I respect Garrison for doing it the right way, especially with so many NDPs out there, but their bourbon is awful. I want to like it, but I just can't. Maybe in 5 years.

I've visited several distilleries on the Bourbon Trail, and I know for a fact that Buffalo Trace ( and Woodford, I think) use artificial seasons in their rickhouses to expedite aging. I like Wild Turkey because Jimmy Russell prefers to let Mother Nature do the aging.

Saw Weller, Stagg Jr., and Eagle Rare at the Lakeline Total Wine in Austin today. They are at the customer service kiosk. I'm not a huge bourbon drinker, but I grabbed a Stagg Jr.

So they are putting those behind the checkout now? Sad times we are in

So what are we drinking tonight for the game?

I'm starting with Elmer T Lee and moving to FR Cask strength

Drinking Weller 12 in the blind and will probably stick with that through the game. I'm hoping I don't need to switch to rot gut

A little Rock Hill Farms and Hancock's Presidential, then we're cracking open some PVW 15 and the John E. Fitzgerald Ultra Rare 20. Has less to do with the game and more to do with being back in Dallas with good friends.

Blade and Bow currently and the 1st qtr performance will dictate where we go from there ...

Starting off with ORVW 12 and will switch to whatever once the game starts. Might have to switch to shelf turds depending on what team shows up.

Let us know how that JEF 20 is? I've got a bottle I haven't cracked open yet.

Make sure I'm there when you crack it open

Oh yeah plow. You're the first one I call.

Already switched to ECBP. It's going to be a long night.

You know, if this game doesn't turn around really quickly, I'm switching to a plastic handle of Old Crow.

.....and COKE. Oh, the humanity.

Turning to Stagg Jr. So that I never have to remember this game

I just took a half a handle of Early Times and topped it off with some 7Up. Didn't even bother with a glass, just taking pulls off the bottle. Thank you Aggie Football ...

Well the Stagg is doing the trick at least...

Well, I cracked open the John E. Fitzgerald 20 Year Very Special release last night for New Years Eve, sharing it with my best buds.

Oak, hint of ripe banana, back end spice. Overall really, really tasty stuff. Because its only a pint, we moved to other premium items so as not to drain the bottle. That said, we kept coming back to it, and all agreed it was the best stuff on the extensive bar.

Thanks for the review. Gonna save mine for a special occasion. Maybe when Spav or Summie get fired.

What is "artificial seasons"?

Not Bourbon, but still good whiskey. I think the 23 year is the best version of the three, but this one is still quite good. Finished it off last night before moving on to cheaper stuff.

quote:

---

What is "artificial seasons"?

---

Woodford pipes warm water into the rickhouses during the winter for weeklong periods (or cold water during the summer). I don't recall which season, but cold water during the summer makes more sense economically. They believe they are creating more contraction/expansion in the barrels with these "mini-seasons."

Also, Woodford blends their bourbon with a sourced bourbon to balance it. I hadn't heard that before my visit last week.

Running cold water in pipes during the summer wouldn't do anything. Heated pipes are radiators.

Uhh, yes it would. Cold pipes are heat sinks or chillers. Pretty widely ised across the industrial and commercial world as such.

They would have to be pumping in extreme cold / hot water through those pipes for a LONG period of time to really change the temps of that much bourbon in the barrels to make a difference. Seems odd.

no idea what woodford would be sourcing distillate...

quote:

---

Also, Woodford blends their bourbon with a sourced bourbon to balance it. I hadn't heard that before my visit last week.

---

It's not "sourced" bourbon, its just that most Woodford Reserve bourbon is produced at Brown Foreman's Louisville distillery, which is a large industrial operation that is not designed for tourists. Brown Foreman being Woodford's parent company.

The "Woodford Reserve Distillery" in Woodford County makes for a fantastic tourist attraction, but there's no way they could produce enough bourbon there to keep as much Woodford on store shelves as there always is nationwide. The bourbon produced in Louisville is then shipped by rail to the Woodford County location to be blended with the Woodford County produced product, bottled, and sent to market.

So really, it's more accurate to say that Woodford is produced in Louisville, and then blended with the stuff from the tourist distillery before going to market.

Not typically a rye guy but glad I took a chance on the Handy. I throughly enjoyed it.

quote:

---

quote:

---

Also, Woodford blends their bourbon with a sourced bourbon to balance it. I hadn't heard that before my visit last week.

---

It's not "sourced" bourbon, its just that most Woodford Reserve bourbon is produced at Brown Foreman's Louisville distillery, which is a large industrial operation that is not designed for tourists. Brown Foreman being Woodford's parent company.

The "Woodford Reserve Distillery" in Woodford County makes for a fantastic tourist attraction, but there's no way they could produce enough bourbon there to keep as much Woodford on store shelves as there always is nationwide. The bourbon produced in Louisville is then shipped by rail to the Woodford County location to be blended with the Woodford County produced product, bottled, and sent to market.

So really, it's more accurate to say that Woodford is produced in Louisville, and then blended with the stuff from the tourist distillery before going to market.

---

That makes sense. i may have missed that part of the statement made.

Those rickhouses are massive though.

quote:

---

Those rickhouses are massive though.

---

I am sure they are, but you'd be surprised at how much you can do with some moving air and either a heat source or a heat sink.

This is honestly the first time I've ever heard of an industrial scale production facility trying to modify conditions in a rick house though, I'd be interested to see how it is set up and what variations they can get.

BT has at least one they heat with hot water/steam pipes acting as radiators. That's not including their experimental rickhouse.

Heads up....three bottles of Elmer T Lee still on shelf at Twin Liquors College Station. Score.

wish I could get to those but in Dallas. Anyone in CSTAT coming this way?