It’s always refreshing to be reminded of just how good you actually have it in life. Of course such reminders usually come about when one ventures outside their tried and true comfort zone or rolls the dice on a completely unknown prospect. In the context of whiskey purchases, such a notion is far less daring than say investing in the latest startup that you read about on FaceTube or deciding now’s the time to finally start that Hootie & The Blowfish tribute band. I deviated from my established whiskey purchasing guidelines recently, twice in fact. One outcome was poor, the other quite good and in the end I was reminded of how reliable an old friend really is.
If you haven’t heard, American Whiskey is (has been) booming. As with most boom-town stories, the influx of interest brings an influx of cash which in turn brings a complete spectrum of options to the new legions of consumers. The options range from hidden gems offered by truly passionate small-scale producers to vastly overpriced and over-hyped snake oil products offered by hucksters. Sadly, the common readily available options are all too often brushed aside and forgotten, perceived as too pedestrian when compared to the new shiny offerings twinkling on store shelves. Every now again I succumb to this very failing, enticed by the prospect of discovering a gem yet unknown to the masses.
The first purchase, a ‘boutique’ bourbon from Finger Lakes Distilling in Burdett, New York came with a disproportionately high price tag that was, on the surface at least, justified by lofty and transparent production characteristics - barrel proof bottling strength, non-chill filtered, low (though not disclosed) distillation proof and low barreling proof (50% ABV vs the common 62.5% ABV). More influential however was the disclaimer that the whiskey spent the entirety of its six-year maturation in a barrel constructed of a variant of oak, Chinkapin, I’d never personally encountered. There is precedent for trying to discover exotic woods in which to mature whiskey; the Japanese whiskey world is enamored with Mizunara Oak and Buffalo Trace has launched an entire (and very difficult to find) series of releases featuring exotic wood varieties from around the world in which they age their bourbon. Whiskey nerds love to dissect minute aspects of whiskey production, but barrel characteristics has got to be a top-three topic. All this explains why a mysterious and exotic sounding oak variety led the charge in inspiring the purchase of an unknown and expensive whiskey.
The bourbon’s specifics:
McKenzie Single Barrel Bourbon (Bourbonr 6th Anniversary)
Region: New York
Mash Bill: 70% Corn, 20% Rye, and 10% Malted Barley
Strength: 52.8% ABV (105.6° Proof)
Color: Natural Color
Filtration: Non-Chill Filtered
Maturation: 6 Years in 100% Chinkapin Oak
Price: $75.00 (Seelbach’s)
The Good: The smell and initial taste are entirely unique to any other bourbon I have enjoyed - a green wood nuttiness but minimal resin and non-existent oak char. Controlled sweetness, far more corn sweetness than say brown sugar/caramel sweetness. I’d say this bourbon straddles nicely between sweet and savory.
The Bad: There is a musty, bitter nuttiness that appears towards the tail end of the sip and lingers throughout the finish. This bitterness is reminiscent of a roasted walnut that's started to go a bit rancid. The bitterness lingers for quite some time, hours in fact in the mouth, analogous to the lingering smokiness of a peated Islay Single Malt. Personally, I am not a fan of this impression, but others might be.
The Ugly: The price, by a long shot. There are just far too many bottles that retail for far less that I enjoy more than this bourbon. I can officially say that I regret making this purchase.
The second purchase, another ‘boutique’ bourbon (albeit to a lesser degree), from Newport, Kentucky, came at a price lower than its New York companion, but higher than the average bourbon of a similar age and strength. New Riff is a new kid on the block but has sent shockwaves through the whiskey world with their remarkably well rounded bourbons that totally betray their short maturation periods. Typically aged around four years, New Riff’s bourbons should be a fiery handful with plenty of alcohol prickle, but miraculously, New Riff’s bourbons are nothing of the sort. Like Finger Lakes Distillery, New Riff also distills and barrels at lower proofs than virtually all major producers, though no specifics are disclosed. One specific detail worth mentioning is this bourbon’s astonishing rye content. Most bourbons feature a rye content measured in teens, rarely cracking the 20% mark, but New Riff opted for a lofty 30%!
