Category: Whiskey

Hey all,

Buffalo Trace Antique Collection just landed! Limit 1 bottle from the line per customer. Only got a few of these so they’ll likely sell out fast, good luck. Here’s what we got:

-George T. Stagg bourbon
-Sazerac 18yr rye
-Thomas Handy Sazerac rye
-William Larue Weller bourbon
-Eagle Rare 17yr bourbon

Cheers

Nate

Hey all,

Just got a shipment of aged whiskies from Corsair, the first time they’ve ever been available in the Bay Area! Corsair is a micro distillery in Kentucky that has a reputation for having unique products and doing a lot of experimentation. The quinoa whiskey definitely uses a grain I’ve never seen in whiskey before, and I was surprised how much I liked the finished product. They use red and white quinoa seeds and are able to extract flavors of roasted nuts, earth, vanilla, toffee and a hint of espresso. This is more than just an experiment, it’s an overwhelming success.

The Ryemageddon is also quite unique. Most American rye whiskey is made with raw or unmalted rye grain which lend most of the spicy, floral and earthy notes. For the Ryemageddon Corsair uses malted rye and chocolate rye (heavily charred). While it lacks the typical rye spice it more than makes up for it with lush notes of dark chocolate, creme brulee, burnt caramel and bread pudding. Totally different take on a rye but man oh man is it good.

Lastly we have the barrel aged Rasputin, which is made from an imperial stout beer. My understanding is that when they’re distilling it they allow the whiskey vapors to pass through a basket of hops, almost like botanicals in gin, making it a hop flavored imperial stout whiskey. Basically this whiskey is the “kitty’s titties”, if you’ll excuse the workaholics reference. It’s super floral and hoppy on the nose but wonderfully rich and chocolaty on the palate. The hop flavors are well integrated and the whiskey really tastes like a fantastic roasty-chocolaty stout. Well done guys, well done.

Pretty limited numbers on these people, I only got 6 bottles of each just FYI.

Nate

Hey all,

Got some new whiskies in from Hooker’s House, a brand a lot of people have expressed interest in the last year. I was really impressed with what they had to offer. The rye is on the younger side, around 4 years old and is likely sourced from LDI. They finish it in Zinfandel barrels which I think adds a lot of depth, some musty grape notes and just a hint of spice. It’s the first red wine finished rye I’ve ever seen.

Both of the bourbons are finished in Pinot Noir barrels and manage to take on even more red wine character than the rye. Their regular bourbon is a six year likely sourced from Heaven Hill. It tasted significantly older than six years to me, more like the depth and oak of a 10-12 year. The Pinot Noir flavors are incredible giving the bourbon a great minerality, notes of stone fruits, blackberries, earth, pencil shavings and charred oak.

The 21 year bourbon was something to behold. Although we weren’t told the source my co-worker Dave thought it might be Stitzel-Weller. It reminded me a lot of the older Willett Family Estate bourbons I’ve tried. Regardless, one of the best bourbons I’ve ever had and very unique. It says cask strength on the bottle but what I’ve been told is they diluted the whiskey with water while it was still in the barrel, so even though its 47% alcohol no water was added to the whiskey after it came out of the barrel making it “barrel strength”. What’s interesting is when I first tried this bourbon it was so cloudy and murky the rep immediately told me they planned on filtering it before bottling. I told him it was great as is and that they should leave it unfiltered. Realizing that would save them a couple steps and a decent amount of time he agreed to release it that way (aaaahem, your welcome). I get an amazing amount of depth and oak on this with flavors of burnt caramel, port wine, concrete, gravel, eucalyptus, rye spice, dark chocolate and flint. My rep has already told me they aren’t going to be getting any more barrels this old, so get it while you can!

Cheers

Nate

Hey all,

Finally brought in the Old Pulteney 12 Year, a Scotch that’s considered the “Classic Maritime Malt”, from the fisherman’s village of Wick. Here’s a little about the distillery from the website:

“The Pulteney Distillery was established in 1826 in the heart of ‘Pulteneytown’, the town created to house fishermen during Wick’s herring boom. The most northerly distillery on the Scottish mainland, it has an absorbing history, passing through the hands of various owners. However, through the years the quality of the whisky has endured.”

