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EZdrinking

Spirit Reviews, Tasting Events and Consulting

Searching for the world's best drinks and what makes them extraordinary. EZdrinking is a drinks blog by Eric Zandona that focuses on distilled spirits, wine, craft beer and specialty coffee. Here you can find reviews of drinks, drink books, articles about current & historical trends, as well as how to make liqueurs, bitters, and other spirit based drinks at home.

Filtering by Tag: Jim Beam

Exploring Bottled in Bond Whiskey

Not that long ago I read Bernie Lubbers' book Bourbon Whiskey - Our Native Spirit.  In the book he wrote fondly of bonded bourbon whiskey.  For those unfamiliar with the term bonded whiskey, also labeled as bottled in bond, refers to whiskey that has been: aged for at least 4 years, bottled at exactly 100 proof (50% alcohol), the product of one single distillery, and the product of one distilling season. To be honest, before reading his book, I hadn't thought much of bonded whiskeys. Most of what I saw seemed to occupy the bottom shelf in the liquor store or back bar of my local watering holes so I assumed they weren't as good as the whiskeys higher up on the shelf.  But, as I discovered in my blind tasting of inexpensive whiskies, price and enjoyment are not always correlated.

Inspired by Bernie's passion for bottled in bond whiskeys I've decided to search them out and allow myself to have an open mind.  According to Bernie's website there are now 17 commercially available bonded whiskeys, up from 13 just three years ago, and two others only available at the Jim Beam Visitor Center and the Heaven Hill Bourbon Heritage Center.

To the best of my knowledge all of these Bottled in Bond Whiskeys are available for retail purchase somewhere in the US. Updated: 7/3/16, 12/30/17, 06/12/19, 10/7/19

California

Spirit Works Distillery

  1. Straight Wheat Whiskey B.I.B.

  2. Straight Rye Whiskey B.I.B.

Colorado

Laws Whiskey House

  1. A.D. Laws Four Grain Straight Bourbon B.I.B.

  2. A.D. Laws Secale Straight Rye B.I.B.

Spirit Hound Distillers

  1. Straight Malt Whiskey B.I.B.

Georgia

Old Fourth Distillery

  1. B.I.B. Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Kentucky

Brown-Forman

  1. Old Forester 1897 B.I.B.

  2. Early Times B.I.B.

Heaven Hill Distilleries

  1. Old Heaven Hill B.I.B.

  2. Heaven Hill 6 Year Old B.I.B.

  3. Evan Williams B.I.B

  4. Rittenhouse Rye B.I.B.

  5. Mellow Corn B.I.B.

  6. Old Fitzgerald B.I.B. (Discontinued)

  7. Old Fitzgerald B.I.B (Decanter Spring)

  8. Old Fitzgerald B.I.B (Decanter Fall)

  9. J.W. Dant B.I.B.

  10. J.T.S. Brown B.I.B.

  11. T.W. Samuels B.I.B.

  12. Henry McKenna 10yr Single Barrel B.I.B.

  13. William Heavenhill B.I.B. (Bourbon Heritage Center Only)

Jim Beam

  1. Jim Beam Bonded B.I.B.

  2. Old Grand Dad B.I.B.

  3. Old Tub B.I.B (only at Beam Visitor Center)

New Rift Distilling

  1. Bourbon B.I.B.

  2. Rye Whiskey B.I.B.

Sazerac Company: Buffalo Trace Distillery

  1. Very Old Barton 6 Year Old B.I.B.

  2. Colonel E. H. Taylor Small Batch B.I.B.

  3. Colonel E.H. Taylor Straight Rye B.I.B.

  4. Colonel E.H. Taylor Single Barrel B.I.B.

  5. 1792 B.I.B. Bourbon

The Old Pogue Distillery

  1. Old Maysville Club B.I.B. Kentucky Straight Rye Malt Whisky

Wilderness Trail Distillery

  1. Small Batch Bourbon B.I.B.

  2. Bourbon Single Barrel B.I.B.

Willett Distillery

  1. Old Bardstown B.I.B.

New York

Coppersea Spirits

  1. Bonticou Crag Straight Malt Rye Whiskey B.I.B.

Breuckelen Distilling

  1. 77 Whiskey Bonded Rye

  2. 77 Whiskey Bonded Rye & Corn

Finger Lakes Distilling

  1. McKenzie Bourbon Whiskey B.I.B.

Kings County Distillery

  1. B.I.B Straight Bourbon Whiskey

New York Distilling Company

  1. Ragtime Rye B.I.B.

Ohio

Tom's Foolery Distillery

  1. Ohio Straight Bourbon B.I.B.

Oregon

Oregon Spirit Distillers

  1. B.I.B. Bourbon Whiskey

  2. B.I.B. Wheat Whiskey

  3. J. Becher Straight American Rye Whiskey B.I.B.

Pennsylvania

Mountain Laurel Spirits

  1. Dad’s Hat Pennsylvania Straight Rye Whiskey B.I.B.

Wigle Whiskey

  1. Deep Cut B.I.B. Organic Straight Rye Whiskey

Tennessee

Brown-Forman

  1. Jack Daniels B.I.B. (Travel Retail Only)

Diageo: Cascade Hollow Distillery

  1. George Dickel TN Whisky B.I.B.

H Clark Distillery

  1. Tennessee Bourbon B.I.B.

Virginia

Catoctin Creek Distilling Company

  1. Rabble Rouser® Bottled In Bond Rye Whisky

Two New Spirit Book Reviews

I had two new spirit book reviews published in the 2013 Fall/Winter issue of Distiller Magazine.

