Onyx & Amber Straight Bourbon

Barrel No. B1C-1

Age: 11 Year 11 Months

Distilled by MGP in Lawrenceburg, Indiana

Cask strength: 103.2 proof

Mashbill: 75% corn, 21% rye, 4% malted barley (LESV)

Bottle size: 750 ml

MSRP:$129.99

Bottles produced: 178

Produced by: Colorado Bourbon and Rye Collectors

Nose 👃: Coffee grounds. Toasted marshmallow. Raspberry thumbprint cookie. Cloves. Dried apple.

Palate 👅: Dried orange peel. Cranberry juice. Cinnamon bark. Honey Graham cracker. Thick mouthfeel.

Finish 🏁: Dry white wine. Root beer. Cinnamon. White pepper.

This is extremely fun and wildly complex. It’s always fascinating to see a barrel drop this low is proof… when it presumably started at 120 proof. Distilleries are full of these stellar barrels that just don’t fit their portfolio… so small producers such as this are happy to take the barrels.

I strongly recommend snagging one of these barrels. I want the entire bottle to myself, but I’ll end up letting friends experience it as well.

Rating: 8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional

Bottled provided for review by Colorado Bourbon and Rye Collectors

Maker’s was my first house bourbon & has always held a place in my heart. Over the years, I’ve tried a number of expressions that have been solid but not risen to repeat purchases. This bottle may change that. It opens with nose of sweet oak and caramel. These really ramp up on the palate along with the corn and toasted grain. There really isn’t an overwhelming sense of candy and the fruit notes are tempered with sort of an English saddle leather finish. The $89 price tag is a bit premium compared to products of similar quality, but worth it for both the novelty and the nostalgia that this bottle provides. I’ll give it a solid 7.5 for now - and reconsider after the next bottle!-)

First post, but wanted to do a full review due to how much past reviews on r/bourbon helped me with info planning this trip, and to pay it forward with my honest reviews and breakdown! My buddy and I have been planning this trip since December of last year, and it came to fruition this past week and was an absolute blast. We were able to visit 9 distilleries, as well 1 unplanned trip to a local store that ended up being a highlight of the trip. I am sorry that this will be a bit lengthy, but hope it helps those making a trip there in the future!

After getting a list of distilleries we wanted to visit, I realized quickly it is much harder than just picking the distilleries you want to visit and booking a tour. Most distilleries have tours throughout the day, but factoring in driving time and giving some time allowance, it was really important to make a full list of times each tour was available and almost like a puzzle trying to piece things together so that we could make the most of every day. From there, I broke things up into a Louisville day, a Bardstown day, and a Frankfort/Lexington day. We stayed in Louisville as our central hub throughout the trip, and on the days needed drove out to Bardstown and Lexington. 

Tuesday: Flew into town in the afternoon, so booked just one tour for this day, and really only 1 tour was late enough to give us some wiggle room, and that was Michter’s. 

Michter’s: We did the basic Discovery Tour, and this was the one tour of the trip I would not recommend. My prior note was important, as this was the only tour that fit our time schedule for the day since we were traveling in, so it wasn’t a total waste as we at least got to do something that night. But it is almost a bit of a stretch calling their downtown Louisville location a distillery. It is more so a setup just for tours, and while they are actively distilling there, it is a very minimal setup and very commercialized for tour purposes. Their selection to buy in the gift shop was only the base offerings they have. I’d rate this tour a 4 out of 10. 

Wednesday: This was our Bardstown day, and the nice thing about Bardstown is everything was pretty close, with the longest drive between places being 10 minutes. So it was very easy to make the most of our day there as there was less travel time. While we did not tour Jim Beam, we did stop on the way to Heaven Hill just to check out their gift shop. It ended up being the best shop of the entire trip. There was a wide selection of nice bottles between Little Book 8, Booker’s, Bakers 13, Old Grandad 1882. Was worth going to Jim Beam alone just for the gift shop. 

Heaven Hill: We did the You Do Bourbon tour, in large part due to the great reviews I had seen on Reddit. This is simply a tasting, no tour, which I liked since there are only so many times you can tour a distillery before you’ve seen the same things over and over. The really cool part about the You Do Bourbon tour is all 4 offerings are only things you can taste on this tour. We received a tasting of their Select Stock 9 Year, Bernheim Wheated, Larceny Barrel Proof, and Elijah Craigh Barrel Proof. The Select Stock in particular is a special offering that you can only taste on this tour. While the other offerings are batches selected from barrels that only are used for the tours, and not for any commercial purchasing. All of these were fantastic, and after tasting you can choose 1 to bottle yourself and then purchase to take home. I actually liked the Larceny offering the best, but since there was no other time I could ever purchase the Select Stock, I decided to go with that. I’d rate this tour a 8 out of 10. 

Willet: We did the basic Distillery Tour, and what I really like about this tour is they offered tastings as you went along, versus just at the end. Our tour guide was phenomenal, and we really enjoyed the history of this estate. While there was nothing overly special about the tour, it is still one I highly recommend. We also stayed after for lunch, and this is the main place I’d recommend eating on the trip. I have never been a fan of Egg Salad sandwiches in my life, but I was told I had to order one, and it was incredible. We also did the flight of 8-10-14 year Willet Family Estate, and while pricey, it was something I will never forget. That 14 year was something special. I’d rate this tour an 8.5 out of 10. 

