Eagle Rare 10 Year Old

[MashBill]

Tonight I went out with my friends for a night of wonderful Kansas City barbecue, pistol shooting, and a few drinks (in that order...). Many of my friends thought they didn't like bourbon. I brought a bottle of Eagle Rare 10 year old for the post-firearm festivities. Well, after sipping on the Eagle Rare 10 year old, they are now converts. Mind you, these guys haven't had a taste of bourbon since their self-induced illness episodes in high school. So they are not experienced with bourbon at all.

Here are a few of their comments:

Every one of them said "This stuff is smoooooooooth!"

A few of them said, "I smell burnt sugar."

One said, "I smell vanilla too."

One of them said, "How come this stuff doesn't burn like Jack Daniels?"

They all wanted to know how much it was and where they could get it.

When we departed, they all said they were going to hit the liquor stores on the way home to pick up a bottle. Three of them telephoned me afterwords to tell me they had scored (found a bottle) and were enjoying it as we spoke.

This is a very good bourbon and one to keep in mind if you want to introduce (convert) rookies to the pleasures of the American spirit.

Bill

[Guest **DONOTDELETE**]

Bill I've not had the pleasure of tasting Eagle Rare, but I do love burning powder & launching lead. Being left handed I find revolvers are best for me. My favorite is my S&W 686 .357 Magnum, but I did succumb to the charms of a S&W Performance Center 945. She's a real sweetie! What do you shoot?

Linn Spencer

Have Shotglass. Will Travel.

[MashBill]

Linn,

What bourbon do you think goes best with the sweet aroma of Hoppes No. 9?

Those are nice pistols you have! I've had several 686's ...... friends keep buying them from me, but I always seem to pick up another. I've not had the pleasure to shoot a 945, but it's on my list.

I usually shoot the following pistols: Browning BuckMark Target 5.5, Browning HighPower .40, Colt 1911A1, Colt Combat Commander, CZ52, Glock 21, Glock 30, High Standard HD Military, E. German Makarov, or S&W CS40 (semi-auto Chief's Special). I'm also nuts about Winchester shotguns (I have 5 of them....).

If you make it to the Bourbon Festival next year, maybe we can find a local range and throw some lead.

Bill

[Guest **DONOTDELETE**]

Bill I prefer Shooter's Choice to Hoppes, however since gun solvent is so aromatic a good strong cheap bourbon is called for...hmmm...how about J.W. Dant 100 proof Bottled In Bond?

I do love a Winchester model 21! I'll never have one of thoes gorgeous guns. What are they selling for now? Twenty - thirty grand?

Linn Spencer

Have Shotglass. Will Travel.

[cowdery]

There is an interesting range near Bardstown where you can shoot pretty much anything you want. It's called Fort Knox.

--Chuck Cowdery

[cowdery]

Isn't missionary work fun?

--Chuck Cowdery

[MashBill]

AMEN! Brother Cowdery!

[Guest **DONOTDELETE**]

There is a gun range in Bullitt County. They have a machinegun shoot every year about the same time as the festival. I have a friend who goes every year if you are interested, I can get further information the next time I see him.

Mike Veach

[Guest **DONOTDELETE**]

Mike said... They have a machinegun shoot every year about the same time as the festival.

Say, isn't there one of those in Chicago... only it's held in February?

=John=

http://w3.one.net/~jeffelle/whiskey

[Guest **DONOTDELETE**]

Please do Mike. Machineguns are very cool!

Linn Spencer

Have Shotglass. Will Travel.

[Ken Weber]

I made the mistake of picking up the last thread on this topic and working back. Trying to figure out how Eagle Rare was related to machine guns had me stumped! One of the welcome notes I received told me that there is a wide assortment of, uh, let's just say, unusual people out there. So, now I know to what I can attribute that line of thought. And I thought that only my wife communicated via stream of consciousness!

Anyway, since Eagle Rare is one of the brands in the bourbon portfolio I manage, I am happy to see it receive some positive attention. By way of information (and free advertisment), the Eagle Rare product line has recently been extended. There is now an Eagle Rare Single Barrel and an Eagle Rare 17 year old bourbon. Both products were initially bottled during the month of November. The 17 year old received scores of 93 (Malt Advocate), 96 (Wine Enthusiast), and 5 stars from Paul Pacult in the SJ Awards Issue....December 2000. I like to use independent reviews and scores because, as a brand manager and marketing person, I am a notorious liar! The single barrel has yet to be reviewed, but I think that if the regular 10 year old product was well received, it will meet with some amount of approval. If nothing else, the package will make it a collectable.

