Tag: Brian Dawson

Kentucky Owl The Wiseman

Posted on by whiskeyfortheages

Brian’s Kentucky Owl The Wiseman Review:

reviewed 18-January-2022

KENTUCKY OWL THE WISEMAN BOURBON REVIEW:

Kentucky Owl The Wiseman (The Wiseman) is a nod to an advertising phrase resurrected from the original pre-prohibition era Kentucky Owl Distillery, in operation from 1879 until 1916: “The Wise Man’s Whiskey.” This Kentucky Owl expression is said to be a blend of wheated and high-rye bourbon produced by Kentucky Owl and added to 5 ½ and 8 ½ year old bourbons sourced from Bardstown Bourbon Co. and other Kentucky distillers.

From the first waft to the last drops, The Wiseman is a pleasing pour. The nose is full of fruity sweetness with some nice warming spices and well toasted, nearly charred wood. In the mouth the liquid becomes savory, dark and warm with even more oak. If there is a fault, Kentucky Owl The Wiseman finishes a bit short on flavor, but long on dry warmth. I could enjoy Wiseman all night.

KENTUCKY OWL THE WISEMAN VITAL STATS:
Kentucky Owl The Wiseman

Category: Blend of Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskeys
Region: Bardstown, KY
Distillery: Kentucky Owl, Bardstown Bourbon Co./other Kentucky Distilleries
Company: Stoli® Group – Kentucky Owl
Mash Bill: unpublished
Barrel Char: unpublished
Barrel entry proof: unpublished
Age: nas (Blend of 4 year, 5.5 year, and 8.5 year bourbons)
ABV: 45.4% (90.8 Proof)
Release Date: September 2021
Price: $49.95 (Fall 2021 Idaho)
NABCA CSC #: 19250

“THE WISEMAN™ Bourbon from Kentucky Owl® is the perfect blend of 4 Kentucky straight bourbons.”

— Kentucky Owl

Learn more at Kentucky Owl.

ENJOYMENT METHOD FOR THE REVIEW:

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!

KENTUCKY OWL THE WISEMAN NOSE:

The bourbony aromas of The Wiseman are inviting right out of the bottle. As I take long draws from the glass, the pour is dry and warm with little to no alcohol on the nose. I do get a hint of sweet corn and maybe wheaty and faint rye notes but what stands out most is fruit sweetness.  I sense ripe blue and other berries blended with pear peels and allspice to make a soft nectar poured over cinnamon and sugar on crisp buttered pastry. There are other sweets here too … Rich vanilla, buttery, woody caramel and peanut filled toffee, however the fruity aromas are front and center. The longer the pour sits in the glass the more wood I detect, but it comes to me more as a haze of dry toasted oak and a little light char surrounded by rich leather.

KENTUCKY OWL THE WISEMAN PALATE:

Upon taking my first sip, The Wiseman is a savory workout. While I wouldn’t say the pour is salty, it makes me think warm peanuts or peanut butter and jelly would pair just as easily as a flame grilled ribeye. The alcohol here is more of an interesting foundation on which the other flavors build than something with which to contend. Each sip is warm and dry, like dusty grain, yet it is wheaty soft. Instead of the berry aromas, I now taste dark dried fruits like currants and figs. While not at all spicy, ginger and white pepper add warmth to salted caramel over slightly bitter walnuts. Each sip is dark and more wood forward than sensed on the nose, with plenty of heavy dry oak and barrel char to balance notes of musty dried leather.

Kentucky Owl The Wiseman

Balance, Body, Feel and Look:
The Wiseman is a well balanced bourbon which seems to get better with each sip. It is easy to hold but does give the mouth and tongue a little tickle as the liquid makes me salivate. As I tip the glass, a thick curtain and fat clinging legs transport the whiskey back to the carrot colored pool leaving behind a thick inverted crown ring with fat droplets.

KENTUCKY OWL THE WISEMAN FINISH:

Kentucky Owl The Wiseman finishes a bit short on flavor, but long on dry warmth. As each sip is swallowed, I get wheaty softness and traces of dark dried fruit dashed with warming ginger, white pepper and salted woody caramel. And like I sensed on both the nose and palate some dry, hazy char and a faint suggestion of leather. And when gone, the empty Glencairn smells like an old western steakhouse … dusty, savory, and sweet with plenty of fresh toasted wood shavings and sawdust on the floor.

