Pill_Man Posted June 29, 2002 Share Posted June 29, 2002 Classic Cask Bourbon, 17yr. Single Barrel Ketucky Bourbon?Someone asked about this on one of the cigar forums I frequent, and no one had ever heard of it. Any info here in StraightBourbon-land?TIA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest **DONOTDELETE** Posted June 29, 2002 Share Posted June 29, 2002 OK Doug here's all I can tell you about Classic Cask. It's an Even Kulsveen brand. I went ahead and bumped up a thread for you to read. There is also a thread down in the rye topic board that talks about Classic Cask, I think Ralph Whilps either has or had a bottle. I've neither seen nor tasted that whiskey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bourbonmed Posted June 29, 2002 Share Posted June 29, 2002 Doug/Linn,Not Kulsveen. The Classic Cask 17y was a single 'batch' sale from BT to a gentleman known for his Scotch whiskey. He wanted to have a distinctive bourbon product in his line. Can't remember his name. I think there were just 600 bottles made of the Classic 17 and it was an expensive private label, around $70. There was a 15y rye as well. I saw both bottles in Tenn.Compare the Classic 17 to Eagle Rare 17y -- there should not be much difference in taste. Omar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pill_Man Posted June 29, 2002 Author Share Posted June 29, 2002 >> single 'batch' sale from BT to a gentleman known for his Scotch whiskey. << "BT" = Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MurphyDawg Posted June 29, 2002 Share Posted June 29, 2002 The Buffalo Trace Distillery !! TomC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest **DONOTDELETE** Posted June 29, 2002 Share Posted June 29, 2002 Omar it had to be bottled by Kulsveen at his Willet bottling line, since the label was reported as reading "Bottled in Bardstown, KY". I went ahead and bumped that thread also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westsideelectric Posted June 29, 2002 Share Posted June 29, 2002 I have a bottle and there is no distinction as to the distillery other than "bottled in Bardstown, KY". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest **DONOTDELETE** Posted June 30, 2002 Share Posted June 30, 2002 First let us all welcome our 301st forum member Glenn Grossman. Welcome to Bourbonia Glenn!Here's how it works Glenn. Any one of us can buy whiskey by the barrel from anyone that has a berrel to sell. Here's the rub ==> As a private buyer without a DSP (Distilled Spirits Producer) license from the B.A.T.F. we have to have the spirits we purchase bottled up by someone that does have a DSP # before we can take delivery. Julian Van Winkel is the most well known independent bottler and Evan Kulsveen comes in second, but he is very elusive & reclusive, and is very nearly unkown.So now you know where it was bottled and by who, but you still don't know where the whiskey came from and who distilled it. Until someone involved in the sale of that whiskey spills the beans we will most likely never know for sure.My advice is not to buy 'mystery whiskey'. Purchase bourbon only from distillers you know and trust. I've been to Jim Beam and know master distiller Jerry Dalton. I've been to Labrot & Graham and I've spoken with master distiller Linclon Henderson. I've been to Buffalo Trace and I know the great master distiller Elmer T. Lee. I've been to Wild Turkey and know master distiller Jimmy Russell. I've driven by Heaven Hill and enjoyed meeting Parker Beam at Toddy's one afternoon. I've gotten drunk at the gazebo at the Bardstown Best Western with master bottler Julian Van Winkel III.Buy what you know. Tell the rest to blow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackkeno Posted June 30, 2002 Share Posted June 30, 2002 I believe it is a special bottling for Alan Shayne (sp?) president of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society of America. It has gotten pretty good reviews in a couple spirits rags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwilps Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 HAD a bottle, Linn - I'm pleased to inform you that the substance was quickly neutralized by passing it through the organic filter previously described in the Rye section. Good stuff, but way overpriced compared to the equally delicious Van Winkle and Hirsch ryes.Ralph Wilps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westsideelectric Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 The Classic Cask I have is not rye. Can anyone point me to the rye thread? BTW, this is the batch that was purchased/bottled for Alan @ SMSWS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwilps Posted July 1, 2002 Share Posted July 1, 2002 Go to the main index, and look down to the rye section - I think the thread on Classic Cask