Jefferson's Presidential Select 21 Year Rye Review

In the early days of the current bourbon boom, Jefferson's made a name for themselves with some great one time releases. Things have really gone downhill for them since then but I've already covered that. Regardless, the best of their products were the initial 17 year and 18 year wheated bourbons that were produced at the famed Stitzel Weller distillery. After those came some older (non wheated) bourbons and ryes ranging from 21 to 30 years. The 25 year and 30 year products were too pricey for me but I did splurge on both of the 21 year products. My bottle of the 21 year bourbon is long gone as it was rather disappointing when compared to the 18 year Stitzel Weller but I managed to stretch out the 21 year rye until now. Like a lot of other sourced ryes, it was labeled as a "North American" rye which almost certainly means it was produced by Alberta Distillers in Canada. It bears a "straight rye" designation so I believe it conforms to American standards meaning it was aged in fresh charred oak and can have no added flavoring. 

Aged 21 years; 45.2% ABV; $130 (2013)

Nose: Very sweet and not quite as oak forward as you would expect from a 21 year old whiskey. The wood sweets are intense with burnt caramel playing a heavy hand. The spice is there too with cool, crisp spearmint.

Taste: The palate is mostly a reflection of the nose with lots of burnt sugars and some prickly spearmint rye spice. The wood influence steps up quite a bit to reveal some age as the density of flavors is pretty deep. The older wood notes remind me of the Van Winkle Rye or Michter's 20 year bourbon though with less intensity or depth as either of those two. The spice is there but it's rather nuanced and a bit mellow.

Thoughts: I don't remember liking this bottle as much when I first opened it but now that it is almost gone my fondness of it has grown. It's got sweets, spice, and wood depth without going over the edge in any one of those categories. I've had every Jefferson's Presidential Select from the 18 on up to the 30 year and this would be my second favorite behind the 18 year bourbon. Of course it is long gone from shelves and I certainly wouldn't pay any more than retail for a bottle but if you get a chance to try it, it's worth tasting at least once.

Rating: B+

Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating.

Jefferson’s Ocean Aged at Sea #2 Review

Jefferson’s Ocean Aged at Sea. What is this? Well it’s a bourbon that supposedly spent time in barrels on a boat at sea. How much time? Fuck you. Okay, well who made it? Not us, fuck you. Hmm, how old is it? No idea, fuck you. Alright then, how much does it cost? A lot, fuck you.

No age statement; 45% ABV; Batch 20; $90 (Feb. 2014)

Nose: Sweet and spicy with a light touch of ethanol. Smells about right for a ~6 year old high rye bourbon.

Taste: A touch thin and light up front. Starts off mostly just sweet with a mid-to-low amount of woodiness. On the finish there is some spicy rye, a lot of wood sweetness, and also some bitter char. Tastes like an average ~6 year old high rye bourbon.

Thoughts: I’m glad to finally be rid of this bottle as it was one of my biggest whiskey purchase regrets. I was a much less informed purchaser back then and will admit I got caught up in the limited edition craze on this. All in all, it’s a decent but forgettable bourbon. I can’t really find any faults with it taste wise. My main contempt though is the crazy high price tag you’re paying for what amounts to an average bourbon with a picture of a ship on the bottle. Even if this whiskey was aged at sea, the results are still nothing more than a marketing gimmick.

Rating: C

Value: As always I don’t factor price into my ratings. If rated with value in mind it would be an F.

Michter’s 20 Year, Jefferson’s Presidential Select 30 Year, Hillrock Solera Aged Reviews

This past weekend I took a long overdue trip to New York City. The impetus was mostly cocktail and food driven as I didn’t really expect to find a lot of interesting whiskey in the city. Sure enough even at the best whiskey bars NYC supposedly had to offer the unique bourbon pickings were slim. I did get a chance to checkout a few interesting bottles though so I thought I would share my notes. In general I don’t usually like to review a whiskey until I am at least 50% through a bottle so these are more first impressions than anything.

