The Tasting Panel magazine

April 2012

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Eagle Rare 10 Year Old A Double Gold winner at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, this perennial favorite is rich and silky with a hint of mint and a dry robust finish. SAZERAC COMPANY Maker's Mark Master distiller Greg Davis uses red winter wheat to accent the honey, hickory and caramel of this bourbon. Try Maker's 46 with its slathering of French oak staves for a slightly headier boost to mixed drinks. BEAM GLOBAL SPIRITS & WINE John B. Stetson Kentucky Straight Bourbon From the hat to the glass, this is a classic bourbon, encased with cherries, a dollop of honey and a hint of smoke. Slightly on the lighter side when sipped neat, it still manages to add a bit of muscle to cocktails. VISION WINE & SPIRITS 1792 Ridgemont Reserve Barrel Select Jefferson's 10 Year Old Straight Rye Up until fairly recently, McLain & Kyne distillery was only known for its high quality bourbons. This is their first rye and, with its bold but not overpowering spice, the decades-long wait was worth it. Rich and surprisingly (for a ten year old) smooth. CASTLE BRANDS INC. Bulleit Rye You've poured Tom Bulleit's bourbon, now try his rye. It has the same nostalgic bottle that makes customers ask for the empties. With a mash bill of 95% rye and 5% malted barley and aged for five to seven years in American oak, this is an easy-going sip. DIAGEO NORTH AMERICA TENNESSEE WHISKEY The Volunteer State volunteers some classic whiskies that can rival those from anywhere. Jack Daniel's As American as, well, America, this charcoal- mellowed Tennessee whiskey comes in many forms. The original Black Label can be found from Nantucket to Nicaragua. Their Single Barrel is even available by the barrel. And Gentleman Jack doubles the delicacies of charcoal mellowing for customers. BROWN-FORMAN George Dickel Cascade Hollow, with its subtle maple flavor, the slightly buttery No. 8, the familiar smoke and vanilla of No.12, and the complexities of Barrel continued on p. 72 THE OUTDOORSMAN: Revel Stoke Offer to buy your customer a drink if he or she can guess the significance of this eight- year-old bourbon's name. (It was the year Kentucky became a state. But you knew that). At 93.7 proof, it's the official "toasting bourbon" of the annual Kentucky Bourbon Festival. SAZERAC COMPANY RYE North America's first whiskies were ryes—as are some of its most recent. Pendleton 1910 12 Year Old Butterscotch aroma rises up out of the glass but a single sip brings more butter than scotch. It practically demands to be made into a Manhattan. HOOD RIVER DISTILLERS The moose skull on the label tells you this is no ordinary Canadian whisky. In fact, some may recall a similarly named 80-proof Revelstoke (spelled as one word) about 12 years ago. The whisky takes its name from the slightly off-kilter yet sophisticated extreme skiing town of Revelstoke in British Columbia. This is a more avant-garde triple-distilled version of the cult original. Corn, rye and barley malt are double-pot-distilled, then grain whisky is added to a column distillation before the spirit is aged for three years in charred white oak barrels. Master Blender Jim Aune then marries the whiskies in Minnesota and infuses them with vanilla, ginger, ground cinnamon bark, cori- ander and cardamom. The result is a smoothly spiced whisky that belies its 90 proof, as there's no alcoholic bite. Instead, the palate is caressed with gentle vanilla, cinnamon and a nut-like touch of cherry. "I got the idea for Revel Stoke from Canada's outdoors- men, who would add things to their whisky to improve the taste," recalls Dean Phillips, President of Phillips Distilling in Minneapolis. Ironically, one of the best Revel Stoke compli- ments came from the non-whisky drinking wife of a friend of mine, who remarked. "That has a nice fragrance. I would really recommend it for women who don't like whisky. "That was one of our objectives in reintroducing Revel " Stoke," confirms Phillips, "to make whisky appealing to non-whisky drinkers." PHILLIPS DISTILLING april 2012 / the tasting panel / 67

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