Create your own 'finished bourbon'

[wadewood]

As part of my drinking for science projects, I wanted to see if I could create 'finished bourbon' at home that were as good or better as their commercial counterparts and at 1/2 the cost.  Here is my blog write up of that experiment.

 

https://tater-talk.com/2019/03/19/make-your-own-finished-bourbon-at-home-in-the-bottle/

@Whiskey Bender - Nancy, new topic but also using the information from the the how long does it take a whiskey to blend conversation.

[lcpfratn]

Really great work Wade. Thanks for sharing your article. Now where is my mixing bowl? [emoji3]

[EarthQuake]

This is a cool experiment. I've does some similar blends in small portions but usually with a larger ratio of secondary element. Usually they suck so I should try with a very small %. Though I have to say Armagnac blends well with Bourbon and Rye even in larger portions like 1:1 or 1:1:1. Try a Sazerac with 1 part Armagnac and 1 part high proof rye.

 

Since you weren't comparing the same base whiskey in any of the tests, how much do you think this ended up being an X base vs Y base comparison, rather than an X vs Y "finish" comparison? The EC vs PHC was probably the closest as far as the bases go, and amusingly had the most clear conclusion. I think Belle Meade uses MGP but I'm not sure, so maybe one of the various MGP sourced brands would have been a bit closer.

 

I wonder what would happen if you had added the base, non flavored whiskey into the trials as well. Maybe those would have won in some rounds?

 

If I had the means to do this (I don't, but Nancy probably does to some extent), I think it would be really cool to see the blind tasting results of the following:

1. Base whiskey
2. Base whiskey finished in secondary barrel
3. Base whiskey flavored with secondary component

 

Rinse and repeat for different secondary types, but use the same base for all. @Whiskey Bender what do you think, maybe a new special edition experiment collection line for Joseph A Magnus?  Bottle and sell it in 200ml taster packs.

Edited March 19, 2019 by EarthQuake

[wadewood]

I looked at this more of test of a xyz finish bourbon vs my version of it.  So copying the exact same base bourbon was not an important factor to me.  The majority of these finished whiskies are put on the market by folks that source, so it's usually not possible to know the exact base product.  As noted in blog post, AE has sourced from 12 different KY bourbon distillers.  Belle Meade is MGP, but they blend different MPGi bourbon mashbills and that exact % is unknown.  I also wanted to keep my costs as 1/2 the commercial cost and unfortunately MGPi bourbons have jumped the shark on pricing.  I did use the same HH base bourbon as it is easily known and available.  

[dcbt]

I like the simplicity behind these blends.  I remember your Joseph Magnus recreation awhile back that had several different things combined (although IIRC it scored well in that blind test).  

[PaulO]

This reminds me, I think there is a JB product sold outside the U.S. (Australia) - Bourbon with some Port wine added.

[kevinbrink]

13 hours ago, PaulO said:

This reminds me, I think there is a JB product sold outside the U.S. (Australia) - Bourbon with some Port wine added.

Yep that's the Jim Beam Small Batch which is export only, there was also the Signature Craft Rare Spanish Brandy which had brandy added sold in the US and the Duty Free Kentucky Dram which had Scottish Single Malt added.

[El Vino]

On 3/19/2019 at 1:36 PM, wadewood said:

As part of my drinking for science projects, I wanted to see if I could create 'finished bourbon' at home that were as good or better as their commercial counterparts and at 1/2 the cost.  Here is my blog write up of that experiment.

 

https://tater-talk.com/2019/03/19/make-your-own-finished-bourbon-at-home-in-the-bottle/

@Whiskey Bender - Nancy, new topic but also using the information from the the how long does it take a whiskey to blend conversation.

Very cool science project!  Think I need to try the Orange Curacao blend.

[mross]

Interesting experiment. Have you ever thought about trying to hack the flavour profiles of some of the unicorns? Pappy comes to mind.

[wadewood]

13 minutes ago, mross said:

Interesting experiment. Have you ever thought about trying to hack the flavour profiles of some of the unicorns? Pappy comes to mind.

The only Pappiez I care to drink were distilled at Stitzel Weller.  I don't need to hack that as I have plenty of SW distilled bourbon.

[tanstaafl2]

Interesting experiment. I have pretty much all the components noted so I could give it a try. Would just need volunteer tasters!

 

I would be most curious to try the Curacao version from round 3 given the notable difference in scores. Many people described the PHC is not being very bourbon-like while the version you made seems like it would have a more bourbon forward character like an old fashioned which might explain the difference. Or not. 

 

I was curious about the choice of Armagnac for your finishing component instead of Cognac for round 2. I wouldn't think cognac would be all that hard to come by at the price point you were looking for. And to me Armagnac tends to be a touch more "bourbon like" than cognac is in general perhaps making it more appealing to a bourbon drinking crowd. Rare Breed seems like a stronger base to start with compared to MGP. And the Belle Meade Cognac finish was also my least favorite of the three store bought finished bourbon's you selected. The PHC Cognac finish might have been a good comparison rather than the Belle Meade and could have gone against the EC blend like in Round 3 but I suppose wasn't readily available.

 

Indeed using the same EC blend to add the finishing spirits in all rounds might have provided more consistency to the home made finished bourbons in the experiment. Or just use regular EC with port to compare against AE so that age would be perhaps a bit more similar. Would also be interesting to know if AE is finished in a tawny port or a younger ruby port with more grape character. The AE website seems to suggest it is a ruby and not a tawny port barrel.

[PaulO]

I was thinking a MWND clone might be something worth experimenting with along these lines (rye whiskey and port).

Or you could go to the dark side, adding sherry to Scotch.

Maybe a fun project with 375ml bottles.

[DeepCover]

I think you guys are @ mentioning the wrong person. You’re looking for @WhiskeyBlender. Just trying to help.