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Michter’s 20 Year Single Barrel Bourbon 

57.1% ABV, $60 1oz (Maysville)

Based on the nose alone I would have guessed this is a Bernheim wheater. It’s got that classic bold wheater profile I’ve had in really old Willett cask strength wheated bourbons. The taste is a complete change up though and tastes like a funky old Stitzel Weller wheater. The oak is very, very drying but along with the bitter wood there is also some deep dark chocolate sweetness and hints of the cinnamon note that is very prominent in Old Weller Antique. This pour is super interesting and I’ve never had anything like it. The oak brings a lot of musty funkiness but the sweet and cinnamon notes play a big role as well. It is not my personal favorite but I could see how people would lose their shit for this because of the uniqueness.
Rating: A- / A

Jefferson’s Presidential Select 30 Year Bourbon 
45.2% ABV, $38 1oz (Norman’s Kil)

The nose would make you think it is much younger than the bottle says. There is some slight wood polish but it’s mostly oak and light vanilla / caramel. The taste is very dry and more bitter than sweet. Old funky wood is the major play here but even that is muted. The finish tasted like a flat diet cola soda with more funky wood and some citrus to round things out. All in all it’s not the most oaky bourbon I’ve ever had so these barrels were either on the bottom of a cool warehouse somewhere or the end product was heavily filtered to tone down the bitter oak. I had a chance to purchase a bottle of this at retail (~$250) last year and in hindsight I am glad I passed.
Rating: C+

Hillrock Solera Aged Bourbon 
46.3% ABV, Barrel 13, $22 2oz (Brandy Library)

I was told this particular bottle was high rye bourbon that was a mix of sourced whiskey and newer whiskey distilled by Hillrock which was then finished in sherry casks. Seeing as how the rest of the selection at the Brandy Library was remarkably boring in the bourbon category I didn’t have many other options.

The nose is pretty classic high rye bourbon - sweet and spicy with slight cherry. The front palate is very soft with lots of vanilla - you can tell the sherry butt finishing has really smoothed out the rye. The finish brings drying wood, rye spices, light brown sugar, and dark maraschino cherries. My biggest complaint is that it’s rather boring and just had a general lightness to it both in flavor and heat. I think the sherry finish and rye have basically canceled each other out leaving little behind. I wont be thinking about this one later.
Rating: C / C+

Jefferson's Presidential Select 18 Batch 14 Review

Jefferson's is a non distiller producer that has gained some notoriety over the last few years. Most see their latest Ocean release as a nothing more than a gimmick to slap a high price tag on average at best bourbon. Undoubtedly though the flagship of their line is the heralded Presidential Select 17 year and 18 year wheated bourbons that were sourced from the famed Stitzel Weller distillery. Just how much Stitzel Weller bourbon was used came into question earlier in this year as Trey Zoeller admitted that later batches of JPS 18 contained ⅓ high rye bourbon. According to Red White & Bourbon it seems things went awry somewhere after batch 18. Here today I am reviewing batch 14 that was purchased just a few short years ago before the bourbon craze went full on stupid and bottles like this hung around on the shelf for a few weeks.

47% ABV; Aged 18 years; Batch 14; Bottle 1948; $90

The nose is quite strong with astringent tannic oak, slight cinnamon spice, and fruity sugars. The age definitely shows through here as it is very rich. The palate is a broad range of soft to dark sweets and fig like fruits that you would expect in a good wheater with lots of age on it. Honey and light chocolate on the front then vanilla and dark fudge in the middle. Towards the end the age really shows itself again with sharp woody notes. The finish doesn't linger as strong as I would like which is likely due to the lowish ABV.

Thoughts: For the longest time this was my favorite whiskey. Back then I felt the heat of Pappy 15 at 107 was just a little hot and the lower proof on this one gave it a softer touch with the same kind of flavor profile. These days I've come full circle and would lean much more towards the Van Winkle 10 or 15 not only because 107 is my wheelhouse but also because I'm becoming less of a fan of bourbons much older than 15 years.

Rating: A-