Review: Still Austin “The Musician” Straight Bourbon

Sample bottle provided by Still Austin Whiskey Co.

AT A GLANCE

• Owned, Distilled and Bottled by: Still Austin Whiskey Co. Austin, TX

• Spirit Type: Bourbon

• Mash Bill: 70% White Corn, 25% Elbon Rye, 5% Wildfire Malted Barley

• Still Type: Column Still

• Age: 2 Years

• Strength: 49.2% ABV

• Price: $45

Three Austin families, the Seals, the Braunbergs, and the Salinas' founded Still Austin Whiskey Company in 2015 with the goal of making Texas bourbon. They use a 42 foot (13m) Scottish built column still to distill their bourbon mash made from 100% Texas grown white corn, rye and malted barley. After the whiskey ages, it is vatted by Master Blender "The Nose" Nancy Fraley and then slowly proofed down over a six month period before bottling. The Musician was the first whiskey released by Still Austin followed later by a rye whiskey call “The Artist”. These names are meant to represent of the innovative people who make Austin unique.

TASTING NOTES

Nose: The nose has aromas of white nectarine, cinnamon, and vanilla. While on the palate there is an initial burst of caramel sweetness followed by a nice rye spice.

Palate: In addition, there are flavors of dry mint, pencil shavings and vanilla.

Finish: The finish is pleasantly soft and light for a bourbon near 50% ABV with lingering fruit and sweet oak flavors.

Conclusion:  Sill Austin has produced a nice, light bourbon that has a good mixture of fruit and spice notes. And even after spending more than two years in the Texas heat, the whiskey is a long way from being over extracted.

The Best Alternative to Buffalo Trace Bourbon

Bottle purchased at retail by EZdrinking.

AT A GLANCE

• Spirit: Benchmark Bonded Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

• Owned by: Sazerac Company

• Distilled and Bottled by: Buffalo Trace Distillery, Frankfort, KY

• Spirit Type: Bourbon

• Mash Bill: Buffalo Trace Mashbill #1 (10% or less Rye)

• Still Type: Column Still

• Aged: NAS (minimum 4 years)

• Strength: 50% ABV

• Price: $20

If you cannot find Buffalo Trace Bourbon in your area, it sells out as soon as it hits liquor store shelves, or you are tired of paying over $30 for this once entry level bourbon, Benchmark Bonded Bourbon is the best alternative out in the market.

Ten years ago, Buffalo Trace Bourbon was easy to find and usually under $20 a bottle. At that time it came in second in a blind tasting I organized for so friends of mine. But, as the craze for Pappy and other older whiskeys from Buffalo Trace Distillery grew, it became harder to find a bottle and more expensive when you did. So, if you are a fan Buffalo Trace but cannot get your hands on it, you need to look for Benchmark Bonded.

Today, Benchmark is named after the survey markers placed by the McAfee brothers who were some of the earliest colonial settlers in Kentucky. When they reached the region north of where Frankfort would be founded, they discovered large numbers of elk, deer and buffalos. The area became known as buffalo trace, a migration route used by the buffalo as they moved through Kentucky. The brand was originally distilled in Louisville, and created by Seagram's in the 1960 as a premium bourbon sold in decanters. The association with the McAfee brothers was added sometime after 1989, when Seagram's sold the brand to Sazerac Company. For many years Benchmark held on as a value brand, sold primarily as McAfee's Benchmark Old No. 8. But in 2019, Sazerac decided to expand the Benchmark line to include five new expressions: the Small Batch (45% ABV), Top Floor (43% ABV), Single Barrel (47.5% ABV), Bonded (50% ABV), and Full Proof (62.5% ABV). I suspect that this expansion was a way for Sazerac to maintain the quality and particular barrel selection process they had for Buffalo Trance while also increasing the supply of a more affordable version of their bourbon.

TASTING NOTEs

Nose: On the nose there are light notes of oak, cream corn, and a hint of vanilla.

Palate: On the palate the bourbon begins sweet with notes of vanilla and then transitions to a more complex flavor of sweetened ice tea and peaches.

Finish: On the finish the whiskey is relatively long with flavors of ripe plum, canned peaches (without the syrup) vanilla and oak.

Conclusion: Benchmark Bonded is a solid bourbon that is great as an everyday whiskey for when you want something enjoyable while your attention is focused doing something else like cooking or spending time with friends or family. It is not the most complex whiskey but at 4 years old and 100 proof this a perfect budget pour for drinking neat, on the rocks, with water, with mixers, or as a cocktail. As Buffalo Trace has crept up in price and gotten more difficult to find on a regular basis, Benchmark Bonded is the best alternative you can find.

Review: Blackland Bourbon

Sample bottle provided by Blackland Distillery

AT A GLANCE

• Owned, Blended and Bottled by: Blackland Distillery, Fort Worth, Texas

• Spirit Type: Bourbon

• Mash Bill: Wheated bourbon

• Still Type: Pot Still

• Aged: 70% aged 2 years, 30% 4 years

• Strength: 41.5% ABV

• Price: $48

Named for the Blackland Prairie, Markus Kypreos founded Blackland Distillery in 2015, after 15 years of practicing law in Fort Worth, TX. Looking to take a more modern approach to distilling spirits, Kypreos and his head distiller Ezra Cox use an automated iStill distilling system that has created numerous award-winning spirits around the world. Currently, Blackland is distilling their vodka and gin from Texas grown wheat and as well as making bourbon and rye whiskey. The bourbon is distilled from a wheated bourbon mash and then aged in a variety of barrels sizes, which are then vatted to achieve their target flavor profile. According to Blackland, they were supplementing their in-house whiskeys with sourced whiskey from Minnesota though they expect to transition to 100% Texas distilled and aged stock.

