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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Jefferson Presidential 21 Bourbon


Jefferson Presidential Select 21 year old is the newest bourbon in the Jeffeson's line, a non-distiller produced bourbon owned by Castle Brands.  The original Jefferson Presidential Select line of 17 and 18 year old bourbons were wheated bourbons, the first stocks of which came from Stitzel-Weller.  The 21 year old, however, is a rye recipe bourbon from an undisclosed distillery.

Jefferson Presidential Select 21 year old, 47% abv, Batch 3 ($125)

The nose is very nice with lots of polished wood notes showing some serious age.  The palate is very dry with oak, mint, pine and a chewy mouthfeel, though it is a little flat by late palate.  The finish has menthol and pepper.

This is good stuff, though it feels a bit diluted.  At cask strength, I bet it would be great. As with almost everything these days, it's hard for me to recommend this based on the price to quality ratio, but I suppose that high prices for good but not great bourbon are the new normal, and we just have to get used to that.


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10 comments:

  1. Adam HJuly 23, 2013 at 9:30 AM

    Sku, I liked your review of this, but I found it a little confusing. Firstly, you didn't mention if this is a prestigious bottle to own or not. And most importantly, how does this bourbon compare to anything that says "Van Winkle" on it?

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  2. skuJuly 23, 2013 at 9:39 AM

    Adam, excellent question. I'm not sure why they left it off the label, but this bourbon was actually bottled by a company that has bottled Stitzel-Weller whiskey in the past. Therefore, it is a "Stitzel-Weller adjacent whiskey" which means that you should be able to buy it and immediately flip it on the internet for three times the face value. Good luck!

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  3. My Annoying OpinionsJuly 23, 2013 at 10:52 AM

    $125 for a decent OB 21yo would be a pretty good price in the single malt world.

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  4. skuJuly 23, 2013 at 11:13 AM

    Annoying, it's true that Scotch prices are generally higher than US whiskey prices, but keep in mind that this isn't an OB. It's an independent bottling from an undisclosed distiller(s), so consider it a 21 year old Finlaggan or Lismore.

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  5. My Annoying OpinionsJuly 23, 2013 at 12:05 PM

    Aha--right. The American whiskey world is like a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an LDI barrel.

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  6. AnonymousJuly 23, 2013 at 8:14 PM

    >Annoying: good one!

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  7. AnonymousJuly 23, 2013 at 8:42 PM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  8. AnonymousJuly 23, 2013 at 8:43 PM

    Sku, does this taste like a 95% rye mash bill, such as those from LDI, or does it come off closer to a 51% rye mash bill?

    At 21 years one has to wonder if this is from Seagram's/LDI, Cream of Kentucky/Bernheim, Medley or perhaps something else.

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  9. skuJuly 23, 2013 at 8:48 PM

    Anon, this is the bourbon. When you wrote that, I realize I didn't make that clear in the text so I edited it to clarify. They are making a 21 year old rye, but I don't think it's out yet.

    I believe the 21 year old rye is a Canadian as the current Jefferson's 10 is (though they appear to be moving to an LDI whiskey for the ten year old).

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  10. AnonymousJuly 25, 2013 at 6:23 PM

    Thanks for the clarification. Rye as a component as opposed to a rye whiskey.

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