Category Archives: American

Bourbons in Bombay – Jefferson’s Very Small Batch 41.15%

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We kicked off our explorations of American drams with a Kentucky Straight Bourbon… In truth, Jefferson’s is a bourbon brand rather than a distillery per se… though the parent company Castle Brands did acquire a stake in the Kentucky Artisan Distillery.

But let’s not get hung up on details and pedigree… What did we think?

Jefferson’s Very Small Batch Bourbon 41.15%

  • Nose – Clear stamp of bourbon, then sour, citrus, lots of new wood, caramel, pine, varnish, musty, dry, paint thinner, acetone… then mellows into a light custard
  • Palate – Soft, a bit watery, and while not complex has some character, a bit bitter… as it sits starts to shift more into a light citrus honey
  • Finish – Soft after taste remains but not something you could describe as a finish

One remarked it could be described as a ‘ladies bourbon’… Speaking as a lady, not sure this would be my style of whisky at all! But I digress…

We set it aside for some time and revisit… it was like gripe water! Sweet and sour, cereals, ripe bananas, sour green apples and pears, then a nutty bitter close, softening into sweetness again. Not brilliant but not bad either.

And what do the folks over at Jefferson’s have to say?

Jefferson’s Bourbon is made in very small batches. Actually, ridiculously small batches. We take up to four different Kentucky straight bourbon whiskies of different ages and marry them together. Doing this, we get a lot of complexity and balance while maintaining the consistency needed in a bourbon (one of the blends comprising of at least 55% of the total). We wanted to make it big enough for the connoisseur, yet approachable for people just getting into the premium bourbon field.

Would we agree? It certainly is approachable…

While I can’t confirm, I suspect this bottle was purchased in the US of A… generally available for around $30. Which makes it mighty good value for money.

What all did we sample in our mostly Bourbons night?

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BMC’s Bourbon – Jefferson’s, St George, Blanton’s, Stagg

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Our Bombay Malt & Cigar (BMC) gents are definitely going beyond the borders of Scottish Single Malts… the latest in this flirting with other drams was an evening devoted to bourbon… with an American single malt whiskey thrown in for good measure!

So what did we sample?

You can also find more North American whiskies in the “US & Canada” page!

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Rye Night – High West Whiskey Double Rye 46%

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Last in the official pours from our original club’s rye night was a whiskey from High West. As I was off in Germany, notes were ably recorded by our guest writer Nikkhil… Read on!

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Pour ​3​: High West Double Rye Whiskey 46% | Batch No: 16I08 | Un-chill filtered

  • Appearance: Dark brown caramel
  • Nose: Acrid,nail polish, solventy, metallic paint shop. A tiny hint of rose petals.Muted nose. We weren’t getting anything much from this one.
  • Palate: Sharp and bitter sweet but not rough. Palate as muted as the nose. Hints of coco,cinnamon and tobacco. With water it gets even sharper. Green tea and some black pepper.
  • Finish: Short and still solventy.
  • After 20min rest: Grassy notes and tobacco.
Official notes:
  • Nose: Mint, clove, cinnamon, licorice root, pine nuts,and dark chocolate, with a surprising dose of gin botanicals throughout
  • Taste: Rye spices up front, then menthol, mint, eucalyptus, herbal tea with wildflower honey and all spice
  • Finish: Cinnamon and mint, gradually sweetening through the finish, with a hint of anise

Double Rye: A blend of straight Rye whiskeys ranging in age from 2 to 16 years. Straight Rye whiskeys: 95% rye, 5% barley malt from MGP & 53% rye, 37% corn, 10% barley malt from Barton Distillery.

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The original’s rye night contained:

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Rye Night – Cascadia Rye (Portugues Port Barrels) 43.5%

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Alas I again had to miss our session as was off gallvanting around Germany, however our resident guest whisky writer Nikkhil is back again to share our group’s impressions.

