Dusty Tasting: 1970s Cabin Still

Today we have another dusty tasting sponsored by The Whiskey Jug. Yesterday's dusty tasting showed the decline of Old Crow over the years. Another bourbons that was famously ruined after being sold off was Cabin Still. Josh Feldman, over at The Coopered Tot, did a fantastic post tracing the decline and fall of this former Stitzel-Weller brand. He notes that at some point after Norton-Simon purchased the Stitzel-Weller Distillery in 1972, they started dumping low end Canada Dry bourbon into it.

The bottle provided for this tasting is likely from the mid-1970s (a 1974 copyright appears on the label). The label states that it was "distilled, aged and bottled by Cabin Still Distillery."  That puts it after 1972, when Norton Simon purchased the distillery and stopped using the Stitzel-Weller name, but before the later incarnation, which states "distilled for and bottled by Cabin Still Distillery." Does that mean it could still be old Stitzel-Weller, before the dump of Canada Dry began. Who knows? Let's taste it.


Cabin Still, 4 years old, 40% abv

The nose is caramelly but very light. The palate starts with some nice caramel, but fades away very quickly, and there is only a very faint finish. This isn't bad, but there is very little to it. I actually think this could be Stitzel-Weller, or have some in it, because it has traces of those sweet and creamy caramel notes, though it's very watered down. People forget that not all Stitzel-Weller was great, and Cabin Still was their bottom shelf brand.

Overall, if it was the '70s and I was perusing the bottom shelf, I'd go for the Old Crow.

This was another group tasting, so be sure to check out The Whiskey Jug, The Coopered Tot, It's Just the Booze Dancing, Axis of Whiskey and Bourbon & Banter for more reviews.

Dusty Thursday: All that's Stitzel-Weller is not Gold - Cabin Still (circa 1986)

If you mention "Stitzel-Weller" in a whiskey blog, people's minds turn to visions of Very Very Old Fitzgerald or the early editions of Pappy Van Winkle, rare and delicious bourbons that fetch large sums. It's important to remember, however, that in its day, Stitzel-Weller was a bourbon brand like any other, with both top and bottom shelf offerings. The Old Fitzgerald and Weller lines were on top, but the bottom shelf included brands like Rebel Yell and Cabin Still.

As part of a massive wheated bourbon tasting, I recently got to sample some Cabin Still from 1986, when Stitzel-Weller was still in operation (the brand is now owned by Heaven Hill).

Cabin Still, (circa 1986), 40% abv

The nose has wine like notes, some floral notes and is almost brandy like in some ways. The palate has licorice and mint, also some light corn syrup. It's very light with some Irish Whiskey like flavors. The finish is very short with that light corn syrup taste.

This is not bad by any mean and is certainly distinctly Stitzel-Weller (so much so that I was able to identify it as such in a blind tasting). It's quite drinkable but not at all remarkable and comparable in quality to many whiskeys available today. On the one hand, I'd say this shows that not everything Stitzel-Weller deserves to be worshiped, on the other, I'd note that if this was the bottom of the SW barrel, they were doing pretty well.

Whiskey Wednesday: Woodford Reserve Bourbons

Woodford Reserve is a relatively recent entry into the world of bourbon. Brown Forman, owners of the Kentucky distillery that produces Old Forester and Early Times as well as the Jack Daniels distillery in Tennessee, bought the old, shuttered Labrot & Graham distillery in 1993 and began selling Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select in 1996. Unlike most bourbon distilleries, which use column stills, the Woodford distillery uses pot stills, though the bourbon in the Distiller's Select is a blend of the pot still whiskey and whiskey distilled by column still at Brown Forman's other Kentucky distillery.

In addition to their regular Distiller's Select bourbon, each year since 2005, Woodford has released a new whiskey as part of its Master's Collection. The Master's Collection bottlings are experimental whiskeys distilled entirely in pot stills at the Labrot & Graham distillery. They retail for about $90. The releases so far have been as follows:

2005/2006 - Four Grain, a bourbon made with both wheat and rye (most bourbons have only one of the two) along with the usual corn and barley.

