15 Year Wheated Buffalo Trace Experimental and Blade & Blow 12 Year; Ep. 78

Dan and Steph: Good evening. Hello. Welcome back. Bourbon Brass and Beyond. We are home now and it was a very, very busy week. But we lucked out on some things. Got to bring some things home and Have some stuff to try. Mm-hmm. So we are leaving this weekend and we are going to Kentucky. Yeah. And We are gonna be doing an interview with the Van Winkle family and talking about the twenty twenty six release and twenty twenty six? Yeah. Mm. Okay. And but going over some of the tastings from the previous the we have and doing some cigars. And then we're gonna go also hit some other distilleries. We're also gonna go to Heaven Hill. we're gonna try to hit Maker's Mark. I'm gonna try to hit Stitzel Weller because I have all five keys now, so I get to try the twenty two year and hopefully the thirty year. That's big goals. Big goals. Big goals for that day. Yeah. Because you have to be a member of the five keys club to get to get that. Yeah. but we have a sample of the Blade and Bow new twelve year Solera Reserve. And they just came out. There have been some really good reviews on it and a lot of people have really liked it. So I'm curious. Well, I like the fact that it's twelve years old, that already is a big check mark in my book. And 'cause you know I'm a I'm a bourbon snob. Yeah. So what's the proof on that? So I wanted to pull this up. it is a hundred and four proof. Okay. a Solero reserve where it it it's constantly using one big vat, so to speak, where multiple barrels are dumped into that, and then as they take out and bottle, they add back into that same vat. So it's gonna be what they say is a more consistent Taste throughout the entire batch that's done. The youngest bourbon in it is 12 years. okay. Great. And then on top of the 12 years, there's extended aging in four different casks. And this is where my only point of concern is because I don't normally like wine finished casks. but this one is they utilize a finishing process of vintage cognac, Burdeot, Moscatel, and port vats. Sounds great, actually. So this particular batch was finished in one of those? Or all of those. All of those and then those were fractionally mixed into that Solera okay reserve system. All right. Interesting. I haven't even smelled it, so I don't even Coming from a sample from a friend. And Mm-hmm. Rough floral nose. Ooh, yeah. That hits ya. In a good way. Yeah. But it's not one of those bourbons that you're kinda l searching searching for something. It's right. I'm almost getting like that Armagnac nose on it. Mhm. Yeah. Well, would be that whatever it was finished in, I guess that's what we're getting. Yeah. I do get a touch of the port. I'm not a port finished fan. Great legs on it though. Yeah, that's thick. And it's d dark, but it's got like an amber not an amber more like well, yeah, I I would say amber. It's got amber. It's got an amber finish to it. Mm. Okay, so I really taste that on the sides of my mouth, the sides of my tongue. That's where I really get that flavour. I would say based on the smell, it's not giving me as many as much flavor as I would have guessed, but it's still a good flavor and the finish is Smooth and light. It's not it is a light mouthfeel, I would say. It's not like a It's not like a long lasting finish. No, it's not. That'll that was also our first Right. Our first set. Yeah. And we didn't warm up on anything, so I Be cleansing with my water. So I would say the finishes are not overpowering, which I appreciate. You still get the bourbon. It's got a little bit bit bit of a ethanol bite. Like a little bit of a A little bit. But it's a nice flavor, it's just not long lasting to me. Right. Yeah, even on my second sip. But it is nice. It's a nice zipper. Yeah, I would say that. Like if you were thirsty. You know what I mean? Like like water thirsty. I wish a little more the sweetness. A little bit of the mouth. Or the a little bit of the Kentucky hug, a little bit of that ethanol y I'd say yeah, I'd say each that was my third sip and I'd say each sip gets a little bit stronger going down. Gets a little more ethanol going down. And my lips are kinda tingling. Hm, I don't know. We need a little bit of the a little bit of pepper on that. On the third. I've got such different tastes on each each taste of it's been so different. Yeah, I would say that. Yeah. The first one was the best. But I would say since then they're going downhill. I'm getting more of the wine finish now. Mm. I'm not so much a I also just finished off my sub from Cosmic Dave's. Shout out Cosmic Dave's if you have one around you. Yeah Cosmic Dave is the best place to get a sound. Canfield, Ohio. Yeah. Yeah. It's a place to go. It's a place to go. Those subs are good. But I think my sub had some spicy meats in it, so I I'm not sure. sea spice will kill your taste buds for bourbon, I think. I really like it though. It wasn't that spicy of meat. I think it was just salami or something. I don't I don't know what it is. So the next one. Well, yeah. I can't wait to talk about it. This is what I am most excited. So I'll let you talk about it of course. But my take on this is this is the bottle he bought on Unicorn when he was in