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Pour 2: Cascadia Rye Whiskey Port Barrel Finish | 43.5%

  • Appearance: A distinct pinkish amber hue
  • N​ose: Very jammy, over ripe fruit, orange oil, coco. A distinct note of gulkand (a sweet preserve of rose petals). Turmeric here as well. Strangely some sulphur notes. Mushrooms? A member even picked up mango pickle!
  • Palate: Mildly spicy. Dry coriander seeds, white pepper, vanilla. The jammy fruity nose was a lot subdued on the palate.The turmeric continues as well as the paan notes. Delicious actually.
  • ​Finish: ​Long with lingering notes of menthol/mint and warm spices.
  • With water it opens up beautifully. The soft fruits are back. Aniseed, rose, light tobacco along with that sulphury note created an interesting and a very unique flavor palate. The spices, though restrained keep the balance in check.
​After 20min rest: Meaty notes, bubblegum and weirdly Lifebuoy soap! 
Official notes:
 
  • Aging: This Rye Whiskey was first matured in new American Oak barrels, then double barrel finished in French oak casks previously used for maturing rich, 20 year old Port in Portugal. The casks were transferred to the distillery’s No.I vault, the Isle of Whidbey’s oldest maturation warehouse. Located at sea level on the shores of Port Clinton, the spirit was left to mature under nature’s care. The straight Rye developed into one of the most incredible whiskies we have produced. With an aroma rich in port, cocoa, dark cherries, toffee, chocolate and mature oak on the palate, the concentration of flavors is inimitable.
  • Nose:  Rich and full, yet mild.  Lingers in the mind.
  • Tasting Notes:  Rich, delicately spicy and very smooth.

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The original’s rye night contained:

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Rye Night – Cody Road 100% Rye Whiskey 40%

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In all our six years of sampling whiskies, our original Mumbai tasting group‘s adventures have only touched on rye every once and again… it has never once been a fully fledged featured evening… until now.

Alas I again had to miss our session as was off gallvanting around Germany, however our resident guest whisky writer Nikkhil is back again to share our group’s impressions.

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Pour 1: Cody Road 100% Rye Whiskey | 40% Abv

  • Appearance: Caramel
  • Nose: Spicy, citrus sour green tamarind on the tree, lemon drops, sweet poppins, orange mithai which gave way to a distinct raw turmeric (haldi root but not the dried one) note. Some ravalgaon toffee notes now in the glass. A very unusual flavour profile which was not yet experienced by the group. Certainly non-scottish!
  • Palate: Spicy and bitter. More turmeric/ginger notes on the mid-palate. Marigold flower petals! I’ve never experienced that before in any spirit. Some caramel popping its head up now. There was something plasticine about it which hit the back of the tongue. Almost like an off note. This I find commonly in first pours and usually settles thanks to oxidation as the level goes down in the bottle.
  • Finish: Spice and bitter stay at the back of the palate. A medium linger with a hint of cocoa notes.
  • With water sweet vanilla, a hint of mint. The bitterness stays. Overall a shy palate.

After 20min rest: The nose and the palate had completely opened up. It smelt and tasted like a cold sweet paan in a bottle! Lovely. The mouthfeel now had an oily consistency. Some cloves, cinnamon and over ripe bananas. Very fruity. The plasticine notes subdued significantly. Time in glass as important as time in cask. Every whisky tasting is a two way conversation and we must avoid the tendency to rush into our tastings in an effort to form or announce our impressions.

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What is interesting is how we have developed a clear slow down, sample, set aside and revisit approach (where we have enough Glencairn glasses!)… more often than not, the whisky will shift with more air – sometimes revealing additional quite interesting qualities, sometimes the opposite where once something that was quite appealing becomes “not” as it becomes sour or its aromas just vanish!

The original’s rye night contained:

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It twas a rye, rye, rye night!

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As I was traveling when our original club’s October session happened, our guest whisky writer Nikkhil again stepped up to the occasion.

What made this particularly unique was our 1st ever session focused purely on Rye. As per our normal approach, the merry malters sampled completely blind before the reveal.  

