Things I Really Drink: Compass Box Artist Blend Single Marrying Cask, cask 4 for Binny's (with guest review!)

Generations (11 years?) ago, when Compass Box first released their Great King Street Artist's Blend, it received raves aplenty. But not from me. I thought it was unremarkable, though very drinkable. The 43%abv hurt it, as did the grain component.

Years later, Compass Box started offering exclusive retailer single casks of the blend at 49%abv. (Due to some sort of rebranding the Great King Street and 's were removed, making it "Artist Blend".) The prices tended to be pretty reasonable at $50-$60, so I picked up a bottle from Binny's last year.

This particular cask was an ex-Palo Cortado butt that had previously held Linkwood's single malt:

Though that cask sounds sort of random, there's actual method to it. One of the Doctors Springbank did some digging around, finding out that Linkwood Palo casks were part of Compass Box's Nectarosity blend. It had been a first-fill for Nectarosity, so CB found additional uses for it.

Linkwood is good stuff, and I do like me some Palo Cortado matured whisky, so the $50 sale price made it a given for me.

Unfortunately, I never really "got" the whisky. By the bottle's midpoint, I realized I appreciated it but didn't actually like it. With the looming possibility that I was missing something, I retained the services of both Doctors Springbank, requesting their tasting notes for this bottle. So first, I present ye with their review.

From the Doctors Springbank

Nose: Waxy, overnight oats with honey and orange marmalade. Pear and ginger. Pineapple upside down cake with orange zest 

Palate: Fresh milled barley, hay, walnuts, orange peel, Honey, apricot, white pepper.

Finish: Long lingering dry wood tannins

After sitting in the glass for 40 minutes

Nose: Vanilla tootsie roll, lemon poppyseed pancakes, hay

Palate: Muscovado sugar, poached pear, unripe banana, lemon zest, white pepper, 

Finish: Long dry bittersweet chocolate, walnuts.

Notes: Overall decent dram. It had overwhelmingly bourbon barrel characteristics. We had trouble finding the palo cortado influence.

Thank you both for your notes!

---

I did two separate tasting sessions. First, I compared it's highball side-by-side with that of Johnnie Walker Double Black and Hibiki Japanese Harmony. TIRDs aplenty! Then, on a different night, I consumed plenty of Artist Blend neatly. Here's what I found:

HIGHBALL

Lots of baking spice and caramel right up front. Butterscotch appears in later sips. Mostly vanilla at the bottom of the glass.

This follows the bourbon barrel reference from the Doctors. For what it's worth, I like this highball the least of the three.

NEAT

The nose starts with a curious mix of oranges, nectarines, steel wool, and almond extract. Some cherry bubblegum appears around the edges, with vanilla bean in the background. It gets more floral with time, picking up lemon cake notes. More oranges in the palate, now joined by Granny Smith apples and whole wheat bread. It's tart and acidic at first, then gets much sweeter with time, gaining ginger beer and rose notes. Its decent-length finish offers mostly tart and tangy citrus, dusty spices, vanilla, and ginger candy, also growing sweeter with time.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

I'm relieved to see we found similar notes, like oranges and lemon (pan)cakes on the nose; oranges, grain, and sugar in the palate; and woody stuff in the finish. I also can't find the Palo Cortado cask in this, just lots of bourbon barrel action and sweet grain whisky. Could this have been a third-fill, with Nectarosity being #1, the Linkwood Artist Blend element as #2, and the marrying cask as #3? Or did that first blend soak up all the good stuff?

The now-archived Artist Blend was only 45% 11yo first-fill bourbon barrel Cameronbridge grain whisky, yet that ingredient shouts the loudest, with young Linkwood and young Balmenach offering secondary notes.

Having now focused on the whisky in a tasting, I do like it more that I had before. Still, I'm in no hurry to pour another glass of this. When I do, it'll be served neat or with a few drops of water.

Availability - Binny's Beverage Depot
Pricing - $60, or $50 on sale
Rating - 80 (neat only)

Things I Really Drink: Hibiki Japanese Harmony

Speaking of Japan, Hibiki Japanese Harmony blended whisky graces my glass today. I had tried this before and found it uninspiring. Its fancier cousin (the Master's Select) left me feeling the same. So why on earth did I buy a full bottle of the stuff at Binny's last year? Well...

• I'm smitten by highballs during these Midwest summers.
• Fond remembrances of age-stated Hibiki.
• Friends encouraged me to give it another try.
• I adore the bottle shape, those lovely 24 facets.
• It was on sale for $79.99. Yeah, a real frickin' bargain. 😐

Since I've almost finished the bottle, I can start to drop spoilers. Am I sorry I bought the whisky? No. Am I going to buy it again? Not unless I find for clearance prices someday.

Hibiki Japanese Harmony blended whisky has a 🙂 side and a 🙁 side. Before I use any more emojis, I should just begin the review.

Ownership: Beam Suntory
Brand: Hibiki
Type: Blended whisky
Country: Japan
Distilleries: Yamazaki and Hakushu for malt, Chita for grain
Age: ???
Maturation: "The spirit ages in five types of casks, including rare Japanese oak Mizunara, as well as sherry and bourbon casks."
Alcohol by Volume: 43%

NEAT

There's a lot of moderately-aged grain whisky in the nose. It's bready and floral, with touches of toasted oak, lychee candy, banana, and vanilla. That toasted oak registers louder in the palate, with lots of baking spices to go with mild tannins. Wheat and flowers, oranges and maple. Gently sweet. It finishes sweeter with more oranges and straightforwards oak.

