the night, we have Division 1 Number 3 seed Evan Williams Single Barrel versus Number 2 seed Larceny.
I think this one is an interesting matchup. It features Larceny, Heaven Hill's reasonably priced wheater (now that Old Fitzgerald has been discontinued and turned into a $100+ limited release) versus Evan Williams Single Barrel, one of Heaven Hill's bourbons that uses the standard rye as the flavor grain. It is also one of Heaven Hill's few remaining bourbons that still tells you how old it is.
Evan Williams Single Barrel (2011 vintage)
Purchase Info: $24.99 for a 750 mL bottle, Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN
Details: 7 years 10 months old. 43.3% ABV.
Nose: Caramel, wintergreen, black tea.
Mouth: Soft in the mouth with caramel, cinnamon red hots, vanilla, oak, and mint.
Finish: Medium length with lingering caramel, vanilla and oak.
Purchase Info: $19.99 for a 750 mL bottle, Blue Max, Burnsville, MN
Details: 46% ABV.
Nose: Cocoa powder, hazelnut, and hints of cinnamon and oak.
Mouth: Allspice, cocoa powder, cinnamon.
Finish: Medium length with lingering oak and cinnamon.
Pre-reveal Thoughts: Whiskey 2 reminds me of a baked chocolate cookie. It is delicious. Whiskey 1 bring more of a "classic" bourbon flavor along. It is also delicious. That said, there is a "brightness" and "vitality" to Whiskey 2 that pushes me in that direction.
Post Reveal Thoughts: Higher proof beat stated age in this case. Close one, but Larceny advances.
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In Beam, Bourbon, Heaven Hill, whiskey projects, whiskey reviews
Bottom-Shelf Brackets 2019: Round 1: Four Roses vs. Bulleit and Jim Beam Bonded vs. Old Grand-Dad Bonded
In light of recent allegations made by the daughter of Tom Bulleit of his homophobia and mental and physical abuse toward her, I have made the decision that BourbonGuy.com can no longer endorse products bearing the Bulleit name. If I had known of these allegations previous to this article, I would have not included their bourbon in the competition.
Round 1 of the 2019 BourbonGuy.com Bottom Shelf Brackets continues with Division 2 Number 4 seed Four Roses "Beige Label" Bourbon versus Number 5 seed Bulleit Bourbon.
This is an interesting battle. For the longest time it was an open secret that Four Roses produced whiskey made up all or most of the bourbon in a bottle of Bulleit. But about five or six years ago, that all changed. Four Roses cancelled their contract to supply Diageo with bourbon and Bulleit began the slow transition to filling their bottles with bourbon from other manufacturers. So now that enough time has passed for Bulleit to have gotten most of the Four Roses juice through their pipeline, how does the entry-level Four Roses product compare to Bulleit now that these two companies have gone their separate ways.
Bulleit Bourbon
Nose: Oak, Toffee, Vanilla, cinnamon red hots.
Mouth: Spicy cinnamon, sweet vanilla, creme brûlée and a little oak
Finish: Medium length. Lingering cinnamon, oak and chocolate.
Four Roses Bourbon
Nose: Cinnamon, oak, black tea and a little mint.
Mouth: Thin mouthfeel. Cinnamon, black pepper and a hint of vanilla.
Finish: Very gentle. Lingering vanilla, mint, black pepper and Juicyfruit gum.
Pre-reveal Thoughts: This one is tough. The bourbons are of a very similar quality level so there isn't a hands-down winner on the quality front. They both taste good. And honestly, I think one could be forgiven for choosing either of these as you personal winner. For me though, in this head to head matchup? I think Whiskey 1 edges its way to the winner's circle.
Post Reveal Thoughts: Higher proof can often lend itself to higher complexity and a nicer mouthfeel. It does so in this case as the higher proof Bulleit Bourbon wins the chance to meetup with Wild Turkey 101 in Round 2.
And once again, in order to finish this competition sometime before summer, we are doing two in each post. So moving on to our second 4v5 matchup, we have Division 1 Number 4 seed Jim Beam Bonded versus Number 5 seed (and corporate cousin) Old Grand-Dad Bonded.
