Bourbon in sherry casks

[bourbonmed]

An experimental bird? Interesting. Everybody's jumping on the finish bandwagon. Will Makers and Barton be tempted next?

We may have to deploy our fearless secret agent on a mission to Lawrenceburg. Brenda, prepare for another doozy project!

Omar

[Gillman]

Thanks Omar (and call me Gary), and quite right about Southern Comfort, it is the modern version of those old 1800's blends (albeit sweeter than they were if the 1% was truly followed).

Thanks so much for the invitation to the Gazebo at 9:00 p.m. on Friday, that's great! Look forward to meeting you and the other Bourbonians. I will put my mind to a suitable "contribution". And thanks too to Bettye Jo, who "clued me in" a while back!

Gary Gillman

[Barrel_Proof]

The 18y 'cognac' experiment from Beam is wonderful. I haven't tried the 20y Port, which I hear Cliff is bringing to the fest.

There are a good dozen fine congacs in this apartment, but many more fine bourbons. I don't mix 'em, flavor 'em, color 'em OR, to use the latest cute phrase, FINISH 'em.

Don't count on my bringing any frou-frou adulterated bourbon to the gazebo, boys and girls. But if y'all smile real big, now, I'll still bring my celebrated bottle of "Cracker Jack." That'll bring some sweetness to your life. Smile even bigger and I'll bring some crunchy Cracker Jack for snacks, too!

The cognac is staying home, however. When you come visit here in the Big Apple we'll sample some Hine Vintage 1953 (my birthday cognac) and the amazing A.E. Dor No. 8, and maybe a few other elixirs that started life as grapes.

[brendaj]

Omar,

We may have to deploy our fearless secret agent on a mission to Lawrenceburg. Brenda, prepare for another doozy project!

And to think, I just deleted some spam offering a color video camera the size of a quarter, hooked to a 9 volt battery...
Guess I better plan on going down and getting a room for the night, as it will probably take some time to infiltrate their command center...
Now where did I put my nose-and-glasses...
Bj

[Barrel_Proof]

Brenda: I'm relieved to learn that I'm not the only one getting spy cam spam. Maybe they are targeting this board!

[tdelling]

>...the distillery where I saw this product is none other than WT.

That's quite a surprise. I'm certainly glad they're experimenting...
I definitely think that there is a huge amount of room for experimentation
and innovation in the world of bourbon (an american whiskies in general).

Sherried WT, though? WT has such a HUGE, ROBUST taste... part of me doubts
that a sherry cask could even start to make a dent in it! If I were to
pick a bourbon to attempt to sherry-finish, I'd probably pick a
wheater...

Tim Dellinger

[bourbonmed]

Dave, Tim, all:

I asked WT Master Distiller Eddie Russell about the sherry casks today.

He admits they're trying out 'a few' barrels, letting different age WT bourbons sit 6 - 8 wks. No plans to bottle any of it at this time -- just playing with it, seeing if it has 'potential'.

Don't know about you, but I'd love to taste this stuff. Wonder what they'll do with this whiskey after the experiment!

My guess (based on Beam's DM history) is the older barrels (12y up) would make the best candidates for future releases. Think about it, suppose you have some 12y or older barrels w whiskey that became too woody, etc. They have nothing to lose, maybe a profitable boutique expression to gain.

We can ask Jimmy Russell soon, he'll be attending the fest.

Sherry aside, WT is working on this year's batch of Russell's Reserve. Still very limited, just 1500 cases.

Cheers,
Omar

[Gillman]

Wow, sounds good, being a frequent visitor to New York.

What does the 1953 Hine taste like?

BTW, your vernacular sounds more deep south than Manhattan.

Gary

[tdelling]

>Think about it, suppose you have some 12y or older barrels w whiskey that
>became too woody, etc. They have nothing to lose, maybe a profitable boutique
>expression to gain.

I hadn't thought of that, but you're exactly right. Whenever I look at my
bottle of Elijah Craig 18YO, I think to myself "well, it's got some nice
things about it, but it just dies on the tongue. Maybe I could perk it
up by home-vatting it with something else...". I like the idea of trying
sherry casks to add an extra something to those casks.

Tim Dellinger

[bourbonmed]

Dave, Cliff, all:

If you wondered what became of those sherry casks in Lawrenceburg last September, look in your duty free shops in about one month.

Wild Turkey's Sherry Signature will be available as a travel retail exclusive. It's 10 yrs old like Russell's Reserve, but finished in Spanish Oloroso sherry casks and bottled at 86 proof.

Best of all, it's $35.

Cheers,

Omar