I like some of the Heaven’s Door Series, so I was excited to get my hands on this Heaven’s Door Decade Series 10 Years for two reasons: who doesn’t enjoy trying 10+ yo whiskey and this one is labeled as Straight. No the source still isn’t disclosed, but we’ll talk about that in a second. Look carefully at their previous releases and you’ll notice the word Straight is sometimes missing. This is because they used whiskey aged in both new and used oak. This is because the distillery they sourced from is owned by Diageo who tried to change the TN whiskey laws to include used cooperage. They were ..read more

I’m not a country music fan, so I hadn’t even heard of Jason Aldean or Florida Georgia Line till the press release for Wolf Moon Bourbon showed up. I had no idea I was signing up for yet another NDP celebrity bottle, but at least this one had some info on the site and the bottle, which is a nice change. The back of the bottle says it’s “Proudly Distilled and bottled by Old Camp Whiskey, Lawrenceburg, Indiana”, but when I do some looking, it seems like this is sourced from MGP and that’s about it. It’s totally possible it could have been contract distilled. Though what that contract distilling ..read more

This bottle of Early Times Bourbon is from the 1980s when Early Times was still a bourbon. These days it’s a “Kentucky Whisky” that’s a blend of bourbon and bourbon distillate aged in used cooperage. Which, there’s nothing wrong with that in my mind, I’m glad they’re not dumping GNS in it and instead using “not-bourbon” whiskey. Getting back to this, today, we’re trying it in its original form, Early Times Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. No used cooperage here, just good ole new charred oak aged for at least 3 years. A modern ET review is coming tomorrow and like this one, the one tomorrow ..read more

Only 6,000 cases of this Yellowstone Family Recipe Bourbon 6 Years were released to the market and while that sounds like a lot, it’s really not. That’s just 36,000 bottles of this limited run for the entire bourbon-loving community. And that’s a tragedy. If it were bad it would be a blessing. If it was terrible, 6,000 cases would be 6,000 too many. But this, spoiler, is good. So good, I immediately went out to find a bottle after I finally got around to reviewing it and you know what I found? Nothing but a lot of Sold Out signs hanging in digital shops. I guess the word is already out. Now ..read more

I have loved watching the evolution of the Yellowstone brand during its re-birth and this Yellowstone Bourbon 150th Anniversary is a not-too shabby tribute to what they’re building and recreating. This release is just their typical Yellowstone Select bourbon with an updated design. So consider this an update to the review I did over 6 years ago. Let’s get to drinkin’! Yellowstone Bourbon 150th Anniversary – Details and Tasting Notes Whiskey Details Style: Bourbon (Straight) Region: Kentucky, USA Distiller: Limestone Branch (contract distilled) Mash Bill: 75% Corn, 13% Rye, 12% Malted Barley C ..read more

Since my first taste in 2014, I’ve been a fan of this series, but I haven’t re-visited it for a review till now with the Jefferson’s Ocean Voyage 24. And while it may have been about 8 years since I sat down for a formal review, I haven’t been a stranger. At whiskey festivals, events, brand tastings and private tasting, bottles of Jefferson’s Ocean show up and while I haven’t loved each one I’ve had, I haven’t hated any of them either. They’re all at the very least enjoyable. Let’s hope this one keeps that trend. Let’s get to drinkin’ Jefferson’s Ocean Voyage 24 – Details and Tasting Notes &n ..read more

The Old Forester 1897 Bottled In Bond is named after the Bottled in Bond act of the same year. Being named as such it also follows all of the regulations required for it to be labeled as a bonded bourbon. This makes me happy, because I love trying new BiB bourbons! It’s all distilled in one season, aged at least 4 years in a bonded warehouse, bottled at 50% ABV (100 proof) and has had nothing but water added to bring it to proof. Strict requirements for sue, but every word is music to my ears. I love BiB whiskeys. I’m happy that OF has released one and I’m excited to get into this review… so ..read more

Sitting down to think about the order of this review series, I considered kicking things off with this Old Forester 1870 Original Batch. It’s the modern update to the base release that kicks the proof up a touch. Seemed like a good place to start, but looking at the full lineup I had in front of me, it didn’t quite feel right. In the end, I obviously decided to kick off with the dusty bourbons, move to an older single barrel and then start in on the newer core releases. I felt starting with the distant past, moving to the recent past and then moving through the current release would give a be ..read more

This isn’t the first Old Forester Single Barrel I’ve reviewed, but it is the first one I bought. Bought it, put it in the back of a closet and then forgotten about till I packed up my crap, moved out of Los Angeles and up to the mountains. I discovered a lot of things I forgot I had or had thought I’d killed off on when I moved last year and that’s one of the reasons so many weird, interesting, or exotic whiskeys have been showing up on the site over the last 10 months. When I was unpacking my whiskey I organized everything based on the review groupings I wanted to do and that’s why we’re doi ..read more

This Four Gate Old Sherry Pike is interesting. Not because it’s a bourbon finished in sherry, but because that’s all it is. Usually Four Gate works with Kelvin Cooperage to put out some kind of crazy zebra cask combo or charred and toast setup, but with this one it’s just bourbon finished in ex-sherry casks for 80+ days. Sometimes a sherry or wine finish goes well with bourbon, like with the Wild Turkey Revival, and sometimes it’s awful, like the Corti Brothers Experiment. And sometimes it doesn’t make a ton of difference and you end up just asking… why? Where does this one sit? Only one way ..read more