MSU Red Cedar Message Board

Evan Williams is a good choice for a high ball.

This "Gasoline Shortage" is getting serious. Maybe the folks at Maker's Mark can come up with an innovative solution.

picked up some Jefferson's Small Batch on a friend's recommendation. Anyone else have it?

Had some over the weekend. It's hotter than the 90 proof would indicate. Very dry and lacked that hint of sweetness that I like in bourbon. Added a splash of water to the second glass which I felt made it more enjoyable. It did have a nice lingering finish. Probably wouldn't buy again. What did you think of it?

Woodford Batch 649 gone. I may have to move to the double oak

It's ok, I agree on adding a bit of water to it not sure I would get again

edit: that was for Isdaddy up a ways, I love Blantons very good stuff

with it being St. Patrick's day, anyone a fan of Irish Whiskey's? I picked up a bottle of Paddy's and while not amazing, light years ahead of jameson and bushmills

Framed and up on the wall, Ikea actually has decent cheap frames

Saw this on the chive.

Just checking in to gloat a bit. I'm heading to KY for a little Bourbon tasting to barrel select some stuff for my bro-in law's store and Bill from Journeyman next weekend (tWife is letting me skip our anniversary for it). Here's the current itinerary:

Sunday:
4pm: Tour of Alltech (Kentucky Ale - try their bourbon ale, its fantastic)
Evening:West 6th Brewery & Country Boy Brewing

Monday:
9am: Tour @ Four Roses
10am: Tour @ Wild Turkey
Noon: Barrel Selection @ Buffalo Trace
4pm: Barrel House Distillery

Tuesday:
9:30am: Independent Stave Co (Cooperage)
10:30am: Makers Mark Tour
11:30am: Heaven Hill Heritage Center
Then somehow get home????

On the road back right now. Hit all the places on the itinerary. Ill do a full summary and post pics tomorrow.

Met Jimmy Russell (wd turkey master distiller) and got a signed bottle of Russell's reserve single barrel so that was pretty cool.

Also, every stripper in Lexington has had a c section. Fact.

Day 2:

3. Four Roses: Tour was pretty good, the guy was knowledgeable, but nothing remarkable. It was my first realization of how commercialized these places are when they were selling Four Roses iPhone cases. The tasting room was very nice. I bought a bottle of their Single Barrel which was significantly better than the others (had more spice/pepper to it which you will see is my style). Overall impression was that it was good being the first stop, but once we had finished it was clear that this experience was middle of the pack.

4. Wild Turkey: I love the old visitor center, but its being replaced by an eyesore of a building. The tour was below average. Impressive, but questions we had got answers like "They don't have that in our tour script". The fermentation room was pretty cool. They only gave 2 samples per person, but with a big group we are able to try them all. The Russell's Reserve 10 is really good. I've had it before, so I got a bottle of the Single Barrell RR this time. I don't think I liked it significantly more than the 10 for the price, but I wanted something different this time. Heavier char character. The 6 year old RR Rye was also really good.

The highlight was meeting Jimmy Russell who is the Master Distiller and has been there 59 years. He was so cool. Chatted with us about Chicago and how he was just up here drinking at Delilah's and some other place that does a burlesque show. Then he proceeded to bust my balls when I asked him what his favorites were outside of WT. Really good sport and he signed about 15 things for us.

5. Buffalo Trace: Its not really fair to compare this to the others, but I will. Far and away the best spot, but with the barrel selection process they serve us lunch, give us a much more in depth tour and then we get to hand select. The tour did NOT have a video to kick it off (most did), which in my opinion is way better. Our tour guide had been there for 2 years, but he knew everything and we had professional distillers asking him questions. The history and look to BT is awesome and they aren't trying to make it into some modern warehouse looking place like Alltech, WT, etc. We tasted 9 barrels - 3 Wellers (6.5 yrs), 3 BT (8 yrs), and 3 Elmer T Lee's (9 yrs).

If you ever get the chance to do this, grab it. Its my second and it gets better each time. To compare the differences in two exact recipes right next to each other is challenging, but I accept. The downside was the lack of product to buy onsite, but it didn't matter since I'll get a bottle of each of what we selected when they are done being bottled and the stuff I really want comes out in October (Stagg, Handy, PvW).

6. Barrel House Distillery: When they say Micro, they mean Micro. These guys are ridiculously nice. They let us sleep in a rental house one of them owns for free. Their operation is tiny and very pieced together, but they are operating this as a passion project/second jobs. It looks like my homebrew operation. Their bourbon isn't ready yet (its been barreled for 3.5 yrs) but they have a couple of other spirits. They do a rum in bourbon barrels which imparts a nice bourbon flavor into the rum which I like, because I'm not a big rum fan. If I liked rum, this may not be my cup of tea. Its really refreshing to see such a ground floor project. Worth the trip to shoot the shit with Jeff and Pete, but your expectations should be in line.