Whiskey Gifts

Happy holidays!  Here are some of my favorites of this year's new releases for your imbibing friends and family.

Scotch

The Whisky Exchange had a big hit with a couple of sherry aged single malts from Signatory: a 1998 Laphroaig ($180) and a 1996 Clynelish ($120).  Both were excellent, and the Laphroaig might have been my favorite whiskey of the year.

For lovers of sherried Scotch without the peat, it would be hard to do better than this 1990 Glenfarclas  from K&L ($170). A vatting of two Oloroso sherry casks, this malt is balanced and highly drinkable. Honestly, I'm shocked there is any of this left, but they seem to have plenty.

Another K&L pick I really liked was their release of the Michel Courveur Peaty Overaged Malt ($90), distilled in Scotland, blended in Burgundy.


American Whiskey

My favorite of this year's special releases (that I was able to taste) was the Russell's Reserve 1998 from Wild Turkey, but it's expensive ($250) and hard to find.

For quite a bit less, I was pleasantly surprised by Old Forester 1897 ($50), a Bottled in Bond bourbon that's dry and spicy.

For those of you in the LA area looking for a great deal, Everson Royce in Pasadena bottled a very tasty Old Weller 107 ($30); a really good wheated bourbon at a good price is a rarity these days. UPDATE: Apparently this is now sold out. Sorry folks.

In the rye world, I enjoyed the Redemption Barrel Proof Rye ($100) which is one of the stronger MGP ryes on the market.


Books

This year saw two fantastic new books about American whiskey that would make great gifts. Bourbon Curious: A Simple Tasting Guide for the Savvy Drinker by Fred Minnick ($15) is a deep dive into the world of bourbon. The book goes further than the average bourbon book with detailed information about the grains, water and wood that make bourbon great. Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America's Whiskey by Reid Mitenbuler ($18) is a fun romp through bourbon history. Mitenbuler has a knack for storytelling and illuminating historical parallels with the whiskey world of today.

Coming Wednesday:  Brandy Gifts

New Whiskey Labels: Maker's, Octomore and More

This week's most interesting new labels from the federal TTB database:

Maker's Mark cleared a label for Maker's Mark Private Select finished in a "custom recipe of oak staves unique to each barrel." A number of options for the staves are included on the label with check boxes; presumably allowing them to check the various woods that were used for any particular barrel. It looks like this could be a retailer private barrel program, which I don't believe Maker's has ever had before. 

Remy Cointreau cleared a label for a new edition of Octomore from Bruichladdich. Octomore 7.4 is 7 years old, peated to 167 ppm and aged in virgin oak.

Benromach cleared a label for a 35 year old.

New Riff Distillery issued a new label for OKI Antique Barrel Finish Bourbon, a 9 year old MGP bourbon finished in a new charred oak cask.

Breckenridge Bourbon cleared a new label for a blend of straight bourbons, indicating the bourbons i the blend come from more than ones state.

Copper & Kings released a label for Craftwerk, a brandy finished in 3 Floyds Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout barrels.

Note:  The fact that a label appears on the TTB database does not necessarily mean it will be produced.  In addition, some details on the label, such as proof, can change in the final product.

Armagnacs: Jean-Bon & Manohum

Around the holidays, I always struggle to find great spirits that are actually on the shelves and won't cost a fortune. For the past few months, K&L has had some great Armagnacs that seem to be flying under the radar, so there are plenty on the shelf. They are a series of brandies from Domaine de Jean-Bon and Domaine de Maouhum. Both are small producers located in the Bas Armagnac that use Baco grapes.

Domaine de Maouhum 1987, 28 yo, 46% abv ($73)

The nose is woody with some bourbony caramel and lots of oak. The palate has a nice acidic fruit note, like slightly sour grapes. Going out it has a chewy mouthfeel. The finish is heavy on the menthol with some earthy, spicy notes. TThe finish was a bit too heavy on the menthol but otherwise, a great brandy.