2007 - Sonoma-Cutrer Finish, the bourbon was finished in Chardonnay barrels from the Brown Forman owned Sonoma-Cutrer winery.

2008 - 1838 Sweet Mash, a bourbon distilled from a sweet mash rather than a sour mash, meaning that instead of transferring some spent mash from previous distillations, to maintain a consistent environment for the yeast, the mash was created from scratch, allegedly based on an 1838 recipe.

2009 - Seasoned Oak Finish, a bourbon finished in barrels made from wood which had been seasoned (essentially left outside) for 3 to 4 years instead of the usual 3 to 4 months.

2010 - Maple Wood Finish. The bourbon was finished in barrels made from sugar maple wood.

Thanks to some samples from Regular Chumpington, a frequent commenter here on Recent Eats, combined with some shopping luck, I was able to amass a set of all of the Woodford products except for the Four Grain Master's Collection. So here they are, the almost complete Woodford Reserve.


Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select, 45.2% abv

This is the standard Woodford Reserve. The nose on this is light and sweet with some banana notes; the palate starts sort of generically sweet but quickly turns a bit astringent with some acidic notes at the tail end and a bit of a chemical flavor with some earthy notes as well which continue into the finish. I started drinking Woodford early in my bourbon career, and it was one of the bourbons that I really took a liking to early on. It was once my go to bourbon for cocktails and sipping. I haven't had any in years, and it's either changed character quite a bit since then or it's just not as good as I remember. It's not offensive, but it has some off flavors and is overall, a bit flat.


Woodford Reserve Master's Collection Sonoma-Cutrer Finish, 43.2%

The nose on this a bit sour. You can sense the wine influence in that it smells a bit like a winery, with the damp, musty old barrels, but not as pleasant. The flavor is sweet with a definite wine influence, but more like a cheap jug wine than a good California Chardonnay; the way the sweetness is integrated with the corn also gives it some Canadian Whisky notes. The jug wine notes really come out in the finish. The label says Sonoma-Cutrer, but the finish shouts Paul Masson.


Woodford Reserve Master's Collection 1838 Sweet Mash, 43.2% abv

This is probably the Woodford I'm most interested to try. The whole concept of doing a sweet mash is highly innovative, and I was excited to see what the result was. The nose on this is dry, oaky and maybe a little soapy. It almost reminds me of the nose on Wasmund's Single Malt (which is also distilled in a pot still). The palate is quite medicinal and woody, maybe even a little bit briny with some orchard fruit in the background. The finish is medicinal with a bitterness that grows. This version seems to have magnified some of the harsher characteristics of the regular Woodford, not one I would rush back to try. Maybe they should have left it in 1838.


Woodford Reserve Master's Collection Seasoned Oak Finish, 50.2% abv

Unsurprisingly, the nose on this is distinctively woody with some nice butterscotch notes. The palate starts sweet, has some woody astringency and finishes with the medicinal qualities that seem to be characteristic of Woodford. The woody astringency complements the medicinal notes making this pretty decent, with a dry, woody finish.


Woodford Reserve Master's Collection Maple Wood Finish, 47.2% abv

The nose on this is similar to the basic Woodford but with a bit more sweetness to it. The palate has a combination of briny and sweet notes. Those medicinal notes are there but are lightened up a bit by some sweetness. I don't detect any real maple character, other than the general sweetness; it's more Log Cabin than pure maple syrup. It's a decent combination, though there is still a bit of lingering bitterness in the finish.


The Woodford Reserve Master's Collection has a generally poor reputation, and I'd have to say it is deservedly so. I wasn't very impressed with any of these whiskeys. If you have a thing for astringency and medicinal flavors, you might appreciate them, and while I like some medicinal flavors in peated Scotch, this was a different sort of medicine. The maple finish and the seasoned oak were my favorites of the lot, though I wouldn't rush to buy either of them, especially at the going price. Given that I was an early fan of the regular Woodford, I must say that while I admire their experimental spirit, I'm disappointed in the outcome.

