THE BIG NEWS
If you have a spare $15,000 sitting around, you can grab one of the Woodford Reserve bottles commemorating the Kentucky Derby’s 150th anniversary. There are 150 bottles available. Why so special? It comes in a crystal decanter, a pretty box, and underwent a special distilling process. At $15K, the bourbon would clock in at one of the 11 most expensive in the world. The Old Rip Van Winkle 25 year, at just under $56K, tops the list. They’re both out of my price range. (😂)
MORE NEWS
Diageo has released “Indigo’s Hour,” the latest release in its Orphan Barrel series. The 18-year-age bourbon has a mash bill of 68% corn, 28% rye, and 4% malt and retailes for $225. That’s a steep price for a series I find just OK, but lots of customers rave about. It’s available now.
Michter’s has released its 10-year bourbon. The 94.4-proof product carries an MSRP of $185, though I’ve seen it anywhere from $450 to $600 on the secondary. I have an unopened 2019 version; maybe I should crack it?
Heaven Hill has released its 2024 Heritage collection, an 18-year bourbon with a twist — this year’s release isn’t chill-filtered. With an MSRP of $300, it’s one of the more expensive releases around that most people would think about buying. It’s going for $1,100 on the secondary, and the prices should stay that high. Heaven Hill picked the stock from 133 barrels stored since 2005 so there’s not a lot around.
Booker’s has released its Springfield batch, the first of 2024. It’s a relative bargain at $89.99, especially when you consider this is a consistently excellent pour. The one comes in at 124.5 proof, and I’ll buy one when I see it.
Woodford Derby 150 bottle
I noted last month that the Woodford Derby bottles have been released. That resulted in several readers asking where they might get one since they’re scarce in their area. A number of online retailers have them at or very close to MSRP; most I’ve seen are in the $50 to $55 range (I stumbled on one in Ohio and purchased it for $44.99 plus tax). Check online retailers and make sure they ship to your state. Shipping will likely come with a fee.\
Under 30
There’s a lot of good bourbon out there that isn’t expensive. I’ll look at one each month.
Benchmark Full Proof: $24.99
Most full-proof products clock in at least $20 more than Benchmark (1792 is about $49 now). It’s no wonder it flies off the shelve as soon as it appears. It’s a bold, spicy bourbon that’s every bit as potent as its 125 proof suggests. The fact that it remains so cheap (for now) Is a credit to Buffalo Trace, which distills it. It’s also aged four years so it’s not rushed. While the flavors aren’t as pronounced as some of the higher-priced offerings, it’s the best value full proof on the market. I’m always on the hunt for a bottle.
REVIEW:
Yellowstone Special Finishes Collection: Rum Cask
Note: Limestone Branch Distillery provided the Yellow Stone sample without any special considerations. The Bourbon Resource appreciates Limestone Branch.
100 Proof
MSRP: $49.99
Yellowstone Special Finishes: Rum Cask
A solid bourbon at what has become a reasonable price point.
History
Cask-finished bourbons have been growing in popularity over the last few years. This is the second release of the Yellow Special Finishes Collection.
Yellowstone Special Finishes: Rum Cask
Let’s taste it:
🛏 Rested for 15 minutes in a Glencairn glass
👉🏻Nose: Brown sugar, rum, grain, pepper
👉🏻Taste: Brown sugar, molasses, pepper, vanilla, caramel
👉🏻Finish: Pepper, cloves, brown sugar
Yellowstone Special Finishes: Rum Cask
Summary
The Yellowstone Special Finishes: Rum Cask is hard to pin down. Picking up the immediate and pronounced brown sugar and sweetness on the nose is the easy part. There are other characteristics that aren’t as easy to discern. But letting it sit and coming back to it a few times, the rum, grain, and pepper came through. The taste is a tad thin, but that’s deceptive. There are a number of flavors jostling for prominence, including the standard bourbon notes and the ever-present brown sugar. The medium finish has a warmth that feels stronger than most 100-proof bourbons, but it’s pleasant.
