whiskeyfortheages, Author at Whiskey for the Ages

Booker’s 2021-01 Donohoe’s Batch

Posted on 24-May-202128-June-2022 by whiskeyfortheages

Brian’s Booker’s 2021-01 Donohoe’s Batch Review:

Review of Booker’s 2021-01 Donohoe’s Batch written 18-May-2021

BOOKER’S 2021-01 DONOHOE’S BATCH REVIEW:

Booker’s 2021-01 Donohoe’s Batch (Booker’s 2021-01), the first release of 2021, is a fine bourbon. In my opinion, it is the best since the 2019-03 Country Ham release. Its fruit, spice and sweet aromas foretell what is to be tasted on the palate. And best of all it has the signature peanuttiness of Booker releases of old. I’m sure there will be detractors, but for me, I’m on the lookout for another bottle.

BOOKER’S 2021-01 DONOHOE’S BATCH VITAL STATS:

Category: Small Batch Bourbon
Region: Clermont, Kentucky, USA
Distiller: Jim Beam, Master Distiller Fred Noe
Small Batch: 2021-01 Donohoe’s Batch
Mash bill: 77% Corn, 13% Rye, 10% Malted Barley
Casks: New Charred Oak
Barrel Char: #4
Barrel Entry Proof: 125
Age: 6 Years, 11 months, 4 days
ABV: 62.65% (125.3 Proof)
Price: 89.95
Availability: Seasonal, limited

MASTER DISTILLER NOTES:

Batch 2021-01 is made up of barrels from two production dates that were aged in six different rackhouse locations. The barrel storage breakdown for Donohoe’s Batch is as follows:

▪47% came from the 5th floor of 7-story warehouse Z
▪16% came from the 2nd floor of 9-story warehouse H
▪16% came from the 4th floor of 7-story warehouse X
▪9% came from the 5th floor of 7-story warehouse X
▪8% came from the 6th floor of 9-story warehouse H
▪4% came from the 6th floor of 7-story warehouse L

LABEL INSPIRATION

“The first release of the Booker’s® Bourbon 2021 Collection is Booker’s Batch 2021-01 ‘Donohoe’s Batch.’ This batch is named in honor of retired Jim Beam employee Mike Donohoe who was also a close friend to my dad, Booker Noe. Without Mike, Booker’s Bourbon wouldn’t exist today.

In 1982, Mike joined the Jim Beam Company as a sales manager in Chicago – a ‘suit’ as Dad would say – after retiring from a seven-year career in the NFL. Mike first met Dad on a company trip to Kentucky. After taking a liking to Mike, Dad invited him to his office for a glass of bourbon. It was unlike any Jim Beam Bourbon he had tasted before. Booker let Mike in on his secret – he’d been playing with something different, and he’d share a bit of it with friends from time to time.

A few years later, Mike approached Booker with the idea to give bottles of his special stash as holiday gifts to their most important distributors and industry partners. With little time and almost no budget, Booker sourced wine bottles from a warehouse in Bardstown and wrote the labels himself to get the job done. Based on the hundreds of letters they received raving about that uncut, unfiltered whiskey, it’s safe to say the rest is Booker’s Bourbon history.

Dad always had the final say when it came to his Booker’s, but he trusted Mike to help him build it into the brand that it is today. ‘Mike gets it,’ he used to say. Now, I’m proud to honor Mike with a batch of his own.”

— Fred Noe, Beam Family 7th Generation Master Distiller
Visit Booker’s Bourbon to learn more.

ENJOYMENT METHOD:

For the evaluation, alternate amounts were poured into Glencairns after 1.4 ounces were removed from a newly opened bottle. The removed sample was added to our Infinity Project. The bourbon was enjoyed neat with my daughter and fellow Whiskey for the Ages reviewer Hannah.

Check out her review for this bourbon here!