Ken

[cowdery]

Happily, the shoot on the 14th of February has not become an annual event.

--Chuck Cowdery

[Guest **DONOTDELETE**]

Linn,

I will try to catch him soon but, he is in the Kentucky National Guard and due to serve some time in Saudi, so it could be awhile before I get the information.

Mike Veach

[Guest **DONOTDELETE**]

Roger that Mike. We've got nine months or so to go. Hopefully I won't be serving any "time" at that time. Only pants will tell.

Linn Spencer

Have Shotglass. Will Travel.

[Guest **DONOTDELETE**]

My wife Linda and I have the 17-year-old Eagle Rare (as well as the other two in the series). It's good to see more corporate attention being paid to Eagle Rare. The brand has always seemed to be a "secret treasure", a lovely ten-year-old that most folks don't know about. I'm sure that version will also receive more attention. How about a more upscale packaging (i.e. cork finish) for it? I'm glad to know there is also a single barrel version, and you can bet we'll be trying that one out as soon as we see it. However, I've learned to become less impressed with single barrel offerings in general. Eagle Rare 10-year-old is the best expression of that flavor profile that Gary Gayheart can produce, given every barrel of 10-year-plus whiskey in stock, whereas the single barrel is simply an available barrel that comes close enough to matching the profile to be useable.

As for the 17-year-old, my (our) tasting concepts are different from most; we're both of the "don't ask me what it tastes like... try it yourself" school, although I appreciate the standard tasting nomenclature and am completely in awe of Linn Spencer's unique descriptive style.

So for what it's worth...

The first thing that stands out about this bourbon is that it doesn't overwhelm you. Most older bourbons seem to announce themselves with bugles, or even cannons. This one almost whispers at you. Tasty as it is, the 10-year-old doesn't do that -- the years have been good to Eagle Rare. It's almost too quiet; I feel as though it should have been left at barrel proof, or at least a little higher than the 90. I do understand the reason, though, and if I were bottling a set of three bourbons from a limited stock, I'd like to think I'd hold the reduction to ninety proof and not be tempted to go even lower. That said, I'll bet this bourbon really sings at 107. Linda, on the other hand, likes it at this level and doesn't feel it needs any more alcohol strength. She's probably right.

Then there's the finish. In the world of electric guitars we have a phenomenon we call "sustain". It's the ability of an instrument to hold the volume of a note for a very long time. The initial sound when the string is plucked isn't particularly loud (although it can be), but it maintains that same volume level for a long time instead of fading out quickly as one would expect. This bourbon does the same thing. The finish seems to go on forever (my last sip was fifteen minutes ago and I can still taste it), fading ever so slowly and changing in character as it does so. This is a very interesting bourbon, and more reminiscent of whiskey the way it was made in the '60s and '70s than those made today (or even in the '80s).

Is there a stock of 15- and 16-year-old barrels waiting to be bottled in the future?

=John=

http://w3.one.net/~jeffelle/whiskey

[Ken Weber]

Your evaluation is quite nice indeed! With fewer than 30 barrels, only nine after re-gauging, our options regarding different proof levels were greatly reduced. We chose 90 proof because we believe that best showcases the complex tastes in the bourbon. Just in case you are ever on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire", 90 proof is also known as "Kentucky Proof". I should also point out that the new Eagle Rare Single Barrel has a cork finish and is in the same Ariane bottle as the 17 year old, however, the package really highlites the eagle.

Your comment about single barrels is very interesting, and one that I certainly understand. We know that when we produce a bourbon, such as Ancient Age, we may take 100 barrels from the bottom floor of a warehouse, 100 from the middle floors, and 100 from the top. Even though all barrels are the same age, they have not all aged to the same extent. The barrels from the bottom floors will be somewhat "green". The barrels from the top, having been subjected to the greatest temperature fluxuations, will be somewhat hot and woody. Those selected from the mid-level floors are much more apt to be honey barrels. When they are all mixed together, a consistent product emerges. If we take only those honey barrels and select the best from among them, we should produce a superior product, even though it came from the same recipe as the rest. Thus, when you say that single barrels are the best expression of a particular taste profile, that is correct in theory, but not always in practice. So much for my pontificating!

You mention the finish as being incredibly long. This can be either good or bad. I have had some bourbons that I could not get rid of the taste for the longest time, no matter what I tried to do. However, the pleasant after taste was probably the attribute about the Eagle Rare 17 year old that impressed me the most.

Finally, we have limited stocks currently in the 14-16 year old range. We are working on a barrel model, but have not yet completed it out further than five years from inception.

Ken