whiskeyfortheages, Author at Whiskey for the Ages

Maker’s Mark RC6 Bourbon

Posted on 09-October-202129-June-2022 by whiskeyfortheages

Brian’s Maker’s Mark RC6 Bourbon Review:

reviewed 05-October-2021

MAKER’S MARK RC6 REVIEW:

This bottle of Maker’s Mark RC6 (Maker’s RC6) has been lurking in the bunker for a couple of years. Highly touted by many bourbon pundits, RC6 was Maker’s Mark’s first widely distributed Wood Finishing Series offering, albeit from a limited number of available barrels. With the addition of the latest in the series, it is time to review Maker’s RC6.

The nose of RC6 is inviting with herbal notes light fruit, spice and sweet all balanced with a slight woodiness. Its aroma makes me salivate. Once the mouth acclimates to the heat, herbal undertones, faint Maraschino cherries and bitter citrus zest blend with spices of cinnamon, ginger and black pepper. But the sweetness sensed on the nose is nearly gone. This is a woody, medium finish bourbon.

MAKER’S MARK RC6 VITAL STATS:

Category: Wheated Whiskey, Wood Finishing Series
Region: Loretto, Ky
Distillery: Maker’s Mark
Mashbill: 70% corn; 16% soft red winter wheat; 14% malted barley
Barrel Char: unpublished
Barrel Proof: 110
Age: nas (believed to be about 6 years old)
ABV: 54.1% (108.2 Proof)
Purchase Price: $69.95 USD (2019 – Idaho)

For RC6, released in 2019, Maker’s Mark expanded it’s Maker’s Mark 46 methods using 10 staves of American oak, seasoned by exposure to the elements for 18 months. The staves were then toasted in a convection oven. The distillery released just 255 barrels of RC6; there’s wasn’t much to go around.

Click Maker’s Mark for more Wood Finishing Series information.

ENJOYMENT METHOD:

Alternate pours, equaling about four ounces, were added into two Glencairns. My daughter and I enjoyed the bourbon neat for this review.

Check out her review for this bourbon here!

MAKER’S MARK RC6 NOSE:

At first waft, Maker’s RC6 presents with a fair amount of ethanol. In fact, it nips at the nose before light fruit tree blossoms and herbal notes of roasted field corn and drying wheat are detected. There are aromas of sweet cherries and faint peaches as well as acidic notes of an unexpected chocolate covered citrus fruit. I also picked up spices of ginger and white pepper and fresh wheat bread dusted with cocoa powder. The aromas work well as they mix with sweets of rich vanilla custard, simple syrup, caramelized sugar, and honeycomb. Then come the woody elements of roasted pinenuts, light sweet oak, and hazy toasted wood. While the nose is simple and earthy, the aroma makes me salivate.

MAKER’S MARK RC6 PALATE:

Upon taking the first sip, Maker’s RC6 has a pretty healthy alcohol bite. Once the mouth acclimates, herbal undertones, faint Maraschino cherries and bitter citrus zest blend with spices of cinnamon, ginger and black pepper. But the sweetness sensed on the nose is faint as bittersweet cocoa, faint light molasses seem to fade over the tongue. Unfortunately (for me) the whiskey seems bitter and woody as undefined nuts, dry seasoned oak and hazy and pungent barrel char leave behind an almost musty but citrusy aftertaste.

Balance, Body, Feel and Look:
For me, Maker’s RC6 is both unusual and unbalanced. It is at first creamy then it gets rough and gritty on the tongue when held. In the Glencairn long thin legs return the dregs of each sip back to the tawny colored pool leaving behind a fast falling droplet crown.

MAKER’S MARK RC6 FINISH:

Maker’s Mark RC6 has a medium finish and provides a slight burn at the back of the palate and throat. Like sensed in the mouth it is herbal, and peppery. Its bitterness lingers as fire roasted corn, bittersweet chocolate, nearly burnt caramelized sugar, and hazelnuts. I also get strong woodiness as dry seasoned old oak and barrel char dominate. And when the last drops are gone, faint alcohol and musty oak can be easily drawn from the empty Glencairn

MY RATING: 85/100

Will I buy this whiskey again? YES
The Maker’s Mark Wood Finishing Series is something I will always purchase regardless of the rating of the last release.
_{Click to read Brian’s scoring process.}

Click 85/100 to access other whiskies with this score.
To access other whiskies from this distillery, click Maker’s Mark.

