Bookers, and many Beam products, often have that peanut brittle note I love. Just like Jack Daniels has banana and Dickel has that Flintsones vitamin thing. I believe it’s yeast derived. Four Roses does a great job of showing the variation from yeast and it’s pretty amazing. Heaven Hill seems pretty neutral, just very woody.
There can be a vast difference between the regular Whistle Pig 10, and store pick single barrels of the same. Also, while all of it used to be Alberta Rye, sometimes it is now MGP (Midwestern Grain Products out of Indiana). Lotf os people love the MPG Rye, but I don't. Too much dill. I do love MGP bourbon. Alberta has a different profile, a good one will have a lot of caramel and also spice cake notes.
Hudson's reputation is pretty poor among more serious bourbon drinkers (not Beam white label types), along with FEW and Cleveland. Corsair is supposed to be terrible too. Some of the craft distillers make good stuff, improve and age things properly in full sized barrels. Others don't. I'm done with Mad River. Been in business for years and they still won't age things in full sized barrels, leading to that awful wet cardboard flavor you get from small barrels.I really, really want to like Hudson’s because they’re local…but you’re right. It’s just unremarkable in every way and it’s twice the price it should be. I used to like taking company there, but with all of the other distilleries popping up, there are better options for that, too.
And totally agree on Barrel….I love everything I have from them.
One new distillery that has my attention…Vale Fox in LaGrange, NY.
They have a single malt coming out in two months. While they’re waiting, they’ve released a terrific classic gin for cocktails (widely carried by bars (Wood n Tap) and liquor stores in Connecticut.) and some collaborations with Jeffrey Dean Morgan and his wife….they’ve released a blackberry gin and a rye under the MF Libations label.
Have not tried either, but will soon.
Hilarie Burton Morgan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan launch MF Libations
The Hollywood couple live part-time on a 100-acre farm in Rhinebeck, and have launched a spirit line with gin and rye made from farm products.www.timesunion.com
Funny, we were in Waitsfield with a group of friends a few summers ago and one morning we hit up the local farmers market, where Mad River had a booth and was pouring samples. My buddies were eager to partake; I had one taste and thought it was jet fuel. They were looking for a gift for a friend of theirs and decided to chip in on whatever their most expensive one was. I was thinking I would have been bummed if I was the recipient.
I used to go to that farmer's market all the time! It's about 20 minutes from our former house in Rochester. There is a "tasting place" adjacent to it in the plaza, that always has Mad River and some other stuff to try. I understood when they were new and aging quickly, but there's no excuse now to sell crap aged in tiny barrels for under 2 years at $50 a bottle.
Local shop owner bought a barrel of it. I tried it and...NFW. It's not worth $50.
Man, t8ke raved about the grey label stuff. Lucky to get some of it.
The bourbon is aged Solera style, which just doesn't seem to work for bourbon. It's an end run on the legal requirement that bourbon is aged in new charred oak. Meaning a new barrel. By adding some in and taking some out over a long time, they seem to be using barrels longer than would be possible otherwise. The result is just bland, and some of it may be quite young, you don't know. I honestly don't know how they legally call it bourbon. I haven't had the Malt or Rye. The rye gets new charred oak, might be better. No idea who the crazy people are that pay their prices.
lol
The worst I've had were some of the hazmat level Stagg Jr. bottles, but ECBP is often a bruiser. Oxidation really seems to help take the edge off. I used to open those bottles, poor some and put it back in a dark place for a few months.
