Town Branch Bourbon

[Tucker]

Alltech has started selling their Town Branch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey in Lexington. If anyone's had the chance to try some I'm interested hearing your opinion.

[photo from The Bourbon Review facebook page]

[SmoothAmbler]

I like the packaging. Love to hear reviews too.

[StraightNoChaser]

That is a pretty sweet bottle. Price?

[kyrocklover]

I've been told it is $23.99 at liquor barn. Planning on finding out in a couple days.

[sku]

Does anyone know is this sourced or did they distill it?

[Tucker]

Does anyone know is this sourced or did they distill it?

"Production of the ales, whiskey and after-dinner drink has outgrown the existing buildings, and the new distillery will provide needed expansion. Also, for about four years, the company has made the bourbon that it will formally unveil in a few months.

That bourbon is stored in hundreds of barrels in a warehouse in Bardstown, "quietly maturing," Lyons said. Alltech has bought a 300,000 square-foot commercial building on Angliana Avenue — formerly headquarters for Eagle Beer Distributors — and will store the bourbon barrels there once production is ramped up.

Initially, the distillery will produce 1,000 cases of bourbon, but Lyons said production could reach 40,000 to 80,000 cases."

http://www.kentucky.com/2011/09/10/1875973/alltech-breaks-ground-for-bourbon.html

[PJFZ1]

I got 2 bottles of Town Branch last week - one for me, and one for a present for a friend..

Got it home and tried it, and it really was a shock - the taste bordered on being foul, and I won't be giving the bottle away as a present.

I think Lexington Brewing Company has a great beer in their Bourbon Barrel Ale, and I keep some of it around for company and take it on trips out of town for others to enjoy.. But Pearce Lyons seems to be trying to make a great scotch maybe? I saw him on the news coverage of it last week, and he said they were making a premier "whiskey", he didn't use the word Bourbon, and his accent is foreign. If I had been served it without knowing what it was, I actually might have thought it to be a scotch.

I hate that to be my first post, as I enjoy Bourbon and trying new (to me) bourbons, But I really didn't like Town Branch at all.

I just read that linked article - Pearce Lyons is the Distiller (the bottle I got are signed), and he's the Alltech Company president (has alot more products than Bourbons to worry about), but it says "The distillery also will produce Pearse Lyons Reserve whiskey and Bluegrass Sundown, an after-dinner bourbon-and-coffee beverage."

I think they are marketing, not making good Bourbon.

R

[kyrocklover]

PJFZ. Your comments about Town Branch surprise me not. I had a taste over the weekend and all I will say is I will not buy a bottle anytime soon. I may try again in a few months but doubtful unless I see better reviews.

The Pearse Lyons Reserve is terrible IMHO as well, but that's another issue.

[PJFZ1]

kyrock - I saw this thread and your earlier comment and then signed up on the forum - I'm just north of you and was going to wanr you.. Maybe we can get together and have a bourbon sometime..

[Reck73]

I bought a bottle this past weekend for a friends birthday. We opened it and I apologized immediately. Smell was awful, taste was wretched, nice bottle though. Lol

[Tom Troland]

The back label of Town Branch announces that the bourbon was "produced" by Alltech. Just like the previously released Pearse Lyons Reserve. I take this to mean that neither was actually distilled (or, at least, not wholly distilled) at their Lexington plant. After all, if a distiller releases a product that he or she has actually distilled, why not proudly announce this fact on the bottle?

Alltech brews great beer, and they have put significant resources into their Lexington distillery. All of this is admirable. But I hope that they will be transparent regarding the origins of their whiskey.

I saw Town Branch on the store shelves this past weekend. But I took a pass despite the reasonable price. I'm waiting for an Alltech whiskey that is clearly labeled, "Distilled by Alltech". Then I'll bite. Also, I'd prefer a whiskey at higher than 40%.

[wku88]

Wow, tough crowd! I bought a bottle at Liquor Barn today, adn am sipping it as I type. Loved the bottle, and at $23, what the heck.

I thought it had a nice nose, but then I'm getting over a cold, what do I know. At 80 proof, it's not hard to drink neat, which I did with my first taste. First thing that came to my mind was SCOTCH! Later in the evening, a swig of Weller Special Reserve and Old Fitz BIB confirmed that Town Branch is not what I consider bourbon.

Sweet taste, almost like honey, especially with ice.

Enjoyable, but not the brash mouthful that EWSB 95, or even the OFBIB is.

Value? I guess that's up to the individual, but I'd rather have a fifth of Town Branch than Baker's for example. For $23, I don't feel cheated.

[wku88]

Correction, I meant to say Basil Hayden, not Baker's.

[jmpyle]

I picked up a bottle last weekend in Lexington. They may very well have distilled this stuff at their distillery but it sure has some similarities to Barton juice to me. That's only a guess but the fact that it aged in Bardstown might also confirm that. If someone knows, please do chime in.

I disagree with most that it's bad stuff. I don't believe it's bad at all, and it grows on you. It's just not great stuff either. The nose is tight and clean, but once it gets going it gives off good minerality, banana and candy corn sweetness. A dose of butterscotch, corn, and vanilla on the palate. The flavors and nose are just too thin and flat to be very enthused about.