time out from buying any bourbon. I later find on our credit card statement that something was in fact purchased from Unicorn and it's this and now he shows me and it's a teeny tiny little bottle. Like you could finish it in in two sips, I th I feel like. But Dan's very excited about it, so it's time for you to go off on your So Buffalo Trace Experimental Collection. This is the weeded fifteen year low barrel entry proof. bourbon. And there is a lot So in the late 80s, early 90s, they changed the the rule for bourbon that they could have a higher entry proof in the barrel. And every distiller went, almost every distiller. MGP is still a lower barrel entry proof. I mean log still does about 115 on a barrel entry proof, but most went to 125. And it is a It is because then once the barrel is done, it generally has a higher barrel proof. So they have to add more water to it to get the proof down for bottling. So they get more volume. Right. The thing is, with the higher barrel entry proof, there's less water interacting with the wood. And water is what draws the flavors out. It's what mellows and goes through the char. So the taste of all the bourbons are different because of the higher barrel intraproof. And that is why all these old dusty bottles go for a higher amount because the flavor is different. Better, you might say. I I I feel so. so what Buffalo Trace did is they in their Tons of details on this. And I'm looking for my glasses to read. So low entry proof, we did bourbon whiskey. Total production was only 13 barrels. Distilled January 19th, 2010. Barreled January 20th, 2010. This is the weeded bourbon, sour mash. The still proof was 130, which is a lot lower. You know, so it's not refined as much, so you're going to get more flavor from the grains. Entry proof was 105. So they watered that down to 105. Hm. Warehouse floor, it was on a high floor. the barrel type standard maker independent stave company. Barrel staves are American oak and they're just a normal six month stave seasoning, average grain, and it's a char level four, so it's the highest char level. Age of bottling, fifteen years. Evaporation 62%. So of those original 13 barrels, there's six barrels left. it is chill filtered, which I wish it wasn't, but and the bottle proof is a hundred and seven proof, so it's at a hundred and seven proof. And a lot of the people prefer one seven for a weeded bourbon. And how much is in that bottle? Three seventy five. So it's half of a large bottle. Right. So they did try to make it go farther. Yeah. But you can figure if there were six barrels worth and you're looking at a hundred and eighty a hundred and sixty five to one hundred and eighty bottles per barrel. I'm not ready to do math in my head. So you're looking at twelve hundred normal size bottles total? Okay. So twenty four hundred little bottles. That's that's all that will ever have been produced. Yeah. And I'm sure somebody is hoarding this away and it'll be found in forty years. Well, then they can go back to this podcast and listen. That's right, that's right. That's thing that's one thing we don't consider about the old dusties, right? Is yeah, the old dusties there's gonna be less and less of them. But in thirty or forty years there's gonna be new old dusties. Right, but it's not gonna be the same barrel entry proof. It's not gonna be you know, like these are all from a different time. And then if you find a papy, you're still gonna be pretty excited about that. yeah, I I would say so. But and I I think that's where the significance of this is, this is what this is how Pappy made his Burbank Hundred and five barrel entry proof. You know, and I I think that Cute little bottle. It's very unassuming. That's like a thick wall coming down. Well Okay. That's the nose you're looking for. Ooh, very sweet. That's like a papy nose. That's so sweet. Caramel, little vanilla, very little spice. There's no ethanol on this. I'm not getting any ethanol on this. Not no. And this is a fresh crack. Yeah. Super dark. I just wanna smell it for a little bit. I'm just enjoying that. So my take was the smell was really nice. As it was in my mouth, it it it was feeling a little more ethanol to me. But then after I swallowed it the finish lingers. And it's very, very nice. Yeah. And that and that finish, that lingering matches up with the smell at the beginning. So in cases like that, I mean what what's happening in the in between? So so there are my theory is, and I don't have any science to back this up. It's not like I've researched this, but my theory is Flavor in like sugar grains or molecules or things that are sweet are gonna stick to things that are a little more fatty. And your tongue, things are gonna stick to your tongue at different rates in different parts of your mouth at different rates. So as it layers onto your your cells, so to speak, your nerves and senses are gonna pick up things as they settle in, right? Or as it lays on your tongue. So like I do get the little bit of the baking or the s the baking spice or the like the cinnamon or or little bit of bite from the char initially. Yeah. And I think that's what sometimes we call the ethanol palate, but it it's really it's it's the It's the char. And and this was a high floor barrel, so it gets a little more interaction 'cause it has more temperature extremes. Okay. So you get a little more of of the wood grain and char flavor in and spice. Whereas a lower floor you're not gonna get that as much. Like with a papy, you're not gonna get that that spice like that. That being said, this is probably the the closest thing I have tasted to the old Fitzgerald, to that six year and eight year old Fitzgerald from the nineteen sixties that we have. The flavor. Especially the lingering f flavor. This Mm. I do get the earthy, dusty notes. Yeah. It's giving me that complexity. It is also giving me that bite though. I would be really interested to drink this once it settles down, right? After it sat for a while. Opened. 