The bourbon’s specifics:
New Riff Single Barrel
Region: Kentucky
Mash Bill: 65% Corn, 30% Rye, and 5% Malted Barley
Strength: 56.2% ABV (112.4° Proof)
Color: Natural Color
Filtration: Non-Chill Filtered
Maturation: Four Years and One Month
Price: $49.99 (Total Wine)
The Good: Smell, taste, and finish all shine in this bourbon. It is astonishing to me that such a young bourbon can exude such well rounded composure. There is a sweet candy sugar nose and a huge punch of rye in the taste. There is not one ‘rough’ or unenjoyable aspect to this bourbon.
The Bad: Okay, this is a stretch, but I’ll go with price. $50 is not abjectly out of place in today’s market and it’s certainly better than the $75 that the McKenzie above commanded, but it does feel just a tad overpriced. On the flipside though, I have enjoyed every pour from this bottle and as such, when this bottle is finished, I will purchase another at this price with absolute certainty.
The Ugly: Because New Riff is a smaller distillery, their distribution reach and volume, particularly outside of Kentucky is quite small which in turn equates to a hard to find bottle locally. Luckily here in Florida, I have seen bottles of their bourbon and rye show up on Total Wine shelves and thus far they tend to stick around rather than be instantly swept away by the bourbon nerds. I have yet to see New Riff in any other store in my area however, be it a chain or a mom-n-pop store.
As I contemplated these two bourbons, a $75 dud and a $50 surprise, flashes of another bourbon that I purchased around the same time kept popping into my thoughts - Wild Turkey 101. Why Wild Turkey 101? Well for two reasons: the insanely low price I paid for a bottle and just how tasty I have always found 101 to be.
First, the Kick’n Chicken’s specifics:
Wild Turkey 101
Region: Kentucky
Mash Bill: 75% Corn, 13% Rye, 12% Malted Barley
Strength: 50.5% ABV (101.0° Proof)
Color: Natural Color
Filtration: Chill Filtered
Maturation: NAS ('up to 6 to 8 years' as shadily proclaimed on the back label)
Price: $13.99 (Publix Supermarkets, sale price)
Ultimately, I poured a half ounce of the two boutique bourbons and tasted blind against a half ounce of the 101. I was able to correctly identify each one, the McKenzie due to its bitter note, the New Riff due to its rye punch and higher proof, and the Wild Turkey by process of elimination (and for being all around pleasing). Rating the three bourbons, I placed the New Riff in the top spot, followed by the Turkey, and sitting a distant third was the McKenzie. Not a terribly shocking ranking given my impressions above, but when you factor cost into the rankings, things become decisively convincing.
I purchased that bottle of Wild Turkey while passing through my local grocery store which had the whiskey marked down to $18.99 / 750ml bottle. If you bought two bottles, you received an additional $10 off the total purchase. That extra discount brought the pre-tax price of each bottle down to $13.99. Think about that, thirteen dollars and ninety nine cents for a 50.5% ABV, 6-8 year old bourbon that stands up to any desired application - neat, over ice, in a cocktail, or even in cola. Most striking however was the fact that such a budget-friendly bourbon that is readily available totally dominated a specialty bourbon that not only cost five times more but required far more hoops to jump through in terms of ordering/shipping. To be fair, it is said that Wild Turkey is capable of producing 9.5 million proof gallons of whiskey each year. Despite not knowing the specific annual output volumes of Finger Lakes or New Riff, I think it safe to speculate that neither come anywhere near Wild Turkey’s production output which in turn means that Wild Turkey has far more margin with which to leverage in offering their bourbons at lower prices.
While I will temper my cost criticism of the Finger Lakes bourbon, I simply cannot ignore the fact that I enjoyed Wild Turkey 101 far more. This collision of a high cost for a less enjoyable whiskey is what left me feeling regret over my purchase of the McKenzie bourbon. In the big picture, it’s not that big a deal. While this experience will serve as a reminder to be a tad more cautious when contemplating the purchase of an unknown whiskey, my positive New Riff experience ensures that I will not totally write off exploring future boutique whiskeys. More importantly however, this experience serves as a great reminder to be thankful for that which I already have. Often times we sadly tend to take for granted the familiar and loved items in our life. Here, in some small way, is a reminder of how foolish that is.
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