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Happy Father’s Day

Posted by bourbonhound on

    (My dad with his first grand child, my niece Maggie back in 1987)
My dad is 80 years old and a veteran of the Korean War. He raised me and my three sisters better than anyone could have. He taught me how to eye a good-looking lady without being caught, how to fish and how to smoke a cigar like a real man. He is the reason I love UK basketball and Bluegrass music. I love my Irish Heritage which comes from my father and a nice bottle of Whiskey. I wouldn’t trade my dad for all the money in the world.

Great Bourbon – Col. Taylor Rye

Posted by bourbonhound on

Normally I prefer Irish Whiskey over Bourbon. Col. Taylor however, is one hell of a Bourbon. Out of 10 stars, I would rate it a 8.5.

 

Col. E.H. Taylor Straight Rye Whiskey is the latest Rye from Buffalo Trace Distillery, which has already contributed to the “Rye Resurgence” with it’s pair of Sazerac Straight Rye Whiskeys. These are fine examples of American Rye, but the E.H. Taylor expression is something else again.  By comparison, the 6-year old Sazerac Straight Rye is the Trace’s Old Overholt, and the 18-year old Sazerac it’s Wild Turkey 101 Straight Rye:  the high-quality standard and the premium expressions of this American classic.

The Taylor Rye fits into that arrangement at the top. Part of a line named for Col. E.H. Taylor, the original proprietor of the distillery that would become Buffalo Trace, and a man who fought to improve the integrity of American whiskey, the Taylor Straight Rye Whiskey is unique.  Limited to an annual release (beginning late August 2012), this Straight Rye deserves a place on the shelf with Masterson’s 100% Straight Rye Whiskey.

The Whiskey Col. E.H. Taylor Straight Rye Whiskey is Bottled-in-Bond, with a mashbill of rye and malted barley that ensures the sweetness of corn won’t overwhelm rye’s distinctive character.  “Bottled-In-Bond” means that this Rye is the product of one distillation season, of one distiller, at one distillery, has been aged in a federally-bonded warehouse supervised by the U.S. Government for at least four years, and bottled at 100 Proof (50% alcohol).  The practice dates to the U.S. Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897, which was passed to guarantee that consumers were buying real whiskey, and was strongly supported by Col. E.H. Taylor.

The whiskey’s deep golden copper promises a classic Rye, and it’s bouquet is one of the most complex I’ve sampled.  There’s a lot happening here, with several styles of spice and sweetness complimenting each other.  Tobacco and black raspberries, cardamom and caramel, dill and toffee are the most distinguished pairings, and repeated nosings find them engaged in a Bop-like interplay.  The spice takes

full review here