HIGHBALL

Dangerously refreshing. The sweetness remains mild, yet the citrus reads more varied and complex than when the whisky is sipped neatly, while the wheat shifts towards barley.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

The contents of this bottle of Hibiki Japanese Harmony have disappeared very quickly via spring and summer highballs. Yes, using an $80 whisky for highballs is obnoxious, but if one is to do so, the bubbly results had better be damned good. And they are. At the same time, I like Suntory Toki's highballs too, and that blend is one-third the price of Harmony here in Ohio. And I'm not going to say a word about Suntory's magical $15 blend in Japan. Circling back to Harmony, I wouldn't suggest drinking it neatly, it wasn't engineered for that purpose. The right balance of bubbles though...

Availability - Wide
Pricing - $70-$120 in the US, $90-$160 in Europe
Rating - 82 (highballs only, when neat it's 5-10 points lower)

Things I Really Drink: Johnnie Walker Double Black (2023)

One night, towards the end of my 2024 Japan trip, my friend who lives in Ikebukuro took me to a neighborhood bar near his home. A sign behind the bar listed their monthly special, a Johnnie Walker Double Black highball for 500 yen. I will repeat that: 500 yen. That was $3.50 at the time. So I ordered one, then another, and maybe a third.

Before that night, I had not been a fan of Johnnie Walker Double Black. That's 13 years. And that all changed when the first highball hit my lips. Yes, I'll happily accept any highball fashioned by a professional in Japan. But these JWDB highballs eclipsed my expectations immediately.

Several months later, back in Ohio, I purchased a bottle of Double Black (for $45, yikes!) and opened it as soon as I returned home from the OHLQ store. A highball was assembled posthaste. And it was good. So, yes, a Johnnie Walker product is a Thing I Really Drink.

Theoretically it shouldn't work. Double Black is louder — heavier char on the cask and more peated malt — and younger than standard Black Label, yet costs 25-35% more. I should be doing my Old Man Yells at Cloud shtick about this whisky. But screw it. The whisky works.

Ownership: Diageo

Brand: Johnnie Walker

Type: Blended Whisky

Region: Emphasis on Islay and West Coast malts

Age: ???

Maturation: Heavily charred casks

Bottle code: L3309

Alcohol by Volume: 40%

Chillfitered? Yep

e150? Indeed

NEAT

The nose arrives in layers. First, a mix of peppery smoke and woody smoke, with sea salt caramels and metal. Then: nectarines, apple skins, and seashells. After some time in the glass, the whisky releases quiet notes of mercurochrome, maple, and flowers. The palate has a creamy dessert-y side, like its sibling 12yo, but it has plenty of smoke and bitterness — more Caol Ila than Talisker — to balance it out. Oysters and iron follow, as does a wee bit of vanilla in the background. It finishes sweeter, saltier, and tangier that the palate, with less smoke. Its length is impressive for heavily filtered and diluted whisky.

HIGHBALL

It offers the saltier side of peat, along with considerable earthiness. Though there are hints of Werther's candies in the background, the sweetness remains mild throughout.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Highballs can be crisp, refreshing, and sweet, but rarely (if ever) does one made from a 40%abv blend generate actual tasting notes. But Johnnie Walker Double Black does it. I like its saltiness a lot, and should probably try to pair up some snacks with the drink. The blend is also enjoyable when neat, which has caught me offguard as well. So, yes, it is better than the standard 12yo Black, neat or bubbled, according to my palate. Keep in mind, it doesn't top some of its ingredients' older siblings, like Caol Ila 12yo or Talisker 10yo, but for a mass-produced blend watered down to the max by its producer, it is very good, especially when enjoyed with bubbly water (at your preferred ratio) and ice on a summer's evening. Bottle emptied.

Availability - Wide
Pricing - $35-$65 in the US and Europe
Rating - 85

A Highland Distillery 37 year old 1985 Cadenhead's Club

Though none of these three whiskies were world beaters (oops, SPOILER ALERT), it's still a tremendous pleasure to drink these old Glenmos after consuming American whiskies 1/5 to 1/10 their age for the past few weeks. As a an added plus, none of these three malts (SPOILER ALERT) were tannic oaky beasts.

It's time for me to switch verb tenses and move on to the last of the trio.

Distillery: Glenmorangie

Ownership: LVMH

Region: Highlands

Independent Bottler: Cadenhead

Range: Cadenhead's Club

Age: 37 years old (1985 - 2022)

Maturation: "Bourbon"

Outturn: 318 bottles (not a single cask)

Alcohol by Volume: 46.1%
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

Ah, the most complex nose of the group. Crème brûlée w/ orange zest, talcum powder, and dried apricots up top; a mix of apples and pears, like a Calvados Domfrontais in the middle; dusty and floral with a pinch of baking spices in the back.

On the palate, picture limoncello but with much less sugar. Apricots, peaches, and a squeeze of lime. Toasty oak spice and a little bit of good bitterness. Never too sweet...