Rye is "a new rye", started by me. Good luck!Ralph Wilps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westsideelectric Posted July 2, 2002 Share Posted July 2, 2002 Classic Cask mystery is solved!I spoke to Alan Shayne, Pres. of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, today about the origin of Classic Cask bourbon and he informed me that this is a special project that he has been working on with Even Kulsveen at his distillery (NOT Heaven Hill) for about seven years now. So, this is a special release bottling done especially for the SMSWS by Even Kulsveen (possibly the finest distiller in the world today). Oh yeah, I had a nip last night and it is like nectar of the gods. Full of aromatic oils, honey, slight charred oak, custard and a bit of citrus. Finished smooth as silk. The best bourbon I've ever had. JMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bourbonmed Posted July 2, 2002 Share Posted July 2, 2002 Glenn, regarding the origin of this bourbon, please dig a little deeper. My Classic 17 was distilled in '82, bottled in '99. How does a 7-year project between Shayne & Kulsveen explain the origin of a 17-yr old bourbon? Kulsveen wasn't in the bourbon biz in '82 as far as I know. Shayne/Kulsveen must have acquired the whiskey someplace else (like BT) and bottled it. Kulsveen's real whiskey production has been shrouded in secrecy. I hear he's been bottling for the past few years. I'm a big fan of 'his' whiskey, he really knows how to pick 'em, like Julian. Much of his stuff goes to Japan.Back to the origin of Classic 17 -- try an experiment. Get a bottle of the 17y Eagle Rare, ($40) and do a side by side comparison.Cheers, Omar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westsideelectric Posted July 2, 2002 Share Posted July 2, 2002 AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! This is making me craaaaazy!! Alan's near verbatim words to me were "I've been going there and spending time w/ Even and it's been great fun. We've been working on this project for about the last seven years. Even is a great guy and a delight to work with. This whiskey comes from Even's distillery, not the racks at Heaven Hill." I have no idea exactly how long Even has had the distillery running, but the closet I can come is around the mid-eighties. My bottle was an '83, bottled in '00. I'm beginning to believe we may never really know the true origins of Classic Cask...but I will hunt down a bottle of 17 yr. Eagle Rare and check it out for grins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted July 3, 2002 Share Posted July 3, 2002 In fact, the reality is just the opposite of what you say. Even (more accurately, his father-in-law) has not had that distillery operating since the mid-eighties, and then it was being used to make ethanol for fuel, not whiskey. In other words, it is not operating now, it was not operating last year, and it has not operated since the mid-eighties.Even is married to one of the Willet daughters. When he started his operation, there was still some Willet whiskey left in the warehouses. Whether or not any of that whiskey is still around, and whether or not that's what he used for Classic Cask, is unknown. It is known that Even has obtained whiskey from sources other than his father-in-law's stash. It seems likely that he has obtained whiskey from Heaven Hill. It is also possible that he has obtained whiskey from Barton, Buffalo Trace, or any number of other possible sources. I'm certainly prepared to believe it's not Heaven Hill. I just know that he hasn't been cooking anything up there on Willet Hill. He has a bottling line, offices and distribution. That's it.However, he and Trey Zoeller, and maybe some others, have been working on getting a distillery going again at that site. They have a new building built. Even's longtime dream has been to have a working distillery and operate it as a tourist site, much like Maker's Mark or Labrot & Graham. He has the advantage of being right in Bardstown. I have not heard anything that would lead me to believe that distillery is operating and, if it is, it has been operating for a very short time and can't have produced any drinkable whiskey, let alone a 17-year old. I was there less than a year ago and the new distillery building, while substantially completed, was not finished and not operating.I have no quarrel with the description of Even as "a great guy and a delight to work with," but he's no distiller. Not yet, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westsideelectric Posted July 3, 2002 Share Posted July 3, 2002 Chuck, thank you for the great info. Unfortunately, the waters are murkier than ever now, but at least I'm learning a great deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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