What bourbon are you drinking today?

[Blowed Fuse]

My daughter picked this up for me while she was in Gulf Shores. Not bad. Tastes GREAT. But the price she paid…. I dunno.

 

[Blowed Fuse]

Gonna try it with grilled Alaskan catfish

 

[finnbow]

I decided to try a bottle of Old Elk Single Barrel Wheated Bourbon. It is cask strength, has a 7 year age statement and a mashbill of 51% corn, 45% wheat, and 4% malted barley. Unfortunately, it didn't meet expectations. The flavor is somewhat odd and not really Bourbon like - a thin body for a cask strength whiskey, lots of ethanol and a distinctive chocolate/cocoa powder note. It tasted better the second time I tried it, but not a lot better. I have a feeling this bottle is going to be around for a while.

​

 

[Bill Ashton]

...severval "sniffters" of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey...

 

[allmanbros]

I decided to try a bottle of Old Elk Single Barrel Wheated Bourbon. It is cask strength, has a 7 year age statement and a mashbill of 51% corn, 45% wheat, and 4% malted barley. Unfortunately, it didn't meet expectations. The flavor is somewhat odd and not really Bourbon like - a thin body for a cask strength whiskey, lots of ethanol and a distinctive chocolate/cocoa powder note. It tasted better the second time I tried it, but not a lot better. I have a feeling this bottle is going to be around for a while.

​

I certainly am no expert, but the ratio of corn vs wheat in the mashbill seems a bit odd...the 51% corn content qualifies it as bourbon, but the 45% wheat content seems quite high especially when compared to other wheated bourbons like Weller...In Weller, the corn content is about 70% corn, 16% wheat and 14% barley and is more typical of most bourbon mashbills...I think your description of thin and somewhat odd is in part due to the very close parts of corn and wheat sort of zeroing out what the other typically brings to the mash bill...and even the difference in malted barley, which adds little to the taste profile but starts the fermentation process, is enough to throw the flavor off a bit...without tasting it, I would think it would be very sweet with none of the spiciness even wheat bourbons generally have to some degree.

 

[finnbow]

I certainly am no expert, but the ratio of corn vs wheat in the mashbill seems a bit odd...the 51% corn content qualifies it as bourbon, but the 45% wheat content seems quite high especially when compared to other wheated bourbons like Weller...In Weller, the corn content is about 70% corn, 16% wheat and 14% barley and is more typical of most bourbon mashbills...I think your description of thin and somewhat odd is in part due to the very close parts of corn and wheat sort of zeroing out what the other typically brings to the mash bill...and even the difference in malted barley, which adds little to the taste profile but starts the fermentation process, is enough to throw the flavor off a bit...without tasting it, I would think it would be very sweet with none of the spiciness even wheat bourbons generally have to some degree.

Old Elk even makes a wheat whiskey (i.e., a whiskey with 95% wheat and 5% barley malt).

 

[allmanbros]

Old Elk even makes a wheat whiskey (i.e., a whiskey with 95% wheat and 5% barley malt).

Heaven Hill also makes one called Bernheim, I suppose named after the old Bernheim Distillery...the mash bill is 51% wheat and 39% corn, so it should be more bourbon-like in flavor than the Old Elk...not a huge seller when I was in the business, but another option for those looking for something unique...nice package though!

 

[finnbow]

Heaven Hill also makes one called Bernheim, I suppose named after the old Bernheim Distillery...the mash bill is 51% wheat and 39% corn, so it should be more bourbon-like in flavor than the Old Elk...not a huge seller when I was in the business, but another option for those looking for something unique...nice package though!

I'm really not sure why I bought the Old Elk Wheated Bourbon other than the fact that my county liquor store had it on closeout for about 1/3 off normal retail and reviews for the 7 year single barrel were quite positive. Personally, I prefer Bourbons with rye as the second grain (as opposed to wheat) and am quite fond of rye whisky with a pronounced rye bite/spiciness.

 

[allmanbros]

There are indications that the bourbon craze of the past several years is fading...Brown Forman, parent company of Jack Daniels, just announced a layoff of 12% of their employees and a sell-off of their barrel company...numerous small craft distilleries have shut down recently, and trends are pointing towards younger drinkers moving to ready to drink cocktails, and/or marijuana, or total abstinence...there are about 14 million barrels aging in Kentucky alone right now, so a downward trend means there likely will be a glut of bourbon coming soon...bourbon sales decreased in 2023 and 2024, the first time in many years of back-to-back decreases...this doesn't bode well for those distilleries that have significantly over-produced as they will have bourbon to sell and no where to sell it...however for the consumer, it could mean prices will stabilize and likely some will decrease, some allocated bourbons (not all) will become more available, and some distillers may be forced to use older whiskey in a product that currently uses a younger bourbon that generates a particular profit margin...for example, Buffalo Trace is generally thought to be 8 years old (there is no age statement on BT) but with an excess of say 9-10 year old whiskey, they could use that in BT as long as it doesn't drastically alter the desired taste profile...the older whiskey adds to the cost, but a consumer price increase isn't likely in order to maintain a competitive category price point...so the profit margins decrease for the distilleries...it will be interesting to see how all this falls out.