The original’s rye evening contained:

Nikkhil’s comments on the evening:

The hostess revealed all three bottles together. She had chosen a Rye theme for her session and it was indeed a very interesting experience for all of us. It was a first for me. Turmeric and paan notes are not what one would normally associate with a whiskey yet there they were!

The group was divided between the Cody Road & ​Cascadia Rye​ with me preferring the former. High West was not up to the groups liking. I had never imagined a Rye to be “finished” in sherry/port casks.

The Cascadia Rye did have a distinct pinkish hue and that sulphur note. Could the sulphur be because of the port cask finish? Cask fumigation by burning sulphur candles or brimstone sticks has been used to preserve casked wine and to prevent bacterial contamination of casks stored empty. It can also creep up if batches are distilled too fast or in too warm climate​. Cask maturation can significantly mitigate the effect of sulphur after 3 years. But by law an American straight Rye can be bottled after 2 yrs in the cask. Could it be the latter than the former? The mystery continues!

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Brush with Bourbon – Elmer T Lee 45%

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Last in our trio of bourbon’s at 1602 Dundas was a dram from Buffalo Trace distillery in Kentucky who produce Blanton’s, W. L. Weller, E. H. Taylor and Buffalo Trace among others. Elmer T Lee is named after their Master Distiller Emeritus Elmer T. Lee.

Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel Bourbon 45%

Image: LCBO

And what did we find?

  • Nose – Sweet mash, fruity cinnamon spice, over ripe fruits
  • Palate – Grape, raisins, bitter dry oaky, spicy
  • Finish – Slow bitter finish

Elmer T Lee has the clear and unmistakable stamp of Kentucky Bourbon character – lots of fruit, spice, bold and impossible to ignore.

While we split a 30 ml shot, a 750 ml bottle can be purchased at a Toronto LCBO for CND 54.95. Here what they have to say…

LCBO’s Tasting & Serving Notes

Complex and addictive. Scents of cinnamon, hazelnuts, and dried fruit precede big flavors: cinnamon spice, raisinated and plummy, like Madeira or Sherry. Long finish, with a bit of a bite. Score – 97. (Kara Newman, Wine Enthusiast, Sept. 2010).

Bourbon’s sampled at 1602 Dundas in Toronto in September 2017:

Other forays into American whiskies from Buffalo Trace:

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Brush with Bourbon – Basil Hayden’s 40%

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Next in our brush with Bourbon informal flight at 1602 Dundas was a bourbon from the Jim Beam stable – part of their small batch bourbons such as Knob Creek. Styled after the mash created by its namesake Basil Hayden, it uses double the rye of a standard Kentucky bourbons.

Image: Beam Suntory

Basil Hayden’s Kentucky Straight Bourbon 40%

And what did we find?

  • Nose – Resin, herbal, oats, cereals, sweet, honey, woody, treacle
  • Palate – Initial ‘yeowch’, then acclimatized to it, revealing some spices
  • Finish – There but..

What is fabulous about the world of whisky is the range of styles – something for everyone! However I’ve learned that my palate preferences veer away from both bourbon and rye… Which meant this whisky had a double strike against it as it both is very clearly a bourbon with a higher rye quotient.

What I enjoyed most was the nose – I could keep sniffing it and finding more elements. For me, the kick would be a brilliant dimension in certain cocktails – one where the interesting elements in the nose are given full room to shine with the rye spiciness and character on the palate punching up the drink.

Here’s what the folks over at the LCBO have to say:

The recipe for this classic Bourbon dates back to 1796. Amber in colour; on the nose are notes of dried apricot, caramel, custard, green peppercorn and hay; on the palate it is medium-bodied and warming, with flavours of white pepper, burnt sugar, dried white flowers and vanilla that finishes with a lingering herbal spice.

This bottle was released in February 26, 2015, made in Kentucky, USA by Beam Global Spirits and Wines with a style described as medium & spicy.

While we split a 30 ml shot, it can be purchased at Toronto LCBO for CND $53.95.