WHISKEY TRAITS, FLAVOR NOTES AND PROFILE GRAPH:

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A Slow Pour – Time Capsules

Posted on 06-October-202106-October-2021 by whiskeyfortheages

Hello, sippers! It has been some time since I posted an installment to this series, where we just sit with a glass of a favorite and chat about anything and everything. Go get yourself a healthy pour, because we are getting thoughtful with today’s Slow Pour, “Time Capsules!” And let me know what you’re sipping in the comments! I’ve got some Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Batch C919, myself.

For the past several weeks, I have had a whiskey thought dancing around in my head: the impact of atmosphere on whiskey and how we think about that impact. Hopefully, most of the time, you’re left with a good impression of your first pour of something. And hopefully that carries to the next pour of that same bottle. But that doesn’t always happen. Sometimes that good impression gets tarnished the next time we have a dram. It’s how we think about those moments and how they come to be “tarnished” that I’m interested in. And is that word “tarnished” truly appropriate?

“How-Did-We-Miss-You” Bottles

I think we can all agree on how the story usually starts. I know sometimes, Dad and I come home with a bottle to review, and we immediately love it. Or there are times when we crack open a bottle for the first time with company. Maybe it’s around a campfire, or it’s with family we haven’t seen for a while. Maybe it’s a brand new experience.

The point is, we open a bottle, and we love it. It’s everything we could ever dream of a whiskey being. It’s warm. Complex. Affordable. Available. It’s a “How did we miss you?” kind of bottle. We rush to the liquor store the next day or next weekend, and we find the Holy Grail bottle (and let’s be honest – we grab two).

We crack open the bottle and pour whatever it is, prepared to be wowed again.

And then we’re not.

And actually, we’re really not. Suddenly, this bottle that was so perfect before, is mediocre, if not downright terrible and unpalatable.

So, what happened?

The People Influence

I’m sure many of our fellow sippers here already know the answer. It’s the company. And many of you, again, likely know this is always one our biggest talking points. Dad and I are fortunate to be in a position where, not only can we enjoy each other’s company during reviews, there are other people in our circle who drink whiskey as well. (In fact, I daresay, we’ve introduced the spirit to many of our friends and family just for others to talk to!)

As whiskey drinkers, and editors of this blog, we love sharing our knowledge on it. But truly, we love enjoying pours with people the most. And as such, we find it relatively easy to get caught up in the laughs and the moment. New whiskey tastes a bit brighter and better than perhaps it does when we find and bring it home.

Now, believe it or not, but I actually have mixed feelings on this cold reality. If you had asked me at the beginning of the summer about this, I likely would have had a few disappointed choice words. However, this summer, I had a once-in-a-lifetime experience. And it’s amazing what those can do to soften hard “no’s” and edges.

The Memory Influence

This summer, our family laid my grandfather to rest in his hometown in Wisconsin, where he lived all of his life. It was an emotional time, and to be quite frank, the pandemic had not made any of the process easy on anyone. Regardless, we made our goodbyes, and the people who could be there, were.

As my dad discusses in We May Never Pass This Way Again, we found ourselves talking whiskey at the family cabin with relatives and friends everywhere. It was truly an incredible moment.

And the whole week we were there, we’d find ourselves sitting around the bonfire every night with whiskey in one hand, and maybe classic Wisconsin cheese or homemade bread or even s’mores in the other. We had a whole variety of bottles to choose from, and at the time, every bottle was stellar. Everything was creamy, warm, complex… and we’d stay up until after midnight enjoying ourselves and laughing with great music.

Facing Cold Reality

Fast forward to us coming back home to Idaho and picking up our reviewing schedule again. Dad and I (and my sister on several occasions) would end up referencing back to that bonfire and the family with almost every review or casual pour we did. Three months later, and we still do.

Eventually we got around to reviewing a bottle we had back in Wisconsin, the Old Scout Smooth Ambler Boise Whiskey Enthusiasts Private Pick. We had brought a bottle out with us for the trip because it was unique (both in vitals and the fact that it was a private pick). Not to mention, it was new to our collection too.

And I had loved that bourbon while in Wisconsin. While I hadn’t poured it every night that we were there, I did partake in several glasses over the course of the week.

But now, coming to the long-awaited review, I sit down… and I find I don’t like it. The shock and initial disappointment I had over this fact had me confused and even frustrated with myself. This bourbon had memories! It was with me and my family for an important event! An event I can’t ever truly go back to, even! And it was one of the most unique bourbons in our collection! I was supposed to love this, not feel that it had been tarnished! (The fact that Dad still did love it, only made matters worse and left me more lost.)

So… I did the review how I saw the bourbon in that moment. And even revisiting this review for the sake of this Slow Pour, I can even see my confusion in my words. And I intend to leave it that way.

