New Iowa Micro Bourbon

[sku]

Cedar Ridge winery/distillery in Iowa announces that they will release a Bourbon (distilled in '08) on July 1.

http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/96496319.html

[IowaJeff]

I've had their vodka, gin, lemoncello, rum, and apple brandy--all seem to me to be good alternatives to similar priced large brands (I'm not much of a drinker or judge of the above spirits). I'll be anxious to try a bourbon. I've always hoped for an Iowa bourbon with Iowa corn. 2-2.5 years is young, but I'm not willing to dismiss it based on age alone. Smaller barrels combined with Iowa weather, who knows, I'll give it a shot.

If I can get a bottle I'll post my thoughts.

[IowaJeff]

I picked up a bottle of the Iowa Bourbon yesterday. It was 29.99, I split it with someone else. It's a very light yellow color. Tastes nothing like bourbon. I don't mean that it tastes like a young bourbon, which it is. I mean it has none of the cornerstone flavors of bourbon. No vanilla, no oak, no rye spice, no caramel, etc. It tastes like corn whiskey, but a unique corn whiskey at least. Not much on the nose, just a touch of corn / honey sweetness. The taste is very light, another touch of sweetness. It says its 40%, but there is no alcohol harshness. I don't like describing things a 'smooth,' but this is smooth.

I will not be buying another bottle in the near future because I prefer stronger flavors than what the Iowa Bourbon provides. But, it is better than the white dogs I have tried and better than corn whiskies I have had (which I often find to have a corny/honey sweetness, as with the Iowa Bourbon, but accompanied by a harshness and an undefined 'funky' flavor). This is probably the mellowest spirit I have ever had.

[Jono]

The "Corona" of bourbons. Maybe they will set aside some product for decent aging.

[sku]

I picked up a bottle of the Iowa Bourbon yesterday. It was 29.99, I split it with someone else. It's a very light yellow color. Tastes nothing like bourbon. I don't mean that it tastes like a young bourbon, which it is. I mean it has none of the cornerstone flavors of bourbon. No vanilla, no oak, no rye spice, no caramel, etc. It tastes like corn whiskey, but a unique corn whiskey at least. Not much on the nose, just a touch of corn / honey sweetness. The taste is very light, another touch of sweetness. It says its 40%, but there is no alcohol harshness. I don't like describing things a 'smooth,' but this is smooth.

I will not be buying another bottle in the near future because I prefer stronger flavors than what the Iowa Bourbon provides. But, it is better than the white dogs I have tried and better than corn whiskies I have had (which I often find to have a corny/honey sweetness, as with the Iowa Bourbon, but accompanied by a harshness and an undefined 'funky' flavor). This is probably the mellowest spirit I have ever had.

Thanks for the great report. Sounds like yet another overly young and overly diluted craft whiskey.

[p_elliott]

I picked up a bottle of this on Saturday. I didn't think it came off as being as young as it is. It's does not taste like bourbon to me taste like an Irish blended whiskey. Not so much the pear flavor of the Jameson 12 and the Blackbush but the general flavor of them. It's drinkable but a bit much at the $32 I paid for it, I would have priced this more in the $15 range. But with all that said these guys could have done much worse with their first try at making bourbon, I prefer this over Stranahan's whiskey which I gave away. If I can I'll bring a bottle to the KBF for the gazebo for everyone to try.

[MoeCizlak]

I tried a glass of this last night and agree with what has been mentioned. If it had more of a rye taste to it I would've sworn I was drinking Templeton Rye, the bottle even looked identical. I probably wouldn't recommend this for avid Bourbon drinkers as there are no tell-tale Bourbon flavors present. If you know someone who wants to try drinking Bourbon straight, try this as there is literally no alcohol burn.

[lrochau]

I've got a bottle of Cedar Ridge as well but I haven't opened it yet. Been drinking a ORVW 107 a lot lately so I'm sure I would be bummed with Cedar. Will drink in time, I'll do my share to help out the Iowa distillers along the way.

[ILLfarmboy]

This must be what a liquor store manager/employee recently made mention of while I was asking him about unrelated stuff. I was picking up stuff for a Christmas party and was in a hurry.....probably should have payed more attention......

Anyhow, cudos to them for actualy distilling their own stuff. Too bad its only 80 proof

Maybe, just maybe, someday locally produced bourbons, ryes and malt whiskies will be more widly available, perhaps even as a side venture to an established brewpub.

As a side note, I ate recently at the Granite City brewpub in Davenport IA. I tried their Brother Benedict's Bock. I'm a non beer drinker but I got a wild hair up my ass and wanted to try beer again, something with significant malt flavor and very little hoppiness. Afterwords I checked out their website. They ship the sweet wort from a central location to each individual restaurant. Something about avoiding the laws that prohibit shipping alcohol across state lines or something. It seems like an established chain like that could make a malt whiskey like Stranahan's easier than someone could do the same starting from scratch. Much of the infrastructure is already there.

By the by, I like Stranahan's.

[p_elliott]

If I had known that you liked Stranahan's Brad I would have waxed a seal on that bottle and shipped it to you.