Category: Sleeper Hit

We’re doing one of our BEST Sleeper Hit sales of the year on Rossville Union Single Barrell Cask Strength bottlings, from 2022 and 2023! Regular Price, $59.99. We’ve got them on promo through the end of the year at $39.99! Don’t miss out on these cask strength, super high rye RYES made right here in our some state. The best of these examples are piney, minty, and sweet, with a long spicy finish and rock candy sweetness that persists with an oak background holding it all together.

Lifting out of the Terresentia fog of rapid ageing bourbon, DSP KY-10 has finally found its footing with an historical brand name, “Green River” and fully age, large barrels sans the sonic vibrations, additions of heat and other sundry snake oil applications. Their rye based 4yr was one of the best sleeper hits of last year, now enter their Wheater, a 90 proof, soft as eiderdown 4yr straight from the silk factory. On the nose, pears in syrup, vanilla buttercream, and lime zest. On the palate, big soft fruit with banana runts, and intermittent spice through the candy-coated finish.

This year’s Remus Repeal Reserve is the 7th in the series, a blend of 5 different ages and 2 different Ross & Squib (MGP) mashbills, and bottled at a very drinkable and laudable 100 proof! The blend consists of 6% 2007 bourbon from the 12% rye recipe, along with 26% from 2013 of the same recipe, and yet 21% more of that recipe from 2014. The mix of 36% rye bourbons are 26% from 2013 and 21% from 2014. Sometimes transparency can go too far, especially when some of these whiskies are so close together, but we can appreciate the attempt nonetheless. Anyway, the bourbon itself has a very elegant and fragrant nose with peach, pear, soft leather and cherry. On the palate, an excellent mix of MGP soft fruit with one of the BEST MGP finished I’ve ever had. Vanilla buttercream sweet with sweet oak and a sweetened cinnamon bun to go with it. If you like Four Roses high end releases, these are basically the same darn recipes from a different distillery, so if you’d pay $250 for Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition, you should consider grabbing a bottle of Remus Repeal Reserve VII.

Bottom shelf review alert! Previously known as “Heaven Hill White Label 80 proof” and now affectionately called “Quality House” this 3 year, 78% Corn, 12% Malted Barley, 10% Rye bourbon competes in the same category as Old Crow from Suntory and Benchmark from Sazerac. All three are basically 3yr old, 80 proof versions which turn into higher priced, older and higher proof whiskies in later lives. For me, the herbal and mint depth of the usual Heaven Hill is apparent, but without the heavier oak to mask and round out the fresh herbs. The flavor is soft, sweet, and uncomplicated. If you’re ever looking to throw some ice in a tall glass and just drink some damn Kentucky sour mash, this may just be your jam.

The Old Fitzgerald BIB decanter is one of my favorite releases of the year. The 17yr is still one of my all time favorites, and even when they haven’t been sublime, they’ve always been really good. Enter this year’s 10 year old expression at 100 proof. Rich peanut and red fruit on the nose with maple and toffee. On the palate, intense spice with cardamom, leather, and a rich orchard fruit core surrounded by oak intensity.

Right in the heart of bourbon country lies the bucolic Abbey at Gethsamane, home to cheese and fruit cake making monks and the one time home of Thomas Merton, one of America’s intellectual giants. If you are visiting any of the countryside distilleries, it’s worth a stop, as the chapel itself is a true place of respite among Kentucky’s rolling bluegrass. And NOW, just a few hundred yards down the road you can pay a visit to Wally Dant’s latest project, the Log Still Distillery, home to several brands, one of them a 4 yr wheated bourbon aptly named Monk’s Road. The 94 proof offering was contract distilled to their specifications and presents a fantastic combination of high florals and heavy leather. On the palate, an initial sweetness gives way to strong oak, lots of spice, and a mellowing, complex fruit finish.

Locally made in French Lick, Mattie Gladden is a double pot-distilled 4yr Bottled in Bond, 35% High Rye bourbon. While the Gladden House today is a restored B and B on Main Street in Salem, during Ms. Gladden’s time it operated as a house of ill-repute. On the nose a distinct cherry cordial note, followed by oak spice, cedar, and citrus. On the palate, more soft fruit, a warming baking spice, and a long oak driven finish.

70% corn, 18% rye, 12% malted barely, aged for 6 years and bottled at 120 proof. This barrel was selected as part of a “futures” program at the beginning of 2022 and now it’s here! For the relatively high proportion of rye, this is an oily corn monster with sweet malty biscuit notes throughout the mid palate. Lots of sweet fruit, but with touches here and there of oak that allow the corn and malt to settle and integrate.

Did you know that MGP makes a 95% wheat whiskey, similar to their 95% rye whiskey? It’s a soft, bready, floral, and darn right juicy piece of Indiana distilling fun! Bottled by Fenwick’s in Renssalaer, Indiana at 90 proof and 4yrs old, this MGP mega wheat presents lifted cereal and unctuous florals on the nose. On the palate the whiskey goes sour cherry candy with additional cereal grain notes, and some touches of clover honey. If you’ve got an Old Fashioned Bar and want to provide your guests with a totally different mashbill option, this is a good one to have in the back pocket!

This limited edition release from Jefferson’s pays homage to Trey Zoeller’s 8th generation Grandmother named Marian McLain, a woman who in 1799 was arrested for bootlegging and was one of the first documented women in American whiskey. No surprise, Trey and his father Chet are bourbon historians, the latter having authored several books on the subject of American whiskey. The repository of bourbon stories and history amongst the Zoeller clan is second to none. That being said, their release of a bourbon “blend” is also right in line with current trends, where distillers and bottlers attempting to STRETCH and evolve the resources of aged whiskey in a time of great demand, can create something altogether better than the sum of its parts. The blend is a 14yr old Tennessee Bourbon, an 11yr old Kentucky, an Indiana Wheated Double Barrel, a Kentucky Rum Cask Finish, and an 8yr old Kentucky bourbon, all bottled at 102 proof. Surprising amount of orchard fruit on the nose with florals and vanillas spiking between whiffs, very elegant. On the palate, loads of barrel spice, soft nougat, fruit and leather. Distinct orange and cherry emerge as well, as if READY MADE for an over the top Old Fashioned.