This is also a super interesting matchup. It features the Bottled in Bond version of both of Jim Beam's main bourbon recipes. Jim Beam and Old Grand-Dad are both BeamSuntory brands. Both are produced by Jim Beam at one of their two big distilleries in either Clermont or Boston, Kentucky. Old Grand-Dad is often touted as using Beam's "High Rye" recipe. How much higher is it than the standard Beam recipe? Well the good folks over at ModernThirst.com have a handy, and sortable, table of all the known, assumed, and estimated bourbon mash bills. According to that Old Grand-Dad clocks in at 63% corn, 27% rye and 10% malted barley compared to Jim Beam's 75% corn, 13% rye and 12% malted barley. So let's see who wins head-to-head, shall we?
Nose: Mint, toasted grains, caramel, oak, green tea.
Mouth: Mint, spicy cinnamon, oak and green tea.
Finish: On the longer side of medium and warm. Lingering mint, green tea and oak.
Jim Beam Bonded
Purchase Info: $21.49 for a 1 liter bottle, Total Wine, Burnsville, MN
Nose: Vanilla, cinnamon, corn, almond, and toffee.
Mouth: Oak, a generic "fruitiness," cinnamon candies and caramel.
Finish: Medium length and warm. Lingering mint, corn, cinnamon candies and a hint of peanut.
Pre-reveal Thoughts: Whiskey 2 is a lot sweeter than whiskey 1. So this basically comes down to if you like your bourbon on the sweet and spicy side or the dry and spicy side of the equation. That'll be a personal preference issue. For me, I choose whiskey 1 to advance. My wife went back and forth before agreeing with me.
Post Reveal Thoughts: This was much closer than I expected it to be. Going into the matchup, I expected that Old Grand-Dad would win this one hands down with no contest. It turns out that Old Grand-Dad did win, but it really close. And now they will face Fighting Cock in Round 2.
In Beam, Diageo, Four Roses, whiskey reviews, whiskey projects, Bourbon
Bottom-Shelf Brackets 2019: Round 1: Jim Beam Repeal Batch vs. Evan Williams Single Barrel and Buffalo Trace vs. Old Forester Signature
The time is finally here! Let's get down to the competitions. Round 1 of the 2019 BourbonGuy.com Bottom Shelf Brackets opens with Division 1 Number 3 seed Evan Williams Single Barrel (2011 vintage) versus Number 6 seed Jim Beam Repeal Batch.
This is a battle of Limited Edition Releases. Jim Beam's Repeal Batch is a non-chill filtered, slightly higher proof version of the standard Jim Beam White. It was released to celebrate the 85th Anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition. Evan Williams Single Barrel is a limited release only in that each new release is named for the year that the bourbon was put in oak. For many years this was released after 10 years in the barrel. These days you are down to a little under 8 years. Which Limited Release will win out? Let's find out!
Jim Beam Repeal Batch
Details: Non-chill filtered. 43% ABV.
Nose: Melon, cinnamon, mint, caramel corn.
Mouth: Spearmint, wintergreen, baking spice and caramel.
Finish: Medium length with lingering vanilla corn and mint.
Nose: Caramel, cinnamon, wintergreen.
Mouth: Thin mouthfeel. Almond, brown sugar, baking spice and a light mint.
Finish: On the longer side of medium and warm. Lingering almond, berry and spice.
Pre-reveal Thoughts: Whiskey two (Evan Williams Single Barrel) is the clear winner here. The nose and mouth are richer and the finish is much more satisfying.
Post Reveal Thoughts: No upset here, the higher seed (and higher age) wins in this one. Evan Williams Single Barrel is moving on to face corporate cousin Larceny in Round 2
In order to finish this competition sometime before summer, we are doing two in each post. So moving on to our second 3v6 matchup, we have Division 2 Number 3 seed Buffalo Trace versus Number 6 seed Old Forester Signature.
This match-up lands squarely on the shoulders of you, the readers. Buffalo Trace is the higher seed due to more people nominating it even though it is the lower proof bourbon. Buffalo Trace is the namesake product of the Sazerac-owned Buffalo Trace Distillery. The distillery is located in Frankfort, Kentucky and is claimed by the company to be the oldest continuously-operating distillery in the United States. If you haven't been there you owe it to yourself to make sure that you do. Far from being the oldest distillery, the Old Forester Distillery is one of the youngest. Though that doesn't matter much since almost none of the juice that will be going into Old Forester bottles (one day) is produced there. All of the juice in this bottle having been produced in Brown-Forman's Shively distillery.