BOOKER’S 2021-01 DONOHOE’S BATCH NOSE:

Booker’s 2021-01 nips the nose with a strong but manageable ethanol bite. Once acclimated, fruit tree blossoms and roasted sweet corn blend with red berry nectar, Rainier cherries, plums, and gourmet raisins. With continued nosing, soft allspice and a faint nutmeg mix with white pepper. Then come buttery pie crust, graham crackers, vanilla custard, and sweets of maple sugar candy, buttery caramel, and peanuts bathing in light maple syrup. For a Booker’s, this is not a wood dominate bourbon. But I do get a little light sweet oak, and some toasted barrel aromas. Rounding out the freshness, I get a nice foundation of soft leather.

BOOKER’S 2021-01 DONOHOE’S BATCH PALATE:

Booker’s 2021-01 tastes much like it smells and it gives the tongue an aggressive alcohol tickle when held. Continued sipping brings on roasted sweet corn and an herbalness which plays well with the flavors of red berries, Rainier cherries, and plum nectar blended in a spice mixture of light cinnamon, ginger, and black pepper. Then come sweets of brown sugared pie crust, faint but rich vanilla, buttery brown sugar caramel, and peanut filled toffee. As on the nose the wood flavors of fresh oak sawdust, toasted wood and light barrel char are there, but don’t dominate. And when all the flavors begin to fade, a nice leatheriness comes through.

Balance, Body, Feel and Look:
Booker’s 2021-01 is a solid bourbon. While it gives the palate a tickle, it has an oily mouthfeel. After each sip, a veil forms in the Glencairn gives way to evenly spaced long, thin legs returning the liquid to the mahogany colored pool. Left behind is a thin crown with only a few small clinging droplets.

THE ADDITION OF WATER

Water can often tame big, bold whiskeys and the addition of 2-4 drops will not radically drop the proof of the pour. Rather, water may help open the spirit allowing the aromas and flavors to bloom. So, three evenings after the initial tasting, distilled water was added to Booker’s 2021-01 to learn its effect.

Two drops were added to 1.5 ounces, lowering the proof to 124.93 (down from 125.3). Two drops do little to calm the heat and the roasted sweet corn and herbalness as well as the black pepper remain. A fruit element can be sensed but it is less defined and I still get brown sugar, peanut toffee and a small amount of char. To me, two drops have a negligible effect on Booker’s 2021-01.

After enjoying the two drop sample, four drops were added to another 1.5 ounces lowering the proof to 124.57. Four drops dampen the heat ever so slightly and for my taste, the flavors begin to wash together. The herbalness is gone as are the peanuts and individual fruits. And while I like wood, it begins to dominate the sweet, leaving the black pepper to stand alone.

While everyone is different, for me, I’ll not be adding water to my pours of Booker’s Donohoe’s Batch.

BOOKER’S 2021-01 DONOHOE’S BATCH FINISH:

Booker’s 2021-01 finishes long, warm and herbal. Faint plum nectar and a feeling of allspice and pepper coated citrus zest fade into rich vanilla and buttery caramelized peanuts. And like the nose and palate, the woodiness is faint with only a little char to note. When the last dram is downed, sweet brown sugar and seasoned oak is easy to draw from the empty Glencairn.

MY BOOKER’S 2021-01 DONOHOE’S BATCH RATING: 93/100

Will I buy this whiskey again? YES
Booker’s 2021-01 is a solid bourbon and for my profile the best of the last few batches. I will admit to the fact I am a Booker’s Fan and am always on the lookout for Booker’s offerings.
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BOOKER’S 2021-01 DONOHOE’S BATCH TRAITS AND FLAVOR NOTES AND PROFILE GRAPH:

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Weller Full Proof Bourbon Review

Posted on 17-May-202129-June-2022 by whiskeyfortheages

Hannah’s Weller Full Proof Bourbon Review

Original review written May 11, 2021

GENERAL DESCRIPTION:

With limited availability, if you have the chance to snag this bottle, do so without hesitation. Rich, deep, warm and with all flavor profiles offered, it is a must. Will repurchase if ever given the chance.

