Well, it is that time of year again, and, due to Covid, New Orleans Bourbon Festival Bourbons are being released in stores rather than at the festival. Wilderness Trail has a release this year as they did last year. I picked one up this weekend in New Orleans and Hokus Pokus will have some in … Continue reading Tasting Notes: Wilderness Trail Kentucky Straight Bourbon New Orleans Bourbon Festival Release

A really nice high proof release of Belle Meade bourbon likely sourced from MGP. Color: Beautiful dark amber and mahogany. Lovely film and gravity defying legs on the swirl. Nose is very traditional bourbon with vanilla, caramel and oak, with just a slight hint of herbal rye. On the palate is Caribbean vanilla, sweet dark … Continue reading Tasting Notes: Belle Meade Reserve Bourbon 108.3 Proof

So, two guys from New Jersey decide to get in the bourbon business and name their bourbon after one of the founder's baby daughter, Penelope. Definitely not your traditional bourbon story, but, like Pinhook, they are sourcing their bourbon from MGP in Indiana and bottling at Castle & Key in Kentucky. Interestingly, they source their … Continue reading Penelope Straight Bourbon Barrel Strength Batch 5

This is a new style of post for the blog; "Tasting Notes", which are going to be shorter in length and reserved for new releases or store picks of whiskies previously reviewed on this blog. Tonight's tasting notes bottle is the third quarter release of 2020 for Booker's, which is now harder to find than … Continue reading Tasting Notes: Booker’s 2020-03 “Pigskin Batch”

I have blogged extensively on 1792, which is a bourbon made at Buffalo Trace’s sister distillery 1792 Barton in Bardstown, Kentucky. I have also noted that their older bourbon can really be top shelf even when bottled by someone else. 1792 has done a limited release of a twelve year old bourbon and I picked … Continue reading 1792 Twelve Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon

High West out of Utah has been an innovator in whiskey for some time now, first starting with sourced barrels and are now bottling their own whiskies. The most sought after whiskey is A Midwinter Nights Dram, which is their Rondevous Rye finished in port wine casks. Double Rye! on the other hand in a … Continue reading High West Double Rye! “Ghost Town Rye” Barrel Pick, With A Comparison to A Midwinter Night’s Dram

Recently, I was contacted by a marketing firm that works for Virginia Distilling Company, letting me know that Courage & Conviction, an American Single Malt Whiskey, was now available for purchase by mail order in my home state of Louisiana, and would I be interested in a sample bottle to review for this blog. The … Continue reading Courage & Conviction – An American Single Malt Whisky True To Old World Single Malt

I received a bottle of Rabbit Hole Derringer for Christmas, which is a Kentucky Straight wheated bourbon aged for four to five years in alligator char new oak casks and then finished in Pedro Ximenez Spanish Sherry casks for six months. I am a huge fan of sherry aged and sherry finished scotches. But, for … Continue reading Rabbit Hole Derringer-an interesting but expensive take on cask finished bourbon

For my final bourbon review of 2020, I decided to crack open a bottle I picked up at Hokus Pokus after Christmas, from their last barrel of the year. This is fitting of course as my own discovery of Sugarfield Spirits in Gonzales, Louisiana, has been one of the good highlights of this most messed … Continue reading Last Call 2020 – Sugarfield Spirit’s Cask Strength Bourbon Hokus Pokus HP2 Gold Select

Back in 2015, Buffalo Trace created a website and phone app that allowed users to "Craft Your Perfect Bourbon", by picking the mashbill used, the amount of aging, the placement of the barrel in the warehouse, and the bottling proof. After the first year, and the trend indeed continues, most users of the website pick … Continue reading Weller CYPB 2020-Everything Great but the Proof