Category: Hall of Fame

Little Book Chapter 9, 2025 release is bottled at 121.8 proof and is a combination of 4 bourbons and one rye ranging in age from 7 to 11 years old. Last year’s surprise hit was Little Book Infinite, which I suspect will become more highly coveted once people try it. It’s the combination of rye and bourbon that really sets this particular Beam release apart. For some reason the rye provides a perfect compliment of sweet and spice to the already big vanilla and oak in the bourbon. The nose is all dessert with fruit, vanilla, toffee, honey, and caramel. The palate starts off with juicy traditional bourbon notes, but sweetens up with a big wave of rye. Don’t sleep on these Little Books. Their allocated and hard to find, but worth the hunt, and damn good to drink.

I predict now this will be Whiskey Advocate Whiskey of the Year. It’s just that good. Heaven Hill’s 7yr wheated recipe bottled at 100 proof under the Old Fitzgerald name. I’m not sure I’ve tasted a new release this drinkable, this balanced, in a pure, non-finished bourbon! The nose offers big baking spice and candided and tropical fruit. On the palate, the wheated sweetness is off the charts. Big juicy tropical flavors with only a touch of oak spice. Really, this bottle should come with a warning, it’s that drinkable! You will not find more pleasure in a bottle so far this year, and there have been many good releases. We may have been in a golden age of bourbon brands, but now that all the big guys have plenty of aged juice and the market has slowed just a touch, releases like this will remind you why you started drinking bourbon in the first place, to be truly surprised and delighted by what’s in the glass, and be OVER delivered for the price. WOW!

Regular Wild Turley 101 may just be the best everyday bourbon out there. It’s balanced all the way through with fruit, spice, citrus, oak, vanilla, and caramel. It’s every traditional flavor on the bourbon wheel in perfect harmony, and at the perfect proof. Now add a regular 8yr age statement, and you’re really talking. Granted, many MGP bourbons taste great at 4 and 5 years, fully matured. But in Kentucky, seven years old seems to be the magic number, and to take something all the way to eight, even better.

Compass Box has been making very boutique blended scotch for decades now, and their latest release Nectarosity is a must have, even if you’re a die-hard single malt lover. Made with American oak casks that age both the grain and malt whiskies separately, until they are finally married together, this 92 proof, non-chill filtered, no color added blend gives you everything you want in a fruit driven scotch. Peach, apricot, pineapple, toffee, and vanilla are all immediately apparent on the nose which is amplified even more on the palate. A touch of oak spice wraps all the silky fruit up into a coherent, balanced and deeply flavorful whiskey. The best part, the price! We’ve got it for $49.99!

Indiana made wheated bourbon from MGP, similar to their rye whiskey, may just be the best wheated bourbon in the world. Sure, Weller and Pappy have their place, but when MGP’s wheated bourbon is bottled at the correct proof and age, it really becomes a toss up. It lacks the signature leather note of Weller, but it more than makes up for it in soft fruit and silkiness that rivals even Four Roses. Penelope’s 95 proof, non-chill filtered non-age stated wheated bourbon for under $40 has got to be at the top of that list. Sweet and tropical fruit on the nose with light nuttiness. On the palate, it’s the softest pillow of bourbon flavors you’ll ever encounter with more tropical fruit, fully mature grain, and just a touch of oak to provide enough body. If you like elegant, this is your whiskey. If you like weekday sipper, this is your whiskey. If you like something refined, easy to drink, retaining tons of flavor, this is your whiskey.

I’ve never quite bought into the “ocean” aged concept that Jefferson’s has touted for many years, mainly because I could never really tell the difference between ocean aged and regular, but I will say over time I have tasted a few gems, especially their single barrels. This is a wheated single barrel, ocean aged at 90 proof bottled for Bourbon World. The MGP wheated recipe has also been hit or miss over the years. I’ve tasted ones that I thought were maybe the best wheated bourbon I’ve ever had, including Weller, and I’ve tasted others that were lost, flabby, just so-so. Which brings us to this particular barrel. Over priced at the $90 SRP, so we’ve lowered it to $69.99, which I can say with a straight face is a HUGE DEAL! Pillow soft cinnamon spice with layers of caramel throughout. The fruit is subdued, the oak is subdued but the barrel sugars are amazing. Maybe you’re like me and getting older and need a little something less than barrel strength sometimes. Don’t sleep on 90 proof. Elmer T Lee, Eagle Rare, Weller Special Reserve, all 90 proof. Grab a bottle at any Bourbon World store. You won’t regret it.

Always a monster whiskey, this latest release features a 15yr and 2 month old vatting bottled at 136.1 proof. Baking spices, cola, and a touch of mint on the nose lead to intense warming spice, barrel notes, more cola, fig, maraschino cherries and caramel. The finish is lengthy with a flood of sweet spice. This is the stalwart, and it never seems to disappoint.

Minty/herbal yeast strain combined with the sweet and spicy high rye recipe bottled at 100 proof may be the most “old school” bourbon Iv’e tasted in a long time. Lots of soft, chewy caramels combined with the “top notes” of mint and herbs. The spice is subdued in this recipe and the sweetness and balance of fruit really shine through. RUN to the store to get these red labels before they sell out. The 100 proof makes these a pure delight to drink straight.

In our quest to pick a single barrel from EVERY Beam warehouse, we recently received Warehouse Q, built in 1960, aged on Floor 6, and bottled at the Beam standard 120 proof. This is a liquid snickers bar, exhibiting notes of chocolate, caramel, nougat and peanuts. Barrel spice is there, but it’s in the background to the rich dessert like flavors that don’t and don’t stop through the finish.

This year’s Thomas H Handy is a 6 year old barrel proof rye weighing in at 127.2 proof. One of the most underrated BTAC offerings, the last few year’s of Handy have been incredibly delicious with a depth of flavor beyond the regular 90 proof release. It’s well known in Kentucky that rye doesn’t need the same years in barrel as bourbon to achieve their optimal flavor profile, and this 6 year is no expectation. Sweet and spicy rye with cinnamon syrup, allspice, and tropical fruit notes accompanied by leather, orchard, and sweet pine.