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Rebel Cask Strength Single Barrel Review

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Sunday Evening Review

 

So OHLQ is putting out their latest barrel picks of Rebel Cask Strength from Lux Row. I haven’t got one but thought I would do a review of one I do have from Papa Joe’s if you haven’t had the chance to taste this wheated cask strength selection.

 

Make sure you put in the comments any bottles that you would like me to review.

 

NAME – Rebel Cask Strength Single Barrel

 

PROOF – 120

 

AGE – Just lists when it was filled but not when it was bottled. From the multiple ones I have usually around 5 years.

 

COLOR – toasted pecan (1.4 tawny on the Whiskey Magazine Color Chart)

 

NOSE – Raw honey, cooked peaches, vanilla ice cream with caramel drizzle, roasted almonds and cinnamon sugar

 

TASTE – Peanut brittle, fresh berries, tobacco, leather, cinnamon and some coffee with sweet cream.

 

FINISH – I would call this a fairly long finish. The cooked caramel, tobacco, leather and cinnamon linger until the end.

 

REVIEW – Really good pour with more complexity and finish than you normally find in a wheated mash bill bourbon. The 120 proof obviously helps this with all of it but have had other wheated mash bill bourbons with far more simplicity and shorter finishes. Especially for a 5 year-ish aging, it really blossomed into something pretty great. Obviously being a barrel pick, this was the best of the already best barrels that Lux Row has to offer. So you would hope that it is something special. If you think this is going to be just another form of Maker’s Mark, it is not and gives you something very different but does hang onto the prototypical sweetness normally found in a wheater.

 

FINAL COMMENTS – Mash bill for the Rebel Cask Strength is 68% corn, 20% wheat, and 12% malt. Now the other part of this that should be of interest is this, not officially confirmed but sources inside Lux Row have said, that Rebel is sourced juice from Heaven Hill. If the mash bill sounds familiar it’s because it’s the same mash bill as Larceny and Old Fitzgerald. Obviously, the Heaven Hill products come with more age but for a price of $55 for a cask strength barrel pick is a great value.

 

 

 

 

Baker’s Bourbon 7 Year Single Barrel Review

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Sunday Evening Review

 

Hiding in plain site is a saying that really applies to whiskey drinkers. How many times have you tasted a whiskey that was outstanding, and it wasn’t a unicorn or overly expensive and could be grabbed at any liquor store? Every large distillery that has several brands has a few labels that just seem to fade into the background for the buying public. One of those is Baker’s for Jim Beam. There is obviously all the Jim Beam named products, Knob Creek and then Booker’s that gets a ton of hype, but Baker’s seems to be one that doesn’t get much love. Let’s see if it something you should go get or should it stay faded from view…or purchase.

 

Make sure you put in the comments any bottles that you would like me to review.

 

NAME – Baker’s Bourbon 7 Year Single Barrel

 

PROOF – 107

 

AGE – 7 years but that is the youngest it can be. Look on the neck label for the exact age for each bottle

 

COLOR – rose gold (1.4 tawny on the Whiskey Magazine Color Chart)

 

NOSE – Cinnamon sprinkled on a Granny Smith apple, caramel, vanilla, and toasted pecans

 

TASTE – Cinnamon vanilla whip cream, peanut brittle, rye spice, and aged oak

 

FINISH – I would call this a long finish. The cinnamon just hangs on and on. There is the aged oak and some cigar tobacco, but the cinnamon is what will be noticed the most.

 

REVIEW – For a $60 single barrel with a 107 proof point and age stated at 7 years, this is one that should be on your shelf. This has a great balance between spice and sweetness. The only thing missing is fruit notes as I picked up none. The overall experience is really good and the finish could almost have a birthday. Very long and enjoyable finish.

 

FINAL COMMENTS – One of the reasons for being out of the purview of whiskey drinkers in Ohio is available. Based on OHLQ the only places are in Cleveland, Cincinnati and Marietta and there may be a half dozen that actually have it. Supply would help bring this brand forward more in Ohio.

 

Baker’s is named after Jim Beam’s grand-nephew that acted different than most people working at a distillery in Kentucky. He was a motorcycle driving with a black leather jacket and wearing a wide-brimmed hat. When he retired, Booker Noe created this brand to honor Baker “inspired by his passion for bourbon and maverick nature.”