Domaine de Maouhum 1983, 42% abv ($100)

The nose is dry and spicy with ginger. The palate is spiced cider or mulled wine. It comes on sweet with cinnamon, ginger, clove and lemon.  On the palate, the dry, spiciness of the nose returns along with oak and menthol notes. This is very nice and very balanced.

Domaine de Jean-Bon 1990, 25 yo, 45% abv ($80)

The nose is oaky with some light fruit. The palate is sweet and fruity with just a touch of spice toward the end which leads into a spicy finish. This is fun, really drinkable stuff, sweet, fruity and delicious.

Domaine de Jean-Bon 1987, 28 yo, Bas-Armagnac, Baco, 45% ($100)

The nose has huge oak notes along with bourbon and red wine. The palate opens sweet with cane sugar syrup then develops fruit notes with a bit more acid, then some juniper. The finish has light fruit notes with some wood on the palate. It's interesting that the nose can be so intensely woody while the palate retains so much sweetness. 

Domaine de Jean-Bon 1979, 36 yo, 45% abv ($130)

This is another heavily oaky nose, this time even more so and with less fruit. The palate is oaky with a light sweetness and a dry, ashy mouthfeel, like an old red wine. Toward the end, some fruit notes emerge and the finish has a fruity nose and some spice on the palate. Going through these three, you can really see the interplay of oak and fruit over time. The 1990 was fruit forward, the 1979 dry an oaky, and the 1987 is a perfect balance of the two.


These were all very good. The Maouhums are spicier and the Jean-Bons are fruitier. As usual with Armagnac, these are fantastic deals, and they are there for the taking. In addition to these, K&L brought in a Maouhum XO for $50 and a number of other Jean-Bons, including a 1974 ($140), a 1995 ($60) and a 1999 ($50).

Disclaimer: I purchased the 1987s (which sparked my interest in these); the others were samples provided by K&L. 

Ham Tasting

American country hams are tragically underappreciated. Few people know that across the mid-south, we have purveyors of cured hams comparable in quality to Italian prosciutto and Spanish jamon. Last year, I wrote about my experience buying a leg of Newsom's Ham Country Ham.

Recently, I was lucky to join a group of friends in a country ham tasting, featuring five hams from Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee.  Below are the hams we tasted ranked from my fifth to first place pick. In parenthesis I've listed the number that corresponds to the picture above.

5.  Edward's Virginia Smokehouse, Surry, VA (#5 in the picture). The aroma was very smoky with some bacon notes. Texture is very dry. Palate was very salty and very smoky. There were fat on edges but it was fairly lean overall. It has a funky finish and is a bit peppery. This one had more smoke and salt than pork flavor. It was very dry and the only one I really didn't care for.

4. Kite's Country Hams, Wolftown, VA (#2). This one had a funky, gym sock aroma. The texture was moist, medium salty, with not much smoke; it was fairly fatty. It was more funky on the aroma than the palate. It had a nice fresh taste and a soft mouthfeel. It was pretty good stuff.

3. Col. Bill Newsom's, Princeton, KY (#3). This is the ham I wrote up last year. The aroma was bacony. The texture was medium between dry and moist.  On the palate, it was medium salty and very smoky with lots of bacon flavor. It was nicely veined with medium funk. Bacon notes ruled this one; it is very tasty and was a favorite of a number of the tasters.

2. Benton's, Madisonville, TN (#1). This had a nice fresh aroma, dry texture and was fairly salty. There wasn't much in the way of smoke. It was nicely marbled and had some good funk. I thought it was very well balanced, not too extreme in smoke, salt or funky notes.

1. Father's Country Hams, Bremen, KY (#4). This one has a strong aroma of BBQ ribs. The texture was melt-in-your-mouth soft. On the palate, it was fairly salty, not as smoky as the nose with a light funk. It was fairly lean. Most importantly, this one had a beautiful, pure pork flavor. It was super-rich, almost like liver in its richness and was packed with flavor. This one was a transcendent ham for me, about as good as any ham I've eaten.