Old Pulteney is one of the definitive coastal distilleries. The flavors are saturated with notes of sea air, seaweed and brininess. If anyone has any interest in the older vintages feel free to let me know and I’ll happily bring them in. I know the 21 year Old Pulteney won best whiskey of the year in Jim Murray’s 2012 Whiskey Bible. Cheers

Nate

Hey Guys,

I just released Bourbon Club for November yesterday. All cards have been charged and your bottle of American Prairie Reserve is happily awaiting you at the shop. 10 % of the profits from this bottling go to the American Prairie Reserve in Montana, making each sip even more sweet as you know your helping out with a good cause. If your looking to be a member or would like to sign someone else up as a gift, check out the information on the left side of this page. Also feel free to email or call into the shop if you have any questions. Cheers

Nate

Hey all,

Holy cow am I excited about today’s new arrivals. It feels like Christmas mourning around here, but instead of snow it’s raining heavenly bourbon! I could make a case for this being the best release of the year. But wait a minute you say? What about Pappy Van Winkle? Well as many of you may know Stitzel-Weller barrels (a distillery Julian Van Winkle was involved with until it closed in 1992) are getting harder and harder to come by since none have been produced in 20 years. Stitzel-Weller bourbon is the main component of Pappy Van Winkle 15, 20 and 23 year, and it use to be used in the 10 and 12 year bottlings as well, which are now being made by Buffalo Trace. I have a feeling Michter’s 20 year bourbon, which is probably closer to 23 or 24 years old , may be a single barrel from Stitzel-Weller. Really no way to know for sure as the company is very tight liped about revealing their sources, but my palate usually doesn’t steer me wrong. Regardless it’s one of the best bourbons I’ve ever had.

I was also able to secure a decent amount of the Michter’s 10 year bourbon. Michter’s has this notion that they can and should exceed your wildest expectations for a given age statement. While the 20 year is closer to a 23 or 24 year, the 10 year is likely in the 15 to 16 year range. Basically they want their 10 year to be better than any other 10 year on the market, so how do they do that? By putting out a 16 year and calling it a 10 year, kind of clever in a way. The last bottling of 10 year Michter’s bourbon is rumored to have been a Stitzel-Weller bottling as well, and after opening the current one I have to say, it tastes surprisingly similar. But again no way to confirm that notion. Even if they’re not Stitzel-Weller products these two bourbons have an incredible amount of depth and oak (they are seriously much older then their age statement), are elegant, refined and some of the best sauce going right now. Don’t sleep on these, they definitely won’t be around for long!

Nate

Hey all,

Just got a few new Cragganmore single malt Scotches in. Look out for Distiller’s Editions and other limited Scotch releases over the next few weeks. Cragganmore is on the short list of distilleries in Diageo’s “Classic Malts”, making it the definitive Speyside single malt. New in:

-Cragganmore 12 year 40% (80 proof)
-Cragganmore 1997 Distiller’s Edition (port finished) 40% (80 proof)
-Cragganmore 21 year Cask Strength Non-Chill Filtered 56% (112 proof)

The Cragganmore Distiller’s Edition is arguably my favorite port finished scotch, soft and creamy with some beautiful strawberry, raspberry and red fruit undertones. What really surprised me though was the 21 year old cask strength. Pretty sure it’s a one time release, I’ve never seen that vintage before anyway. It’s unbelievably complex with incredible notes of wildflower honey, heather, lavender, sea water, stoney minerals and the tiniest hint of peat. Gorgeous stuff, I highly recommend trying it if you get a chance, I was able to get six bottles for the shop. You want these!

Cheers

Nate

Hey all,

Just wanted to keep everyone in the loop on the captivating E.H. Taylor bourbons I currently have. Buffalo Trace started bottling the E. H. Taylor line a little over a year ago and is consistently selecting some of the best barrels in their inventory. E. H. Taylor was one of the original owners of the Buffalo Trace Distillery in the mid 1800’s. He was revered for his unprecedented quality control and innovations, some of which are still used to this day. To date the collection has included a Single Barrel bourbon (my favorite single barrel from buffalo trace) and the Tornado Surviving Warehouse bourbon (so this tornado totally hit one of their warehouses, then they like bottled some of those barrels). Both are excellent and bottled in bond, meaning they’re 50% alcohol (100 proof), giving them beautifully concentrated flavors and long lingering finishes. I just recently got in the “Barrel Proof” release, which is a cask strength unfiltered version of the already stellar Single Barrel. Bottled at 67.25% alcohol (134.5 proof) this is seriously as robust and flavorful as they come, pretty close to George T. Stagg territory. All three are on the shelf now, and I’m told a super limited E. H. Taylor rye may be available soon. Cheers

Nate