Conclusion –Yellowstone Special Finishes: Rum Cask
$50 has become an acceptable price point for good bourbons. At that price or above, you expect it to be a solid choice you wouldn’t be embarrassed to share. And I’ll go one step further. On a purely cost-benefit analysis, this is one of Yellowstone’s better products. I like it better than the Four Grain and the Yellow Stone limited edition, which costs twice as much.
Have you tried the Yellowstone Special Finishes: Rum Cask? What do you think?
KENTUCKY 74
Does a zero-alcohol spirit stand a chance?
There’s an explosion of companies releasing nonalcoholic beers and spirits. More people are trying these products, as one in three Americans tried a zero-alcohol drink last year. Moreover, nearly six in 10 Americans surveyed plan to drink less this year in an effort to improve health.
I’ve started drinking zero-alcohol beer — I think Heineken Zero is far and away the best product —- and was curious about nonalcohol spirits. I picked up a bottle of Kentucky 74, renowned as the best in the nonalcohol category.
The Louisville-based Spiritless produces Kentucky 74, which is labeled a “nonalcoholic spirit for bourbon cocktails.” Some of the negative reviews expected 74 to taste like a spirit, and that’s the wrong way to approach this product. It clearly says it’s for “bourbon cocktails.” So being disappointed is like ordering an Impossible Burger, thinking it’ll taste like the real thing. That’s …. impossible.
So I tried Kentucky 74 four different ways —- straight, with ice, as a Manhattan, and cut with bourbon.
THE NOSE
Bourbon drinkers will find the nose off-putting. It smells like strong, sweet cherry cough syrup, and I didn’t get the oak, vanilla, and caramel the website trumpets.
THE TASTE
I poured 1.5 ounces into a shot glass, let it sit for 15 minutes, and — no. This product isn’t meant to drink straight and the taste shows why. It tastes like a cherry slushie in which most of the cherry has been overtaken by water. I tried it again, this time with an ice cube and —- no. Same thing, and the water from the ice didn’t improve the taste.
Next, I took one ounce of 74 and one ounce of Evan Williams’ black label, mixed them together, and let them sit. That was much better. The EW charcoal, oak, caramel, and vanilla came through, and the 74 provided a fairly pleasant sweetness. I didn’t experiment any further, but I could see where certain bourbons without a big flavor profile would benefit from a little 74. I would not suggest mixing it with any of the lighter bourbons, like Benchmark 8 Year or Basil Hayden. The sweetness would overwhelm them both.
Under the theory that you might use the 74 to cut down on alcohol while retaining the bourbon taste, I purchased a bottle of 40-proof Early Times diluted whiskey for $6.99 to see whether that’s a worthy alternative that accomplishes the same goal. It is not. The Early Times tastes like water with a dash of pepper that has a little coloring to it. The 74 mixed with bourbon was a far better choice.
I then tried the 77 it in Manhattan, and the result was a cocktail that tasted nothing like a Manhattan. However, it wasn’t bad. If your base reference is, “I need this to taste like a Manhattan,” then you’ll be disappointed. But if you’re going in with no expectations, it might be OK. It could also be that the standard Manhattan recipe isn’t the right way to use 74; its website provides recipes for cocktails that don’t have traditional ingredients.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Some reviewers swear by Kentucky 74 —- its website has more than 1,100 positive reviews —- and say this is the only mixer they’ll use for their evening cocktail (mocktail?). And that’s the key. This is a product meant to create nonalcoholic beverages that taste good. But it’s not going to taste like bourbon, nor is it meant to.
Chances are bourbon drinkers won’t like it, but there are a lot of people in America now eschewing alcohol and seeking an alternative. Maybe this is for them. I wonder whether the $35 price tag will hold the market because there are a lot of far less expensive ways to create a mocktail.
We’ll see.
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Ray Marcano writes and publishes the Bourbon Resource monthly, and he’s president of the 32 Staves Society. He’s a bourbon lover and long-time journalist who freelances for some of the country’s largest media brands. He’s the former national president of the Society of Professional Journalists, a two-time Pulitzer juror, and a Fulbright fellow.
I actually got a free shipping code from Barbank.com and it covered the $109 ground shipping to Alaska. Order placed!
Thanks for the info! I want that WR Derby bottle but it’s like $99 minimum to ship here. :/