Bourbon Obsessed℠

Rowan’s Creek Bourbon Review

There isn’t much information out there about Rowan’s Creek Bourbon. According to the label, the bourbon takes its name from Rowan’s Creek, which runs through Willett Distillery. In reality, the creek is down the hill from the distillery, but we’re all friends here, so that’s close enough.😊 It seems that at one time in the not too distant past Rowan’s Creek Bourbon bore a 12 year age statement; but alas, those days are gone.

The origins of this bourbon and its mash bill(s) are also a mystery, although that mystery has been partially solved. Originally, Rowan’s Creek was made from sourced bourbon, as were all of Willett’s bourbons. The label now does state that it is distilled, aged and bottled by Willett Distillery, so the origin is no longer a mystery. The bottle I am reviewing however only says that it was “Bottled by Rowan’s Creek Distilling” (a Willett dba), so whether it was distilled all, or in part, or not at all, at Willett is unknown.

Noah’s Mill Bourbon Review

Bourbons, Tasting Notes / By Ed

Willett Distillery is perhaps best known for its highly sought after Willett Family Estate whiskeys, but there are many, many more brands also produced at this distillery. In fact, the Willett Family Estate is just a small percentage of the whiskey produced by Willett. One of these other brands is Noah’s Mill Bourbon.

There is not much information out there about Noah’s Mill, other than that it once bore a 15 year old age statement, as recently as the early 2010’s. It now may or may not be a blend of bourbons aged anywhere from 4-20 years and both wheated and rye bourbon recipes. That is purely conjecture, but info found all over the web.

Wilderness Trail Four Grain Bourbon Review

Bourbons, Distilleries, Tasting Notes / By Ed

Wilderness Trail Four Grain Bourbon is the distillery’s latest release. This limited edition bourbon was available for purchase at their holiday open house, and it is part of their cancer series.

The folks at Wilderness Trail Distillery have had prior releases to support families impacted by cancer, notably the F*ck Cancer bottles which had included the famous 15 year old Willett Bourbon purchased at the Bourbon Crusaders’ American Cancer Society benefit in 2018 and then aged another year at Wilderness Trail. There were other whiskeys also released in this series.

Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience Bourbon Review

Bourbons, Tasting Notes / By Ed

If you’ll recall from my last post, this is one of the bourbons that is only available at the You Do Bourbon Experience. It is made from Heaven Hill’s standard bourbon mash bill (78% corn, 10% rye, 12% malted barley), aged at least 8 years on the 6th floor of their warehouses, and is a small batch of 10 barrels. It’s bottled at barrel proof. In contrast to Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, the same mash bill is used, but aging is for at least 12 years on the 5th floor and batch size is around 16 barrels. One can not help but notice the similarities of the packaging to William Heavenhill; ignoring the fact that my wonderful wife 😍 had a few issues with filling in and placing the label.😊 It may sound silly, but it’s more difficult than it looks – check out the photos to see some of the outtakes by me!

Jack Daniel’s Barrel Proof Rye Review

Rye, Tasting Notes / By Ed

Jack Daniel’s Barrel Proof Rye is an excellent rye. There’s a warm fuzzy feeling that can’t be denied. How the fruit flavors linger through the very long finish and at this crazy high proof for a rye is just a mystery. But a mystery I have no desire to solve. Let’s just let Jack be Jack and enjoy what they give us. As they say, “…if you know Jack, you’ll know Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Rye.” Maybe one day we’ll get down there again and have a little of the mystery unveiled…or maybe not.

Old Forester Barrel Strength Rye Review

Rye, Tasting Notes / By Ed

It seems like eons ago, but Old Forester introduced their first rye in 2019. It is a Kentucky rye, which generally has a much lower percentage of rye in the mash bill than the classic Indiana 95/5 rye that we all know and love. Often the rye content is very close to 51%, which is the legal minimum. Old Forester took a bit of a different approach, using a bit more rye, and then quite a bit of malted barley, giving its rye a unique character. Recently they released Old Forester Barrel Strength Rye.

Maker’s Mark CommUNITY Batch Review

Bourbon News, Bourbons, Tasting Notes / By Ed

I hope you enjoy my Maker’s Mark CommUNITY Batch Review! This is will be the second year that The LEE Initiative and Maker’s Mark have released the CommUNITY Batch. Maker’s Mark has donated all of the bourbon, so the proceeds go entirely to support the cause! The first CommUNITY Batch was released last year, and raised over $500K from 34 blended barrels of whiskey! The money provided assistance to many hospitality industry employees who were affected by the pandemic.

American Highway Reserve Bourbon Review

Bourbons, Tasting Notes / By Ed

Brad Paisley has just released a new whiskey and it’s called American Highway Reserve Bourbon. Its novelty is that one of its components, underwent some of its aging while stored in a 53-foot semi-trailer that followed his 2019 nation-wide tour. So the bourbon travelled 7,314 miles across 25 states, from coast to coast. Thus their slogan: “Made in Kentucky, Aged across America”.

Heaven Hill You Do Bourbon Experience Review

Distilleries / By Ed

Please enjoy our Heaven Hill You Do Bourbon Experience Review! Our You Do Bourbon Experience started in the classroom. Each “student” took a seat in front of a set of tasting glasses, each filled with a sample of the day’s whiskeys. We had four. Also provided was a notebook, pen and small dropper bottle of water. Our guide/teacher, Herb, introduced himself and we didn’t waste any time getting right into the bourbon. After all, it was already 11:30AM and we were burning daylight!

The Untold Story of Kentucky Whiskey by Castle & Key Review

The Untold Story from Castle & Key

Bourbon News, Bourbons, Distilleries, History, Tasting Notes / By Ed

This whiskey, The Untold Story Of Kentucky Whiskey from Castle & Key Distillery, is a special one. Released by Castle & Key Distillery in partnership with the Kentucky Black Bourbon Guild, it is dedicated to uncovering and telling stories from generations past. The series honors African American contributions to the distilling industry, contributions which are many but which have not been widely recognized or discussed. This whiskey is also a step towards the future as well. It was donated by Castle & Key and 100% of the proceeds will go to the Castle & Key Scholarship Fund. This release, Chapter 1, will be the first release of a series of annual “Chapters”, each telling part of the story, right on the bottle. Check out the photos to read it.