TASTING NOTES

Nose: The nose has a nice aroma of sweet cherries and fresh peaches with just a touch of vanilla underlying oak notes.

Palate: On the palate the bourbon is light, and flavors of peach and nectarine combine with soft notes of vanilla, oak, and a touch of spearmint.

Finish: Fruitiness carries through on the finish with notes of real peach iced tea, a hint of brown sugar and enough oak tannins to balance the sweetness.

Conclusion: Overall, this is a light and fruity bourbon that is easy to drink and would make a refreshing summertime tipple either served on the rocks, in a highball, or in a Texas Grog. Blackland Bourbon Whiskey makes me believe that we can expect more good things from this Fort Worth distillery and it is a testament of how the Texas climate can make young whiskey sip beyond its age.

How to Use Texas Whiskey and Bourbon in Cocktails

Texas Whiskey is known for its bold character due to its intense aging environment. Some might struggle with how to use these spirits in cocktails so here is a little history that can help guide us.

For those who only know Texas through the movies, it is easy to imagine the state pre-prohibition to be a huge expanse of brushy grazing land dotted with cattle, and a few cowboys who fiercely value their independence. While there have been and are areas where this is true, Texas also had large cosmopolitan cities well respected for their contribution to cocktail culture. In the 19th Century, several travelers recoded their experiences and observations while traveling through Texas and remarked on the array of grog shops, taverns, saloons, and ornate hotel lounges available for drinking. With that in mind, here are two drinks, one simple and one more sophisticated, that could work with Texas whiskey both then and now.

Texas Grog

One of the advantages of the intense Texas climate is that you can get a more mature tasting whiskey with less aging time than a similar whiskey from Kentucky, Tennessee, or Indiana. For most young whiskey it is best mixed with colas or sodas to mask its youth but young Texas whiskeys can work both as sippers or in cocktails. Inspired by the 19th Century Texas grog shops, I came up with a light and refreshing drink that pairs great with Texas bourbon.

• 2oz bourbon (Treaty Oak’s Ghost Hill Texas Bourbon, or Blackland Bourbon work well)

• 2oz water

• ½oz fresh orange juice (fresh not bottled OJ is key)

• ½oz simple syrup

• 2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Shake all the ingredients with ice and strain into a double Old-Fashioned glass with fresh ice.

The Improved (Texas) Whiskey Cocktail

In the 1830s Huston, was no backwater town, so while Texans are known for being hard working and free spirited, they are certainly not barbarians. One could have walked into a fancy hotel bar and found an array of spirits such as cognac, gin, rums from Jamaica and Cuba, and whiskeys from Tennessee, Kentucky, Maryland, Ireland, and Scotland. In addition, wines such as claret, port, madeira, hock, burgundy, sherry, and champagne were available from several merchants in the city. Given this wide variety of regional and imported beverages an Improved Whiskey Cocktail would have been great option for a m1ore sophisticated drink.

• 1 sugar cube (1tsp white sugar or ¼oz simple syrup)

• 1 bar spoon (¼oz) maraschino liqueur

• 1 dash Angostura Bitters

• 1 dash Peychaud’s Bitters

• 1 dash absinthe

• 2oz bourbon (Balcones’s Texas Pot Still Bourbon or Garison Brothers Texas Small Batch Bourbon will work well)

• 2in lemon peel for garnish

In an Old-Fashioned glass, add the sugar, maraschino, bitters, absinthe, and muddle them for about 30 seconds (if using simple syrup skip the muddling). Add the bourbon and a large ice cube and stir again until chilled. Twist or pinch the lemon peel over the glass to express the oils, then drop it into the drink.

Review: New Riff Kentucky Straight Bourbon Bottled in Bond

Sample bottle provided by New Riff Distilling

AT A GLANCE

• Owned, Distilled and Bottled by: New Riff Distilling

• Spirit Type: Bourbon

• Mash Bill: non-GMO- 65% Corn,30% Rye, 5% Malted Barley

• Still Type: Column Still

• Aged: 4 years in 53-gallon toasted and charred new oak barrels

• Strength: 50% ABV

• Price: $42

Ken Lewis, a Kentucky liquor retailer founded New Riff Distilling in 2014, to create a new expression of sour mashed, bottled in bond Kentucky straight bourbon and rye with out chill filtration. Because New Riff is family run it allows them the flexibility to place the pursuit of excellent whiskey over pure commercial success.

Their bourbon is distilled from a high-rye bourbon mash, which is aged for a minimum of four years and bottled in bond.

TASTING NOTES

Nose: The whiskey has as nice aroma of oak, vanilla, cinnamon, followed by light fruit notes like pomegranate and sweet cherries.

Palate: On the palate the whiskey is light on the tongue and has a wonderful flavor of caramel, red apple, oak and a touch of spice both from the rye and from the barrel.

Finish: On the finish there is a slight bitterness from the oak tannins, that fades into a soft and sweet sensation of baking spice and vanilla.

Conclusion: New Riff is an excellent whiskey with a classic bourbon profile that is sure to make any fan of the spirit happy to add it to their liquor cabinet. If you do not mind a little heat, drink neat, otherwise it will work well on the rocks or in a number of cocktails such as an old fashioned or manhattan.