...though the finish is sweeter. Mint candy and lemon candy. Oak spice and some of the palate's bitterness.

WORDS WORDS WODRS

The two Cadenhead bottlings fought it out for my favorite from this group. This one has more angles, but also shows more oak, while the other one offers more drinking pleasures, so I'll give Thursday's 37yo "A Highland Distillery" the slight edge. I'd be happy to own a bottle of either......if 30+ year old whiskies were anywhere near my budget. If your budget is broader, and you want a birthday (or child's birthday) bottle of good drinkin', these secret Glenmorangies might be for you.

Availability - Secondary market, maybe
Pricing - probably around the same price as its kin
Rating - 88

A Highland Distillery 37 year old 1985 Cadenhead Original Collection

The second member of this week's 1985 Glenmorangie Secret Highland bourbon casks is a 37-year-old bottled by the folks at Cadenhead. Though this bottling may have been reduced to 46%abv, I have a feeling that it wasn't diluted that much, considering its sibling casks were 45.8% and 46.1%abv.

Yesterday's 35yo was fine, though not as fabulous as one would hope for in a Glenmo at its age. How will this '85 compare...

Distillery: Glenmorangie

Ownership: LVMH

Region: Highlands

Independent Bottler: Cadenhead

Range: Original Collection

Age: 37 years old (1985 - 9 June 2022)

Maturation: "Bourbon"

Outturn: ??? bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 46.0%
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

At first, it noses of very old cognac and rum. Sauternes and tobacco with a hint of hard toffee. Brown sugar and whole grain toast crusts linger in the background.

The palate holds a mix of baked peaches, lemon juice, and herbal bitterness. Some oak spice here, Sauternes there. It picks up a delicate earthiness to go with the bitterness after a while.

It finishes with toasted oak, tart nectarines, lemon juice, and a wasabi-like zing.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

This one feels its age, in a good way. No overwhelming tannins, nor fragility. The musty and earthy moments mix well with the whisky's steady stone fruitiness. The palate's slight narrowness, and the finish's limited length keep this from climbing into the 90s, but on the whole, the whisky feels almost as luxurious as its price.

Availability - Secondary market, maybe
Pricing - €550 - €650
Rating - 89

Secret Highland Distillery 35 year old 1985 Sansibar

Still trying to get my whisky review legs back under me, I'm going to go with a trio of 1985 indie Glenmorangie casks this week. Since Glenmorangie is one of the many distilleries who do not allow their name printed on another bottler's label, all three of these malts were stuck with generic "Highland Distillery" monikers.

First up is the youngest of the trio, a 35-year-old bourbon cask exclusive to Sansibar and deinwhisky.de. It seems to have found an excellent drinking strength during its fourth decade in American oak, 45.8%abv (aka Talisker Strength or 80 UK Proof). The oldest Glenmo I've had to this point is the terrific OB Quarter Century, so I do not know what to expect with these elders.

Distillery: Glenmorangie

Ownership: LVMH

Region: Highlands

Independent Bottler: Sansibar

Age: 35 years old (1985 - 2020)

Maturation: Bourbon Barrel

Outturn: 178 bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 45.8%
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

Nutty whole grain bread, covered in sunflower seeds, arrives first in the nose, followed by Granny Smith apples and sour apple candies. Roses, orange peel, dried cherries, and an unexpected black walnut moment follows later.

The mild palate offers mild maltiness, mild vanilla, mild sweetness, and mild bitterness. Tart citrus slowly takes over until the whisky has a crisp, sharp bite.

It finishes with oranges, hay, vanilla, and a moderate sweetness.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

A vibrant youthful edge lifts the whisky above a generic "quite good" designation. As is often the case with whiskies of any age, the nose brings the most delight. The palate falls a little short, especially considering this whisky's WB score, so I keep comparing it to its two sibling casks, just to make sure my tastebuds are working. I'd happily drink this Secret Highlandmorangie during any season, but I'd want more from my pour were I in the market for a 35-year-old single malt.

Availability - Secondary market, maybe
Pricing - €500 - €600
Rating - 86

Five decades of Johnnie Walker Black Label: 1930s, 1970s, 1980s, 2010s, and 2020s

Twelve years (and one week) ago, I said I would never again write a post about Johnnie Walker. Since then I've written seven posts about Johnnie Walker. But none of those posts was solely about Johnnie Walker Black Label. Today's post is solely about Johnnie Walker Black Label.

Alexander Walker, Johnnie's son, created the blend in 1865, and copyrighted it two years later. The black labelled whisky was first called Old Highland Whisky. Once the brand expanded, this specific blend was renamed, Extra Special Old Highland Whisky. In 1909, the range was rebranded as Johnnie Walker, though for most of the century "Extra Special Old Highland" was still used on the black label throughout Europe. Meanwhile, the bottles exported to the US had "Johnnie Walker Black Label" in large font on the label.

I'm mentioning this label curiosity, because my friend recently opened this bottle:

Though its tax stamp had a "36" on it, I doubted that it was from 1936. But then I looked closer at the bottom label:

Late King George V became "late" in 1936. And in 2025 my buddy let me take a sample of the bottle's contents home. (Thanks, AP!)