VITALS:

– Made In: Kentucky, USA
– Distiller: Buffalo Trace Distillery
– Classification: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey; Wheated Whiskey
– Age: nas
– Mash Bill: unpublished but likely similar to other Weller releases: Corn=70%; Wheat=14-16%; 14-16% Malted Barley
– Casks: unpublished char
– Non-Chill Filtered
– Barrel Entry Proof: 114
– ABV: 57% (114 proof)
– Price: $49.95 USD in Idaho

Visit buffalotracedistillery.com for more information

ENJOYMENT METHOD:

I enjoyed the juice neat from a Glencairn with my sister and my father/fellow Whiskey for the Ages reviewer, Brian.

Check out his review of this bourbon here!

SETTING:

I feel like sitting outside in the early afternoon on a patio with a classic red bicycle nearby is a must with Weller Full Proof. Enjoy it with some artisan bread from a local bakery, and you’re all set. The richness of the day and the bread and the sunshine will complement the bourbon and make every color that much brighter and warmer. And if you happen to be, say, in Italy, then all the better.

Photo by Jilbert Ebrahimi on Unsplash

NOSE:

Allspice and baked cherries are first to emerge from the first inhale. With it comes a bit of baked pastry, as though it is a pie. There is also a hint of chocolate, but most of the other sweetness comes from a salted caramel and perhaps a candied nut. There isn’t much wood to be found, but the overall sensation from this nose is incredibly warm and certainly mouthwatering. The alcohol is also minimal yet present, which is something I’d expect from a 114 proof.

While this nose may not have an abundance of flavors that come readily to mind, the aromas offered are VERY rich, deep, and warm – essentially everything that you could look for in the nose of a new bourbon. I simply cannot wait to get into this glass.

PALATE:

– Mouth Feel: Thick and syrupy, much like caramel.
– Balance: Fantastic. That’s really all that can be said. The flavors are a molten joy to sip and sample.
– Visual: Carrot in color with a nice inverted crown with clinging droplets. Very few legs to be seen.

– Taste: A bloom of warm, rich sweet grain comes across the palate initially, but it is a sweetness that could very well be a fruit sweetness also, as it contains a lot of depth. Cherries are certainly present, but there is also now a kick of savory spices like black pepper, clove, and even a bit of peppercorns that amp up the heat. All of these spices come as a definite shock given not only the proof (low for what I’d consider the intensity of these spices to be), but also because it is a wheated bourbon.

The baked component from the nose remains, though now I’d be more inclined to say that it’s a bread. It’s freshly baked and of a more artisan quality than the traditional loaf you’d fine in a grocery store. It’s as though I can taste the burnt wooden plank it would have been baked on in a brick oven. It pairs with the alcohol heat really, really well and makes it seem like it’s living, breathing fire.

However, despite these more savory, warm flavors, it still manages to be sweet. The alcohol richness makes all of the flavors taste molten together. It allows for the initial cherry, and now a dark vanilla, and the salted caramel from the nose to come forward. When I give it a Kentucky chew, the cherry grows in intensity along with black pepper and a sudden freshness I can’t quite identify.

FINISH:

– Lasting Power: Long. The heat goes on and on with a pleasant aftertaste.
– Between Sips: Cherry is the most dominant flavor between sips, but there is oak and suddenly some leather also.

– No More: It’s honestly hard to focus on writing the review when all I want, is to sit back and enjoy this bourbon to the fullest. The depth of the pour and the bourbon warmth with growing notes of allspice and charred wood (not necessarily oak) with the preexisting sweetness make this delectable.

The empty Glencairn is a sweet oak that is warm and just as rich as the palate of this bourbon. I absolutely love this glass and am already lamenting the thought of this bottle being empty.

WORTH THE PRICE?

Yes, yes, yes, and yes. At 114 proof and only around $50 USD, this is an absolute steal. While it is rare, I do hope to be able to find another to replace this bottle in our bunker. It deserves a permanent place in anyone’s bunker, regardless of what you’re preferred flavor profile is. Weller Full Proof is definitely worth the investment.

