Mondays can be a pain…especially the first Monday after Daylight Savings when everyone’s internal clock is all wonky and everything seems a bit off. But let me help brighten your day. The Evan Williams Experience is expecting three new limited release bourbons before the end of the year, including the first in the next couple of weeks. At least one, maybe all, will be gift-shop only exclusives. The first is the Evan Williams Anniversary bourbon, celebrating the anniversary of the opening of the Evan Williams experience in Louisville. It will be gift-shop only, and feature a blend of barrel proof…
Author: Bill
Bill
Bill is the Co-Founder, Editor-in Chief, and official Bourbon-o-Phile for ModernThirst.com, and Founder and Chief Blending Officer for Four Gate Whiskey Company. He is a native of Louisville, KY in the heart of Bourbon Country. He attended the University of Kentucky in the mid to late 1990s. He has also been published on Liquor.com. He has conducted various bourbon and whiskey tastings in cities across the country, and consulted for multiple national labels. He is married with two daughters, and lives in east Louisville. You can follow him on Facebook and Twitter @BillStraub and email him at [email protected].
Looking for the perfect gift for the whiskey lover in your life? We’ve put together a list of some of our favorite products available on Amazon .com to help you find that perfect gift for your own lover of fine spirits. Follow the links below for Amazon.com: The Glencairn Glass: The standard. If you have a whiskey or bourbon lover in your life, make sure he or she owns at least one or two of these. They’re the standard by which all whiskey glassware is judged. Set of 2: Set of 4 or 6: The Bellemain Glass: This is the…
[amazon_link asins=’B00H143UXW,B016YPDI3A’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’modernthirstc-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’06fcabde-89a9-11e7-b0cb-753080d9149d’] Stats: Age: a blend of 9-13 year bourbons Distiller: Four Roses; Lawrenceburg, KY ABV: 52.6% (103.2 proof) Bottle: 8601/12516 Price: $100 Availability: Annual Limited Release, Extremely Rare (12,516 total bottles released) What it is: The Limited Edition Small Batch release from Four Roses has been amongst the better bourbons released each year for the past three years, culminating with the 2013 release of the 125th Anniversary edition that knocked the socks off of many reviewers, including myself. This year’s release comes in at a much lower 103.2 proof (2013 was 111.8 proof) and much…
It’s just a little too unbalanced to give a solid recommendation, but it’s not a complete whiff on Willett’s part. I’m sure this style will have its fans just the way it is. This feels like a liqueur crying out to be used in a cocktail rather than sipped neat, and for $150, it may price itself out of that market.
When is a Glencairn Glass not really a Glencairn Glass? When it’s a Bellemain Glass. By now, I’m sure you’ve seen the Glencairn Glass in any number of photos on this site or others discussing bourbon and whiskey. It has become the standard whiskey glass for those who sip their whiskey neat. The glass was designed by Glencairn Crystal in Scotland by Raymond Davidson. He started with a traditional copita glass and made design changes based upon input from the master blenders of major Scotch Whisky distilleries. It was quickly adopted by the Scotch Whisky Association and became the standard…
Stats: Age: 12 Years ABV: 48.5% (97 Proof) Distilled by: Brown-Forman, Louisville, KY Price: $60 Availability: Rare, Limited Annual Release What it is: Birthday Bourbon is limited release annual offering from Brown-Forman honoring the founder of the company, George Garvin Brown, and released each year on or around his birthday, September 2nd. Though it’s a small batch bottling, all the whiskey is selected from a single day of production and is bottled at 97 proof. It is aged 12 years. I unfortunately whiffed on getting a bottle of my own this year and figured I’d have to try a sip…
You may have noticed a lack of posts from me in the past week. My apologies. Sometimes real life gets in the way of running a Beer & Booze site. Lucky for us, Matt was ready to roll with some great content all week. Great work, Gater! I spent the last week either working in, or traveling to and from Hyderabad, India. It’s my second trip to Hyderabad, so drink options weren’t exactly a surprise. What were those drink options, you ask? Beer, scotch, and Indian wine. Yes, India makes wine. Yes, it tastes exactly like you might expect Indian…
It’s fall! For some, fall means football. To others, it means Halloween, or the kids returning to school. We can’t argue with any of that. But it also means one more very important thing: it’s time for the season releases of pumpkin beers. We recently sampled a few different pumpkin beers, and here is our take: North Peak Brewing Company: Hooligan The word Hoppy on the label immediately got my attention. Unfortunately this beer was a bit of a disappointment. While it was bold and not overly spiced, the hop flavor that I was looking for was simply not…
Tomorrow is get away day for me…. I’m heading overseas on business, and know I won’t be seeing much bourbon, so that narrows it down. Bill: Pappy Van Winkle 20 Year Reserve It’s Pappy release time in Kentucky, so I went with the Holy Grail itself. This is Stitzel-Weller era Pappy Van Winkle 20 year. It’s pretty much the definition of a perfect aged wheater. Soft, creamy, and awesome. Bill: Parker’s Heritage Collection 8th Edition Wheat Whiskey I’m following it up with my favorite release of this year. This one is a bold, creamy, sweet flavor bomb that was…
Uh oh! Guess what day it is! Guess what day. it. is. Anybody? It’s hump day! What! What! Here’s what we’re sipping tonight: Bill: Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale Kicking it off tonight with a bottle of Stone’s Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale. 7.2% ABV, without a ton of oak on the nose, considering it literally had “oaked” in the name. Still, it’s a vanilla laden, malty sip with a decent amount of color and hops. Bill: Four Roses Private Selection OESF I’m following that up with a couple fingers worth of Four Roses Private Selection OESF. This is 10 years,…