Replying to my own post here... the thirst for bourbon continues to decrease and several more distilleries have bitten the dust recently...one called Lucia Mariano ( a death knell by name alone) bankrupted at 35 mil and closed before selling the first bottle...Garrard Distillery made it 14 months, bankrupted at 28 mil after spending 250 mil to build the distillery... both are serious mis-reads of the bourbon environment, not only by the borrowers but the lenders as well...Kentucky Owl, and old brand revived early on in the bourbon boom is in or near bankruptcy...Uncle Nearest, the brand created by descendants of the fellow who is said to have come up with the original Jack Daniels recipe, is in receivership of 100 mil for defaulting on their loans...one problem is they allegedly used finance money to buy a 2 mil house...estimates by "experts" say that from 2003 to 2023 whiskey sales (led by bourbon) increased 300%...during that same time period, whiskey production (again led by bourbon) increased 475%...doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the issues here...the older established brands will mostly survive whereas the small craft distilleries with deep debt will be in trouble...while consumers will end up with fewer selections, prices should stabilize or even drop, and some of the "allocated" goods might not be so allocated anymore.

 

[daveshel]

Elijah Craig Small Batch.

 

[Magnolia Tom]

Old fashioned with EH Taylor

 

[allmanbros]

Old fashioned with EH Taylor
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Glad to finally see a bourbon post, they are few and far between these days as the demand for bourbon has significantly declined in the last year...Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor was a highly respected politician and distillery owner in the late 1800's and a descendant of Zachary Taylor...If memory serves he was the mayor of Frankfort, Ky. at one time...besides making excellent bourbon, he was a major consumer advocate and was behind the Bottled-in-Bond Act which created government oversight into bourbon production during that time and still today...he knew that many distillers were producing bourbon using dubious and dangerous methods and materials while he was working hard to produce a quality product with great consumer value...the BIB Act either forced these rogue distillers out of business or made them cut out their shenanigans and put out a quality bourbon....on another note I see where parent company Diageo has suspended production until June of 2026 at their George Dickel Tennessee and Balcones Texas facilities saying they have reached production goals for the year, or in other words they will not make their sales goals and have overproduced and have excess inventory...not a good time to be a craft producer or considering a start-up bourbon distillery.

 

[sfox52]

I may haul the bottle of local craft bourbon my daughter gave me last year, My initial impression was it would be ok for cocktails, I should give it another chance. I am not sure if the distillery is still in business considering the falling demand for spirits.

 

[allmanbros]

I may haul the bottle of local craft bourbon my daughter gave me last year, My initial impression was it would be ok for cocktails, I should give it another chance. I am not sure if the distillery is still in business considering the falling demand for spirits.

During my time in the bourbon business, a well-known distiller told me the two most important ingredients in making bourbon are time and money...unfortunately most small craft distillers lack one or the other or both...start up costs are astronomical with no immediate return on investment and you can find yourself heavy in debt with no way out if illusions of grandeur get in the way of reality.

 

[sfox52]

This one has been open since 2014, I guess they are still there (about 20 miles from me). I know a lot of small guys would use the basic whiskey from Lawrenceville and age it after they get ahold of it. The craft brewing boom is retracting too, I worked for a local one that sold to a New York company that contract brews several brands.

 

[homebrew]

Not much of a bourbon drinker except maybe in an Old Fashioned. I'm more of an Irish Whiskey drinker so it's Jameson for me.

 

[RT Fan]

Bourbon season has arrived with the turning of the calendar. Had some Maker’s Mark at the sister in laws while down in DC and poured myself some Angel’s Envy upon returning on Sunday night.

 

[cwall99]

Buffalo Trace ... which I generally consume in an Old Fashioned.

I believe I just said this somewhere else here on AK, but I'll risk redundancy: Yuuuummmmmmm!!!

 

[TomD62]

Buffalo Trace ... which I generally consume in an Old Fashioned.

I believe I just said this somewhere else here on AK, but I'll risk redundancy: Yuuuummmmmmm!!!

I'm with you. Love me some Buffalo Trace! Just picked up a spare bottle.

 

[sfox52]

I got a bottle from my wife for a birthday gift, also a bottle of Green River Wheated Bourbon, Both are really good!