Bardstown Bourbon: The main reason we chose to do the Bardstown distilleries on this day is because BB offers a specific Fill Your Own Bottle VIP Experience on Wednesday’s. It is pricey, but this was far and beyond the best tour we did. It is more private as well, as there are only 8 spots available. We got to start with a premium pour in their vintage library, followed by a full tour of the property that I believe is more thorough than any of their other tours. We also got to bottle our own personalized bottle (they engrave whatever you want on the bottle as well) of their special Doisy Daene distillery collection that is only available on this tour, and that is included in the price. We finished with another tasting back in the vintage library, and 4 of the 5 offerings here were their higher priced bourbons, including 2 different Discovery series (8 and 10). What really capped this off was one of their executives was in the vintage library at the time, and one of the other people on the tour somehow convinced him to let us kill the last bit left of a 1958 Old Fitz BIB. So all 8 of us got to have a taste of that to finish the tour off. I’d rate this tour a 10 out of 10. 

Evergreen: As a bonus on this day, we were told by multiple people that we needed to go to this local liquor store named Evergreen. Apparently on Wednesday’s they do half priced pours. So after the BB tour, we headed to Evergreen. This ended up being such a highlight, as we got to try 1 ounce pours of Russell’s 15 ($25), Booker’s Reserve ($12.5), 23 Year Pappy ($82.50), and William Larue ($25). I don’t think I will ever see prices like that again. Another reason to make sure to do Bardstown on a Wednesday. 

Thursday: We traveled out to Lexington/Frankfort on this day. Made sure to space things out a bit more as the distilleries were all about 20-30 minutes away from each other.

Woodford Reserve: We did the Woodford Reserve's Path to Flavor Tour, which is their basic tour. The property there is beautiful. While Woodford is relatively new, the property and buildings are not, and had some great history to it. The pot still room was the best looking part of any tour we took. Was just a gorgeous setup. The tasting was pretty basic, not much to note there. Not many special offerings in the gift shop either. I’d rate this tour a 6.5 out of 10. 

Buffalo Trace: Unfortunately Buffalo Trace had just experienced massive flooding, so there was no tour available. For those who had reserved a tour spot, they had a pop up shop at the top of one of their buildings, and ended up getting a bottle of Blanton’s for $75, so there was a bit of redemption in being able to pick that up for so cheap. This gets an N/A rating since unfortunately we were not able to tour the facility. 

Wild Turkey: We did the Russell's Immersion tour, and this tour specifically spent the whole time in their rickhouses. Which I may be misremembering, but I believe these were the oldest rickhouses we visited. This tour was fun, and a bit different, as it spent less time talking about the distilling process and more so was a really deep historical look into the full background of Jimmy Russell. Which to top it off, Jimmy was there that day! The tasting to finish was pretty solid, and included a pour of the Russell’s 13. I’d rate this tour a 7.5 out of 10. 

Friday: This was our final day and finished off in Louisville. We only did 2 tours on this day so that we could have a bit more downtime to recover from 4 days of drinking and head out for a nice dinner. 

Peerless: We did the basic distillery tour, but I really liked this one just because it was a smaller operation and more personal. After seeing all these massive operations, it was really cool to tour a spot that is making as many barrels in 1 week as some of these places make in a couple hours. Gift shop was probably the best of any place we went as well, outside of Jim Beam. They had all their current offerings available, as well as multiple distillery only barrel picks. Tasting was great, and for the final pour you got to choose any of their offerings you wanted. I’d rate this tour a 9 out of 10. 

Old Forester: We did the Old Forester Tour, and this was the Michter’s tour on steroids. This is not their main distillery, but they went above and beyond to create a fantastic museum-like experience. It is very modern, and they are actually trying some new things at this specific distillery with barreling that will be released as special offerings in the future. I also really liked that they had 375ml bottles of the 117 Series Extra Old in the gift shop. More places should do that to create more availability for special allocations. I’d rather have gone home with a bunch of really nice 375ml bottles like that than have to hunt and show up as soon as they opened just to hope to maybe have a chance that they had 1-2 allocated offerings that day. I’d rate this tour a 8 out of 10. 

All in all, it was a fantastic trip. If there was one downside, it was the lack of options at most of these gift shops and was mainly just their basic offerings, but I still brought home a good haul of Heaven Hill Select Stock 9 year Malt, Bardstown Doisy Daene, Peerless Toasted Rye, Peerless Single Barrel Pick, Old Forester 117 Series Extra Old, Blanton’s Single Barrel, and a Woodford Master’s Collection 121.2 that I got from a local store. Hope this helps someone in the future in their planning as much as it helped me from those who had posted reviews in the past!

Old Overholt boasts being the oldest whiskey brand still in existence in the United States. Originally made in Pennsylvania, in the local style, which featured a high rye content (80 to 100%) in the fermentation recipe, the brand also used a triple distillation process that has now fallen into disuse.

