What Rye Did You Purchase/Drinking (2019)

[fosmith]

11 hours ago, parksmart said:

Sharing is caring!  Looking forward to being the bourbon/rye delivery guy when I show up.......

You just need to be wearing brown shorts and shirt and driving a brown van like my usual guy.

[parksmart]

1 minute ago, fosmith said:

You just need to be wearing brown shorts and shirt and driving a brown van like my usual guy.

This your “guy”? 

 

[fosmith]

11 hours ago, parksmart said:

This your “guy”? 

 

Yes! That's him!  We must have the same guy...

[0895]

Enjoying some 2014 THH tonight.

I find it hard to reach for this bottle, because it’s my favorite THH ever and I want it to last forever.

Tonight I overcame my own resistance.

[jwperry]

Getting ready to spend the rest of the day with the wife's family and my new nephew.

This is better than I remember.

[BottledInBond]

I had a nice pour of Saz 18 at the end of an epic meal last night. I was a little disappointed when it came out with an ice ball after I had asked for it neat, but I was in a very good mood so I let it go and just enjoyed it as it was. Too bad this stuff has become so hard to find

[CUfan99]

On 1/7/2020 at 9:28 AM, BottledInBond said:

I had a nice pour of Saz 18 at the end of an epic meal last night. I was a little disappointed when it came out with an ice ball after I had asked for it neat, but I was in a very good mood so I let it go and just enjoyed it as it was. Too bad this stuff has become so hard to find

You are a merciful man and I respect you. 

[CUfan99]

I’m a big fan of this distillery although I’ve never owned a bottle or tasted it. I finally got one. I hope it’s good. 

[Kepler]

Had a variety of bourbons tonight (1792FB, Stagg Jr, ER10 PS) but nothing tastes quite right.

 

So thought I'd try a rye to switch things up.  KC barrel proof 2009.  Ahhh, now this hits the spot.  If only I'd tried it earlier tonight...

[The Black Tot]

On 1/10/2020 at 8:29 AM, CUfan99 said:

I’m a big fan of this distillery although I’ve never owned a bottle or tasted it. I finally got one. I hope it’s good. 

 

Keen on your review when you crack it...

Edited January 12, 2020 by The Black Tot

[lcpfratn]

I’m a big fan of this distillery although I’ve never owned a bottle or tasted it. I finally got one. I hope it’s good. 

What makes you such a big fan of this distillery when you’ve never owned or tasted any of their products...or did I misunderstand your statement?

[flahute]

6 hours ago, lcpfratn said:

What makes you such a big fan of this distillery when you’ve never owned or tasted any of their products...or did I misunderstand your statement?

Not going to try to speak for him, but I was a fan of this distillery before I tried anything because of the ownership, how they built their distillery, some of their innovative practices and their commitment to their community. So I was rooting for them to succeed and hoping that the whiskey would justify it and happily it does.

[lcpfratn]

Not going to try to speak for him, but I was a fan of this distillery before I tried anything because of the ownership, how they built their distillery, some of their innovative practices and their commitment to their community. So I was rooting for them to succeed and hoping that the whiskey would justify it and happily it does.

I believe I remember tasting their first release that John brought to the gazebo, and most of us were not impressed. At least if memory serves me correctly (not a given these days), I believe it was Wilderness Trail that he got at the initial release and shared with everyone. I have read that most releases since then have been better. I still haven’t bought any, but was curious why someone would be a huge fan before trying their products. I guess I’d probably say the same thing about Castle & Key, and I’ve only tried their vodka and gin at this point, but I anxiously await their first rye and bourbon releases...maybe not quite as anxiously now that Marianne is gone.

[smokinjoe]

42 minutes ago, flahute said:

Not going to try to speak for him, but I was a fan of this distillery before I tried anything because of the ownership, how they built their distillery, some of their innovative practices and their commitment to their community. So I was rooting for them to succeed and hoping that the whiskey would justify it and happily it does.

I see, but doesn’t nearly every craft follow this same playbook?  Talk of innovation, supporting local community, doing it the right way...a story? Good marketing.  Hook some folks at the grassroots level, get “influencers” to post platitudes on line which is sucked up by their followers, and you possibly get some traction.  Honestly, I’m tiring of this formula.  

