BOTM, 4/06: Rock Hill Farms

[Ambernecter]

Super choice Jeff!

This is by far the best Bourbon to have ever crossed my lips... I really don't see anything alse coming close!

Anyone who has not tried this superior drop is missing out in a big way.

I have said in other posts that while RHF has varied slightly from bottle to bottle (from my 1st bottle in 2003) every one has been the best whiskey I have ever tasted by a country mile.

Bourbon of the month on here - Bourbon of a lifetime for me!

[jburlowski]

One of the best and one of my top ten as well. Also one of the classiest looking bottles on the market. Always a delight!

[Virus_Of_Life]

Well I guess this is just the excuse I was looking for to go out and finally acquire a bottle of RHF, but it is going to have to wait a few days for a try as I just returned from Vegas and after I finally sober up I am not having another drink for at least 3 or 4 days!

All the praise has defenitely made me anxious to try it, but for the first time in a long while bourbon just doesn't sound very good right now...

[barturtle]

A great BOTM selection...hopefully I can get it down here or I'll be waiting 'till I get home in 2 weeks.

Back when I was bartending I used to have a guy come in who would always tell the server, " That bartender makes the best manhattens, just tell him I want the best and charge whatever." I always made them with RHF(and had the server ring something else to hide my secret). add some bitters, vermouth(sweet and dry), shake with a cherry, serve with a twist.

Oh, NO! My secrets out!

[pepcycle]

I don't have anything with Gayhart's signature and found this fascinating.
All the Rock Hill I've ever purchased was Sans Documents.

[AJ123]

A great choice. Based on this forum, I've been wanting to try this one for awhile. I just now picked one up after lunch and looking forward to this evening.

There were three bottles on the shelf and one of them was about 15-20% down in volume. I pointed it out to the store and they said bad seal and evaporation were to blame and simply took it to the back - I was going to offer to take it for a few bucks, but didn't get the chance. Interesting... in an expensive bottle. The third one had the metal chain around the neck pulled off (it is glued on and you could see where the glue had been pulled). The one I got had no metal chain and the owner said it was a "newer" bottling and the ones with the little chain/emblem were older. Anyway, a very good looking bottle. Price here in Dallas was $43.

[bluesbassdad]

Your experience with the bad seal and evaporation loss reminds me of my own mishap with a bottle of Rock Hill Farms.

That experience taught me to inspect both the fluid level and the bottle itself before I buy.

Yours truly,
Dave Morefield

[AJ123]

It doesn't surprise me how great this bourbon is with all the positive comments around this forum and no negative comments I can recall. Even after only one evening of tasting, this easily makes one of my favorites. [Actually the tasting quickly became drinking.]

Molasses and honey flavors abound. The delightful sweet flavor/aroma in this is about 2/3 molasses and 1/3 honey. It’s like somebody threw a shot of super premium rum in my bourbon bottle. If you told me that some of the aging of this had been done in rum casks, I wouldn’t be surprised. If I think about it hard enough, I can even detect some sugarcane flavor, but that’s after having drunk several glasses and thinking about it too much. If the wine language/analogy were applied, I’d say it’s not as dry as a WT Rare Breed (which I also like).

Mint. I do detect a tiny hint of mint. It’s not much, but it’s just one of many aromas/flavors, most of which I’m not sure I recognize or can pin down.

Oak and smokiness. There is a touch of oak and smokiness. Not too much at all. So I’m guessing that this is not aged for over 12 years???? Or maybe has several vintages mixed??? By comparison, it's not as woody as a PVWFR 20 (which I also like).

Rye. There is a nice flavor of rye mixed in, but there is absolutely no harshness at all.

There is some kind of hint of spring flowers and a hint of some kind of fruit that occurred to me at one point, but too elusive for my taste buds.

Overall, the phrase well-balanced comes to mind. There is always something interesting and pleasant in the flavor from first whiff through to the aftertaste. Because of the balance, I don't care at all to try any Bernheim wheat whiskey mixed in (a common experiment of mine). I may try a single glass with some Distiller's Masterpiece mixed in just to see what the cognac flavor does. But this whiskey is so multi dimensional and balanced that I doubt that it's a great candidate for the vatting mixes that some people on this forum like to try.

I tried it neat, on ice, cut with water, and seriously watered down after I let the ice melt. It was good in all forms.

Finding a whiskey like this is a wonderful reward for finding this forum.

Next step will be a few side by side glass comparions with some of my other favorites. But I'm definitely taking a day off because I had too much last night for a weeknight!

[Ambernecter]

I am very pleased to hear you enjoyed your 1st taste of this surefire winner and my all time No.1 whiskey!

I haven't ever "overdone" it on RHF but I can see how easily it COULD happen! Tasty stuff indeed!

Darn fine tasting notes as well - I will be looking for those flavours when I open my next bottle...

[Frodo]

This is by far the best Bourbon to have ever crossed my lips... I really don't see anything alse coming close!

Hi Ambernecter:

Might be interesting for you to try RHF HTH with Blanton's and see what you think. Both are single barrell expressions from Bufallo Trace, and both are roughly the same price ballpark-wise. Unfortunatly we don't get RHF up here, although vintages may bring in a limited shipment one of these days...

What I really mean is, I'd like to hear a HTH as I can't get RHF. Thought I'd better play it straight here!