Recap: The Kentucky Bourbon Festival

In case you haven’t already seen it EVERYWHERE, this past weekend was the Kentucky Bourbon Festival! I won’t bore you with more of the same things you’ll undoubtedly see online, but a few key takeaways:

• KBF continues to get bigger every year, which is really exciting, but it’s also a bummer for parking, lodging, etc. If you are going next year, get those AirBnB’s booked!

• Distillers have really embraced the “rare bottle drops” that I talked about last year. It felt like there was wayyy more of that going on this year, so if you’re into hunting bottles, you will want to get there early. This might be my one beef with KBF, just because you almost have to get the VIP early entry to get the rare stuff. Some distillers did handle it well though, with random drops throughout the weekend (Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged is one example).

• I got to give a talk about bourbon and blind tastings! I haven’t done any public speaking in a LONG time… so all things considered, I think it went well! Special shoutout to Pursuit Spirits for hosting this event... and for that Double Oaked Rye they had at the festival. WOW.

• Most importantly, if you see me there next year (or anywhere in public, ever) PLEASE SAY HI! There have been a few people who told me they almost didn’t say anything because they didn’t want to take my time, but guess what: that’s what I’m there for! Bourbon isn’t about bourbon, it’s about the people. So yes, please say hi. And yes, I would LOVE a photo (even though photos don’t love me).

Review: Watershed's Fall Finishing Series

I had the opportunity to try each of the four expressions in Watershed Distillery's Fall Finishing Series, so I thought I'd take some time to break them down for you guys. These opinions are based on only one glass, so take them with a grain of salt. I am hoping to get my hands on some bottles for some more in depth reviews!

Port Finish: I had a love hate relationship with this one. There was a medicinal note on the nose and the front of the palate, but boy, after that went away you got some lovely dark sweetness from the port cask that mixed with oaky goodness. I'm a sucker for a port cask, so this is one I would consider buying for sure.

Apple Brandy Finish: This is a subjective one here. There is a funny flavor in some whiskeys that I just can't get past. If you're a long time Whiskey Noob, then you might recall I had this issue with Tenjaku Japanese Whisky. Now I'm not saying this tastes like Tenjaku, but I am saying this has that chemical scent that reminds me personally of formaldehyde. I wish I could get past it because I caught hints of the apple and cinnamon that I heard others at the event rave about, but for me, I couldn't get past it. If that flavor comes through to you as a slightly artificial apple, you'll probably like this one. If it tastes like chemicals, you may not.

Maple Finish: Now this one I can get behind. When it comes to sweet finishes like maple and honey, it’s easy to over do it, resulting in a whiskey that tastes straight-up flavored. In this case, they pulled the whiskey out of the finishing barrel just in time to strike a great balance between bourbon spice and maple sweetness. For those who like their finished bourbons to be more “bourbon” than “finish” (like me), this is a winner.

Nocino Finish: Do you even have to ask? Yet again, I am in love with the Watershed Nocino finished bourbon. The bourbon flavor came through stronger this year with a bit less of the Nocino flavor, which I haven't made up my mind about yet - hoping to get a bottle for a side by side with last year’s. Whether its a little better or a little worse than last year is not really important to me though - it still captures the bulk of that dark, sweet, nutty flavor with just enough punch to keep you intrigued, and I am a fan.

Update: Perfect Pairing Club

I have an exciting update for those of you enjoying (or considering) the Perfect Pairing Club: we have created a new tier! In addition to the standard club with one cigar per week for $30, we now offer DOUBLE the cigars for only $50 per month! That's two cigars-of-the-week, every week. Use one of them for more pairings or save it for later - as long as you're enjoying it your way!

If you are interested in joining, please take a look at our site at the link below. Our next ship date is only a few days away!