Hokus Pokus got a couple of the latest Booker’s release, 2024-01, named the Springfield Batch. This is a seven year, seven month old batch at a hefty 124.5 proof. I regret how difficult it is to get Booker’s lately. This is the first one I have had in almost a year. It is an outstanding bourbon though, and it is not surprising that demand is outstripping supply. The color on this is a nice solid amber, with a nice film and legs that leave oily droplets on the swirl. The nose is classic Booker’s, albeit with a whole lot of oak more so than the color would indicate. In fact, oak is th ..read more

Five years ago I tried my first bottle of New Riff bourbon, and I have been a fan ever since. As the distillery started in a parking lot of a big box liquor store in Newport, Kentucky just outside of Cincinnati comes of age, so has its bourbon. For our anniversary, my wife bought me a bottle of New Riff 8 year old bourbon. Bottled at 100 proof (which is one of two proofs New Riff uses, 100 and cask strength) using its traditional high rye mashbill of 65% corn, 30% rye, and 5% malted barley, this would have been a bottled in bond release but for the fact that they used whiskey distilled in two ..read more

Ah, spring, when the limited release bourbons of fall and winter have petered out, and not much new will be released until the fall. So, when taking a look arond Hokus’ whiskey aisle today, I saw that Whistlepig had released a PiggyBack Bourbon. Whistlepig is famous for their rye whiskies, and I prefer bourbon to rye. But, the Whistlepigs I have tried have been good. Whistlepig initially sourced their ryes from Canada (much like my friends at Found North do) but have been engaged in a farm to glass operation in Vermont; growing their own grains and making their own distillate. Piggyback repres ..read more

Hokus Pokus recently got a Jack Daniels Barrel Pick that is also Barrel Proof. I am a fan of this whiskey, and was blown away by how good the Coy Hill limited release was. This one weighs in at a hefty 127.3 proof, and was aged in barrel house 08, one of the warehouses that aged the Coy Hill release. This however came from the second floor, rather than the top floors. However, Jack Daniel’s goofed the name on the hanging metal, putting Hokus Poker on it. Thankfully, it can be flipped over and a barrel on the tag adds a nice touch. The color on this is quite a rich amber with some m ..read more

Freddie Noe’s whiskey project at Jim Beam, Little Book, is now in its seventh release, titled In Retrospect. As one of the below photographs shows, this blend contains bourbons and ryes ranging from 4 years old to 18 years old, with an interesting addition of a 5 year old barley malt whiskey finished in applewood smoked barrels. This is a cask strength blend weighing in at 118.1 proof. The color is a really deep amber, which makes me think that some of the older whiskies are exerting their influence on the color. Thin film but big big legs on the swirl. This whiskey is quite sweet w ..read more

Jim Rutledge is one of bourbon’s great craftsmen. He worked for Seagrams for many years before becoming Master Distiller at Four Roses which was owned by Seagrams but sold to Kirin after Seagrams went bankrupt. For many years, Rutledge’s product was sold only overseas but when bourbon started making a comeback Four Roses was once again sold in the United States. Since his retirement in 2015 he has been working with Blue Run and with his own operation J.W. Rutledge Distillery which produces high end bourbon under the resurrected Cream of Kentucky brand and is planning future releases of whiskie ..read more

Lately, when I have been drinking cask strength Elijah Craig it has been a store pick marked “Private Barrel” from Hokus Pokus and sometimes other stores. These Private Barrels are often bottled at younger ages than the Barrel Proof releases from Heaven Hill, which used to have a twelve year age statement as all Elijah Craig bourbon did. But I picked up the first Barrel Proof release and, lo and behold, it is ten years old rather than twelve. Given the private barrels I have tried at younger ages, I agree with Heaven Hill’s approach of pulling the best barrels when they mature rather than aim ..read more

Readers of this blog will know that I like a Wild Turkey limited release bourbon. I really splurged on the Wild Turkey Generations Bourbon, which set me back $450 which is more than I would typically pay but after I checked out other folks tasting notes on the internet, I decided to buy it. That, and given that yesterday marked the seventh anniversary of my whiskey blog, I wanted to review something really good to celebrate.  This is a collaboration of all three Russells at Wild Turkey: Jimmy, Eddie, and Bruce. Hokus Pokus previously sourced some barrel picks that all three collaborated on rig ..read more

On Friday I got to pick up some goodies at Hokus Pokus and they just got in Traveller Whiskey, which has been all the buzz because of Sazerac’s collaboration with Chris Stapleton, writer and performer of the famous song, Tennessee Whiskey. I also picked up the 2023 George T. Stagg release which I am very excited to try, as this is one of my all time favorite bourbons.  According to what I have read, Traveller Whiskey was created at Buffalo Trace by Harlan Wheatley in collaboration with Stapleton. This is a blended whiskey, meaning that there could either be two or more different whiskies in th ..read more

I love the Four Roses Limited Edition bottlings. The first one I bought was the 2017 Al Young release. I have pretty much bought every release since then and have not been disappointed. The 135 Anniversary release in made up of 40% 14 year old low rye slight spice bourbon, 35% 12 year old low rye delicate fruit, 20% 16 year old low rye delicate fruit, 5 % 25 year old high rye delicate fruit. This is bottled at 108 proof, which likely has very little if any water added given that Four Roses tends to be fairly low in proof straight from the barrel.  The color on this is a very bright amb ..read more