Jim Beam Signature Craft Harvest Collection Brown Rice Kentucky Straight Bourbon

VITALS:
- $49.99 (purchased on sale for $19.99)
- 90 Proof
- 11 Years

As with the Soft Red Wheat bourbon that I posted about earlier, this was another bottle that I was more than happy to grab at the nice price of $19.99, significantly discounted from the usual $49.99 price tag that had kept me from buying a bottle up until this point. At $20, even though this is only a 375 ml bottle, I was willing to give it a shot.

The first thing I noticed is that the nose was not noteworthy. It quite frankly reminded me of a mid-shelf mixer, having those hints of vanilla and brown sugar, but you really had to work to notice them. So far nothing special here.

Upon tasting it, I remained unimpressed. The flavor up front was very mild and watered down. There was absolutely no burn, but that usually goes hand in hand with the watered down flavor. So far I was pretty disappointed.

But then, probably a full two seconds after it hit my tongue, flavors started to come through. I'm not sure what they were waiting for, perhaps setting the bar low to make their appearance. But they eventually did show up to the party, and suddenly this watered down, plain bourbon took on a life of its own and was very enjoyable.

That sweetness reminded me of cornbread with honey butter. I know that's kind of specific and for some, perhaps, unrelatable. But, it's just one of those things where you taste a bourbon and you're reminded of something you've had before, and for me this was it. It wasn't a dessert-type of sweet, just a mild, flavorful sweetness that makes a good compliment to spicy Cajun food, for example. Those sweet tones were balanced by a mild wood and toasted grain flavor that really added to the complexity of the flavor, tardy as it may have been.

This one was weird. The nose is really weak, and even with my last pour, it really came across as bland and watered down for the first second or two, and then the flavor hits, like a delayed reaction. I'm glad it finally did show up, though, because I then found myself enjoying it when it was there.

While I think I liked the Soft Red Wheat better, it's not by much, and this one ultimately gets the same grade. For the sale price, it's worth the purchase, but I'm glad I stayed away from paying full price.

Grade: B

Maker's Mark Binny's Private Selection Kentucky Straight Bourbon

VITALS:
- $70
- 111.3 Proof
- NAS
- Barrel No. 38, Batch No. 6

I had never had a Maker's Mark private selection prior to going to Louisville this past Summer. While there, we went to (read: "stumbled to") the Haymarket. It happened to be the last bar we went to on our last night in town. Of course, we were a number of drinks in at this point, but, nonetheless, having finally made it to one of the bars we had targeted from day one, we weren't going to let that stop us from trying out something new.

I took a look at the bar, and without hesitation I ordered a Rock Hill Farms (which I honestly couldn't tell you much about that pour other than I liked it, but, then again, I might have enjoyed some ashtray water at that point). My friend, however, ordered a Maker's Mark Haymarket Private Selection. Despite the state that we both were in, the one thing that we did notice and did not forget was that this Maker's Mark tasted unlike any other Maker's Mark I've had before.

About a week later I was at Untitled in Chicago for a quick happy hour drink, and I made it a point to try their Maker's Mark Private Selection. Again, it was unlike any other Maker's Mark I've had before. It was rich, chocolatey and spicey, and I left wanting more.

Luckily, it was not long after that I found one of these private selection at one of my local Binny's. Despite the price, I jumped at it without hesitation. I even texted my friend to let him know they were there, and he grabbed his own bottle.

Each barrel is finished with ten charred staves inserted into the barrel. With the private barrel selection program, you can actually select the type of staves used, which can produce different flavors than the standard Maker's Mark or Maker's 46. In this case, I must say I was really drawn in by the fact that half of the staves were made up of either the French Mocha or the French Spice.

As soon as I broke the seal and popped the cork, the first thing I noticed was the nose. Even from a few feet away, as I was grabbing my glass from the cupboard, I could smell the toffee notes emanating from the bottle. The sweetness of this bourbon was strong from the start.

On the first sip I was struck immediately by a blend of chocolate and red wine flavor. It was very rich, matching in many respects the dark color of the bourbon. The chocolate notes were dominant, but the pinot noir red wine flavor seemed to not only keep the bourbon from seeming too sweet but to also offer flavors of dark fruit that complemented the chocolate notes.

The toffee flavors that I found on the nose were also present, but not to the extent that the nose had me expecting. Rather, the toffee was there just as an additional little perk, like finding a five dollar bill in your jacket pocket. It won't buy much, but it nonetheless brings momentary pleasure.

This bottle certainly brings the heat, but the soft wine and chocolate flavors seemed to help that heat settle pretty quickly, keeping this from being a real burner, as well as keeping it from being too sweet. As the bottle was open for a while, that burn dissipated, and really, the only flaw I found in this product seemed to go away as I got to the final few pours.

This was an excellent bottle, and while each selection is going to be influenced by the different staves added to the barrel, I won't hesitate to grab any future private selections I may come across, whether at a bar, a liquor store, or otherwise.

