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Parker’s Heritage Collection: Orange Curacao Finished Review

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Last night it was time for me to pay up on my private tasting that was raffled off at our December meeting that raised money for the Huckleberry House. It gave me the opportunity to crack open a bottle that I had been saving for the situation. So now that it is open, I figured it was as good a time as any to review it for you. The bottle is a Parker’s Heritage Collection: Barrel Finished in Orange Curacao barrels. Let’s get into this!

 

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

 

NAME – Parker’s Heritage Barrel Finished

 

PROOF – 110

 

AGE – non-age stated (rumored to be between 7-8 years – 4 months in orange curacao barrels)

 

COLOR – deep amber (1.4 tawny on the Whiskey Magazine Color Chart)

 

NOSE – Navel orange citrus pops right off the top, light brown sugar, toasted almonds, vanilla crème, slight sweet leather and toasted oak

 

TASTE – Vanilla custard right in the front and then it transitions with orange creamsicle, roasted peanuts, charred oak, dusty tobacco

 

FINISH – I would call this a long finish. The orange notes transition into a dry charred oak and dusty peanut shell finish.

 

REVIEW – Orange curacao finished bourbon is not something I normally seek out but when I had the chance I had to pull the trigger on a Parker’s Heritage Collection. The interesting part of this pour is that there is no doubt the orange curacao finish gave the intended effect of adding an orange note but at the core of this is still a Heaven Hill profile with big nuttiness and oak notes that still reminds you it is still the base of this whiskey. I think the more often you drink it the better you get to understand the pour. I will say today I felt it was better than the first pour out of the bottle last night. It also probably has been improved by letting air hit for a little bit also.

 

FINAL COMMENTS – It was great to be able to share this bottle with some great people last night. One of the things that I did last night was use different food items to show the dramatic changes that can make with whiskey in general but with one like this it really showed. I really encourage you with any whiskey to try this exercise. I used parmesan cheese, toasted pecans, dried cranberries, dark chocolate and a dark maple syrup. The dried cranberries really made the orange burst alive and then the dark chocolate brought out the dry oak and nuttiness. All of the items gave you many twist and turns. Let me know if you do this and what you think.

To find out more check it out here – Parker’s Heritage Collection

You can look at all the past Sunday Evenings Reviews and I would still love to hear what your personal reviews are from each of the whiskies reviewed.

Sagamore Double Oak Rye Review

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SUNDAY EVENING REVIEW

 

During my time doing these reviews, I have reviewed many double oaked whiskies but I have never reviewed a double oaked rye. That changes today as I review the Sagamore Double Oak Rye. Let’s see what the second barrel does to this rye.

 

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

 

NAME – Sagamore Spirit Rye Straight Whiskey Double Oak

 

PROOF – 96.6

 

AGE – No Age Statement (back of bottle states initial age of whiskey is 4 years before going in second barrel. On the website says that it stays in the second barrel for 18 months. So at least 5 ½ years old)

 

COLOR – Dirty copper (1.6 mahogany, henna notes on the Whiskey Magazine Chart)

 

NOSE – Herbal mint, black tea, strawberry taffy, vanilla wafer, Heath candy bar and oak

 

TASTE – Toffee, vanilla, herbal mint, black tea, hint of orange, milk chocolate, some baking spices and some sweet oak

 

FINISH – I would call this medium finish. The herbal mint, black tea, some of the orange and a little bit of the milk chocolate lasted until the end.

 

REVIEW – This is a rye drinkers rye. It has all the aspects of what people that drink ryes want. The double oak process I believe added some vanilla and toffee notes that help this rye from just drinking an herbal mint tea. It rounded out the whiskey and gave it far more interest and drinkability at the same time.

 

FINAL COMMENTS – I really wonder why there isn’t more double oaked ryes. I think the additional barrel can add depth as well as additional sweetness that can help round out some of the sharpness commonly found in a straight rye.

 

On another note, I just think these angular bottles with the copper and slate grey label are just stunning. It is simple and elegant without trying too hard.  Also, each Sagamore product that  is proofed is proofed with pure, limestone-filtered water from their Spring House built in 1909. It’s why each bottle bears a special 1909 marker.

To find out more check it out here – Sagamore Double Oak Rye

You can look at all the past Sunday Evenings Reviews and I would still love to hear what your personal reviews are from each of the whiskies reviewed.

Iron Vault Distillery Limited Bourbons Reviewed

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Sunday Evening Review

 

This week if you are a fan of craft distilleries, this will be the week for you. The reason is that Iron Vault Distillery is a craft distillery in every sense of the word. Now being craft is all well and good but what they produce is far more important. Today I will review 2 of their limited-edition selections with their Star Spangled Bourbon and also the Bloody Butcher Bourbon. Let’s find out if this is going to be like fireworks in my mouth or what may be considered a crime scene. Let’s get to it.