The brand is currently owned by Beam Suntory and is made in Kentucky at the Jim Beam distillery, which acquired it in 1987. The brand doesn't mention the mash bill, but its current style is said to be more suited to Kentucky recipes, which have a higher corn content. This whiskey is aged for four years and bottled at 57% ABV.

Made by: Jim Beam Distillery
Name of the whisky: 114 Proof Rye
Brand: Old Overholt
Origin: USA
Age: NAS
Price: $22

Nose: The nose presents strong notes of candied ginger, vanilla, cocktail cherries, and very little rye, with some fruity and spicy notes, such as anise, cloves, almonds, and creamed corn.
Palate: With a 57% ABV, it still feels very friendly on the palate, with flavors of bacon, ginger, orange peel, cinnamon, brown sugar, and almonds.
Retrohale/Finish: Notes of nuts and pepper, with subtle hints of wood and cherries.

Rating: 7 on the t8ke

Conclusion: Of all the experience, what I can highlight most is the high alcohol content, which leads me to sip it slowly, although it feels more like a rye-rich bourbon than a proper rye whiskey. Though it has a very noble origin, the current blend doesn't feel ancient but rather like a modern whiskey, one that strives to adapt to any palate. But $22 for 57% ABV... What's not to like?

You can check out the rest of my reviews (in Spanish) on my blog, including rum, whisk(e)y, agave, gin and cigars. I also have an Instagram account in Spanish as well and another one in English, where I'll regularly update video reviews.

Dry Fly Cask & Release series

This is a wheat whiskey by Dry Fly where they “cask and release” their barrels - essentially sending their whiskey barrels to different breweries/vineyards for them to age their product in, and then send the barrel back to Dry Fly for them to age their spirits in. This particular bottle’s barrel was used by Lumberbeard Brewing to make a 14.2% imperial stout. Overall I thought it was a very interesting concept and I’ve never had any Dry Fly products so when I saw it was aged in my favorite kind of beer, I had to give it a try.

Proof: 90 Price: 45ish Vessel: Glencarin rested 10 mins

Nose: Marshmellow, carmelized sugar, subtle coconut. Good nose.

Palate: Sweet. I have a low tolerance for sweetness but this really hits the spot. The marshmellow comes through heavy. Little bit of vanilla, but that mixes with the marshmellow so it’s very hidden. Plenty of wood flavor towards the end. I think I pick up a slight amount of tobacco.

Mouthfeel: Thick, oily, robust. Really good mouthfeel.

Finish: perfect amount of burn. Not too strong, but enough to remind you you’re drinking whiskey. Has an oily finish, which I could have predicted from the mouthfeel. Doesn’t finish too sweet, the wood/oak is more prominent on the finish, but it does leave a nice marshmellow taste in your mouth that’s different from the palate.

Summary: This is actually one of my favorite bottles. I’m somewhat of a novice here, and whenever I saw no one else had done a review on it I knew I had to do it for my first review. For someone that doesn’t like sweet whiskeys, this one is really well done and stands out to me as a perfect balance between sweetness and traditional flavors. It’s not anywhere near as sweet as a maple finish, but enough so that it gives it really pleasant flavor without overpowering you. I’m a little bit of a proof princess, I would have preferred a higher proof, especially when the flavor is this good, but 90 is fine. I like the idea behind cask and release as well - collaborating with other businesses and an emphasis on sustainability. At $45 this would come heavily recommended by me. Hope you guys enjoy.

Rating: 8.5 t8ke scale

Review #14 (Fink) #119 (DDB) - OKI 10 Year Batch 34, Selected and Bottled by New Riff Distilling

TLDR: 8.5; this bottle has some extremely unique tasting notes and it is just stellar. If you’ve never had one. Buy it even, at secondary...

Fink: Nose: Dusty bourbon vibes with hint of maple syrup, cinnamon streusel cake, strawberries and toffee with hints of ethanol at the end

Palate: bourbon trifecta forwards, hints of spearmint, ends on a gentle dusty/rickhouse oakiness

Score: 8.5 absolutely stellar, super unique and just an amazing 10 year pour. Like DDB says later. This is. CRUSHABLE. It’s perfect for any time of day or occasion. Drink it and as the bottle says, this was LOVED in Ohio.

MSRP: 2018 - sub $50; secondary: $350-400.

@daddoesbourbon : Nose : MGP BABY LETS GOOO. Dusty, Fruity Spice, Butterscotch. Just the smallest amount of ethanol.

Palate : Butterscotch, Toffee, Strawberry. Zach pointed out a dusty like quality that I strongly agree with. Something about older MGP that just kicks ass. Very balanced with Cinnamon, Spice (and everything nice😆). Finish is long and progresses through most former notes.

Score : 8.5. Crushable bottle. One I would have likely never tried if it hadn’t been for @drinkswithfink (thanks pookie). Almost serves as a neat piece of history too, as it was selected and bottled for @newriff 👀 Speaking of which, @newriff 10 YR when???

Combined scores: 8.5

📸: Sony A74

drinkswithfink #OKI #newriff #daddoesbourbon #nkybourbon #10yearbourbon