The Export Maker's Mark: Black and Gold

Since I tried the new Maker's Mark Cask Strength earlier this week, I thought it would be fun to try some of their earlier experiments.  Maker's Mark used to say it had only one product (before Maker's 46 was introduced), but in fact, they had additional products for export.  Maker's Black was slightly higher proof than the regular Maker's and included older whiskeys.  Maker's Gold was regular Maker's at 101 proof. Both of these bottles were exports for the Japanese market.

Maker's Mark Black, 47.5% abv (circa 2001)

The nose is all candy bourbon.  The palate is much less sweet than standard Maker's with some oak notes.  Toward the end it gets bitter and medicinal with a medicinal finish on the palate and some nice oaky bourbon notes on the nose.  This is very different from today's standard Maker's and has a lot of commonality with lower end Stitzel-Weller bourbons. In fact, tasting blind, I would have been likely to guess that it was one of those Stitzel-Wellers, maybe a Cabin Still.


Maker's Mark Gold, 50.5% abv (circa 2000)

The nose is light with some Christmas spice, unusual in a wheater, and maybe a touch of BO (or maybe I just need a shower). The palate has honey, tea, some spice and a touch of lemon rind; it ends with lemon rind and mint.  The finish is slightly medicinal.  The spice is nice and unexpected element of this one.

Both of these were certainly an improvement on the standard Maker's Mark of today.  While neither was amazing, they were solid and interesting bourbons, definitely worth a try. That being said, I thought the brand new cask strength Maker's was better than both of these older bottlings.

Many thanks to Kevin A. for the photo and samples.

Dusty Thursday: Dusty Blogger Old Crow Tasting

Old Crow (right) and new Crow.

No, I'm not tasting dusty bloggers, but I did agree to participate in a dusty bourbon tasting hosted by Josh from The Whiskey Jug. Also participating are The Coopered Tot, It's Just the Booze Dancing, Axis of Whiskey, and Bourbon & Banter.

Josh gave us four dusty, bottom shelf bourbons that he found in his travels.  A comparison of old and new Old Crow, Cabin Still and an old Bellow's. Today, I taste the Old Crow and compare it with modern Old Crow.

Bottle marks date this Old Crow to around 1978, back when the brand was owned by National Distillers before it was purchased by Beam. For further comparison, see my previous review of a 1980s Old Crow, also from the National Distillers days.

Old Crow 1978, no age statement, 40%

The nose is fantastic, candy sweet with some herbal noes. The palate is light and sweet with a shot of spice. It's not complex and nothing really special, but it's very drinkable.

Old Crow, 3 years old, current, 40%

From the get-go, you can tell this is a totally different whiskey. The nose has peanut notes with light sugar. The palate is soapy with artificial fruit flavors, and the mouthfeel is watery thin.  It's very blah, and while it's not horrible, it doesn't have any redeeming features.

Well, this is another clear example of how Beam screwed up the National Distillers brands (they did the same thing to Old Overholt), managing to turn a perfectly drinkable bourbon into a crappy bourbon. Why did you do this to us Beam?

Whiskey Wednesday: The Kentucky Distilleries

As as service to the whiskey-drinking readership, over the next few weeks, we will be doing our best to identify every American distillery which makes and sells whiskey as well as many of the brand names those under which those whiskies are sold. We will start today with the big boys, the Kentucky Bourbon (and Rye) distilleries. We will then proceed to cover the whiskey distilleries outside of Kentucky, including the growing category of microdistilleries, and then, we will list the major independent bottlers. Our goal is to make it easier for you to figure out where your bottle of whiskey was actually made.

Not all of this information is easy to come by and I'm grateful for the work that's been done by Chuck Cowdery and the good folks at the Straight Bourbon forums, Barturtle in particular, in revealing some of the harder to find tidbits.

Below is a list of the nine currently operating Kentucky distilleries, along with their corporate owner and their most prominent brand names. All of the brands are Bourbon unless otherwise stated. The list of brand names is not exhaustive as some of these distilleries produce regional brands, blended whiskies and other products; the aim was to cover the biggest brand names.