Bourbon’s sampled at 1602 Dundas in Toronto in September 2017:

Other forays into American whiskies from the Beam Suntory family:

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Brush with Bourbon – Black Maple Hill 47.5%

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We started off our 1602 Dundas bourbon trio evening with a small batch Kentucky straight bourbon with handmade sour mash and mysterious origins – Black Maple Hill.

Image: K&L Wines, Different bottle

Black Maple Hill Kentucky Straight Bourbon 47.5%

And what did we find?

  • Nose – Treacle, molasses, raisins, black pepper, rich…
  • Palate – Spice, sweet, not at all harsh
  • Finish – There then goes, bitter sweet

Most enjoyable, very drinkable… spunky character… it reminded me of Elijah Craig – in a good way.

I will admit I tasted just a small sample with a friend knowing nothing about the bourbon. I’ll admit again – I’m not really a bourbon drinker, but this certainly was more to my taste than most.

What was amusing is when I dug a little deeper to find out more about Black Maple Hill… guess what… it seems the one we had may possibly have elements from the same folks behind Elijah Craig… whaddya know!

Or is it?? The story isn’t so simple… it was once said to mostly come from the Stizel-Weller distillery and bottled by Julian van Winkle – an insiders secret with quality rare bourbons aged from 11 – 22 years… It then was labelled as aged for 8 years and garnered spill-over hype from the elusive over-priced Pappy… selling for thousands of dollars!

The dark rust label no longer claims an age and while Heaven Hill is credited on sites such as The Whisky Exchange, you won’t find Heaven Hill claiming it as one of its American whiskey brands. Throw into the mix Willett Distillery – which for the most part does not distill its own spirits and has even been known to put out products under fictitious companies… And others from Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (KBD) and you have a mystery blend from various unknown sources. Then the new Stein Distillery from Oregon came into picture… leading to a new spin-off Black Maple Hill from Oregon.

Alas my photo from our evening is madingly blurry and indistinct, however it was labelled as Kentucky straight bourbon and given the flavour profile of what we sampled, I’m guessing it shares some of the same bourbon source as Elijah Craig.

And what’s the reasonably reliable story? Read David Driscoll’s tale on K&L Wines in which he reveals:

So here it is – the story of Black Maple Hill.  A Bourbon made somewhere in Kentucky, sold to KBD, blended at their facility, sold to Paul Joseph, slapped with a romantic label, and distributed down the street from K&L in Redwood City.

All that matters? Of the trio we tasted that evening, this was my choice!

Bourbon’s sampled at 1602 Dundas in Toronto in September 2017:

  • Black Maple Hill Kentucky Straight Bourbon 47.5% – This post
  • Basil Hayden’s Kentucky Straight Bourbon 40%
  • Elmer T Lee Kentucky Bourbon 45%

Other forays into American whiskies….

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1602 Dundas in Toronto – A Brush with Bourbon

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When I travel, I enjoy seeking out whisky watering holes… from a collector’s paradise like The Auld Alliance in Singapore to the unabashedly curious range of Winnipeg’s Whisky Bar at Toad in the Hole.

Naturally my latest trip to Toronto (September 2017) had to include a chance to explore… in this case 1602 Dundas – a local joint conveniently found mere walking distance from where I was staying.

Well known for its cocktails, it has a most respectable range for a neighbourhood haunt – a mere 300 whiskies – all served in a chilled out, no pretence vibe where you can kick back, relax, enjoy a drink, discussion and throw in some whisky discoveries too.

After a short chat, knew we were in good hands with the lovely lady barkeep. As I perused the shelves, decided to plunge into waters I don’t normally tred – bourbon.

Image: Yelp Amanda C

Our wee brush with bourbons explored:

This was followed by a cocktail which was exceedingly well made and far too easy to drink.

And while I’m still not a huge bourbon fan… but I do love what ex-bourbon casks do to help the world of whisky!

Where can you find it?

  • 1602 Dundas is located at 1602 Dundas West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6K 1T8. 
  • Tel: 416 823 0661 – Currently open only evenings 6 PM – 2 AM
  • Or check out their map…

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