Johnny Drum

[cowdery]

Sam's has started to carry Johnny Drum bourbons, a couple of different expressions including a 15-year-old. This is a Kentucky Bourbon Distillers Ltd. (i.e., Kulsveen)product. Sam's also has a lot more Noah's Mill than I used to notice, so I guess the folks up on Willett Hill have gotten some better distribution in Chicago.

[TNbourbon]

Seems to be a general push. Although we've not seen the Drum here in TN, we've started getting Old Pogue, the Small Batch Boutique bottlings, the latter-day Michter's rye and bourbon -- along with much more Corner Creek a few months ago.

[barturtle]

I wonder if they've reached saturation point in Japan(I've seen about 30 bottles on Japanese sites that I can't determine the origin of and I'm thinking quite a few are theirs) and now they are ready to take on the Americas.

There are about four new bottles(not counting Bernhiem) on the shelves in Louisville that weren't here in August(all KBD) plus I've seen several in Houston.

I like it

I haven't seen the Drum 15 in about 4 years, it's good to know they still make it.

[cas]

It has also shown up here in SC in the last couple of months.

Craig

[doubleblank]

The Johnny Drums showed up here in Houston about 6 months ago.....maybe earlier. 4yo, 8yo and a 12yo 101 proof. Picked up the 12yo and was not overly impressed. More recently, the Kulsveens have brought in the Old Bardstown lineup at 4, 6 and 10 yo 101 proof(?). I was very impressed with the 10yo.....tastes like a richer, creamier EW SB.

Randy

[wadewood]

IMHO, Johnny Drum posts do not belong in the Premium Bourbon post section.

[cowdery]

IMHO, Johnny Drum posts do not belong in the Premium Bourbon post section.

I thought about that. The section is actually called "Premium Bourbons & Specialty Bottlings." I consider Johnny Drum a "specialty bottling."

[Gillman]

At first I thought Wade was being tongue in cheek here but even if that was not so, I would consider any 15 year old whiskey (the only specific Johnny Drum expression mentioned in Chuck's first post) to be Premium, by definition.

Gary

[cas]

I picked up a bottle of the 15 year and thought it was pretty good. About $30, I believe, not among the best I've had, but fairly interesting and pleasant.

Craig

[ThomasH]

Internet wine and spirits has Had Johnny Drum 15 as well as the others for sale for well over a year. I bought my 15 for 21.88 about a year ago. The current price at internet wine is 39.00. Demand must be up and supply down.

Thomas

[gr8erdane]

Naw, the owners have just gotten out of hand with their pricing. I won't even cross the river to see their massive selection anymore. 150 bucks for Stagg when everyone else is selling it at a third or less of that price? They can gouge someone else. BTW, I picked up my bottle of Johnny Drum 15 there about the same time, just before they went off the deep end.

[barturtle]

I used to make the trip to Randall's as well but it's been a couple years now and they don't seem to have as many things that no one else has as they used to and the pricing ain't what it used to be.

[cowdery]

For a long time, Internet Wine and Spirits was the only retail outlet of which I was aware, except maybe a couple in Kentucky, that regularly carried Johnny Drum and other Kulsveen whiskeys that were originally only exported. Their recent appearance at Sam's, along with some of their kin, shows that Drew has followed through on his promise to make his family's products more widely available in the U.S.

[Brennan77]

I just wanted to report that the store that I work at, whose parent company is wholesaler "Wines Unlimited", has worked out a deal to start wholesaling Johnny Drum, Noah's Mill, and Old Bardstown. I'm not sure which expressions we'll be carrying, but I should have the opportunity to taste them soon. The idea is that we want Johnny Drum to be a not so specialty bottling. It'll be put head to head with big sellers like Jim Beam and Evan Williams. I'll update this when I know more and taste what we have.

[SSBourbon1]

Frugal MacDougal's in Fort Mill, SC carries all of these. I have tried the 15 year Johnny Drum and like it overall, although it took a few drinks to truly appreciate it. I look forward to trying the rest. I think the prices for these bourbons were from around $26 to about $36 per bottle depending on the bottling.