Art in Fermented Form

Brett Vanderkamp is the president and co-founder of New Holland Brewing & Artisan Spirits. Vanderkamp and Greg Smith have written an engaging and thought provoking essays on importance and artistry of beer and spirits. My full review can be read in the online version of Distiller Magazine.

The book can be purchased online through amazon.

 

Bourbon Whiskey: Our Native Spirit

Bernie Lubbers is currently a brand ambassador for Jim Beam's Knob Creek. His book Bourbon Whiskey is part memoir and part bourbon folk history. Despite some of its flaws the book is interesting and easy to read. My full review can be read in the online version of Distiller Magazine.

The book can be purchased online through amazon.

Blind Whiskey Tasting $20 and Under

In June, David Driscoll of K&L Wines wrote a series of post called “Drinking to Drink.” While the series touched on a number of things, one of the themes was how whiskey drinkers often correlate price with enjoyment.  Driscoll argued that just because one whiskey is $80 doesn't mean that a drinker will enjoy it four times more than a $20 bottle.  In that same vein he suggested that there were a number of quality whiskeys that could be had for $20 and enjoyed more regularly without breaking the bank. After reading this series, I was inspired to organize a whiskey tasting of bottles that retailed around $20 or less.  I was curious to find out if there was a whiskey that I had overlooked simply because it lived on a lower shelf in the liquor aisle.

With some help from another post by Driscoll and my own mental list, I put together a list of six whiskies around $20 for the tasting.

  1. Buffalo Trace Bourbon
  2. Old Weller Antique Bourbon
  3. Jim Beam Black Label Bourbon
  4. Evan Williams Black Label Bourbon
  5. George Dickel No. 12 Tennessee Whisky
  6. Bank Note Blended Scotch Whisky

I know that Bulleit Bourbon can also be found on sale for under $20 but my friends and I are pretty familiar with it so I decided to leaving it out of the tasting.  I also decided to conduct the tasting blind. That there are a number of factors that can sway the perception of how good a beer, wine or spirit is based on external factors like, what shelf it's on in the store, label design, bottle shape and price.  I wanted to get an honest assessment of the contents of the bottles without being swayed by some of those external factors, so I had my wife wrap all the bottles in brown paper bags before the tasting.

The night of the tasting a friend of mine hosted the event and provided glasses, snacks and still water. We tasted the spirits in random order in glencairn glasses, neat, at room temperature.  We each took notes about what we tasted and gave each spirit a rating.  Once everyone had tasted all the whiskeys we revealed each whiskey from lowest to highest score.

 The undisputed favorite of the evening was Evan Williams Black Label, the least expensive whiskey, which retails at my local Safeway for $9.99.  I had tasted Evan Williams only once before a few months prior and I thought it would do well in the tasting but I didn't expect it to come out on top. Next came Buffalo Trace and Old Weller Antique.  I wasn't that surprised that these did well for the whole group but personally I was shocked that I had rated Old Weller above Buffalo Trace. This surprised me because I really like rye whiskeys and I have never been a fan of Maker's Mark. I assumed that this meant that I didn't like wheated bourbons and that I preferred bourbons with rye in their mash bill over wheat.  But even at 107 proof, I felt like Old Weller was more balanced and had more character compared to the 90 proof Buffalo Trace.

Dickel, Beam and Bank Note finished in the lower half.  Bank Note is a blended Scotch, and for the price I still think it is pretty good but I suspect that compared to all the bourbons it stood out like a sore thumb, and not it a good way.  The results that evening are exactly why I like to do blind tastings.  My assumptions about what I do and don't like were challenged and as a result I now have two new favorite whiskeys under $20: Evan Williams, and Old Weller.

What Does it Mean to be Craft?

What does it mean to be a Craft brewery or a Craft Distillery?  Terms like “hand crafted,” “small-batch,” “artisan,” and “traditional” can be found on all sorts of beer and spirit labels.  These terms are meant to evoke visions of individual, hard working craftsmen who dedicate themselves to creating something unique and interesting. Yet these terms are often little more than corporate newspeak (a term coined in George Orwell's 1984). Newcastle Beer recently released an ad that pokes fun at the idea of big breweries calling their products handmade.  The ad cuts between black and white photos while the narrator tells how Newcastle was handcrafted beer, but handcrafted beer was hard work.  The ad then cuts to color photos of a mechanized bottling line while the narrator quips how now they handcraft their beer with big machines.  I like the ad for its humor, honesty and its confidence that their beer is good enough not to hide behind pretense. 

 

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