Just before beginning this post, I tumbled down a JWBL internet rabbit hole and started worrying that this whisky might be a fake. But after an hour of mania, I was able to piece it all together — the top label, bottom label, cork, etc. — and felt more confident. Also this official magazine ad from the late '30s helped:

So, ladies and gentlemen, I think I have an actual pour of Black Label from 1936 on hand.

I also have my final fluid ounce from my 1970s bottle. And 60ml from a 1980s bottle split. As well as minis from 2014 and 2020.

Ignore the shiny forehead reflection in the background.

I shall consume them from newest to oldest...

---

Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 year old, 50mL mini bottled in 2020, 40%abv

Though I've had JWBL at bars here and there, I haven't actually consumed any Black Label in my home for nearly 12 years. So I'm not exactly sure what the current version is like under analysis.

Nose: Early sniffs find apples and blossoms on top, crushed brick below. Low-rye bourbon and bread crusts appear later, with kiwi juice in the background. It fades relatively quickly.

Palate: Better than anticipated. Some seaweedy peat up front, a hint of wasabi beneath. Lots of black peppercorns. Caramel may be present, but it isn't too sweet.

Finish: Smoke, peppercorns, and gentle bitterness. Slightly sweeter than the palate.

More words: Before this tasting, I could tell you that Johnnie Black still worked as a highball. Now I'm happy to say that it still works when neat, and one big ice cube probably won't break its back. A good start.

Rating: 81

---

Johnnie Walker Black Label Extra Special 12 year old, 50mL mini bottled in 2014, 40%abv

Right around 2014, when I'd order Black Label in bars or restaurants, I started to find real issues with the whisky. It had gotten sweeter and oakier than it had been just a few years earlier. Was it just my palate or had the blend changed?

Nose: Vanilla-flavored fabric, which isn't a tragedy. But it smells like cheap grainy blended thing like Jameson and Canada Dry. Hints of orange peels and dried raspberries stay far behind.

Palate: Barrel char and grain whisky. New oak sweetness. Mild wood smoke covered by bitter woodiness. Seeing a theme?

Finish: Shorter finish than the 2020. Mostly new oak and woody bitterness, with a touch of smoke.

More words: That was actually worse than I'd remembered, though maybe I was drinking on the rocks when I was out and about. I can imagine this was much better than Red Label at the time.

Rating: 72

---

Johnnie Walker Black Label Extra Special 12 year old, 60mL sample from a 1985-1989 bottling, 43.4%abv

I've had JW Black from many eras, but never from the '80s. It has to be better than the 2014, right?

Nose: Gentle smoke, wet stones, and an ultra dry nutty sherry up front. Metal, maple, and barley emerge later on.

Palate: The polar opposite of the 2014. Lean, dry, and a bit raw (in a good way). Raw walnuts, raw almonds, and Kirschwasser. Canned peaches and honey arrive after a while, providing some balance.

Finish: Honey and smoke match the raw nuts well, as an herbal bitterness provides an additional angle.

More words: Refill casks and a sherry drier than Oloroso? That's more my speed. One won't confuse this with a single malt, but it's of a style that's not contemporary. Enjoying a bottle of this (mostly responsibly) would not be terrible.

Rating: 85

---

Johnnie Walker Black Label, no age statement, sample from my own late 1970s duty free bottle, 43.4%abv

Finishing the final sip of this bottle hits me directly in the feels. This was my first dusty Scotchy, a bottled time machine with thick, Paxy whisky within. Slàinte mhath

Nose: It starts off earthy and fruity. Moss and stones and ocean. Grapefruit, blood oranges, and red plums. Amaretto and Havdalah spice box.

Palate: Very dark chocolate, wormwood, menthol, cayenne pepper, and orange pith. And dates.

Finish: A bitter herbal liqueur subtly brightened with blood orange juice and dates.

More words: One of the great blends. I had thought it may have collapsed after more than a decade in a sample bottle, but it might have actually improved. Had I been of age in the 1970s, I would have been a happy mess, between this and ND-era Old Taylor. Though a 90-point score was not anticipated--

Rating: 90

---

Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 year old, sample from my friend's ~1936 bottle, 43%abv

1936 was another time. Or at least it was for whisky.

Nose: WOW, it is still potent. Apricots, citron peel, Nestle milk chocolate, clay, kelp, dates, palo santo, shoe polish, and dare I say pre-Beam Laphroaig? Er, very pre-Beam.

Palate: Peatier and saltier than the nose. Figs and cigarette smoke. Balsamic reduction and iron.

Finish: Nearly the same as the palate, but with golden raisins sweetening it up.

More words: Such drama and vitality in that nose! Though the palate is merely great, one wonders if it was better 89 years ago. (Or if the nose was worse.) That this was made before blending labs, master distillers, and corporate quality control......is not terribly surprising, but moving nonetheless.

Rating: 88 (a nonsense score)

---

Thank you for spending some time with my words, and allowing me to be insufferably romantic in (online) public. It's been a long time since I did a dusty tasting at home, and this reminds me why I adore keeping this log of my whisky adventures. More to follow, and maybe even another Johnnie Walker post a few years down the line.

