Category: Hall of Fame

It was only a matter of time! Crown Royal Chocolate has arrived. It’s sweet and smooth Canadian Whisky blended and infused with rich velvety chocolate. Aroma of chocolate cake and tootsie rolls. Plenty of spirit bite in the 70 proof, so unlike super sweet low proof liquors you know you’re drinking a whiskey! I can see this making the rounds on the couch in front of a football game or roaring fire. The cocktail opportunities are endless as well! A chocolate infused Old Fashioned? Yes, please! How about adding Skrewball Peanut Butter whiskey to it for a Reese’s Peanut butter shot? Yep! You’ve got to try this stuff!

It wasn’t long ago that double digit aged MGP was nowhere to be found, and it it was available it would be in an old bottling of Smooth Ambler or High Noon, some of the first folks to bottle this stuff. Now that the barrel market for bourbon is loosening up, Drew Black and the Circle City guys have been able to source some much older MGP, so people can get a taste of Indiana’s finest distillery first hand. And sure, it’s a little pricier than your average 5 yr MGP (think Penelope) the age to cost ratio is right in line. We chose this 11.5 yr old 21% rye, bottled at full strength of 105.5 proof. I LOVE it when the proof drops low at cask strength. Leather, oak, and dark honey on the nose with mature floral and red fruit. On the palate the baking spice with the cinnamon has merged beautifully with the older spice notes. BUT, the real kicker on this one is the malt whiskey like finish. It’s malty, sweet, and chewy unlike any other bourbon I’ve had before. I’m putting this pick in the Hall of Fame!

High rye, O yeast (rich fruit and vanilla) aged for 11 years and 3 months and bottled at 110.8 proof from warehouse P on the south side, rick number 49, tier 1, position F. This high rye, O yeast banger came in at 11+ years old, combined with the low tier and relatively low proof you get a combo of mature, floral oak with a deep, rich fruit note, almost like fruit stripe gum.

Check out this incredibly rare footage of the new MASSIVE Heaven Hill Springs distillery. Heaven Hill is making big whiskey again in Bardstown, the first time since the fire in 1996. We can’t wait for the results.

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.