Bourbon & Banter

Welcome to another installment of “Thank god it’s Friday!”.

We’re taking a break today from our regular posting of a vintage bourbon ad since I’m hitting the road for the inaugural Bourbon Across American Road Trip.

I’m heading to Dayton, OH to visit the fine folks at the Century Bar, where I’ll be spending my weekend doing a blind bourbon tasting, attending a bourbon & BBQ dinner and enjoying some fantastic banter with everyone at the bar, as well as some B&B readers who are making the trek into Dayton to hang out. It’s going to be a fantastic weekend and I hope to have lots of stories to share with everyone next week.

I’ll do my best over the next few days to tweet some updates about what’s going on so make sure you’re following us on Twitter (@BourbonBanter) and Instagram. But if you’re close to Dayton, why don’t you come out and join us tonight or tomorrow night. Plenty of bourbon and banter for everyone.

I hope everyone has a great weekend regardless of where you’re at and that the bourbon never ceases to flow.

Cheers!

RELEASE UPDATE: Spoke with Trey Zoeller to get a little more information on the release and here’s what he had to say:

• There’s no wheat in the mash bill
• Bourbon was not distilled at Stitzel Weller
• Aged in barrels with a No. 3 charr
• Release yield is 1,800 6-bottle cases
• Big flavors with an outstanding finish

Trey’s expediting a sample to me for tasting so I hope to confirm his thoughts on the taste and finish soon.

Hey folks, I just got this new product release announcement from Jefferson’s Bourbon and thought you’d be interested in hearing about it right away. I should have a sample in the next few weeks as well so I’ll let you know more about it as I find out myself.

Until then, here are the details from the official press release:

Castle Brands is proud to introduce Jefferson’s Presidential Select 21 Year Old Straight Bourbon Whiskey, the latest addition to its line of “Ridiculously Small Batch” whiskies and the Presidential Suite (Jefferson’s Bourbon, Jefferson’s Reserve, Jefferson’s Presidential Select and Jefferson’s Rye). Jefferson’s Presidential Select 21-Year-Old Straight Bourbon Whiskey is aged in new oak barrels for 21 to 24 years and bottled at 94 proof (47% ABV). Inspired by its namesake Founding Father, this mature, complex and exceptionally full-bodied aged Bourbon will be released nationally on April 1, 2013.

“This is precious bourbon since there are very few bottles of this age with this complexity,” says Jefferson’s founder and master blender Trey Zoeller. “This limited release whiskey aged beautifully. Because of the nuanced flavor profile, this Jefferson’s Presidential Select Straight Bourbon Whiskey is sure to become one of our most coveted bottlings.”

Jefferson’s Presidential Select 21-Year-Old Straight Bourbon Whiskey consists of 15 lots of bourbon aged from 21 to 24 years. Bourbon of this age is extremely fragile; Zoeller discovered that these stocks had aged undisturbed for many years in a cooler area of the warehouse, which added further nuance to the spirit’s flavor profile and engendered a later peak. The resulting blend is a uniquely robust and extremely flavorful bourbon with deep, concentrated notes of vanilla, toffee and leather that finishes extraordinarily smoothly. Because of the evaporation that occurred over the aging period, Jefferson’s will have just 2,000 cases to release of this rare, complex spirit that embodies a presidential combination of age, purity and strength.

 To learn more about the Jefferson’s line of spirits, please visit www.jeffersonsbourbon.com. Jefferson’s Presidential Select 21 Year Old Straight Bourbon Whiskey is priced at $119.99 for a 750ml bottle and is available for purchase at fine spirits retailers across the country.

Price is high on this one but do you think you’ll try and get your hands on a bottle?

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Welcome to Monday folks. To help make it a little bit easier to tolerate, we’re happy to post the March installment of our Bourbon & Banter Desktop Wallpaper Series.

This month’s wallpaper features Willett Distillery and a few things they just happen to have laying around in their backyard. Looks a lot like your own backyard, right?

Click on the image below for a larger version and then save to your computer in a convenient location. Then follow your operating system’s instructions for how to use it as your desktop wallpaper. Then your done and on your way to impressing your friends with your new computer artwork.

We hope you enjoy this month’s installment. We’ll have another one ready in April. 

You can also purchase a print of this month’s featured photo as part of our Barrel Proof Fine Art Print series.

PS – Please spread the word about our February Bourbon Wallpaper. The more people we get using them the easier it is to spread the Bourbon gospel.

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Found this Old Taylor Bourbon ad from 1964 that leveraged the 1964 World’s Fair on New York. It’s a nicely timed ad that  not only claimed it was “…the best America has to offer”, but also that it was “the world’s most popular premium bourbon”. I’d love to see how today’s brands would tackle a world-stage event like this one in America. Would they be willing to come out strong with the American angle, or would they “blend” into the background with a less bold approach?

Let us know what you think of today’s advertising efforts by bourbon brands in the comments. Are they doing all they can to really set themselves a part from the competition? Who has the best advertising right now for a bourbon brand?

Seems like a great banter topic to kick the weekend off right. Cheers!

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Who doesn’t love a good infographic? Make it a whisky infographic and doubt there’s anyone out there with a pulse and good taste that wouldn’t fall in love.

So be prepared to fall in love…

I give you the 18 Flavors of Whisky infographic created by Sean Seidell. Sean is Philadelphia-based graphic designer who was obviously put on earth to help create cool booze-related infographics for us to enjoy on Thursdays. You can learn a little more about Sean via his Facebook page or his website – where you can also purchase a waterproof placemat of the 18 Flavors of Whisky. If you’re at all intrigued by his work please support his efforts with a purchase. I think the positive encouragement will keep him working on new infographics that will delight and amaze us.

Thanks Sean for making our Thursday even better!

Click here to view an extra-large version of the 18 Flavors of Whisky infographic.

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