Dusty Thursday: Kentucky Vintage 1974

The current bottling of Kentucky Vintage is an independently bottled bourbon by Kentucky Bourbon Distillers. This bottle, however, is a rare Japanese export of the same name. The label states 1974 as the vintage year and it was bottled in 2000 exclusively for the Japanese market. Based on the name and what I've heard about it, I assume it was also a KBD product, but I don't know for certain.

Kentucky Vintage 1974, bottled 2000, 25 years old, 47% abv

The nose has mango, tropical fruit and a bit of shampoo. The palate is very sweet, like fruit punch, and the finish is bitter. Water doesn't help.

Yuck. This stuff is terrible.


See reviews of Kentucky Vintage 1974 by the LA Whiskey Society.

A Dusty Curiosity: Brown Forman President's Choice

Brown Forman introduced a President's Choice bourbon into its line in the late 1960s, but prior to that, it used the President's Choice label for gifts to special customers and other clients. The official name is actually the President's Choice for Distinguished Gentleman. The label includes the following description:

This whisky was selected by the President of Brown-Forman Distillers Corporation for its perfect balance and true Kentucky Bourbon flavor, and set aside for his private stock. This rare Bourbon was custom distilled and specially bottled at the direction of the president at the proof of 90.3 selected for barrel #989843 through barrel #989867.

Hmm, distinguished gentlemen? I'm not sure I qualify, but let's give it a try anyway. This bourbon was bottled in 1963, a blend of 24 barrels.


Brown Forman President's Choice, bottled 1963, 90.3 proof/45.15% abv

Another nice dusty nose, this one is rich, sweet and candy-like; It reminds me very much of some of those great, dusty Old Foresters I like (another Brown Forman bourbon). The palate is sweet with peppermint and vanilla, moving onto spices in the late palate. It's very rich and densely flavored, though a bit flatter than the nose. The finish is short and spicy.

Sweet and rich, this is a very drinkable bourbon.

See the LA Whiskey Society reviews of Brown Forman President's Choice.

Sku's 2012 Whiskey Awards

Welcome to Sku's 2012 Whiskey Awards. Each winner was the product of blind tastings before a specially selected panel of expert tasters.


Best Bourbon over 140 Proof: George T. Stagg

Best Blend of Scotch, Bourbon and Rye: High West Campfire

Best Scotch Distillery (Isle of Skye): Talisker

Best Scotch Distillery (Isle of Arran): Arran

Best Scotch Distillery (Isle of Jura): Jura

Best Scotch Distillery (Isle of Mull): Tobermory

Best Indian Distillery (limited to those available in the US): Amrut

Best Religiously Themed Independent Bottler: The Jewish Whisky Company

Best Bourbon Aged on a Boat: No Winner (there were no good bourbons aged on a boat this year)

Congratulations to all the lucky winners! (Winners, please feel free to contact me for special "shelf talkers" available at a reasonable price or to advertise in our special "awards edition").

Stagg-nation: George T. Stagg 2012

George T. Stagg, along with Pappy Van Winkle, has become the most renowned and hard to get bourbon out there. I don't really bother with these annoyingly hard to find whiskeys anymore, but I'll certainly give it a try if a friend drops me a sample.


George T. Stagg 2012, Distilled 1995, 16 years 9 months old, 71.4% abv. ($70 - in theory)

The nose has rich, woody bourbon goodness like only Stagg can have. The palate starts off quite tannic but then moves to candy and wood with a dash of pepper; the acid returns for late palate and the finish with a touch of mildew. A few drops of water brings out a chocolate milk like sweetness but also makes it lose a shocking amount of the woody notes which are reduced to a faint char in the late palate, making it one dimensional.

I've been drinking George T. Stagg since around 2005, and some of those bottlings have been among my all time favorite whiskeys. Starting with last year, though, I feel like Stagg has lost some of its luster. It's still very good bourbon, but the last couple of releases haven't been as transcendent as the earlier ones.

Just to make sure I wasn't being overly nostalgic, I did a side by side tasting with the 2010 Stagg, one of my favorites. Sure enough, the 2010 had a richness and complexity that was lacking in this year's release. The 2010 has a huge dose of polished wood and leather mingled and balanced with candy sweetness, the two maintaining a perfect balance well into the everlasting finish. This year's Stagg is certainly good, and I wouldn't turn down a glass, but it lacks that level of complexity, and given how hard Stagg is to find, it makes me even less likely to hunt for it.

See the LA Whiskey Society reviews of George T. Stagg 2012.