Grade: A

Jim Beam Signature Craft Harvest Collection Soft Red Wheat Kentucky Straight Bourbon

VITALS:
- $49.99 (purchased on sale for $19.99)
- 90 Proof
- 11 Years

I couldn't tell you how many times I've walked into the liquor store, seen these Harvest Collection Jim Beam bottles, wanted to try them, and ultimately decided the price was just to prohibitive. I simply couldn't justify spending $50 on a .375 ml bottle, particularly on something that is experimental.

However, at $20, I'm certainly more willing to try something different. So when Binny's put these on sale at $19.99, I grabbed this one and the Brown Rice. After all, a Jim Beam experiment with a different grain that has been aged for 11 years can only be so bad, and there's always the possibility that it's really good (though I'm guessing I would have heard about it by now if this were some amazing juice). In any event, at $20, I was happy to pick up a couple bottles to try them for myself.

Being a wheated bourbon, albeit an experimental grain of wheat, I fully expected a sweeter version of regular Beam. That wasn't exactly what I found, though. While it is certainly a sweeter bourbon, I was surprised to find that it took a second for the sweetness to come through. However, that sweetness, once it did hit, stuck around for a while, with a buttery caramel flavor lingering at the back of the throat long after I swallowed.

I actually enjoyed this bourbon more after I swallowed than I did upon the first sip. Up front it almost had a slight bitterness to it that I wasn't a very big fan of, but yet, after I was done, I found myself thinking, "That was pretty good!"  Go figure.

In addition to that buttery caramel note on the back end, there were also distinct hints of vanilla and oak, with a slight brown sugar tone up front. The oakiness of the bourbon is likely was contributed to that dry, bitterness up front.

Because this comes in the 375 ml bottle, I didn't get to spend a whole lot of time with it, so I didn't notice a whole lot of change from the first pour to the last. I did, however, notice on later pours a toasted almond flavor that I didn't recall noticing at first.

All in all, if this was an experiment by Beam, I think it was a good one. Certainly for a lower price this is a bourbon I would enjoy again. Unfortunately, though, it appears these small but pricey offerings are all we're going to get, so I'll just continue to look for similar sales on the others.

Grade: B

Barton 1792 Sweet Wheat Kentucky Straight Bourbon

VITALS:
- $44.00
- 91.2 Proof
- NAS

I had been on the hunt for a while now for the 1792 Sweet Wheat, but I just could not find it in the stores. Even when I was in Louisville, even though I was able to find it, it was either overpriced or there was something else that caught my eye at the time. So, when I wandered into one of my regular liquor store stops just to see what they had, I couldn't have been more pleased to find one bottle sitting by itself on the bottom shelf.

The nose itself is indeed soft and sweet, like vanilla cereal. One of my favorite cereals growing up was Frosted Cheerios, and I was reminded of how much I like that cereal when I took a big whiff of this.

This is unquestionably a wheated bourbon. However, it did not have that normal tang or twinge (I have no idea how to describe it) that other wheated bourbons have. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone reading this, but it does to me. Rather, this wheated bourbon is very smooth, and certainly sweeter than other wheated bourbons I've had.

It has a soft and sweet palate to match the flavors on the nose. That cereal flavor is still there, mixing grain with sugar and vanilla. There is, however, something light and crisp about this whiskey that I didn't expect. I've tried to put my finger on it since the first pour, and yet, even after the last drop, I can't quite identify it. It is almost citrusy, but not quite. Perhaps it's just a variation of the aforementioned tang/twinge that I'm used to noticing in wheated bourbons.

I actually had plans of getting to a good bourbon bar near my work where I know they carry the 1792 Sweet Wheat, but luckily for me I found a bottle of my own. Of course I may still go to that bar, but now I can spend my money trying something different. In the meantime, though, if I ever see Sweet Wheat on the shelves again, I won't hesitate to grab a bottle for the bunker.

Grade: A-

Dad's Hat Pennsylvania Rye Whiskey

VITALS:
- $45
- 90 Proof
- NAS

My wife is wonderful in so many ways, but one of the biggest ways is when she buys me random bottles of whiskey out of the blue. This was one such bottle. Intrigued by the sticker on the bottle advertising Dad's Hat's Rye as having been named Craft Whiskey of the Year by Whisky Advocate, and knowing it was one I've not tried before, she grabbed a bottle for me on a whim. (You should know she also grabbed yet another bottle of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof while she was at the store just because she knew I loved it!)

I feel like I've been lucky enough to get my hands on some of the harder to find or nicer bottles from the major producers lately, but, as a result, I haven't tried many of the hundreds of craft distillery products that are out there, so I eagerly popped the cork on this one right away.

Sometimes when I nose a bourbon it takes me a few tries before I can pin down the different scents I'm noticing. That was not the case with this one. This nose was a blend of tobacco leaf and dark cherry. Certainly these are not everyday scents, so I don't know why, for whatever reason, I was able to ascertain this one quickly, but I was certain of what I smelled. The tobacco reminded leave actually reminded me of some Irish whiskeys I've had in the past.