Nose: Vanilla, caramel, Cheerios cereal, a hint of green apples.
Mouth: Spicy and warm with brown sugar, baking spice, berries and apples.
Finish: Medium length with lingering vanilla, berries and baking spice.
Old Forester Signature 100 Proof
Nose: Hickory, caramel, wintergreen, almond.
Mouth: Spicy and warm with vanilla, oak, green apple, clove and cinnamon.
Finish: Spicy and of medium length. Lingering brown sugar, spice, apple and wintergreen.
Pre-reveal Thoughts: This one was a very difficult matchup. In the end, whiskey two won on the strength of its finish. The spice must flow.
Post Reveal Thoughts: And just like that we have our first upset of the competition. Proof won out in this case. Old Forester Signature is moving on to match up against Evan Williams Bottled in Bond in Round 2.
In Beam, Bourbon, Brown Forman, Buffalo Trace, Heaven Hill, whiskey projects, whiskey reviews
6th Annual BourbonGuy.com Bottom-Shelf Brackets: Reader's Choice Edition
As it is March, it is probably time for brackets of one sort or another. And even though my beloved Minnesota Gophers will actually make an appearance in a basketball tournament this year...I still don't really care. I mean, I'm happy to hear they are doing ok, but it isn't going to ruin my day should they not beat Louisville.
No, once again it is time to get our fill of competitive bracketing by finding inexpensive bourbons and pitting them against each other head-to-head to see if there is one that stands head and shoulders above the rest. Normally I run all over the Metro trying to find bourbons that fulfill a stringent set of qualifications while minimizing bourbons from the same producer. But this year, I decided to be lazy…errr…crowd-source the decision by opening the nomination process up to you, the readers.
And boy did the nominations roll in (it might have helped that I asked the question as part of couple different give-aways). It's funny, a couple of years ago, I got chastised in the comments for having an elevated Bottom-Shelf. But let me tell you, ya'll have a much more high-end bottom shelf than I do.
So how does this competition work? Well, the bourbons included were all nominated by the readers. After the nomination process, I tallied the number of nomination each bourbon received, cross referenced that with bourbons I could buy for less than $25 (750 mL bottle or larger) and figured out which of those were actually available in my market.
And it was at that point that I realized there were way too many interesting suggestions for an eight bourbon bracket. So this year we are bracketing it NFL-style with 12 whiskeys, the top four seeds of which have earned first-round byes. Which leads me to how these were seeded. I have a very precise algorithm which I …
nah. I just went by the number of nominations each bourbon got. After that I broke any ties first by age and then by proof. The divisions were chosen in alternating order so Division 1 chose the top seed as first, then Division 2 got to choose the second seed first and so on down the line. And now, the moment you were waiting for:
The number one overall seed, with 5 nominations and 103 proof is Heaven Hill's Fighting Cock. Following that with the number one seed in Division 2, also with 5 nominations, is Wild Turkey 101. The third overall seed and the number two seed in Division 2 is Evan Williams Bottled in Bond (four nominations and 100 proof). Following that as the number two seed in Division 1 is Larceny (Four nominations and 92 proof). The number three seeds are Evan Williams Single Barrel (Division 1, three nominations, 7 years old) and Buffalo Trace (Division 2, three nominations, 90 proof). Number four seeds are Four Roses Bourbon (Division 2, three nominations, 80 proof) and Jim Beam Bonded (Division 1, two nominations, 100 proof). Number 5 seeds are Old Grand-Dad Bonded (Division 1, two nominations, 100 proof) and Bulleit Bourbon (Division 2, two nominations, 90 proof). There were a lot of suggestions that only had one nomination, so I chose ones I thought might be interesting as the number six seeds. They are Old Forester Signature (Division 2, one nominations, 100 proof) and Jim Beam Repeal Batch (Division 1, one nominations, 100 proof).