MY RATING: 91/100

Will I buy this whiskey again? YES
The Wiseman surprised me. This is some fine sipp’n whiskey.
Click to read Brian’s scoring process.

Click 91/100 to access other whiskies with this score.

WHISKEY TRAITS, FLAVOR NOTES AND PROFILE GRAPH:
Kentucky Owl The Wiseman
Kentucky Owl The Wiseman

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Templeton 4 Year Old Rye

Posted on by whiskeyfortheages

Brian’s Templeton 4 Year Old Rye Review:

reviewed 11-January-2022

TEMPLETON 4 YEAR OLD RYE REVIEW:

Templeton 4 Year Old Rye (Templeton Rye) is the most gentle and quite possibly the simplest whiskey I’ve ever enjoyed, and yet enjoy I did. For someone with a beginners interest in whiskey, Templeton Rye would fit the bill as it is so mellow. This whiskey would lend itself to nearly any summer cocktail one might care to mix or invent. Templeton is not something I would reach for as frequent pour, but I look forward to a sip over ice while sitting on the porch this summer on a hot and sticky evening — maybe with a drizzle of honey and a dash of powdered ginger or some mashed blackberries and crushed mint.

TEMPLETON 4 YEAR OLD RYE VITAL STATS:
Templeton 4 Year Old Rye

Category: Rye Whiskey
Region: Templeton, Iowa
Distillery: MPG Inc.
Producer: Templeton Rye Spirits, LLC
Mash Bill: undisclosed, believed to be 95% rye and 5% barley
Barrel Char: undisclosed
Barrel entry proof: undisclosed
Age: 4 Year Old
ABV: 40% (80 Proof)
Price: $29.95 (Idaho, January 2022)
NABCA CSC #: 27102

Learn more at www.templetonrye.com.

TEMPLETON RYE BACKSTORY:

I must admit I am a sucker for a good story and Templeton Rye has both history and mystique. During prohibition, the area around Templeton, IA produced high quality rye whiskey. Speakeasies in and around Chicago, Kansas City and Omaha created the demand. Al Capone allegedly preferred Templeton Rye.

Years later, Templeton “re-introduced” Rye Whiskey with the claim its mash was “based on a prohibition-era recipe”. Now when one thinks rationally, it is unlikely there was a single distillate or process for making whiskey back in the 1920s. Other omissions got Templeton Rye Spirits in trouble as well. Labeling omitted the origin of the distillate. So in 2015, as a result of a class action settlement, the words “distilled in Indiana” replaced “Prohibition Era Recipe” and “small batch” on the label.

Templeton Rye is currently distilled and aged by MGP of Indiana. While the recipe may be shared with other brands, Templeton employs an “alcohol flavoring formulation” with the goal to make its whiskies taste like prohibition era rye. Later this year (2022) Templeton Rye Spirits, LLC hopes to begin bottling their own distillate.

ENJOYMENT METHOD FOR THE REVIEW:

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

Check out her review for this rye here!

TEMPLETON 4 YEAR OLD RYE NOSE:

Templeton Rye seems dry and dusty as I bring it to my nose. There is no alcohol with which to contend, even with heavy draws. I sense the presence of rye, but sweetness is the most dominant trait. Brown sugared pastry, yellow cake, light vanilla, butterscotch candy, caramel and toffee are in nearly every sniff. At times I also sense some faint pecans and maybe a trace of light oak but in the end this is a sweet simple rye.

TEMPLETON 4 YEAR OLD RYE PALATE:

As on the nose, the first sip of Templeton Rye is dry. I sense (more than taste) nectarines with the warmth of ginger and white pepper. Most of the sweets noted earlier are gone but light vanilla and now honey come forward. There is still a little light oak but it seems a bit bitter. Like the nose, Templeton Rye is a simple tasting whiskey with little complexity.

Templeton 4 Year Old Rye

Balance, Body, Feel and Look:
Templeton Rye is mellow, smooth and easy to hold as I get no tickle on the tongue. After each sip the dregs fall quickly in thin broken legs back to the russet colored pool. Left behind is an irregularly spaced inverted crown.

TEMPLETON 4 YEAR OLD RYE FINISH:

Templeton 4 Year Old Rye has a short finish and offers only a little warmth of ginger in the throat. As each sip fades, I sense the nectarines, a bit of citrus and some soft honey which I feel coats any notes of oak which may remain. And when the last dram is downed, the sweetness of honey and a little oak are easy to draw from the empty Glencairn.