Dusty Thursday: Eagle Rare 101 (circa 1979)

Back in February, I sampled a bottle of the now discontinued Eagle Rare 101 distilled, as is today's version, by Buffalo Trace. The bottle I'm sampling today, though, dates to before the label was sold to Buffalo Trace. It was originally a Seagram's brand made at the Old Prentice Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, which is now Four Roses.


Eagle Rare 101 Old Prentice, (circa 1979), 10 years old, 50.5% abv

The nose is a bit musty and very woody with some sweet maple syrup The palate is heavily spicy and minty in a mouth wash sort of way which continues into the finish. This is a very nice bourbon and one I'd happily buy if it was available, but I must say I preferred the later, Buffalo Trace version of the 101 that I sampled back in February.

See the LA Whiskey Society reviews of Eagle Rare 101.

Deal Alert: K&L Longmorn 20

I did a number of reviews from the 2011 K&L exclusive barrel Scotch program, but I'm just getting started on the single malts from their 2012 program.

My first foray into this year's set is a 20 year old Longmorn distilled in 1992, bottled by Exclusive Malts. It sells for $100.


1992 Longmorn 20 (Exclusive Malts), 52.8% abv ($100).

The nose has sweet dessert wine and tropical fruit. The palate is bursting with fruit and dessert wine with a syrupy mouthfeel. I get dried, candied mangoes. The wine note gets more sherry like later in the palate and into the finish where there's just a touch of sulfur.

This one's a winner - just a really drinkable sherried malt with a lot of fruit. The back label states, "This should be much more expensive," and they're right. This is far better than the distillery's 16 year old which is only about $10 cheaper for a younger and lower proof whisky. If you need a last minute holiday gift, this is it.

See the LA Whiskey Society reviews of K&L Longmorn 20.

The Year in Whiskey 2012

This was a frustrating year in whiskey. Back in July, I declared the end of the Golden Age of Whiskey, and I think the year bore that prediction out.


New but not noteworthy

The year saw a massive cache of new releases. Nearly everyone had something new, but much of it didn't seem very special. It seems that the the whiskey companies have caught on to the fact that people like new things so we see continual brand extensions. This year alone brought us two new Ardbegs (Galileo and Day), Highland Park Thor (in the big wooden boat box), Woodford Reserve Double Oaked, Heaven Hill's Larceny and Elijah Craig 20, Knob Creek Rye, George Dickel Rye, Jefferson's Ocean Aged Bourbon and no fewer than four new E.H. Taylor bourbons from Buffalo Trace. Jack Daniel's and Jim Beam jumped on the invisible whiskey trend, releasing unaged white whiskeys to compete with, or perhaps overwhelm, the craft distillers.

The dropping of age and proof continued with Macallan eliminating some of its age statements and Wild Turkey dropping the proof of its rye.


Distillery happenings

It was a bad year for independence. Jim Beam, which purchased the Cooley Distillery in December 2011, announced that it would no longer be selling Cooley whiskey to independent bottlers, and the once fiercely independent Bruichladdich sold out to Remy Martin.

In the US, the explosion of craft distilleries continued with some notable names, including Old Pogue, Willett and The Party Source starting their own distilleries.

In Ireland, William Grant announced it would build a new Tullamore Dew distillery.

Meanwhile, sourced whiskey continued to grow in the US. It seemed like everyone had an LDI whiskey to release this year, and speaking of sourcing, bourbon geeks will remember this as the year of the Great Pappy Controversy.


Going once...

It was a tough year on the secondary market as well. The beginning of the year saw ridiculous mark ups at Bonhams and ebay, with Bonham's courting controversy with some of its bottle descriptions. Meanwhile, K&L sold a $90 bottle of Jefferson's Ocean Aged for over $1,000.

The tide seemed to turn when ebay shut down all alcohol sales, and Bowmore couldn't unload their latest six figure whiskey, which led some to wonder if the whiskey bubble was finally bursting.


And the silver lining

All of this isn't to say there wasn't a bright side to the year. Balvenie distinguished itself with the Tun 1401 series, showing that some distilleries are still willing to do the serious work of putting out great whiskey without gimmicks. GlenDronach's vintage series and Glenfarclas' family casks continued to impress without jewel encrusted bottles.

Four Roses continued to distinguish itself with its Limited Edition Small Batch. High West continued to innovate with Campfire (a blend of bourbon, rye and peated Scotch) and Son of Bourye, and Bulleit offered a bold and spicy rye that wouldn't break the bank (or even bruise it).


So while investing and speculation may have reached new levels of stupidity, there is still good whiskey to be had. Let's hope for good whiskey at affordable prices for the new year.