Kentucky, Day 7 & 8: Louisville, then home

Though I awoke without a hangover (magically!), I stepped outside into 2025's first blast of humidity. Dark clouds cruised overhead scattering rain, then moved on as if uninterested. Sweat glued my shirt to my back even before my 10-mile city walk began.

Though one doesn't have to go too far from Main St to see that the city has seen better days, industrial facilities still appear to be functioning and employing:

Old buildings have been given new lives with new businesses...

...or not.

The brick side of the now-closed Barbarella club reminded me of the most intense Male Gaze ever applied to a film's opening sequence:

I walked past Dylan's Heaven's Door facility without stopping inside, because I understand his foray into whiskey even less than his Christian Evangelical period.

On my way back to Main Street, I stopped off at Las Margaritas in the Highlands for some very good chicken mole.

Once back among the crowds, I went to a AAA Louisville Bats baseball game, with a great view of the field:

But I struggled to enjoy the experience, and I don't remember the score, because several rows to my left sat a group of 70-somethings who......heckled isn't the right word......screamed at the players with every pitch, with the stadium's ushers seemingly encouraging them. That's 250-300 pitches. I've been in the bleachers at old Yankee Stadium and Wrigley Field, but have never heard such a barrage of incoherent misplaced rage. White Boomers harassing Gen Z, mostly people of color, free from consequences for two-and-a-half hours? It was like watching a Maga hat masturbate.

I left Louisville the next day, but not without stopping at a Total Wine first, because I clearly hadn't weighed down my trunk with enough bottles already, then drove straight home......okay maybe I stopped off at Neeley Distillery for a bottle of absinthe.

It was a smooth sunny drive. Yes, now that my vacation had finished, the rain clouds had retired to the Atlantic Ocean. Upon returning home, I set out all my purchases in the hallway, feeling simultaneously angry and proud of myself. My cat, pissed off at me even though she had been spoiled by the cat sitter, parked herself between the bottles and me for the rest of the night, like the queen she is.

The next day was Saturday, a day of acting and dancing recitals from my amazing girls, and an evening with friends, from whom I received a pour of the dusty gem that will begin my return to whisky reviews next week.

Kentucky, Day 6: Louisville

Having just visited a series of small towns, I was startled to find that Louisville is an actual city city. And I love cities, especially those wherein I can find parking so that I may walk and drink and walk and drink and so on. Louisville offered me that very opportunity. My hotel was one block south of Main Street downtown, and everything was accessible by foot, including...

Phallus much?

...the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory. Yep, that's where they make the actual bats!

So much good wood

That's what she said

MLB players go to the factory to customize their game bats for the season.

Big hands, I know you're the one.

It was all very geeky and smelled wonderful. Good news: this bat company plants multiple trees for every one they cut down, much like Beam and Heaven Hill. It's relatively sustainable, and may also keep us all alive a little longer.

After the tour, I handled Dick Allen's immense bat.  *Pause for effect*  I also got to swing Ronald Acuña Junior's model in the batting cage, and neither embarrassed myself nor re-injured either rotator cuff. At the gift shop, I customized my own bat, which turned out to be so large that it looks like I'm trying compensate for something.

Next up, the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience, a snug spot that masterfully utilizes a wee bit of city real estate to create a full-on bourbon tour. Before my official experience, I went upstairs to the bar for last call, downing one batch of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof and one batch of Bernheim Barrel Proof (which I discovered existed only at that very moment) much too quickly.

A young whippersnapper named Jacob led the tour, his final one of the day, and imparted way more Louisville history than I'd expected. Some random booze facts:

• Heaven Hill Distillers makes Hpnotiq!?!
• The big Louisville distillery uses the same yeast as the Bernheim facility.
• Evan Williams 23 year old comes from only the bottom two rows of the warehouses.
• They have their own mini distillery onsite that produces the Square 6 brand.

The tour concluded properly with a tasting...

...with Evan Williams 12yo 101 Proof winning everyone over. In case you don't recall, I've been to London and to France, but only Tokyo has the queen's damned undies 12yo 101 Proof for one-fifth of the price that this Louisville gift shop slings it for (when in stock). It's good bourbon, though!

Around 5pm, I floated out of The Experience over-whiskied, looking for a walk and some food. After strolling for an hour I entered Garage Bar, which had many positive online reviews. Unfortunately after weathering burnt dry pizza, an extra syrupy old fashioned, disinterested service, and a very musty odor, I wondered if there was another Garage Bar somewhere else in town. There doesn't appear to be.

My city-wandering continued until after sundown. After peeking into some live music bars and finding only contemporary country awaiting me everywhere, I found my way back to the hotel room, wrapped myself up in Hilton's very fluffy duvet, and fell asleep without setting an alarm.

Kentucky, Day 5: Clermont

So did I wake up early enough to get to Bernheim Forest before my lone distillery tour? NOPE. I was a 46-year-old man drinking unwise amounts of oak extract for four days in a row. The fact that I woke up at all is a testament to the existence of an intact liver.

Perhaps I should qualify and quantify "unwise amounts". Some of you excellent readers burn through 1/4 or 1/3 of a bourbon bottle on a Wednesday night. I cannot. Usually I'll make 30mL of bourbon disappear without much struggle, but then the sweetness and tannins lead me to a low-abv lager to wash it all down. On this Kentucky trip, I was trying 8-12 whiskies a day, some 15mL, some not.