MY RATING: 80/100

Will I buy this whiskey again? NO
Click to read Brian’s scoring process.

Click 80/100 to access other whiskies with this score.

WHISKEY TRAITS, FLAVOR NOTES AND PROFILE GRAPH:
Templeton 4 Year Old Rye
Templeton 4 Year Old Rye

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Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel Bourbon

Posted on by whiskeyfortheages

Brian’s Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel Bourbon Review:

reviewed 28-December-2021

ELIJAH CRAIG TOASTED BARREL BOURBON REVIEW:

In my opinion, the Elijah Craig line of bourbons from Heaven Hill Distillery is a stalwart representation of the craft. From small batch shelf stock, and bold barrel proofs to Private Barrel Picks and a yet unreviewed 18 Year, their bourbon is no stranger to our home bar. So it was with great anticipation, we popped the cork on our Christmas bottle of Toasted Barrel Bourbon (ECTB). As stated on the label, this is Elijah Craig Small Batch finished in toasted new oak barrels. I am not disappointed and am happy to have another in the bunker.

ELIJAH CRAIG TOASTED BARREL BOURBON VITAL STATS:

Category: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey finished in toasted oak barrels
Type: Small Batch Toasted Barrel
Region: Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Distillery: Heaven Hill Bernheim Distillery
Mash Bill: 78% Corn, 10% Rye, 12% Malted Barley
Barrel Char: #3
Barrel entry proof: 125
Age: nas
Non-chill filtered
ABV: 47% (94 Proof)
NABCA CSC #: 17913
Price $54.95 (2021 in Idaho)

Twice barreled for added complexity, Toasted Barrel takes our award-winning Small Batch Bourbon to new heights. After it’s fully matured, we finish this Bourbon in a second, custom toasted new oak barrel, where it’s left to develop even more sweet oak flavor.

— ElijahCraig.com

Learn more at https://elijahcraig.com/toasted-barrel.

ENJOYMENT METHOD:

For the evaluation, alternating pours to equal four once review amounts went into two Glencairns. My daughter and I enjoyed the bourbon neat for this review.

Check out her review for this bourbon here!

NOSE:

ECTB smells warm and inviting. While sweetness dominates the nose, I do get a trace of roasted corn and drying grain along with faint spices of powdered ginger, white pepper and rye. But sweet vanilla infused toasted graham stands out along with candy notes of Milky Way nougat and vanilla taffy. And there’s more — I also get butterscotch and sweet, buttery brown sugar syrup drizzled over toasted pecans. However the woody aromas are faint, simple and gentle even though ‘Toasted Barrel’ is emblazoned the label.

PALATE:

The first sip of ECTB is warm and easy to hold. I sense an herbalness of roasting corn and a few dark dried figs. Spices of dark cinnamon, cloves, and rye are faint as are sweet notes of bittersweet chocolate, some light vanilla, buttery brown sugar and a hint of honeycomb. But now comes the wood, first in the form of bitter hazelnuts, then with plenty of heavy, old oak and toasted barrel char. There’s also some earthy leather here too.

Balance, Body, Feel and Look:
As I hold ECTB on my palate while taking notes, my salivary glands go into overdrive making the liquid buttery and quite viscous. While the aromas are more sweet, the flavors are more woody … but the blended combination works. After each sip, a heavy sheet clings to the inside of the glass before breaking into fat legs transporting the whiskey back to the deep burnt amber colored pool. The only trace left behind by the sip is a ringed crown with just a few drops.

FINISH:

Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel has a warm medium-long finish. There is a bit of lingering roasted corn and grain mixed with dark fig, cloves and rye but other than a hint of dark molasses, the sweetness sensed on the nose and palate is all but gone. The finish is heavy old oak and char forward, but in no way harsh as a bit of leather fades away. And when the last dram is gone, dried oak plywood sawdust and buttered popcorn drifts from the empty Glencairn.

MY RATING: 88/100

Will I buy this whiskey again? YES
Click to read Brian’s scoring process.

Click 88/100 to access other whiskies with this score.
To access other whiskies from this brand, click Elijah Craig.

WHISKEY TRAITS, FLAVOR NOTES AND PROFILE GRAPH:

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