I have to say, this was probably one of the most fun tastings I've ever done. Hams 1 through 3 were all fantastic. I guess I'm not as big a fan of the Virginia offerings.

If you're not up for a whole ham, many of these producers sell slices or chunks of their great hams. It's a fantastic holiday gift for any pork lover.

New Releases You Don't Need

Given that we are fullt into the holiday season, I thought I would make this easy and review a bunch of new whiskey releases that you don't need to buy.


Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2015, 12 yo, 50% abv ($80)

I've often been critical of this annual release from Brown Forman (though I did like last year's). This year's release isn't bad. It's got oak and maple syrup on the nose, a touch of acid and vanilla on the palate and a light vanilla finish. It's inoffensive and decent, but why on earth anyone would pay $80 for it, I don't know, especially when you can still get the Old Forester 1897, which is better, for cheaper.  


Maker's 46 Cask Strength, 54.45% ($40 for 375 ml; available only at the distillery gift shop)

I was a big fan of the regular Maker's Mark Cask Strength, and I generally like Maker's 46, so I was excited to try this cask strength version of the barrel stave finished Maker's 46. The nose is floral, earthy and fruity. The palate comes on with sickly sweet candy notes, like Kool-Aid. The sweetness dissipates after a few seconds but there's nothing much left, or whatever is left is so dominated by the initial sweetness that it's undetectable. The finish tastes like artificial sweetener. Yuck. Stay away!





Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Barrel Proof, Barrel 15-4962, 66.1% abv ($65)

Jack Daniel's finally gives us a barrel proof offering with this new version of the single barrel. The nose starts with bananas foster and ends with rotten bananas. The palate is banana liqueur and the finish is banana candy. Surprisingly, it's not too hot for the high abv. Well, JD delivers the bananas, which I suppose their fans must like. I don't much like bananas, so I thought this one was worse than the Maker's Kool-Aid.




For those of you who love to buy every special release, I just saved you $185 (plus tax) and who knows how much on the secondary market!  You're welcome.


Thanks to The Whiskey Jug and Steve Neese for the samples.

More Angelic: Angel's Envy Cask Strength 2015

The marketing firm for Louisville Distilling Company was kind enough to send me a sample of the new edition of Angel's Envy Cask Strength.  As with the regular Angel's Envy, this is bourbon finished in port casks. This year, they are releasing 7,500 bottles of the Cask Strength. It is the first new release since Bacardi purchased the company.

Angel's Envy Cask Strength, 2015 Release, 63.95% ($170)

The nose has honey and some nutty notes. The palate opens with rich butterscotch. It develops some spice and then turns a bit medicinal. The finish is where you get some port notes which blend well with the caramel. Water brings out some soapy notes.  I prefer it neat - while it's high proof, it doesn't feel hot or alcohol heavy.

This one has improved a lot since it first came out. An earlier batch I tasted was dreadful, but this one is quite good with a nice richness and complexity to it.

Thanks to Aaron at Ro-Bro Marketing for the sample. 

More on Copper & Kings Brandy

My post about Copper & Kings Butchertown Brandy led to a lot of questions and speculation in the comments so I reached out to Copper & Kings' Joe Heron, who had joined the comments, for some answers. There's also a lot of good information on their website. According to Joe:

• The brandies are sourced from multiple producers in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Ohio, Michigan, and New York State.
• All of the brandies are distilled in pot stills (note that this would exclude brandies from the big California producers).
• The blend is 75% aged in bourbon casks and 25% aged in medium char American white oak
• They use a solera type system with a new blend each year which uses a portion of the previous year's blend. They are up to their fifth blend right now.
• They purchased brandies at 3 to 12 years old and continued to age them. Current bottlings contain brandies from 54 months to 13 years old, though most of the blend is around 8 or 9 years old. 
• Sources for pot stilled brandies have pretty much dried up.
• Their apple brandy is pot distilled, aged in bourbon and sherry casks and the youngest brandies in the blend are four years old.
• None of the brandies are chill filtered or use any sugar, caramel or boise.

Thanks to Joe for being willing to share information about his brandies.