Tastes

I'm a devoted rye head and have been since before rye was on the upswing. I love that fruity-spicy combination that it can provide. The depth and breadth of flavors available in rye is only matched by the enormity of variation in barley malt whiskey... and even then... This isn't my first bottle of this whiskey. I was gifted a bottle of this expression several years back. I recall liking it, but not enough to re-up. A few cases sitting at my local Costco was too much of a temptation. Tasted here neat from a grappa copita as an adjunct to a black coffee. This is a favorite pairing of mine. On the nose its all classic rye notes. It's sweet with caramel, wood notes, hard candy (butterscotch and toffee), noughat, and black pepper. On the palate this is rich and creamy. I get Juicy Fruit gum, black pepper, wood tannins, creamy caramel, dill, grass and sweet cream. This is really easy to sip and is nicely complex. There's very little ethanol although this still has a punch. It's a rock in a velvet glove. It hides it 107+ proof extremely well without getting "in your face" like WTRBrye or KCSBrye is wont to do. Very good and a wonderful sipper, this makes a killer Manhattan when paired with a worthy vermouth. Vya sweet wasn't a good match, but my trusty Cocchi di Torino clicked into place easily. Carpano was a bit too over-the-top and the nature of this rye was lost. A Perfect Manhattan with a 50/50 of Dolin Dry and M&R sweet 2:1 with a couple dashes of Angostura was near perfect (see what I did there?) served up. All in all this is more a sipper than a cocktail rye. Nice in any application, it finds some very tough competition from the likes of Elijah Craig and Wild Turkey at substantially lower price points. I'm glad I bought the bottle, but i'm not sure I'll re-up with the plethora of aged ryes now coming on the market. At $55 this isn't a deal, but its a good bottle.

This bottle has been quietly waiting for a while in my liquor closet, a gift from a friend. Finally broke it out and found it to make absolutely smashing Old Fashioned with turbinado simple and Angostura. I'm on my last dram and thought it might be good to get my impressions down. On the nose this hits rich, oaky, with lot's of wood sugars. It smells like I remember my grandpa's wood shop smelling when he was finishing a piece of furniture. On the palate this is a wonderful combination of oily sweetness and black pepper. The balance is near perfect, the flavor rich without tasting of ethanol. It's strong and the finish is sweet, moderately long and extends well into the throat. I get a lot of figs, brown sugar, cinnamon, black pepper, some ginger. This reminds me of Old Forester 1910, but maybe better? I'd love to sbs them... Certainly this is hotter at 105.8 proof and more forward, but both share that thick, rich and sweet supporting structure. This is a very good bourbon. As with all Single Barrels, the trick is getting another one. One thing is sure and that is that I'll be getting another bottle (or several) of New Riff expressions!

The exploration of Costco pours continues with this Bottled in Bond offering. Tasted neat and in a few different cocktails. A side by side comparison with Old Tub Bottled in Bond and 1792 Bottled in Bond is a good way to start this review. Let's see how this stacks up with something close to its price range and also with something purported to be a close relative with a higher price tag. On the nose the Kirkland is sweet with floral vanilla (think Tahitian over Mexican) caramel and burnt sugar, slight ethanol and a trace of candy bar nougat. The Old Tub has a richer, darker nose (albeit Mexican over Tahitian) that follows along the same line of impressions. They are similar, but not the same. The 1792 takes it just a smidgen further, offering the most interesting nose with elements of pencil shavings, and barrel char layering on top of caramel and richer vanilla. In the mouth the Kirkland has good feel, being silky but not oily. I find it just a tad thin to be a satisfying sipper. There's some nice vanilla and sweet wood notes, with a fair black pepper mid-palate and a drying, short finish. Overall its quite good if not necessarily memorable or remarkable. The Old Tub leans into a cake frosting sugariness, a similar thinness and a trace of boiled peanuts on the exhale. It seems just slightly less peppery and may be preferable as a neat sipper - but this is a very close call. In an Improve Whiskey Cocktail (2.5 oz bourbon, .25 oz Maraschino liqueur, 1 bar spoon rich simple syrup, 1 bar spoon absinthe, 2 dashes Angostura bitters) these were indistinguishable and delicious. Sampled neat the 1792 bib steps up the competition significantly. It's notably richer, creamier, and more complex. The 1792 is a better neat sipper, full stop. Its moderate fade to a clean, barrel tannin finish has kept a bottle in my rotation for several years now. Frankly, I fully expect a $50 bottle to be better than one half its price. Kirkland Bottled in Bond bourbon is a great budget selection, ideal for mixed drinks and completely good enough to stand on its own as a casual sipper. Would I stand in line for this or drive across town to get one? No. Solid and worth a buy if you're in the store and its sitting right there in front of you (pretty much how Costco liquor shopping works, tbh).