Brown Forman's Shively Distillery: Brown Forman owns three distinct American whiskey distilleries (Shively, Woodford Reserve and Jack Daniel's). Their Shively, Kentucky plant makes Old Forester Bourbon and Early Times Kentucky Whiskey. They also make rye whiskey for Heaven Hill (see below).


Buffalo Trace (Sazerac Co.): Formerly known as Ancient Age, the Buffalo Trace distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky is one of the most loved by whiskey aficionados. They market their whiskey under one of the most diverse collection of brands, including:

Ancient Age
Benchmark
Blanton's
Buffalo Trace
Buffalo Trace Experimental Collection
Eagle Rare
Elmer T. Lee
George T. Stagg
Hancock's Reserve
Old Charter
Rock Hill Farms
Sazerac and Thomas H. Handy Rye
Van Winkle and Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon and Rye
W.L. Weller


Four Roses (Kirin): Lawrenceburg, Kentucky based Four Roses only recently began bringing their Bourbon back to the US. Aside from their own Four Roses label, the distillery makes Bulleit Bourbon for Diageo.


Heaven Hill: The last family owned distillery in Kentucky, Bardstown based Heaven Hill's diverse brand portfolio includes Bourbon, rye, Kentucky's only straight wheat whiskey and nearly all of the American corn whiskey brands. To make it more confusing, Heaven Hill's rye whiskies are actually distilled at the Brown Forman Shively distillery (see above).

Bourbon
Cabin Still
Elijah Craig
Evan Williams
Fighting Cock
Heaven Hill
Henry McKenna
Old Fitzgerald
Parker's Heritage Collection

Rye
Pikesville Rye
Rittenhouse Rye

Wheat Whiskey
Bernheim Wheat Whiskey

Corn Whiskey
Dixie Dew
Georgia Moon
JW Corn
Mellow Corn


Jim Beam (Beam Global/Fortune Brands): Jim Beam is the biggest name in Bourbon. The brands made at their signature operation, with facilities in Clermont and Boston, Kentucky, include:

Baker's
Basil Hayden
Booker's
Jim Beam Bourbons and Rye
Knob Creek
Old Crow
Old Grand-Dad
Old Overholt Rye
(rī)¹ (Rye One)


Maker's Mark (Beam Global/Fortune Brands): Simplicity reigns at this Jim Beam owned distillery in Loretto Kentucky. It makes only one brand - Maker's Mark.


Tom Moore/Barton Brands (Buffalo Trace/Sazerac Co.): Constellation Brands recently sold this Bardstown gem to Buffalo Trace. Beloved for their Bourbon in Kentucky and for their rye in Wisconsin but little known outside those states, they are the makers of:

Fleischmann's Rye
Kentucky Gentleman
Kentucky Tavern
Ten High
Tom Moore
Very Old Barton
Ridgemont Reserve 1792


Wild Turkey (Pernod Ricard/Campari): News recently broke that drinks giant Pernod Ricard is selling this venerable name in American whiskey to the Italian Campari company. Most of the Bourbons and rye whiskies made at this Lawrenceburg distillery carry the Wild Turkey name, though they have recently begun to market Russell's Reserve as a separate brand.


Woodford Reserve/Labrot & Graham(Brown Forman): Brown Forman's second Kentucky distillery in Versailles, Kentucky, makes Bourbon marketed under the Woodford Reserve brand.

Along with the big nine, there is a new microdistillery in Bowling Green called Corsair. As with most new microdistilleries, they are only marketing unaged spirits right now, so no Bourbon yet, but they do have something called Wry Moon Unaged Rye Whiskey, which is distilled from 100% rye. (Technically, if it wasn't stored in oak for some portion of its life, they cannot call it rye whiskey, so they must have done some minimal storage of the spirit if they are within the regulations). They have plans to make Bourbon and a regular rye whiskey.


Next week we will look at the whiskey distilleries outside of the Bluegrass State, including a complete list of whiskey producing microdistilleries.