Upon the first sip, the first thing I noticed was that this Rye has an odd tanginess to it. At first I chalked it up to the fact that it is a young whiskey coming from a craft distillery. According to the label, it was aged for a minimum of 6 months in new oak quarter cask barrels. I've noticed that with young ryes, they have a certain young quality due to less time spent with the wood. This one was a bit different than that, though.

The tanginess was almost like the sweet tanginess you get from vermouth or even rum finished barrels—a sweetness that has a thin line between sweet and too sweet. I thought this rye came pretty close to that line, but did not cross it.

It had an interesting combination of flavors going on. Though it took me a few drinks to pinpoint it, it has a nutmeg flavor that seemed to mix with the plum (perhaps that's the tanginess I noticed, like biting into a not-quite-ripe plum). However, it had that sugar cane flavor to it as well. I can't recall ever having plum pudding, but I imagine that if I had, that would be my flavor comparison here. I could be way off base here, so for now I'll just leave it as is and make it a point to try plum pudding some time.

All in all, this is a good rye that I feel, with some additional aging, can become a really good rye. That being said, this one was already bottled, so I drank it and enjoyed it. While it may not be on the list of my priorities as far as future purchases, it certainly has me interested in some of the other products that Dad's Hat offers, including the port finished rye I've seen on the shelves recently, and I may give one of those a go.

Grade: B

Willett Family Estate 3-Year Straight Rye

VITALS:
- $45
- 110.4 Proof
- 3 Years

Last year I had the opportunity to try the Willett Family Estate 2 Year Rye, their own product which they distilled and aged, and I absolutely loved it. So, when the 3-year was released, I did not hesitate to grab a bottle to try immediately (and I'm sure I'll be grabbing each future release as well).

It's nice when a product you already know you love gets released as a slightly older version. It really takes the risk out of the purchase, not that I've found a whole lot of risk with Willett products to begin with. This one certainly did not disappoint. On the nose I immediately noticed cinnamon bread. It was a nice blend of sweet spice and grain that made my mouth salivate immediately.

What followed was a taste of traditional rye, but also, and not necessarily unexpectedly, a mild cinnamon flavor paired with an earthy maltiness, giving this rye multiple enjoyable layers, and certainly showing where the cinnamon bread nose came from. At points I even likened it to Cinnamon Toast Crunch (for some reason, I frequently find myself comparing flavors in whiskey to different cereal brands). It just had that familiarity to it. 

This rye really seemed to linger for ever. It's a more viscous rye, one that really coated the mouth and back of the throat, making that cinnamon flavor stick around for quite a while. A light minty-ness seemed to come through at the end, really only noticeable after I swallowed. This presented a nice complement to the sweet heat that maintained throughout each sip, even long after I finished each sip.

This remained a very rich rye from the beginning of the bottle to the end. Towards the end, it seemed to be almost all cinnamon and caramel (a combination of flavors that I really seem to enjoy!), really finishing strong.

I took my time getting through this bottle, and now that it's done, I feel like it won't be too long before their next release. I can't wait, as I enjoyed this more than the 2-year (which, looking back at my old post, I clearly loved!), and this stuff appears to be on an upward trajectory right now.

Grade: A

Pikesville Straight Rye Whiskey

VITALS:

Price: $50

Proof: 110 Proof

Age: 6 Years (NAS on bottle)

Distiller: Heaven Hill

I held onto this bottle for quite some time before opening it. I'm not really sure why, just seemed to have something else I wanted to open first, and so my Pikesville Rye just sat bunkered, waiting to be loved. But, finally, I decided to crack the seal and give it a try, and before I knew it I was to the bottom of the bottle. I don't know what I was waiting for, because once opened I couldn't stay away from this stuff.

On the nose there's a distinct citrus note to it, very orange-y. Traditional rye flavors are also present, with a strong cinnamon spice, but the orange scent immediately set this apart from other ryes.

On the first sip, the citrus note remained, but it had more bitterness to it, more like orange peel. That bitter orange peel flavor mixed quite well, however, with prominent brown sugar and vanilla notes, making this rye neither too bitter nor too sweet. It found a nice cushion in the middle, like a slot receiver finding a soft spot in a zone defense.

This is certainly a different tasting rye, unlike your traditional ryes, but it still had some of the familiar characteristics I enjoy in a good rye, particularly that cinnamon spice. While it wasn't strong and didn't tickle the back of my throat or make my mouth water like some do, it again was enough to balance very well with all the other flavors going on.

This rye clocks in at 110 proof. Although it's not labeled as barrel proof, there certainly hasn't been much watering down of the product, and that complexity and richness that comes with higher proofs certainly exists in this rye. It's an incredibly easy sipper despite the high proof, and I didn't really notice any burn either in the nose or on the palate. 

Ultimately, this is one of the most well-balanced ryes I've had, giving almost equal doses of citrus, sweet, spicy and bitter. Since its release, Pikesville has been pretty readily available, and, although somewhat in the higher range of ryes, is certainly worth the price, as this is an excellent, albeit kind of different, rye whiskey. It's no wonder that I found my way through this bottle as fast as I did.

Grade: A-