'Cause it's already really good. And to be fair, I mean I've tasted the old Fitzgeralds that you've had and even with those, like I do get the bite of the old Fitzgerald. So I know you love those, but I think I like those, but I don't think those have been my favorite. Yeah. But I think I can appreciate how this tastes. Mm. I just keep going back to the nose on that. I really like the finish and the palette. I like I like the aftertaste in my mouth. Mhm. Yeah. Does have a really good aftertaste. And this bottle is just so little and so cute. And I think it's so unassuming. I mean it does say experimental collection on it, but I almost feel like if if they put that if this was on the shelves and you didn't know what it was, you almost wouldn't pick it up because it looks so basic. Yeah. 'Cause the they just kinda used the buffalo trays that you'd get on your I don't wanna call it generic. But if you just go in to buy buffalo trays it's what, like twenty, twenty five dollars to get the buffalo trays. Yeah. Mm. I also think that as you have multiple sips of something, it layers the flavors on your tongue. 'Cause things that are still lasting from the finish of the palate of the first taste are now being layered upon on your tongue. Mm-hmm. I would say that this for me is getting better. Whereas the blade and bow got worse. Less I wouldn't say were I would say less enjoyable to me. But yes. Okay. Well, yes, you do have a better way of with words than I do. But I would say yes, it was The blade and bow kind of fizzled out for me to the point where I didn't want to take another sip of it. Yeah. This was really good though. Yeah, this is enjoyable. I feel like this is the kind of bourbon you have like at the end of the day on a cold night you get your fire burning and you just pour a little bit of this and you just kind of relax into your comfy chair. Yep. Cozy feeling. Yeah, very much so. And I do get the nose. The nose is very similar to me. It does nose very similar to the papies to Which papy do you think it smells like though? Because I I would say the I feel like the twelve is is very mild. Right. You're definitely not getting to that. I'm gonna say the fifteen 'cause and the fifteen's one seven as well. And it's a fifteen year, they're the same age. Same mash bill. To be fair, I don't know what the barrel entry proof is for the papers. I I believe it might be one twenty five. Hmm. Mm. Good one. Yeah. I mean I would have preferred it had been fifty dollars, but you know, it is what it is. It's definitely worth definitely tastes like it's wa worth way more than the fifty dollar bit, for sure. Yeah. I would have loved to have been down there when they rele leased it at the distillery. You tried. You tried so hard. Yeah. 'Cause when I when I heard this one was coming out, I I wanted it. Yeah. Finally. And I that one's worth it. That one that one's worth it to me. 'Cause you're not gonna taste that again. You know, it's not like they can come out with more of that. It it was a limited run. Now I am curious to see if they did other barrels on low floors. Well, you know, I think It feels to me in the bourbon space that there's always going to be something new coming out that's pretty amazing. You know what I mean? So I I think that we talk about old dusties and what's gonna happen, because we're just gonna run out of those and you know, eventually we won't be finding them in grandpa's basement anymore. But I feel like there's always there's probably always gonna be something like this coming out. of some distillery somewhere, right? You know, it's not like we're ever gonna run out of good bourbon. Right. And if we do, then we have all this other bourbon that we can drink. Right. But what's important, I think, to me, is the acknowledgement that many of these are a taste you're only going to get once. Mm-hmm. And that the uniqueness of every single one, especially when we get the old Dusty's, because yeah, they made a might have made twenty thousand bottles in nineteen forty seven, but there's ten left. Right. So unlike being able to carry it on, that's done. You know, that maybe that's my old sole throwback. my grandpa and everything else, it's just Well, I like to think of it this way too, which is not an exact parallel. But it's kind of like, obviously you can drink bourbon anywhere, anytime. But I kind of think of it as maybe you had a really good meal somewhere. For example, I recently went to Cape Cod in Nantucket and my goal there was to