Thus when I woke up on Day Five after 11 hours of sleep [Ed. Attention parents, this is a thing you can do when vacationing without children.], my priority was hydration and finding an easy breakfast, rather than sticking to a silly schedule.

Nonetheless, I made it to James B. Beam Distillery on time. And I was the only one in my tour group. That made for a great visit, especially since my guide didn't toe the entire company line about all of their products. In this person's professional defense, I will say they provided all the production facts and history at a perfect pace. And they also didn't disagree when I stated my feelings about the Basil Hayden range, and the company's Canadian brown spirits.

Triple sploosh

The thing is, I really like Beam's bourbon (aside from BH). Despite the company being another soulless conglomerate, they've honed a certain type of figurative wheel that cannot be reinvented by any of the new startups, unless those baby companies are still around in 100 years. (If anything is still around in 100 years.) Knob Creek bourbon just hits right, as does the new Jim Beam 7yo Black Label. OGD 114 still works, as does the latest version of Baker's. I'll never forgive them for disposing of Old Taylor and degrading Old Crow, but that doesn't mean Beam can't maintain a good product or two.

As you may see above, the product ranges aren't just about picking barrels in the rickhouse, though Booker's does come from the center rows, furthest from the windows. There are different spirit cuts, and varying fermentation times (3-5 days) depending on the mash's starting temperature.

Their 65'x6' column still easily measures up in any size contest. They continue to source their corn (yellow #2) from within Kentucky. Bernheim Forest provides their water. And they're transparent about batch sizes. Beam White Label = 1000 barrels. And "small batches" are around 250 barrels.

The company now has a trio of distilleries: the one I visited; another in Boston, KY (where White Label is made); and a little crafty one that was completed four years ago.

At the conclusion of the tour, I got to put my thumbprint on my own bottle of Knob Creek Single (1 of 1, baby! It's worth a fortune!), and then I went upstairs to the bar, because of course.

Clermont Steep, Beam's single malt, works for my palate because it is very barley-forward, and not gussied up with extra-extra-charred barrels. Baker's High Rye 7yo, is good enough to buy......once I whittle down the bottles that came back to OH from KY. The OGD 16yo with the excellent label was probably the best of the four, with KC18 just behind it. Not a single complaint from me about their qualities.

Then FINALLY, Bernheim Forest.

Is this heaven? No, it's a Bob Ross painting.

Yes, a day with sunlight! I highly recommend a visit to Bernheim Forest, especially since it's just across the road from Beam, and the perfect place to indulge one's buzz and then walk it off on a clear day.

Happy little trees, flooded

Me posing with Ardbeg's latest cask experiment.

Upon returning to the hotel, I got changed and headed out for another long stroll, this time to downtown Bardstown. After an early dinner, I went to Evergreen Liquors to explore their bar.

After trying two of Evergreen's sold out exclusive single barrels (see above), I ventured to the nearby Volstead Bourbon Lounge. Why there? Because:

With a visual setup reminiscent of my favorite Tokyo whisky bars, Volstead provides the patron with just a few beverage choices. Luckily, I sat down right in front of an 11yo single barrel of MGP rye. Was it delicious? I'm going to say......yes. Only upon finishing my pour did I realize the bar was closing.

I exited the bar and walked 45 minutes through dark neighborhoods, back to the hotel. Was that wise? Probably not. Was I sober? I'll let you guess. The evening air was calm and cool, and I didn't have to pee. Equal pluses in my book.

Under the covers I went, moments after returning to my room. I slept the sleep of an organism processing ethanol. Louisville would beckon me in the morning.

Kentucky, Day 4: Bardstown

I started writing this post a few days ago, and now I'm completing it on a day when many of my coworkers and friends were laid off. And I'm doing so without a drink in hand. The optimism of the first half of the post is genuine, but no promises about the second half.

---

Downtown Bardstown won me over instantly. It's so cute! A bunch of restaurants, independent shops, coffee houses, bars, and at least one good liquor store. It all closes up very early though.

Thousands of acres of bright green not-quite-bluegrass surrounds the town. And upon that land stands a number of distilleries and their warehouses. Thus I booked two nights in Bardstown.

My original goal was to wake up early and walk a few miles of Bernheim Forest. I did neither. And in a rare moment of insanity, I arrived at my first facility early.

Though I have no pictures of the Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience, there are plenty of notes staring back at me right now. Heaven Hill's actual distillery operates in Louisville, but their offsite Experience offers more whiskey stuff than Evan Williams in River City (more on that in a few days). At the Experience I chose the "Grain to Glass Tasting Experience" experience.

That Heaven Hill had partnered with independent farmers to make spirit-forward whiskies I had known, but not much more than that. The Grain to Glass range offers a bourbon, wheated bourbon, and rye. With the corn (strain Becks 6198) and wheat grown at Peterson Farms. The event lets tourists try each of the three, get all the supply chain details, and receive a Heaven Hill history lesson.

