Rant/Rave: Bourbon

[thrill]

I was talking to the distiller about the aging process and how continued oxidation after opening a bottle might affect a whiskey. He agreed that it's hard to predict. When I asked him hypothetically what it might do to a 30 year old, cheap "scotch" he said, "nothing good probably."

What an idiot.

[33anda3rd]

Any significant change to a bottle of whiskey would be barely significant and then would only be significant over many decades. The impact of an open bottle would be more reductive (evaporation) than oxidative.

[G. Keenan]

I was talking to the distiller about the aging process and how continued oxidation after opening a bottle might affect a whiskey. He agreed that it's hard to predict. When I asked him hypothetically what it might do to a 30 year old, cheap "scotch" he said, "nothing good probably."

What an idiot.

Thrill, as you get into the whiskey business, I think it is your duty to bring back The Keith. No way is it still under trademark. The bottle will sell itself. Who can walk into a liquor store and resist that bottle?

[Hoot45]

This thread is a treasure trove of knowledge. Thanks, all that have contributed! I've been a home distiller for over a half decade now and y'all still know way more than I do.

Has anyone had Alberta Premium Dark Horse, marketed as Alberta Premium Dark Batch in the US? I recently returned from extended time in Canada and had been asking every premium liquor store I could find for some of Canada's finest (not the overpriced, all-marketing kind). People kept pointing me to Alberta Premium and Dark Horse specifically.

My philosophy is that the thing that makes a bottle of whisky great is not what's inside, but who you share it with and what you're doing when you're drinking it. So as I carried a bottle of this with me through the Canadian Rockies and drank it under waterfalls, glaciers, and mountain passes, I sort of fell in love with it. I'm so full of nostalgia that I'm no longer an objective judge and would be curious if anyone had some thoughts about this or Canadian Rye's in general.

[33anda3rd]

Hoot I agree. Guys with unopened trophy bottles suck. Opening it up and drinking it with friends is what it’s all about. I didn’t feel that way before but then you look at the cabinet and it’s like why do I even have this if I’m not drinking it?

[33anda3rd]

Picked a barrel of Elijah Craig today for a new place opening soon. Had four to pick from. The weirdest things was in two of the barrels. They were aged in Bardstown and the serial numbers were pretty close together, 5259748 and -68, , both on floor #4 of Rickhouse U in Bardstown. This would generally indicate that they are off the same run. What's freaking weird is how different they were, I've never experienced anything like it. One was very spicy, almost to the point that the spice on it stuck out like a sharp edge*, in an unpleasant way. There was a little burnt sugar and charcoal to it, but mostly it was all spice. The latter was lovely, a nice round honeyed sweetness, some marzipan, a smooth mellow oakiness. It was my 2nd favorite, and the 2nd favorite of the bar team on this project, who all came along for the pick.

We had another that was from the Deatsville warehouses that was nice, it was probably the oldest of the bunch based on serial number and the floor on which it was aged, it was just a bit too thin us. We ended up with a good one that is 8 years 7 months (barreled 1/12/10) from floor 5 of rickhouse AA in Deatsville. Smooth, kinda sweet like those little caramel squares you gramma used to dig out of the bottom of her purse to give you when you were a kid, with some nice vanilla and oak to round it out, very little ethanol heat/burn, long mid-palate finish. I'm very happy with this one.

*This is generally how I think about tasting things. Sometimes you want a wine that's like a perfect circle, with everything magnificently in balance and no sharp edges sticking out. Sometimes you want that in a bourbon too. But then sometimes you want a sharp edge. You want a hoppy beer to have that distinct one-note citrus hop or resin hop flavor. You want that scotch that's a peat bomb. Sometimes the sharp edge is pleasant or desirable. Sometimes not.

[GeddyWrox]

There's Eddie Felson again!

[lukethedrifter]

https://www.craigcalcaterra.com/blog/th ... snt2710188

[33anda3rd]

I wonder how much black market Van Winkle is illegally obtained. That article makes it sound like theft is pretty common practice.

[JackofDiamonds]

Picked a barrel of Elijah Craig today for a new place opening soon. Had four to pick from. The weirdest things was in two of the barrels. They were aged in Bardstown and the serial numbers were pretty close together, 5259748 and -68, , both on floor #4 of Rickhouse U in Bardstown. This would generally indicate that they are off the same run. What's freaking weird is how different they were, I've never experienced anything like it. One was very spicy, almost to the point that the spice on it stuck out like a sharp edge*, in an unpleasant way. There was a little burnt sugar and charcoal to it, but mostly it was all spice. The latter was lovely, a nice round honeyed sweetness, some marzipan, a smooth mellow oakiness. It was my 2nd favorite, and the 2nd favorite of the bar team on this project, who all came along for the pick.

Did they mentione where on the 4th floor the barrels were located? If I remember my HH visit, soe of the Rickhouses were fairly large, wouldn't the "inside" barrels get a fairly different temp variation than the "outside" barrels? Not enough to account for what sounds like two completely different spirits, but should some more oakiness from the outside barrel.