There are a lot of interesting story lines this time (that tends to happen when you elevate the level of competition). We start out with Jim Beam Bonded versus Old Grand-Dad Bonded. Which of the two Beam Bourbon recipes will win out? We also have Four Roses versus Bulleit. So we have a Four Roses product versus one that used to be mostly Four Roses, but is no longer so. And honestly, I'm curious to see how the Beam Limited Release fares against the Heaven Hill Limited Release in Repeal Batch versus Evan Williams Single Barrel. And if Evan Williams wins, which of the Heaven Hill Bourbon recipes will win out? The wheat or the rye based?
Anyway competition starts Thursday. Check back then to see which of the bourbon in the Reader's Choice Bottom-Shelf comes out on top!
In Bourbon, Brown Forman, Buffalo Trace, Diageo, Four Roses, Heaven Hill, Wild Turkey, whiskey projects, Beam
Tommyrotter Triple Barrel American Whiskey plus an interview with Bobby Finan of Tommyrotter Distilling
I state in my Statement of Ethics that if I accept a review sample, I will disclose it at the beginning of the article. I'd like to thank Bobby Finan and Tommyrotter Distilling for providing this sample to me with no strings attached.
A few months ago, Bobby Finan of Tommyrotter Distillery in Buffalo, NY reached out to me to see if I would like to receive a sample of their products. Because I rarely say no to the opportunity to try something that I cannot get at home, I gladly accepted the offer. And because I'm a curious fellow who enjoys talking with people who are passionate about what they do, I decided to ask him some questions in return. He was gracious enough to answer them.
That's right, I got free whiskey and then got him to write half of this post to boot.
Eric: So, Bobby, tell me a little about yourself and Tommyrotter distillery. We live in the age of superheroes on the big screen so what is the origin story of Tommyrotter?
Bobby Finan: I'm a born and raised Buffalonian and own Tommyrotter with my business partner. We've been at it for 4 years and are expanding our footprint throughout the Northeast and outward to other key markets in the US. I got turned onto distilling while living in NYC interning at an investment bank. I learned pretty quickly cubicle life was not for me and happened upon the distilleries that were popping up in Brooklyn. I was infatuated with them. After I completed college, I worked at a Central NY craft distillery that was moving towards opening and got to experience the start up phase of launching a distillery. I soon moved back to my hometown of Buffalo, where I met my business partner and we launched what would become Tommyrotter Distillery. In attempting to come up with a name we dove into old stories about our city - we wanted a name that alluded to "craft production," "quality," tied into Buffalo and was totally unique. We came across the story of the Tommyrotter's Club, a group of rebellious artisans who worked on the Roycroft Campus in East Aurora, NY (the rural suburb that I grew up in just south of Buffalo) back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The Roycroft was the birthplace of the American Arts and Crafts Movement, a kind of counterculture to the Industrial Revolution, where artists and craftspeople lived, worked and made their high end goods by hand. The Campus is still functioning today and is a pillar of the Western New York arts community. We dug the Tommyrotter name because these guys kind of bucked the rules - they we're known for sneaking out of work to go adventure seeking, create for creation's sake and maybe enjoy a couple drinks while doing it.
Eric: After looking at your website, I know that you produce a couple of whiskies and you sent over a sample of a gin, What else do you produce? And what would you consider your "specialty?"
Bobby: We distill a vodka, one type of gin (and barrel it for a second product) and we blend and finish whiskeys Our specialty is definitely gin, our American Gin is our top selling product and our Cask Strength Bourbon-Barrel Gin gets a lot of press, awards and cocktail menu placement due to how unique and delicious it is. The American Gin has developed a really loyal following due to the botanicals we use. We infuse 12 botanicals through vapor distillation and utilize a lot of baking spice (think nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon) and balance it out with citrus and juniper. In Buffalo, NY, our hometown, we've got Hendricks on the ropes in most local liquor stores and have a lot of people who say, "Tommyrotter is the only gin I'll drink." The Cask Strength Bourbon-Barrel Gin is the exact same gin as our American Gin, just thrown into a brand new white American oaks #3 char barrel for about a year and bottled at 122 Proof. It's a one-of-a-kind spirit, a real category bender and is one of the most complex spirits on the market in my opinion (but the critics say so too!).