While the wheated bourbon and rye rumble in at barrel strength, the rye-d bourbon is bottled at a lower strength, 52%abv. Each has a 6-year age statement. And, yes, they are spirit-forward, but in a calmer fashion than Craft whiskey. For what it's worth, I enjoyed all three, but the straight rye won (surprise!), it also took to water much better than American whiskey usually does.

Heaven Hill stats: The founding family, the Shapiras, still owns the company with Kate Shapira running the show. (Yes you read that correctly, a woman of Jewish lineage oversees a massive American whiskey company. 🩷)  Within their 83 warehouses, in seven different locations, Heaven Hill has the second-highest volume of aging whiskey in the country; 2.6 million barrels, with Beam edging them out at 2.8 million. The current distillery produces 450K barrels per year, while a new smaller distillery in the works.

If you have not seen any of the footage of the 1996 Heaven Hill fire, I strongly recommend you do so. The images may be triggering for some of my California readers, specifically the size and intensity of the conflagration's flames. As the company rebuilt its facilities in the late '90s, many of the other major distilleries provided whisky for Heaven Hill to bottle so that business wouldn't stop completely. One wonders if the industry would be so united today.

On a final note, I may have discovered why I find HH's whiskies so much more palatable than most of the other distilleries' products. The majority of major bourbon distilleries use a #4 or #5 char inside their barrels, while Heaven Hill uses #3 char. Could that lead more graceful aging, more spirit notes, and less bitterness? I think so.

And then I went to Willett...

I'll start with the positives. The tour guide, Ila, was EXCELLENT. The distillery has three cats, which gets three thumbs up from me. And there's a large black rooster that appeared on their grounds one day and then never left.

So that's pretty cool. The two guys behind me on the tour making B.B.C. jokes about it were not very cool.

On the tour I tried nine of their whiskies (all of them distilled on site), and liked none of them. The rye, of all things, was the most difficult to drink. The bourbons were all very bitter and acidic. The rye was such a shock because, after all the years of gorgeous MGP-sourced single barrels, the product with the same bottles and labels now contain unbalanced Craft rye. Expensive unbalanced Craft rye. Maybe it gets better after 4 years?

Here's the rundown of Willett info: They have seven five-story rickhouses, none of which are temperature controlled. They do not rotate their barrels (similar to Four Roses but with very different results). Their mash gets 2-3 days of fermentation (in their seven 10K fermenters) until the beer is 8-10%abv. Each whiskey comes from a small batch, 18-24 barrels (#4 char).

After buying a bottle of Noah's Mill — Why? I don't know. — I drove to downtown Bardstown for dinner at the Talbott Inn bar. Then I walked around until the sun set. This old body started feeling beaten up by all the booze. Weather reports said there'd be no rain the next day. So I tumbled into bed, setting my alarm so that I'd wake up early enough to get to Bernheim Forest before my lone distillery tour...

Kentucky, Day 3: Lawrenceburg

Day 3 loomed large on my schedule and, sure enough, it did not disappoint. A lot of alcohol was consumed.

Before Austin, Nichols & Co. changed the distillery's name to match the brand, Wild Turkey Distillery was known as Old Ripy, Old Moore, Old Hickory Springs, Ripy Brothers, Anderson County, and J. T. S. Brown & Sons Distillery. Master Distiller Jimmy Russell has been there since the Ripy family broke ground on the original facility in 1850. Just kidding, a little bit. Jimmy Russell has been working at the distillery for a mere 71 years.

Wild Turkey and its warehouses sit on a gorgeous piece of land bursting with greenery on the day of my visit, thanks to all the downpours.

Here's a pro amateur tip: Go to the toilet before any distillery tour starts, but also leave time to do so. Three times during this Kentucky trip, I ran out of the bathroom, chasing after my tour group, struggling to zip up my fly on at least one occasion.

Wild Turkey grows their yeast on site, from a batch started over 70 years ago, though the Mother is kept in a lab in San Diego, as a precaution. They source their corn from Kentucky, rye from Poland, and barley from Montana (where it's malted). Their mash gets a 72-80 hour fermentation until the distiller's beer reaches 10-12%abv. This cloudy sweet stuff then gets fed into the 52-foot Vendome column still for the low wines, then to the doubler pot still for the high wines. The spirit (which often reaches 65%abv) is reduced to 57.5%abv before barreling. 850,000 of these barrels are currently turning the spirit brown in the company's warehouses.

Warehouse A was built in 1894, and it looks all of its 131 years,
in a good way.

Here's a random bit of trivia: Nearly all of Wild Turkey's emptied barrels are used by Midleton Distillery for Jameson whiskey, out Ireland-way. This practice started back when Wild Turkey and Jameson were both owned by Pernod Ricard, and despite WT's sale to Campari Group in 2009, this part of the supply chain continues.

According to Dwight, the tour leader who balanced loads of information with an excellent sense of humor, the company's current 101 bourbon is 6-8 years old, while the 101 rye is from 4-6 year old lower rack barrels. Their Rare Breed bourbon contains 6, 8, and 12 year old whiskies, while the Russell's Reserve barrels (150 per batch) come from the center of the Nelson & Tyrone rickhouses.

As the tour and its tasting concluded, the smell of smoky pulled pork crept into the room. I followed my nose to the second floor bar and kitchen, whereat I consumed multiple sliders filled with said salty goodness, chasing it down with the rich Russell's Reserve 13 year old.