just eat all the lob a lobster roll every day. So I did and like Now I have this memory of the best lobster roll I had at this place. And I can live in that memory. If I never have a lobster roll again, I could live in that memory of having that lobster roll. And I'm not gonna have a lobster roll in Ohio. You know what I mean? But at the same time, I know if I go back to Cape Cod at another time, I'm gonna have lobster rolls again. And it might not be the same one, but it they're gonna be pretty damn good. man. But we have this moment right now. Cue the music. So this is where I think we are different. because there are many ways. Right. Yes. So I find what I really like. That's what I like. And I don't want it to be any different. I don't like I don't like things evolving. I don't like things taking on new flavors or new and no no, I like what I like. Right. And then I. But you like bourbon in general. And there are many bourbons that you do like and enjoy. Correct. So if so if this went e extinct, you know, you would once this bottle's gone you're gonna have something else amazing to pull from. I mean, I don't think you're gonna be when this bottle's gone, are you gonna be pining away for this particular bottle? I got like brown butter on that one. shit, maybe. You'll be thinking about this one forever. I got like a brown butt you remember that we went to that ice cream place down in Cincinnati, Graters, and they had a brown butter bourbon. Ice cream. Yeah. That's the flavor I just got. Mm-hmm. a good one. I'm not saying it's not. it's like a it's like a brown sugar and caramel that just I would say I get a little more citrus on the old Fitzgerald, I think. I thought I got it initially, but I don't know if that's just my mind thinking it. But I am getting more of that brown butter. And that's that aftertaste that just lasts. And it doesn't just stop. It just kinda just slowly fades. But it stays. Dan's got a new love in his life. I would say that makes the f one of my my favorites. Mm-hmm. I don't I get no bitterness whatsoever. Yeah. It's good. It's good. You know, maybe when we're in Kentucky we'll just find one. At MSRP. Yeah. We'll just find one sitting in the street or something. Yeah. And so when I saw when it came out, it was like sixty five dollars. Hmm. That hurts, doesn't it? Yeah. 'Cause you know you didn't pay that. No. But having now had it. Yeah. How many times did they have it? Like how many times did they bring it out? The distillery? Yeah, I mean how many times could you have a release just a couple days? Yeah. So chances weren't really high to get it. No, and that makes sense because I think it was they normally when they do a release like that, they do like twelve hundred bottles or two thousand like the the four grains, the most they put out was twenty four hundred bottles in one. And if that's all they had then I mean that would have been scooped up in one day if Right. So I well a lot of times they'll space those out. They'll just put chunks. But well it would have been even worse if they did put it out and you like missed it, you know, like but I guess every time we've been to Buffalo Trays, you've been there one of the earliest. What I mean, what's the farthest back you've ever been? Couple snakes. Yeah. You get there early. Maybe y so when they opened the distillery early though, they didn't have the stuff upstairs open yet. And sometimes they put stuff upstairs, you know, like that. W will very rare or the what was up there? The one timer up there? The millennials. Yeah, the the the Weller millennium was up there. Of course that's when it was still seventy five hundred dollar MSRP. Well they tried to casually ask if we'd like them to package that up for us for seventy five hundred dollars. Like No. No thank you. They have since lowered the MSRP on that. Well that tells me though that it's not good enough. to Right. I mean because if it was amazing they wouldn't have to lower the price, I wouldn't think. Right. Although seventy five hundred dollars is a lot of money. Yeah. Well it's like that Eagle Rare thirty year Ten grand S R P. But it's going for more than that. Yeah. Well that tells you something about it. Yeah. The Eagle Rare twenty-five, I think is it five thousand? And maybe maybe I'm thinking it's wrong. Maybe it's the twelve thousand five hundred for the thirty year and ten thousand for the twenty-five. And then I found the I found it was the millennium at the in Antucket as well, right? 'Cause I sent you a photo. Yeah. I don't remember how much it was there. Yeah, that's secondary. Because what was it that they they were selling? They were selling like a Weller Orange and it was like seven hundred and fifty dollars. Yeah, for the single barrel. Which is I've seen it for more. I've seen it for a thousand dollars in in in Boston. Well, I guess you have to consider your market as well, right? You're out on a rock thirty miles from from any other land. Right. Nantucket is typically very wealthy people. So, you know, if they walked in there they probably wouldn't care. Seven fifty? Sure. Right. You know, if they're looking for something just to wash flavor out of their mouth with something. I don't know. This is really good though. So yeah, headed to Kentucky. I I hope we can also possibly maybe hit, you know, some cute little stores in Kentucky. Maybe a vintage shop, maybe a little antique mall. Maybe not spend too much time 'cause I realize that's your bourbon time. but yeah. It's fun. But also I think if we go into those places in Kentucky, you're more likely to find bourbon stuff. 