Contented Acceptance

The longer I sat with my inner frustrations, however, (aka weeks), the more I realized that it was exactly for those aforementioned reasons that it was alright that I didn’t like the bottle now. The bottle did have memories, and it was a bourbon that I had enjoyed with my family. And now, because I don’t care for the bourbon much, it’s unlikely to get new memories tacked onto it, and my experience with it will be confined to that singular week with my family. And it shouldn’t be a surprise that my setting for it is very reminiscent of the birdhouses surrounding the cabin either.

In essence Smooth Ambler has become a time capsule. It’s a week’s worth of memories in a bottle, and its label I will always get to associate solely with that time. Nothing else can change the magnitude of what that bottle carried.

And I actually find that incredibly special. Do I wish I still enjoyed it? Of course I do. I’d love to be taken back to the bonfire on every pour. But surprisingly, when I open up our bunker to grab a casual pour of the day, and I see Smooth Ambler there… I am taken back. Every time. It looks the same as it did on top of the plates/bowls cabinet at the family cabin. It looks how it did on the tiny kitchen island counter during our massive tasting party Dad references in his article. I can see the birdhouses outside the cabin that I’d look at while sipping this. It’s a time capsule bourbon that I’ve never experienced the likes of before. And I’ll likely even keep the empty bottle once Dad finishes it.

Photo by Johnny Brewer on Unsplash

In Summary, I’m Redefining Things

So long story short (I suppose this is one of my slowest pours of this series), maybe we need to rethink how we revisit bottles that end up being not so great. Is it only a loss? Are they only “tarnished”? – to return to my question at the start of this slow pour. Or, can we call it a learning experience? Can we call it a time capsule of a different time when everything was great? Can we call those bottles the true pause buttons we look for and enjoy when we drink whiskey?

In any case, I think that’s how I am going to choose to look at them from now on.

So I won’t ask if you have any whiskeys that got “tarnished” from one pour to the next. Instead, I think I’ll ask, do you have any Time Capsule Whiskeys? What are they? Click the ..LEAVE A REPLY.. button in the field below if you’d care to share.

A Slow Pour – Time Capsules

written by Hannah Dawson

Whiskey for the Ages editor

Others in the Slow Pour Series:
A Slow Pour – Time to Relax
A Slow Pour – The Empty Bottle

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Booker’s 2021-02 Tagalong Batch Review

Posted on 04-October-202127-June-2022 by whiskeyfortheages

Hannah’s Booker’s 2021-02 Tagalong Batch Review

Original review written September 28, 2021

GENERAL DESCRIPTION:

This is the Booker’s I know and love. It’s rich, has a solid foundation, and bourbon warmth coupled with sweet and spice. All I could ask for, and I can’t wait for another pour. 94/100

VITALS:

– Made In: Clermont, Kentucky, USA
– Distiller: Jim Beam Distillery
– Classification: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey; Small Batch
– Age: 6 yrs., 5 months, and 0 days
– Mash Bill: Corn=77%; Rye=13%; Malted Barley=10%
– Casks: Char #4
– Barrel Entry Proof: 125
– ABV: 63.95% (127.9 proof)
– Price: $89.95 USD in Idaho

– From Master Distiller’s Notes: Tagalong Batch is made up of barrels that were aged in 5 different locations/warehouses (WH)… Breakdown is as follows:
40%: 7th floor of 9-story WH H
33%: 6th floor of 9-story WH H
13%: 5th floor of 9-story WH D
7%: 5th floor of 7-story WH Z
4%: 3rd floor of 7-story WH 5
3%: 4th floor of 7-story WH X

Find more information at bookersbourbon.com

ENJOYMENT METHOD:

I enjoyed the spirit neat from a Glencairn glass with father and fellow Whiskey for the Ages reviewer, Brian.

Check out his review of this bourbon here!

SETTING:

You’ve just come in from an autumn day, and you’re hanging up your light jacket and hat, and there’s a glass of Tagalong Batch waiting for you. Have a friend with you (it only makes sense, given the name), and enjoy the fall afternoon together with more laughs. Maybe even head out in the backyard to a bonfire with some marshmallows to make yourself some s’mores. This is just an exciting bourbon meant to be enjoyed with some great friends, so if nothing else, make sure you have those!