[flahute]

13 minutes ago, smokinjoe said:

I see, but doesn’t nearly every craft follow this same playbook?  Talk of innovation, supporting local community, doing it the right way...a story? Good marketing.  Hook some folks at the grassroots level, get “influencers” to post platitudes on line which is sucked up by their followers, and you possibly get some traction.  Honestly, I’m tiring of this formula.  

They do but there's a difference in talk meant to look good and actually doing it. Either way, what matters is if the product tastes good and it does. The first releases were a tad young, the current ones taste mature. The long term plan is to release everything in the 6-8 year range.

Now to be clear, the innovation I'm talking about has nothing to do with the actual distilling. The innovation is in distillery operations, their mashing process (and by this I do not mean sweet mash) and how they use waste products to generate energy, etc.

They buy their grains from farms a few miles away. Their experience prior to distilling is a company called Ferm Solutions so they are yeast and fermentation experts and have been collecting propietary yeasts for years which they hybridized to suit the grains they are getting. One of the partners is a Kentucky good old boy in a heavy metal band who also happens to have a PhD in microbiology. How can you not like that? I've gotten him talking about yeast and fermentation a few times and every time my head starts to spin within 10 seconds of him talking. Quick aside, both he and his partner (whose family has a long history of distilling) consult with all the big distilleries when they have fermentation and bacterial infection issues. That's how much respect distilleries have for Ferm Solutions.

So you can see that these guys are not your average joe that decided to get into craft distilling because it's the hip thing or they thought it would be cool. They actually know what they are doing.

 

This is why I was a fan from the beginning whereas I'm not with the majority of craft producers.

I would encourage you to visit and decide for yourself.

We did a barrel pick and came away with a rye that we all love at close to 4yrs of age. I'm excited to see what they can do at 6-8yrs of age.

[smokinjoe]

48 minutes ago, flahute said:

They do but there's a difference in talk meant to look good and actually doing it. Either way, what matters is if the product tastes good and it does. The first releases were a tad young, the current ones taste mature. The long term plan is to release everything in the 6-8 year range.

Now to be clear, the innovation I'm talking about has nothing to do with the actual distilling. The innovation is in distillery operations, their mashing process (and by this I do not mean sweet mash) and how they use waste products to generate energy, etc.

They buy their grains from farms a few miles away. Their experience prior to distilling is a company called Ferm Solutions so they are yeast and fermentation experts and have been collecting propietary yeasts for years which they hybridized to suit the grains they are getting. One of the partners is a Kentucky good old boy in a heavy metal band who also happens to have a PhD in microbiology. How can you not like that? I've gotten him talking about yeast and fermentation a few times and every time my head starts to spin within 10 seconds of him talking. Quick aside, both he and his partner (whose family has a long history of distilling) consult with all the big distilleries when they have fermentation and bacterial infection issues. That's how much respect distilleries have for Ferm Solutions.

So you can see that these guys are not your average joe that decided to get into craft distilling because it's the hip thing or they thought it would be cool. They actually know what they are doing.

 

This is why I was a fan from the beginning whereas I'm not with the majority of craft producers.

I would encourage you to visit and decide for yourself.

We did a barrel pick and came away with a rye that we all love at close to 4yrs of age. I'm excited to see what they can do at 6-8yrs of age.

I hope they’ll do good whiskey.  Not to be argumentative, but much of what you say is part of that same narrative...
 

Plan to release older... (Check)

Waste  products to generate energy...ie “We’re green”... (Check)

Good old Kentucky boy... (Check)

Buy grains locally... (Check)

Family has long history in distilling... (Check)

 

Indeed, what matters is if the product tastes good.  I hope my next taste delivers.  

 

 

 

[CUfan99]

12 hours ago, lcpfratn said:

What makes you such a big fan of this distillery when you’ve never owned or tasted any of their products...or did I misunderstand your statement?

I heard some interviews with the owners and liked them. Pat and Shane come across as the salt of the earth, but at the same time they know their stuff. I’ve listened to interviews and podcasts featuring lots of distilleries but for whatever reason I just like those guys. 

[The Black Tot]

I think I remember Wilderness Trail being the first upstart I heard of that was going flat out on exotic yeast engineering.

 

That may be a familiar marketing line now, but I think many of them followed Wilderness Trail on that. 

 

As mentioned, they aren't just yeast engineers, they're pretty much THE yeast engineers, that get called and consulted by a lot of people, including the majors.