And that's how my day began. I needed two hours to simultaneously dry out and hydrate up. Then it was off to...

🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 

When asked what my favorite bourbon brand is, I often say Four Roses. And I don't think I'm lying about it. Aside from the transparency about 10 different bourbon recipes, they also make some reliably very good whiskey under $50. Also, OBSK rules.

I'm looking at my mess of Four Roses notes, and the memories are kinda blurry, except when the reflux (esophageal, not still-related) kicked in at the end of the tasting, probably because I had a freaking cocktail before the tour began. So, I'm just going to list the information and skip any commentary.

Oh look, more rain.

Similar to Wild Turkey, Four Roses sources their corn from Kentucky, rye from Eastern Europe, and barley from Montana. They also grow their two yeast strains on site. Combining those elements with water from the adjacent limestone-rich Salt River, they give the mash an 84-hour fermentation to produce an 8%abv distiller's beer. They use two 45x4 column stills for the first distillation, and a pot still doubler for the second, creating a high wine of 69%-70%abv. This is then reduced to 60%abv for (#4 char) barreling. Four Roses uses single story rickhouses, with barrels stacked six high, in order to maintain control.

The Spanish Mission style facility was known as Old Prentice Distillery back when it was built in 1910. It was owned by Seagram from 1943 to 1999 after which it bounced between Vivendi Universal, Pernod Ricard, Diageo, and finally Kirin across less than three years. Current owners, Kirin, put an end to Four Roses Blended Whiskey to focus on the distillery's bourbon.

Their standard Four Roses bourbon comes from a mix of all 10 recipes, using 5-7 year old barrels. The Small Batch is "a little older" and contains just the K and O recipes. Their newer Small Batch Select is non-chillfiltered, and is fashioned from six of the recipes.

To my great surprise, the gift shop had a single barrel of high-powered OBSK on offer. So I took them up on a bottle, in exchange for money.

Yes, I got back to the hotel safely, after which I watched Manos, Hands of Fate (MST3K style). As I drifted to sleep, I promised myself I would never visit more than two distilleries in one day. I'm a promise-keeper, so I toured no more than two distilleries the following day...

Kentucky, Day 2: Frankfort

I drove southeast from Cincinnati toward Frankfort, KY, through a heavy rainstorm. Three accidents on the freeway put me one hour behind. Luckily I was able to reschedule my next distillery tour to later in the day.

The Castle & Key grounds were saturated so large muddy pools of water were forming everywhere as I arrived. But the dark sky formed the perfect background to one of the most beautiful distilleries I have ever seen.

Formerly the Castle Distillery, founded by EH Taylor, this facility once produced my favorite bourbons (y'all can keep yer Stitzel-Wellers) under its National Distillers ownership. The distillery closed in 1972 and was left to rust and rot by the landowners for three decades.

The limestone aquifer

In 2012, the property was bought up by developers who had big eyes for the real estate boom. And though they never got around to building anything, they did tear down some of the buildings. They sold the property to a consortium led by Will Arvin and Wesley Murry in 2014. This new group went to work refurbishing what they could, and reviving the production facilities with all new gear, and began distillation in 2016.

The imposing Warehouse E, built by World War II veterans, continues to serve as a home for the distillery's barrels, looming heavily over the inner courtyard, impenetrable, looking more ancient than Kentucky itself.

Castle & Key sources all of its white corn for its 73/10/17 (wheated) mashbill from Kentucky farmers. Their rye (63/20/17) spirit is used for their gin, and bourbon spirit for their vodka. They have no master distiller, and the gentleman who worked at a desk next to column still did not know how tall the still was, nor did he know what I meant by "a thumper".

At the tour's tasting, I didn't care for their rye or bourbon at all, finding the gin cocktail and chocolate bourbon ball much more pleasurable. I'm so grateful for the company's preservation of such a stunning piece of American whiskey history, so I don't mind that their Craft-work can't match the next distillery's products.

---

Buffalo Trace Distillery has had a rough 2025. Flooding knocked one of their cargo containers and a temporary office into the Kentucky River in February. April brought even heavier floods that closed many of BT's building, and covered some vehicles on the property.

Though they reopened the gift shop, tours were cancelled through at least May. One had to book a reservation to go into the shop to buy their goodies, probably to keep the customer flow under control. The shop had very little of note, unless you get excited about EH Taylor Small Batch and 375mL Blanton's.

Tastings were held on the second floor and, again, the standards were all that were on hand. The lineup: Sazerac Rye, Buffalo Trace, EH Taylor Small Batch, a vodka, and another bourbon ball. Buffalo Trace registered better than the EHTSB as it always does for my face. But the bourbon ball was the highlight again. Downstairs they were selling a 12-pack for $40. I instead chose to visit the chocolatier herself (well, one of her stores), Rebecca Ruth, and filled a bag up with treats. For my kids, of course.

Sorry, I didn't take any pictures while I was there. The grounds were a soggy sight, and I have no need for Gift Shop photos. All the shoppers around me wished the distillery workers well, hoping for a quick recovery. And those same shoppers left muttering to each other about a future "EH Taylor Flood Batch", and how cynical the price would be. My kind of people.