[justintbr]

I'll agree with Jason. When I first tried it, I was a little confused. But when I realized that the secondary grain was malted barley and not wheat or rye, then my tasted buds automatically adjusted. There was about a 2 week gap when I first tried it and the second tasting, and I will say I enjoyed the 2nd serving more. Some whiskeys also need a little time to open up, as my palate seems to enjoy this one after its set in the glass for 4 or 5 minutes. With that said, I don't think this will be challenging PVW, Antique or the Masters Collections for the upper accolades or awards.....but it is priced below $30 and I think it's worth every penny of that.

This juice is being distilled in Lexington at the brewery and being stored in Bardstown (not at Barton's or Heaven Hill so that leaves just one other spot).

Cheers,

[Tom Troland]

If Town Branch bourbon was distilled in Lexington, why do they say "produced" rather than "distilled" on the label? Also, the label describes the product as "Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey", and it provides no age statement. So the bourbon must be at least four years old. Yet an article in an online publication, Business Lexington, dated September 2008, describes the establishment of the new distillery and the hope that they will have two year old whiskey available by 2010. So how could they have four year old bourbon already?

[tmckenzie]

what does it say the mash bill is? corn and malt?

[justintbr]

If you ever visit the Alltech Brewery, you'll see 2 pretty big pot stills in the back of the facility. That is where the Bourbon is being distilled/produced. They are currently building a separate facility in an adjacent lot to move those stills into, so they can have more room to make beer. Once you try it, I don't think you're going to dispute its not being produced there, because it has a very unique recipe of low corn (compared to the industry standard) and a high malted barley amount. The maturation is happening off site in Bardstown. There are many Bourbons that don't have an age statement, because the FAA doesn't require any Bourbon at least 4 years old to produce an age statement. An example would be Maker's Mark, who doesn't have an age statement, but says their product is bottled at a certain taste profile which they claim is around 6 years old. If a Bourbon doesn't have an age statement on it, you know it's at least 4 years old, or they are getting ready to get legal trouble with the Feds. The Lexington media doesn't have a great track record of providing all the correct facts.

[the scofflaw]

Talked to someone who would know about this:

The stuff that's in the town branch bottles is Ridgemont Reserve 1792 (or something from that distillery that's being re-purposed). He told me that the stuff in the bottles isn't very good, but the product that they are distilling at their lexington warehouse is fantastic..a sweet mash wheated bourbon. Obviously, it isn't ready/aged yet. Really strange marketing tactic from my perspective..why put a sub-par bourbon out under a label that you apparently have a good product in the pipelines for?

[jburlowski]

...Also, the label describes the product as "Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey", and it provides no age statement. So the bourbon must be at least four years old. Yet an article in an online publication, Business Lexington, dated September 2008, describes the establishment of the new distillery and the hope that they will have two year old whiskey available by 2010. So how could they have four year old bourbon already?

Bourbon can be of any age; presumably only minutes in a new, charred, oak barrel. Straight bourbon whiskey has to be a minimum of two years old. SBW, if less than four years old, must state the age. If over four years old, the age statement is optional.

[Tom Troland]

Exactly, so Town Branch now in the bottles could not have been distilled at the Alltech Lexington plant.

[cowdery]

If you ever visit the Alltech Brewery, you'll see 2 pretty big pot stills in the back of the facility. That is where the Bourbon is being distilled/produced. They are currently building a separate facility in an adjacent lot to move those stills into, so they can have more room to make beer. Once you try it, I don't think you're going to dispute its not being produced there, because it has a very unique recipe of low corn (compared to the industry standard) and a high malted barley amount. The maturation is happening off site in Bardstown. There are many Bourbons that don't have an age statement, because the FAA doesn't require any Bourbon at least 4 years old to produce an age statement. An example would be Maker's Mark, who doesn't have an age statement, but says their product is bottled at a certain taste profile which they claim is around 6 years old. If a Bourbon doesn't have an age statement on it, you know it's at least 4 years old, or they are getting ready to get legal trouble with the Feds. The Lexington media doesn't have a great track record of providing all the correct facts.

Perhaps that's the problem. Alltech is submitting its labels to the FAA for approval instead of the TTB.

This is why I haven't paid much attention to Alltech. They seem to be doing it for all the wrong reasons, from corporate prestige to executive ego, and everything they have done has seemed a little hinky. If they don't even know how to talk about whiskey I'm not so sure they know how to make it.

[kyrocklover]

Alltech absolutely does not lack a corporate ego.

[Clavius]

I work for a wine and liquor retailer in the Lexington area and recently had a chance to try Town Branch. I have to agree with previous comments that the stuff is awful. Which is unfortunate as I was hoping it would at least be decent because having a bourbon made right here in Lexington would be neat. Amazingly, the stuff has been selling well though.

[cowdery]

What a lot of dabblers are discovering is that you can make whiskey according to a formula and do everything right, from the right grind on the grain to the right settings on the still, and come up with something awful. It's just not as easy as it looks.