Photo by Luisa Brimble on Unsplash

NOSE:

I’m immediately surprised at the lack of alcohol burn on the first draw, given the proof. Instead, I am met with soft caramel apples and some fruit leather. There is some spice here, likely being white pepper as well as some ginger. Brown sugary goodness pairs with these spices and makes for an addictive nose. Deep draws pull out the alcohol burn, but with it comes a berry nectar, milk chocolate, and some maple candy influences. Oak is certainly present, but I don’t think it does more than act as a foundation with this bourbon. It seamlessly blends all of the aromas together to make for an overall sweet nose that has a bit of a kick.

PALATE:

– Mouth Feel: Tagalong Batch has an intense, oily mouth feel, but my salivary glands are working to dilute it by working overtime.
– Balance: I’m impressed. The heat of the alcohol matches every flavor component well, while still letting every flavor shine. The alcohol warmth just happens to bind everything together as a common denominator.
– Visual: Flame in color, there is an uneven ring with thin, fast-dropping legs.

– Taste: My immediate impression from this taste was that it was a curveball. I was expecting the heat, which was delivered, but I also had anticipated this being spice and fruit forward. Instead, I find unsalted peanuts and just straight up bourbon warmth. The wood is stronger here on the palate also, seasoned with black pepper and most definitely rye. The longer I hold the bourbon on the palate, however, the sweeter it becomes. In fact, I find a floral element that is both sweet and incredibly soft. Along with this, is a berry syrup (I keep thinking raspberry, but I’m not set on it) mixing with some very light caramel or simple syrup. In fact, there could even be marshmallows present to go along with the floral softness.

The alcohol may not be immediately apparent when letting it sit at the tip of the palate, but it is certainly there. If not careful, I already know that Tagalong Batch has the definite potential to give a Kentucky hug. I already have the warmth sitting at the back of my throat, being fended off by copious amounts of saliva. (And I already know it’s a battle that I’ll eventually lose…) When I partake in a Kentucky chew though, needles of alcohol prick the tongue with the peanuts back in full force along with some sudden cinnamon.

FINISH:

– Lasting Power: Very long. The heat lingers and lingers and threatens a Kentucky hug at any moment.
– Between Sips: The floral softness is the most apparent between sips, but some sweet oak is here as well.

– No More: This softness yet richness continues to abound the further into the glass I get. It’s warm, and its floral and candy sweetness only grows without being over-the-top. This is just a really great pour.

The empty Glencairn is a sweet and caramelly oak with richness that matches that of the pour itself. Truthfully, I lament this glass being empty.

THE ADDITION OF WATER

– This section written on October 2, 2021 –

Booker’s 2021-02 Tagalong Batch Review: Water can often tame bold whiskeys and the addition of 2-4 drops will not radically change the proof of the pour. Rather water may help open the spirit allowing the aromas and flavors to bloom. As such, 2 and 4 drops of distilled water were added to their own respective 1.5 oz. pours of Booker’s Tagalong Batch to detect any potential differences:

Two drops of water turn this pour into something actually quite savory. Leather enters the picture, along with wood. I also get more nuts on the pour that contribute to the earthiness overall. To be entirely honest, this tastes like a very different bourbon than the one I enjoyed only a few nights ago. I can find a bit of cherry, but it is incredibly subtle.

The water knocked back the alcohol heat a great deal also, which, if you don’t like high proof may be nice. However, I considered the alcohol to be one of the principal binding components of this bourbon. It helped put everything together, and without it, I think the value is greatly diminished. And while there is some heat here, it is nothing like it was on the original pour, and there is nothing remaining on the finish. If anything, there may be a brininess on the finish… I’d rather have this neat 100%. (RATING: 88/100)

The brininess slightly detected with two drops suddenly abounds now with four drops. It’s turned the mouth feel almost overly viscous and the palate exceptionally nutty. What little hints of flavor present with two drops are now all but entirely gone, and to me, so is the heat. There is only the slightest essence of alcohol burn, but it really might as well not be there. The finish is better than it was at two drops, with some more of the cherry appearing; however, I don’t think that balances out the let-down of the palate.

This bourbon is such a great bourbon, but I think its greatness resides in its neatness. Don’t add water to this. If you need water, best not buy this one. (RATING: 85/100)

WORTH THE PRICE?

$90 is a lot to ask, and I have to recognize that. However, this Booker’s definitely ticks all of the boxes for what I’d like a Booker’s to be and then some. Acknowledge that some of what you are paying, is a brand and a story, but personally, I think this bourbon meets the hype and the price. I’d buy it again. Just don’t add water!

BOOKER’S 2021-02 TAGALONG BATCH REVIEW RATING NEAT: 94/100

Click to see Hannah’s rating process

Click 94/100 to access other whiskies with this rating.
To access other whiskies from this brand, click Booker’s.

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