[OscarV]

I opened my Johnny Drum 8 year old today.

I will describe the taste with a question.

Have you ever been out in a swamp, and stumbled across an old plank of wood that that has been there for quite a while soaking up the swamp water, and then, did you pick up this plank of wood and bite into it?

[barturtle]

Gee, I didn't think it anywhere near that bad, I thought it was a decent house pour. Maybe not quite as good as Old Fitz 1849, but still a decent lower end bottling

[smokinjoe]

I opened my Johnny Drum 8 year old today.

I will describe the taste with a question.

Have you ever been out in a swamp, and stumbled across an old plank of wood that that has been there for quite a while soaking up the swamp water, and then, did you pick up this plank of wood and bite into it?

It's been a few months since I finished my bottle of Johnny Drum. I remember likening it to the Kentucky Vintage. Had a very vegetal/grassy taste that I rather enjoyed. Maybe it was just a funky night, or a funky bottle you had? I hope things turn around for you with it.

JOE

[OscarV]

Gee, I didn't think it anywhere near that bad, I thought it was a decent house pour. Maybe not quite as good as Old Fitz 1849, but still a decent lower end bottling

Ok,.... I might have went over board on the swamp analogy.

I was going for the wood taste.

I should have asked, have you ever been at a distillery when they dumped a barrel and ripped off a stave and bite into it?

[barturtle]

I should have asked, have you ever been at a distillery when they dumped a barrel and ripped off a stave and bite into it?

Now that's a bit more like my original notes on Green Glass Pappy 23yo, though I actually said it was like licking the stave

[JamesH007]

I thought the 8 yr was decent for the price (just about the same price as Beam and has alot more character), Still I leave this one as a mixer with Coke for guests who insist, or for myself on the rare occasion I feel like mixing.

One question I have though....Is this really Bourbon ? If you look at the side label it says **CHARCOAL FILTERED**; and if I recall that makes it NOT a Bourbon

Was not impressed enough to pickup the 12 or 15; are they charcoal filtered as well ?

[barturtle]

Damn near all bourbons are charcoal filtered (do a search there are several discussions on the matter) but the main thing is when you do it...do it before barreling and you have Tennessee Whiskey, do it after and you're just like any other distiller in the world who wants to get all the particles out of their spirit.

[JamesH007]

Thanks for the info !! I did some reading in the archives, and it appears that was an industry wide practice that has been supplanted by chill filtering as charcoal strips the color and flavor....I had never seen *charcoal filtered* on a Bourbon bottle before. Is it on any others.

As a side note, I was thinking...If Ridgemont was successfully sued by Woodford for their original bottle; I sure think this looks a lot more like a Jack bottle than the Ridgemont looked like a Woodford bottle.

[barturtle]

Thanks for the info !! I did some reading in the archives, and it appears that was an industry wide practice that has been supplanted by chill filtering as charcoal strips the color and flavor....I had never seen *charcoal filtered* on a Bourbon bottle before. Is it on any others.

As a side note, I was thinking...If Ridgemont was successfully sued by Woodford for their original bottle; I sure think this looks a lot more like a Jack bottle than the Ridgemont looked like a Woodford bottle.

Yes it is on others, Heaven Hill branded and Evan Williams branded bottlings come to mind, but surely others as well.

Any type of filtering strips flavor (after all, even a big chunk of wood can be considered flavor) it's just about how much flavor gets taken, charcoal in moderate amounts could take less away than excessive chill filtering.

I believe the Woodford suit was over the name and the presentation of the name matching too closely to Woodford. As far as the bottles looking like Jack, at this point so many bottles have copied shapes and style that anything even close to plain square or round bottles would be considered prior art and a lawsuit could never be won.

[cowdery]

Interesting to see this thread revived only to note that it was as recently as December of 2005 that Johnny Drum and several other KBD products were new to Chicago.