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Big sobering reminder of the power of a state liquor monopoly. For the last seven years or so, my favorite Pennsylvania whiskey has been Manatawny Still Works in Pottstown, who make a unique malted whiskey with a mashbill of barley malt, wheat, rye and oats. They've been around long enough (I remember picking up their experimental bottles when they first got started) to release an 8-year BIB. It's motherlovin' delicious. Two weeks ago they shut their doors with just two days' notice to their employees. They paid off their debts and turned out the lights. The back-breaking straw appears to be a reduced order from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. In a state like Pennsy that insists on monopolizing the market, that's a death blow. Rather than struggle with little hope of regaining lost revenue through sales to privately-owned liquor stores in other states, they decided to pack it in. Guess I'll have myself a small pour and a good cry. Dadgum shame.

Bottle 111 /137 . I’m going to miss this one when it’s gone. Picked up in the good old days when you could go to the distillery first thing in the morning and occasionally they would put out the random well aged Family Estate. This day had a limit of two. I think about 2016 or so. Last of the two I got that day….

The Pennsy state stores appear to have purchased a crap ton of Stellum Rye and marked down the bottles to 27 bucks. Cask strength MGP rye for 27 bucks! Actually it's a blend which is 95/5 MGP- dominant, but the dill is tempered by some Kentucky style rye in the blend. It tastes more like Willett rye than anything else, but the smidgen of corn in the blend adds sweetness. Fred says this is hell of a cask strength blend for less than a pack of bully sticks!

My first shot at Cacio e Pepe, tonight. 3 freakin’ ingredients, but a ton of tension in the process. It’s good, but the sauce while flavorful and rich, was not as smooth as I would have liked. Next time!

My sentiments exactly!

Damn!!

I’m not really sure about the article posted. It could possibly be pics from when the ER 12 was released. Maybe, maybe not? I had a couple of buddies that went to BT not long ago. They had no problem getting in. They said the line getting in wasn’t bad at all.

Well said and I totally agree. When I visited the Buffalo Trace distillery several times in 2012-2017 what made me fall in love with the place was the bucolic scenery of the grounds. This would ruin it for me, and is one reason I haven't been drawn back to the "bourbon trail" recently post-covid. Huge turn off!

This has always been my favorite batch. Glad I was able to make some room on the shelf to open another.

Wow!

The Single Barrel Barrel Proof bourbon and rye offerings are fantastic. My thoughts on the bourbon version are above in this months BOTM thread. My brother has one of the Sinatra’s at his house, that I really like, too. There is a thread on here, that I started some time ago, asking what are your 3 bourbons you most frequently drink and then replace when the bottle is vanquished. Daniel’s Bonded has solidly been in my 3 for a long time, now.

was out to dinner last night with my wife and had a 2oz pour of EHT SmB. Wanted to try the restaurants BT pick, but they sold out the day prior.

JDSBBP Rye is absolutely phenomenal. I just finished one and it is becoming my favorite rye period, and as a rye fanatic, I've had/have a ton of em. I enjoyed it best with a decent sized cube as they can come in hot but find that sweet spot and its rye nirvana, glad I have multiples and I plan to add more.

I hit a couple of VA ABC stores on the way down to visit family in Va Beach. Yeah, I suck at the whole "not buying" thing but,(in my defense),the rye, the OESK, and the WTRB are restocks, and I haven't seen the VOB100 in forever ..

Man! 21-years is a VERY Long time to rest in an oak barrel. I assume, given the single story warehouses, and care traditionally given by 4-R to anything expected to age beyond 10-or-12-years that it won't be toooooo oaky; but, man, that is OOOOOLD!

At barrel strength as well.

Thanks for the tip. I am going to give a run at the rye. Never had any of those before I don't think.

James Pepper, MM CS, Nashville Barrel. Yum....

The Single Barrel Barrel Proof offerings can be outstanding, both the bourbon and, especially, the rye. And, the 12yr 107 proof is great, as well.

LOVE those "F" yeast recipes!!

Seeing this SBotM early this month reminded me of a couple things: 1) What a lovely iteration of JD's best distillate this brand can be (and almost always IS!); and, 2) That I have a couple open bottles of it that have wanted my attention for a while. Yesterday, when we were "locked out" of our volunteer stewardship efforts (a downed tree across the access road), I began remedying that situation with the lowest-fill one of the two open ones. It's still nearly half-full; but, I'm working on it. ...A labor of love for sure!

Finished off a great bottle last night with a few friends.

I also like the Chattanooga offerings, MGP is always solid, and JD is as good as it gets