What is the distinctive cinnamon spice/redhot/spicy mouthfeel from specifically?

[jmj_203]

I can't wait for another better day to sip this. Tonight I opened one of my current WTRB bottles and was impressed. I have an awful sinus/headache/congestion thing that just started so I can barely smell, but I just did a quick 1.5 ounce pour of RB to relax tonight. The MOST oily mouthfeel I've encountered which means I can't wait to sip it when I can smell it deeply for ten minutes. My question is what gives WT products the very brand specific cinnamon spice/ redhot spiciness/ you get a bit on the nose but deeply on the palate? Is it the mashbill or their barrel specifics? I assume its not just a mashbill thing. Just wondered. I enjoy this ocassionally for the different experience.

[Kalessin]

I don't know exactly what it is, but I like it quite a lot.

[smknjoe]

I get what you describe in OWA more than any other bourbon and I'm not sure what causes it.

[VT Mike]

yeast is always kind of a wildcard when it comes to trying to figure out where specific flavors come from.

[squire]

I don't know how the brands do it but what's impressive to me is they consistently achieve it.

[Richnimrod]

I don't know how the brands do it but what's impressive to me is they consistently achieve it.

[sutton]

In BT, I always thought it came from the barrel. Just a couple of data points, but I got two different store selects and they were dusty cinnamon bombs compared to the standard bottling. If Joe gets it in OWA, perhaps at least with respect to BT it is certain barrels?

[T Comp]

In my taste world cinnamon and cinnamon redhots are 2 different animals. Makers 46 is where I get the redhots flavor especially on the back end. Cinnamon itself I pick up in many others but probably 4Rs the most.

[ModernThirst]

I've never had a bourbon have that cinnamon red hot flavor like Knob Creek Single Barrel reserve.

[zillah]

Their lower barrel entry proof? The "Alligator char" on their barrels? Yeast strain?

[jmj_203]

Squire's right! Individual brands, and house 'styles' absolutely exist, even though many/most use very similar mashbills and almost all use very similar barrels. Some call for a deeper or shallower char on the barrels than others, which could impart a consistent difference (I think WT is the deepest of the majors); all have their own 'proprietary' yeast strains which certainly change the final product. I believe 'The Turkey' uses a somewhat higher rye percentage than many others, which is thought by many to impart a spiciness. Maybe that's what you're picking up. I like all the Bourbon offerings from WT, except for the 'Unforgiven' (not technically a Bourbon), for which I am unwilling to forgive 'em.

Edited June 26, 2014 by jmj_203

[ModernThirst]

I've always associted that "minty" feeling or flavor at the finish with Heaven Hill stuff. It's in pretty much everything they do.

But with rye, I usually get a combination of black pepper and citrus, depending on age and what they're combined with. for instance, Rye whiskeys etend to be VERY citrusy, as the rye overtakes the corn. But high rye bourbons (when the rye is only 25-30% of the mash bill) tend to be more peppery for me.

Edited June 26, 2014 by ModernThirst

[Richnimrod]

Their lower barrel entry proof? The "Alligator char" on their barrels? Yeast strain?

I'm not sure 'Turkey's' entry proof is the lowest anymore, or even much different at all from the rest of the majors.

Anybody know for sure about this? I think their once-lowest-entr-proof of the majors has been raised over the last several years (decades?). I would imagine if it has been consistently very much lower, their products would be even tastier.... and more expensive.

[EvergladeSlim]

I get what you describe in OWA more than any other bourbon and I'm not sure what causes it.

I agree with this. More so in the OWAs of a few years ago. Not so much with the current bottles on the shelf today. Although the Silver Dollar in Louisville currently has a private barrel of OWA that has it in spades. What I find interesting is that I never got that profile in a bottle of Weller 12.

[zillah]

I'm not sure 'Turkey's' entry proof is the lowest anymore, or even much different at all from the rest of the majors.

Anybody know for sure about this? I think their once-lowest-entr-proof of the majors has been raised over the last several years (decades?). I would imagine if it has been consistently very much lower, their products would be even tastier.... and more expensive.

Industry standard is 125. While Turkey has been raising their barrel-entry proof, to much consternation from Jimmy Russel, I believe the entry proof is still lower than most: 115 proof last time I checked.

[MauiSon]

I taste cinnamon as a mild, dry bitterness with a touch of sweet, not as hot (I'm trying some right now). The hot flavors in whiskey I almost always associate with black or white pepper, though I have tasted it as tobacco and/or leather also.

I'm now sipping on an ER10 that has that cinnamon at the tip of the tongue, spreading to herbal pepper on the mid-palate.

Edited June 26, 2014 by MauiSon

[Richnimrod]

Not wishing to lead anyone astray, I THINK the tour guide by whom we were led in April, stated that all WT bourbons currently distlled at WT were entering the barrel @125-proof. I could have mis-heard that, for sure, but that's what I think he said.

Anybody have definitive information on this???

[kcgumbohead]

Industry standard is 125. While Turkey has been raising their barrel-entry proof, to much consternation from Jimmy Russel, I believe the entry proof is still lower than most: 115 proof last time I checked.

Would the latest rise in entry proof coincide with the increase from 108.2 to 112 for the latest version of Rare Breed? I am very curious what prompted that change.

[zillah]

Not wishing to lead anyone astray, I THINK the tour guide by whom we were led in April, stated that all WT bourbons currently distlled at WT were entering the barrel @125-proof. I could have mis-heard that, for sure, but that's what I think he said.

Anybody have definitive information on this???

If there is one thing I have learned on SB, it is not to take what a tour guide says as gospel. This link should help:

http://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2012/12/of-whiskey-and-innovation-part-3.html

With that said, I wouldn't put it past WT if they decided to raise it yet again.

[zillah]

Would the latest rise in entry proof coincide with the increase from 108.2 to 112 for the latest version of Rare Breed? I am very curious what prompted that change.

I am not sure if that would be the case because prior bottlings where the barrel entry proof was even lower were still quite high.

http://www.straightbourbon.com/forums/showthread.php?21731-Rare-Breed-used-to-be-better&highlight=wild+turkey+barrel+entry+proof

[squire]

Would the latest rise in entry proof coincide with the increase from 108.2 to 112 for the latest version of Rare Breed? I am very curious what prompted that change.

[Richnimrod]

Thanx, Zilla! Nice to know some things are at least changing slower than worst case scenario, I guess.

[kcgumbohead]

Yes THANK YOU!! for posting those links ( how the hell did I miss them in the first place??) Great reads and info.

Thanx, Zilla! Nice to know some things are at least changing slower than worst case scenario, I guess.