WELLER FULL PROOF BOURBON REVIEW RATING: 95/100

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Whiskey Reviews

Weller Full Proof Bourbon

Posted on 17-May-202129-June-2022 by whiskeyfortheages

Brian’s Weller Full Proof Bourbon Review:

Weller Full Proof Bourbon review written 11-May-2021

WELLER FULL PROOF BOURBON REVIEW:

In late 2019, an Idaho State Liquor Division Lottery win put this bottle of Weller Full Proof in our bunker. Why did we wait so long! This is a fantastic bourbon. It’s 114 Proof is assertive, and the nose, palate and finish are in harmony with one another. While this bottle is from 2019, don’t shy away if a newer bottle is found at even double its MSRP of $49.95.

WELLER FULL PROOF BOURBON VITAL STATS:

Category: Wheated Bourbon
Region: Frankfort, Kentucky, USA
Distillery : Buffalo Trace
Mash Bill: unpublished, but likely similar to other Weller releases … about 70% Corn, 14-16% Wheat, 16-14% Malted Barley
Cask: New Charred Oak
Barrel Char: unpublished
Barrel Entry Proof: 114
Age: unpublished
ABV: 57% (114 Proof)
Non-chill filtered
Availability: Allocated and rare
Purchase Price: $49.95 USD (2019, Idaho USA Lottery winner)

Learn more at Buffalo Trace Brands.

ENJOYMENT METHOD:

For the evaluation, alternate amounts, equaling about 4 ounces, were poured into two Glencairns after 1.5 ounces were removed from the newly opened bottle and added to our Infinity Bottle. The bourbon was then assessed with my daughter and fellow Whiskey for the Ages reviewer Hannah.

Check out her review for this bourbon here!

WELLER FULL PROOF BOURBON NOSE:

With heavy draws, Weller Full Proof gives my nose a quick burn, but I also get a hint of fruit tree blossoms. There are dark fruits of blueberry, dark currents, and raisins mixed in allspice and white pepper along with baking sensations of brown sugared pastry and yellow cake. The sweets are solid: butterscotch, buttered brown sugar caramel, and light molasses. And a little toasted pecan paves the way for old oak, hazy barrel char, leather and dark but fresh petricor earthiness.

WELLER FULL PROOF BOURBON PALATE:

With an aggressive Kentucky Chew, Weller Full Proof gives the throat a little burn. Yet as the heat fades, sweet corn and wheat mix with dark currents, gourmet raisins and fresh dried prunes. Each sip has a faint (but pleasant) aftertaste of allspice infused woody caramel. Other spices of cinnamon, ginger and pepper along with sweets of dark, fruit filled yellow cake, rich vanilla, buttery caramel, and dark toffee sit on a foundation of dry and old seasoned oak, a hint of char and leather.

Balance, Body, Feel and Look:
Weller Full Proof is solid and well balanced. Its aromas and flavors are melded in such a way, it begs another sip. In the mouth, each sip is as creamy as it is viscous, yet there is an aggressive tickle as the mouthful is downed. In the Glencairn, evenly spaced legs return the liquid to the carrot colored pool leaving behind a few fat droplets in a faint crown.

WELLER FULL PROOF BOURBON FINISH:

Weller Full Proof has an exceptionally long finish. The challenge is letting it linger when my brain is telling me, “Get another sip of this heavenly elixir.” It almost burns the throat, but in a good way as it fades from heat to wheaty warmth. Then comes a dark fruit leather of currents and fresh prunes blended into allspice cinnamon and powdered ginger, combined with light vanilla, brown sugar and faint molasses. As these flavors fade, the sensation of seasoned oak barrels offer the perfect finish. And when the last dram is downed, a lumber yard of sweet oak fills the nose as simple draws are taken from the empty Glencairn.

MY WELLER FULL PROOF BOURBON RATING: 93/100

Will I buy this whiskey again? YES
I’ve enjoyed four of the five Weller bourbons I’ve reviewed (Weller 12 Year, Weller Antique, Weller C.Y.P.B., and now Weller Full Proof). When any of these are found, I will buy more.
_{Click to read Brian’s scoring process.}

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WELLER FULL PROOF BOURBON TRAITS AND FLAVOR NOTES AND PROFILE GRAPH:

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