 

Also as stated, they have been integral to the work of Castle and Key in their mission to bring back the older butterscotch rancio profile in bourbon, which my fingers are close to broken from crossing so hard about, and the majors seem to have no interest (certainly not expressed, anyway) in working on themselves.

 

I'm one of those who is excited to try their products without ever having tried one before, mostly because I haven't been through Danville in a long while and I couldn't get it done recently. Next Kentucky visit for sure.

 

But I do love a bit of smokinjoe conscience-dropping. 

Edited January 13, 2020 by The Black Tot

[CUfan99]

@smokinjoeI bet this will get you excited. 

[The Black Tot]

LOL 

 

Somebody buy this up before Joe snakes the lot.

[lcpfratn]

[mention=690]smokinjoe[/mention]I bet this will get you excited. 

Yeah, I don’t know if I fully believe all of their story or not. However, Huling Station bourbon is good bourbon for what it is...four year old MGP bourbon. I live in the Memphis area, so I’m pretty familiar with Old Dominick, and want to see them succeed. I am looking forward to the day they release bourbon from their own distillery, but that’ll probably be a few years yet. In the meantime, their Old Dominick vodka and Memphis Toddy liqueur sell well in the area, and the Huling Station bourbon does pretty well too. Alex seems to be doing a great job, and is well respected, besides being one of the few female master distillers in the industry to boot.

[marshall9779]

Back to drinking rye. Last night.

[smokinjoe]

12 hours ago, CUfan99 said:

@smokinjoeI bet this will get you excited. 

Heehee!  There ya go!  

[flahute]

On 1/12/2020 at 3:29 PM, smokinjoe said:

I hope they’ll do good whiskey.  Not to be argumentative, but much of what you say is part of that same narrative...
 

Plan to release older... (Check)

Waste  products to generate energy...ie “We’re green”... (Check)

Good old Kentucky boy... (Check)

Buy grains locally... (Check)

Family has long history in distilling... (Check)

 

Indeed, what matters is if the product tastes good.  I hope my next taste delivers.  

 

 

 

LOL! Of course you are being argumentative. You have to be you! Also, you are my brother so..........

 

Everything you say is true, however I don't think I did a good job of communicating my points so here's round two.

 

Plan to release older: yes, many promise this. To WT's credit, they waited to release their bourbon until it could be BIB. They released their rye at 3yrs but it's since creeped up to 4. The massive amount of investment they've made in new rickhouses shows their intentions. 

 

Waste products to generate energy: I'm as averse to greenwashing as anyone. These guys are not green crusaders. They are doing it because it's efficient. There's much more they are dong.

 

Good Old Kentucky Boy: I think I failed to make this point. My point was that the easy first impression is that he's just a good old boy. Then you hear him talk and your head swims with technical information. Unlike all the other good old boys, he has a PhD in microbiology and knows more about yeast and fermentation than all of the other craft distillers combined. Other craft places my roll out a good old boy as a marketing ploy. WT doesn't do that. They let his intelligence and knowledge speak for itself. And the fact that ALL of the big boys trust him enough to bring him in to consult when they have issues speaks to his knowledge and integrity.

 

Buys grain locally: yes, many craft distillers do this and make a big deal out of it. Then they pair it with a box yeast that is poorly suited to the qualities of the grains. WT used their knowledge of yeast and combined custom yeast strains to create one that would bring out the best of the locally sourced grains. Who else does that?

 

Family with long history in distilling: Granted this one is more tenuous but in this case it's not a tall tale of someone's grandpappy's illegal still down in the holler. This guys family worked for the big boys in Kentucky.

 

I should also point out that these guys are not working out of a barn or some warehouse. They built a proper state of the art distillery from the ground up. 

They are also fast learners. They started distilling on a hybrid column/pot still and quickly realized that they needed a proper column still because bourbon and rye tastes better off of a column still.

 

Maybe.........I should try to set up a tour during Sampler week so y'all can meet these guys and see what they do.

[scratchline]

I had pretty much resigned myself to paying 75 bucks for this since it's the going price around here.  I was glad I waited (I got sidetracked by a bunch of KC single barrel bourbon store picks) when I walked into a place that had it for 55 bucks including tax.  Figured I couldn't afford not to buy it.  Eager to try this one.