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Old Weller Antique
"The Original 107 Brand"
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
53.5% abv
£25
$23
Fuck Scotch. There, I said it.
And you have ALL been thinking it. And typing it all over the world wide interweave. You know you have.
Fuck Scotch.
Say it!
Doesn't that feel good?
Money grubbing capitalists colouring their computer-produced imported barley spirit shit brown, pumping it into bell-shaped/square/triangular/crystal bottles (that POISON us!) and then increasing their carbon footprints by shipping it all over this blessed, otherwise perfect world, and selling it at a premium to noveau riche wankers from India to Indiana. Disgusting. How dare they?
Fuck fucking Scotch.
Yup.
THAT JUST HAPPENED.
1000 whisky jobs lost in Scotland last month, $16,000 dollar new releases, $18,000 bottles at auction, and mutually masterbatory awards and festivals where these whisky makers (read "venture capitalists") congratulate themselves to the point of orgasm, then bottle it and call their new make "the spirit drink that dare not speak its name." Well sirs, we do not swallow your lies. We spit.
Fuck Scotch.
Let's have a stretch of non-Scotch whiskies here on the Malt Mission.
Here's a 'wheated' bourbon from the good people at Buffalo Trace. And, as the faux-vintage label so eloquently says, this stuff is "7 summers old".
TASTING NOTES:
Full of vegetables and bitter oak. Parsnip, tomatoes, celery salt. Maraschino cherry. Starchy, brown sugar sweetness and raw corn.
Apple crumble, vanilla, boiled potatoes. Kicks my ass when I swallow it. baBang! Spicy. Cinnamon, some vanilla and maple syrup, but jeebus... Cutting it brings out pecans, more apples, and a warming butterscotch flavour. Oak drives the finish and, believe it or not, I reach for my glass again and again until it is dry.
SUMMARY:
Okay, maybe don't "fuck scotch" so soon.
Seriously, though, this liquid can take an insult and throw it right back in your face. Yes, this bourbon bites back. Alcohol with attitude. Definite bang for buck cuz I been banged up good.
Malt Mission #360
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George T. Stagg
2007 edition
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
72.4% abv
$65
£120
Since being launched in 2002 as a part of Buffalo Trace's "Antique Collection", George T. Stagg has made quite a reputation for itself among boozehounds worldwide. High proof, well-aged, and rare, the stuff cannot be sipped and forgotten; it makes an impression.
Awarded Best American Whiskey in the World at the 2008 World Whisky Awards and a great way to end our "week" of American whiskeys here on the Malt Mission.
Each release is usually around 15 years old and this drop was distilled in 1992. George T. Stagg whiskey is named after the man who was responsible for building the distillery that is known today as Buffalo Trace, a name taken from the tale that the distillery itself sits upon an ancient meandering trail of migrating buffalo.
For all American whiskey had on the mission, click HERE. To see what another whisky nerd I love reading said about it, click HERE.
Tasted with GS. Thanks for the drops, brother. Now go put Aurora to bed.
TASTING NOTES:
Rich and nougaty, baklava and Honey Nut Cheerios. Maple, that red chinese dipping sauce, gingerbread, fudge, and sourdough.
Strong, but sippable. Invigorating. Chewy. Buttery, chillied, and miraculously warming. Cucumber skin freshness but weighted with butterscotch and applesauce, boozy boozy applesauce. Water is not absolutely necessary (believe it or not), but WOW does it unleash berries, syrup, and a gorgeous oaky creaminess left only in the best American oak casks.
SUMMARY:
I wanted more with every sip, and refilled my glass several times. Truly riveting like a well-made action movie seen in the cinema... however you really need to be in the mood for this kind of movie.
Malt Mission #341
Malt Mission #342
Malt Mission #343
Malt Mission #344
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Buffalo Trace
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
45% abv
$23
Continuing my week of American whiskey on the Malt Mission, and it seems the lads over at Caskstrength are on a similar kick.I think it is safe to say that American whiskey is booming. Sure, the LCBO still carries more Irish than American, but when one cannot count on liquor control to represent the spirits market or cater to consumer demand(!). Since 2003, premium bourbon and American whiskey has seen huge increases domestically and worldwide, and in 2007 whiskey exports exceeded $1billion dollars for the first time which indicates that value has been added to a category that has for so long been under-appreciated and drowned in Coke.
Buffalo Trace has been a leader in this regard raising distribution of its award-winning straight bourbon as well as introducing antique (fine & rare) releases on an annual basis.
Buffalo Trace, as a brand, was introduced in 1999 and is produced at a distillery of the same name but that was previously known as O.F.C. Distillery or George T. Stagg Distillery. The distillery washbacks/fermeters are the largest in the industry and their website indicates that the best maturing casks are found in warehouses C, I and K, and only from the middle racks. This is a less common practice in Scotch whisky because in America more warehouses are climate controlled. In the case of Buffalo Trace, they pump steam into the warehouses during the winter months. They've been using this technique since 1886 and were the first to do so.
TASTING NOTES:
Lemon peels, apple sauce, red licorice and jelly beans with a richly vanilla-ed oakiness backing it all up.
More candied fruitiness, red licorice again, with the spice of rye and sweetness of corn in complex but pleasing balance.
SUMMARY:
A tasty sipping whiskey with great balance and approachability. And with a friendly price tag to boot.
Malt Mission #341
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