 

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

 

NAME – Iron Vault Star Spangled Bourbon

 

PROOF – 90

 

AGE – non-age stated

 

COLOR – baked butternut squash (1.3 russet muscat on the Whiskey Magazine Color Chart)

 

NOSE – Buttered corn on the cob, vanilla, clover honey, sweet oak and a slight milk chocolate

 

TASTE – Sweet corn pudding, vanilla cream, cinnamon sugar, and new oak

 

FINISH – I would call this a medium finish. The sweet corn, vanilla and cinnamon last the entire trip.

 

NAME – Iron Vault Star Bloody Butcher

 

PROOF – 90

 

AGE – non-age stated

 

COLOR – toasted corn bread (1.3 russet muscat on the Whiskey Magazine Color Chart)

 

NOSE – Honeysuckle, grape jelly, vanilla bean, toasted oak, and a hint of tobacco

 

TASTE – Sugar Smacks cereal, orange zest, vanilla pudding, and some Kit Kat candybar

 

FINISH – I would call this a medium finish. The vanilla and chocolate hangs around for the finish

 

REVIEW – Pretty clear that the Bloody Butcher is the more complex and interesting bourbon. It took me awhile to really figure out what I was tasting. Both have youth which was expected but not offensive as some young bourbon can be. The Star Spangled Bourbon would be good at a 4th July picnic as it is an easy drink and could be easily added to some coke at the picnic.

 

Bloody Butcher really is on the verge of being a really great bottle. It reminds me of Whiskey War when it was a 2 ½ year whiskey and then when High Bank added 2 more years to the blend, they won San Francisco. You add 2 more years to the Bloody Butcher and you would have something to write home about.

 

FINAL COMMENTS – Like I said before Iron Vault is a craft distillery in every sense of the word. They have never sourced any of their juice. The grain is all from Ohio and they are doing interesting things with 5, 10, 15 and 20 gallon barrels.

 

Both selections are using heirloom corn from Ohio. The Star Spangled uses a red, white and blue corn in its mash (see what they did there). The Bloody Butcher uses a heirloom red corn that is named the same.

 

Do yourself a favor sometime and make the short drive to Galion, Ohio and check them out. Make sure of their hours as they are limited to the public as like I said this is very craft and small operations, but you won’t be disappointed. Great tasting and make sure to ask to try their Aquavit. It certainly is an experience.

 

To find out more check it out here – Iron Vault Distillery

You can look at all the past Sunday Evenings Reviews and I would still love to hear what your personal reviews are from each of the whiskies reviewed.

Peerless Double Oak Review

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Sunday Evening Review

 

It’s a new year and why not double up to start…double oak that is. This week we will take a look at the Peerless Double Oak bourbon. I have had some special barrel picks that were a double oak in the past, but this will be my first taste of their new edition. We’ll find out if double the oak means double the flavor.

 

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

 

NAME – Peerless Double Oak Kentucky Straight Bourbon

 

PROOF – 107.1

 

AGE – non-age stated

 

COLOR – pipe tobacco (1.9 brown sherry on the Whiskey Magazine Color Chart)

 

NOSE – Dark brown sugar, bubble gum, orange peel, milk chocolate and sweet oak

 

TASTE – Milk chocolate, nougat, roasted peanut, soft leather, vanilla bean, sweet oak along with some wood spice

 

FINISH – I would call this a medium to a long finish. Chocolate, leather and tobacco runs to the end.

 

REVIEW – This didn’t disappoint. It gives you a ton of flavor with a good balance of sweetness and some of the dark notes like oak, leather and tobacco. I will say that some of the barrel picks that I have had of a Peerless Double Oak that they seemed to be slight richer but that is being nitpicky.

 

FINAL COMMENTS – Peerless has quickly grabbed anyone’s attention and a lot of it has to do with their 30 year old Master Distiller, Caleb Kilburn. They also do it the hard way using a sweet mash style but has really worked for Peerless. They are well known for their rye but I will say that their bourbons are some of the best put out by anyone.

 

A little did you know for you. Did you know that the double oak style of bourbon was born out of a fix for a problem. Sometimes barrels just leak and what happened to save the juice was to put it in another new charred oak barrel. It didn’t take long for distillers to recognized it did more than fix a problem.

 

To find out more check it out here – Peerless Double Oak

You can look at all the past Sunday Evenings Reviews and I would still love to hear what your personal reviews are from each of the whiskies reviewed.