'Cause I know you like bourbon signs and and just bourbon things in general. You know, here it's we've we've found a couple things, but I think in Kentucky you're you're gonna find a lot of it. Yeah. I used to have been talking to the unicorn people about 'cause they do the The signs and and whatnot, the memorabilia auction every now and again. And they said they have one coming up, but they wouldn't tell me when. Really? Yeah. It's a secret. But they had a lot of signs and memorabilia and old advertisements and stuff hanging up. That was really nice. That stuff was cool. Yeah. I love a good old sign. Yeah. That unicorn place I'll tell you that that was fantastic. That was what a setup. Super nice. went up. Had to be in Chicago anyway. So I picked up that bottle, picked up some bottles for some some friends. I took some bottles and dropped off. So but their their storage and their warehouse. Holy cow. Just amazing. And while I'm s and while I'm standing there doing that, I mean there's like a box of double equal very rare right beside me. Yeah. Just on a cart. Hasn't been pushed in yet. Well, I think it's it's kinda nice too that that's within driving distance of where we live. Yeah. It's not close. No, it's not close. Well, that's also a good thing. I wouldn't want it to be too close. Swinging by every month. Yeah. Right. So yeah, next week we got Kentucky Saturday through Thursday. Then Thursday night we're heading to tennis. We're going to Cincinnati Open for quarterfinals, semi finals, and finals weekend. Which should be interesting because if you know anything about tennis, you know, Center's not playing, Alcaraz isn't playing, and they're the top two tennis players. So Kinda looking forward to that and seeing who's gonna you know, who's gonna come out of it, who's gonna win. See some different players than we saw at Wimbledon, which will be nice. You think Cinner just saw the weather report? Too hot. Too hot. Maybe. I think it's hard though because you know, they they do have all these you know, they do want to go play the US Open. And so to have a couple tennis tournaments in between there so close together, I mean I think it is it's a lot. 'Cause there's j they just play so hard these days. I mean, it's so they're hitting so hard. Yeah, 'cause he had to take so his last tournament was Wimbledon. He Yeah, he didn't he hasn't played in anything since. Yeah. Right, because he he he wasn't gonna play in Canada at all. And then he was gonna play in Cincinnati but he pulled out. Yeah. Well then Osaka pulled out of Cincinnati as well. Yeah. 'Cause she also said she needed a rest. So it's kind of a bummer. Yeah, sh did how did she do? she did lose in Canada. I don't remember which round it was, but yeah, she got knocked out but then Guess she was just like, I need a break, which who can blame Gets hired. Well then the US opens next for them, right? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So hopefully everybody gets healed and well. Although I don't think Alcaraz is gonna be playing. I don't think he should. I don't think he should play. It's not worth the risk, really. Just rehab through the end of the year and come back. Come back to to the Australian. Which tennis tournament are we going to next year? Well, I think that you're you're gonna have to pick. When is he Australian? Is that in January? Yeah. 'Cause that's when it's really hot in Australia. Yeah. So the last one they they had a Cinner do I Yeah, I think he well Alcarez won, but I don't remember when Cinner Cinner was not in the final, I don't know, but isn't that the one where Cinner was losing really bad to Dmitrov and then Dmitrov hurt his shoulder, popped something in his shoulder. I don't know. I don't have a good memory. There was one tournament though where he was cramping so severely and then he got extra time and then they ended up closing the roof or something. It was there were some interesting things going on. Dan had a busy week. He's tired. You should be. You did a lot this week. But I got to come home to you. You did. I'm rewarded. I was here. And we'll be leaving again soon. Yes, but for fun stuff. Our official summer vacation, just the two of us. Yeah. Yeah. So that will be nice. Yep. Well, if you've had this experimental, you leave a comment, leave a review, tell us what you think. Or the Blade and Bow twelve year Solera Reserve. Mm-hmm. I mean comparing the two is probably not very fair. I don't think so. I don't think there's any kind of comparison there to make. No. Two completely different even I can tell two completely different categories. Yeah. yeah. But yeah. Leave us a comment, like, subscribe, or if you don't like us then don't. Email Bob. Email Bob. I hear the dogs barking. They must that must be I mean it's it's time to go. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks for watching. Have a good night. Thank you. Goodbye.