Eric: Tonight I'll be reviewing the Tommyrotter American Whiskey. You labeled it "Triple Barrel." Tell us the story behind that. What is a Triple Barrel American Whiskey at Tommyrotter?
Bobby: "Triple Barrel" really has two meanings or two points of significance as they pertain to the product and name. Our American Whiskey is a blend of two mash bills of bourbon and a Tennessee whiskey - three types of whiskey or three barrels. That blend is then finished in French oak that previously housed red wine (we're typically utilizing ex-Cab Sauv and ex-Cab Franc barrels). As you might assume, the two bourbons are aged in brand new white American charred oak. The Tennessee is aged in recharred next use American oak barrels that previously housed bourbon. In total, the whiskey we blend, finish and bottle is product of three types of barrel treatment…and so we again arrive at "Triple Barrel." On a geekier note: One of the bourbon is a high corn mash bill and when we started rolling out whiskey was a little north of 1 year old, that input is now regularly 2+ years old, the second bourbon is 5-6 year old high wheat mash bill, the Tennessee is 7 years old and also has a pretty high corn level in the MB. The weighted average of the mash bills by function of blend ratio balances out at 81% Corn / 9% Wheat / 5% Rye / 6% Barley.
Eric: I notice that the sample you sent me says that it was distilled in Tennessee and Indiana. I have a good guess as to what those distilleries might be, but can you confirm?
Bobby: One of the distilleries doesn't like us mentioning their name, the other doesn't care. For the sake of enjoying a good wink and nod opportunity, I'd say if you made a quarter-way educated guess, you'd likely be right.
Eric: As a follow-up, since this is a barrel-finished whiskey, you obviously have access to barrels. Are you buying fully matured whiskey from your suppliers or do you buy new-make and age in in-house?
Bobby: The answer to that "or" question is: Yes. Building a whiskey program takes a lot of planning. You're buying older/matured whiskey to finish and package now. You're buying slightly less old whiskey to bottle next year and so on and so on. Simultaneously, you're buying new-fill whiskey and aging in house or in contracted bonded-warehouses due to scale to be of age when you hit the bottom of your less aged product that is coming to age every year. I was trying to description the shape of the curve you follow on purchasing, but it's really a three dimensional curve and the variable where getting overly wordy to explain. In summation, there is a decent amount of algebra based on projections and an understanding that you may be offloading excess or scrambling for supplementary barrels until you really dial in demand and growth.
Eric: Are there plans to transition your whiskey to ones made from your own distillate in the future? If so, how far along that process are you? Can you give us any hints about what to keep an eye out for?
Bobby: We'd like to build a new facility and actively moving in that direction - may be two years out or so - but at the new facility we'd have full whiskey production capability and eventually moving towards our own juice. It takes a long time to fully make that transition.
Eric: Finally, where can an interested reader learn more about Tommyrotter and your products?
Bobby: Give us a follow on Instagram or Facebook - we come out with a limited release whiskey product each fall and are making a concerted effort to expand our single barrel program for our Cask Strength Bourbon-Barrel Gin beyond upstate NY. The single barrels of our CSBBG are awesome. Just really, really awesome.
Eric: Thanks for answering a few questions for me. I, and the readers, appreciate it.
Tommyrotter Triple Barrel American Whiskey
Purchase Info: This sample was graciously provided for review purposes by the distillery. This product can be found for $35 for a 750 mL bottle.
Details: 46% ABV. Age stated at 1 year old.
Nose: Sweet with buttered popcorn, spearmint and caramel.
Mouth: Cornpops cereal, cinnamon and black pepper
Finish: On the shorter side of medium. Lingering spearmint.
Thoughts: This is a very grain forward whiskey but I wouldn't necessarily say it tastes "young" as there are no rough edges at all. I tasted this neat and it reminds me of a good quality corn whiskey. I also made a small old fashioned with it and it performed well. I liked how the sweetness of the whiskey played with the spice of the aromatic bitters I chose. Overall, I'd recommend this to people who like sweet, grain forward whiskies.
In craft distiller, interview, like, Misc Whiskey, whiskey reviews