I'm a rye fan. I love a rye sidecar neat with a hot cup of good black coffee on those special brunch mornings. For the last few years my rye of choice was the bog standard 86 proof Jack Daniels Straight Rye. It's a good tasting, soft whiskey that fit this use perfectly and I typically keep a bottle in the cabinet for just such an occasion. Unfortunately it seems that bottle, which was readily available in my market for under $20, seems to be no more. In its place we have 100 proof bottled-in-bond rye. Let's take a taste. For this tasting I'm neat side-by-side with the 90 proof JD Single Barrel rye. On the nose the two are very, very similar as to be expected. The BiB has a hotter ethanol note accompanied by a slightly more intense caramel sweetness note. On the palate the single barrel is sweet and nicely complex, with a very slight peppery finish and a modest fade. It's a nice sipper, better than the original Straight Rye in every way. There's a definite wood and barrel foundation and the liquid also offers up slight dill, apple pie crust, and a ghost of limey citrus on the back of the tongue. In comparison the BiB Rye is drier. Much drier in fact, with more prominent oak and barrel elements. The fruitiness is reticent, the vanillins and sugars from the wood are pushed a bit forward. There's a slight brineyness that I didn't get with the single barrel. It's hotter in the finish and doesn't strike me as being quite as well integrated as the single barrel. In a Manhattan(2:1:2) I think the choice of vermouth is going to make or break the cocktail. The JDBiB doesn't like my Cnia Mata Spanish vermouth, is happier with Cocchi di Torino or with Martini Rossi sweet. Those later vermouths are more intensely flavored and possibly sweeter than the Cnia. This is a good rye, but it's not really my jam. I'd rather mix with Wild Turkey 101 Rye or sip neat with Russel's Reserve 6 or one of the Sagamore expressions. Or the Jack Daniels Single Barrel for that matter. This is a fine rye whiskey and a good extension for the Jack Daniel's line-up. That said, it's unlikely I'll replace this bottle in my regular rotation. It's a bit too expensive for a casual mixer and not quite good enough to satisfy as a solo act. A good effort, but maybe not as impressive at the Triple Mash for the same kind of money.

This is a surprising bottle from Beam. I enjoy a lot of their products. I've been a Knob Creek fan since its introduction in 1992. I've had Black. Black Extra Aged, Beam Single Barrel, Beam Bottled-in-Bond and more than a few "limited" releases. Among my favorite was the now gone Distiller's Cut 100 proof release that was ultimately replaced by Old Tub. When I started hearing rumblings about this "new" 7 year age statement Black I just jumped right in... Let's go. Not really new, Black now has a 7 year age statement and that is an upgrade. I purchased this bottle on sale for $21 with a free 4 pack of Fever Tree ($6) mixer, so this is hitting the stack-outs and promotions. Let's start with a side-by-side comparison between the JBB7 and Elijah Craig Small Batch (ECSB), both of which are under 100 proof (90 and 94 respectively) and under $30. The ECSB I sells for $26.99 in my market, about 15 - 20% more expensive than the JBB7. On the nose this is a contest of near equals. I did this comparo in a NEAT glass after a few minutes rest and both pours are from freshly opened bottles. Judging just the aroma, the Beam is sweet but the EC is sweeter and a bit richer. I get vanilla, caramel, barrel char, and ethanol from both. The JBB7 leans towards root beer, the ECSB towards white cake frosting. The Beam goes down easy on the palate with a near syrupy mouthfeel, nicely balanced sweetness, definite wood and cask notes, and builds to a medium black pepper spice on the mid palate. The finish is moderate, sweet and with just the slightest hint of oak tannins and bitterness at the end of the fade. It's very impressive for a $22 bottle and reminiscent of that discontinued budget favorite - Distiller's Cut. I have one bottle of that limited 100 proof release left and coincidently just polished off my next-to-last bottle last week. The ECSB is a bit less syrupy with a slightly thinner mouthfeel. It comes on stronger with a bit more spice and it has a little longer finish. It's not quite as rich as the JBB7. Its higher proof is not easily found and neither of these presents a "cheap whiskey" alcohol note, thankfully. The ECSB is definitely spicier, but not necessarily a spicy bourbon, if that make sense. I really like ECSB. Its one of those bottles I almost always have hanging around. It is inexpensive and its sins are those of omission compared to its more elevated relatives. The JBB7 has a lot more barrel character, is a more complex and is equally easy to drink. I hate to say it, but JBB7 may have kicked the ECSB out of my regular rotation. An obvious comparison is to the Jim Beam Old Tub. JBOT is a bottled-in-bond, non-chill filtered bargain bottle that I've used quite a bit for mixing and enjoy on a big rock from time to time. It's a nice whiskey for an Old Fashioned Compared side-by-side the JBB7 has a richer and more pleasant nose than the JBOT. It's simply more complex, more interesting with less of a 'young whiskey' ethanol note. In terms of flavor on the palate there isn't much of a contest here. The JBOT is drier, hotter and less rich. The JBB7 is simply a better product. Considering the JBOT retails for $24.99 in my market, that makes the JBB7 an easy buy for 10% less. When I was getting JBOT for $16.99 I might have stayed the course, but it seems like Beam is making some significant changes and I expect to see something happen with the JBOT in the not so distant future. Compared to my workhorse Wild Turkey 101 (WT101), its more of a toss-up. The WT101 is more fruity and brighter on both the nose and the palate. It's a battle of budget titans and neither is vanquished. I can see keeping both in stock; the WT101 for its mixability in a bourbon Manhattan and the JBB7 for its love of bitters and demerara sugar in a properly made Bourbon Old Fashioned. Comparing this whiskey with more upmarket competitors like Widow Jane, Barrel or Stagg Jr, the competition heats up. Each of the later three offers a richer, more nuanced experience albeit at triple the selling price. The Barrel and Stagg in particular are both over 110 proof and therefore really aren't in competition. The Widow Jane 10 year is more complex and is just better tasting, IMHO. Wow! This is a real bargain and an outstanding bourbon by any measure. At less than $25 this is a raging steal that kicks Buffalo Trace to the curb and sets a real benchmark (yes, it's better than Benchmark) for its price point. Highly recommended!