Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/674905
100 / the tasting panel /may 2016 CATEGORY REPORT A LOOK AT PREMIUM WHISKIES THAT SHOULD BE ON YOUR RADAR FINDING GOLD: THE IRISHMAN FOUNDER'S RESERVE It's not easy standing out in a crowded category like whiskey, but Founder's Reserve (SRP $30) from The Irishman Whiskey has found a way. To create this expression, founder Bernard Walsh blends two triple-distilled styles: single malt and single pot still. With proportions of 70% single malt and 30% single pot still, this spirit is the only Irish blended whiskey to contain solely whiskey distillates from the copper pot still without any from grain or column still whiskey. It then ages in bourbon casks. This unique whiskey begins with a nose of spice, black pepper and peaches, which leads into malt dark chocolate and bourbon oak on the palate. It finishes long with a slight butterscotch lingering. With its new distillery opening this June, you won't be found wanting with The Irishman and its Founder's Reserve. —Emily Coleman PALM BAY INTERNATIONAL What's Up(scale) with Whisk(e)y? What's Up(scale) JACK IS BACK: JACK DANIEL'S SINGLE BARREL TENNESSEE RYE Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Tennessee Rye (SRP $49.99) launched in February, proving that established brands can indeed reach new depths and audiences. The iconic brand of crafted whiskey drew on knowledge garnered over its storied history to play with its mash bill for the first time since Prohibition. The Single Barrel Tennessee Rye Whiskey mash bill is comprised of 70 percent rye grain plus 18 percent corn and 12 percent barley. Jack Daniel's is the sole major North American whiskey maker that also crafts its own barrels in its own cooperage, ensuring full control over the entire produc- tion process and quality control from grain to glass. The rye is matured in handmade toasted and charred American oak barrels stashed in the highest reaches of the barrelhouse. Bottled at 94 proof, this is a golden brown, bold rye, expressing flavors of ripe fruit, vanilla and lightly toasted oak seasoned with peppery spice leading to a lingering finish. —Becky Tsadik BROWN-FORMAN