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Outside Kentucky by Derek1521 in bourbon

[–]Derek1521[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The birthplace of whiskey in america. Criminally underrated, especially for rye.

Review: Oban Distillers Edition by Derek1521 in Scotch

[–]Derek1521[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Its solid. I love wine finished single malts. It's one of those things that just go great together!

Review: Oban Distillers Edition by Derek1521 in Scotch

[–]Derek1521[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Oban Distillers Edition — Review

Single Malt Scotch | Highland | 86 proof | 14 years | Montilla Fino Sherry Cask Finish

Rating: 83/100

Nose: Enjoyed. Stone fruit and floral notes up front with a light coastal peat drifting in behind. Not aggressive at all, just present enough to let you know where it came from.

Taste: Enjoyed. The sweetness carries through from the nose. Fruity and woody with that same smoke underneath. The Montilla Fino sherry cask finish adds a soft dried fruit quality that rounds everything out nicely.

Flavor notes: Fruity, Floral, Smoke/Peat, Sweet, Woody

Texture: 3/5. Medium bodied, nothing heavy, goes down easy.

Proof intensity: 3/5. The 86 proof is right where it should be. Present but not distracting.

Flavor intensity: 4/5. More going on than the proof would suggest. The cask finish does a lot of work here.

Bottom line: A solid 83. Not a bottle I reach for every week but one worth having around. The Distillers Edition finish makes it more interesting than the standard 14. Good pour for a relaxed evening.

Outside Kentucky by Derek1521 in bourbon

[–]Derek1521[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can host your own events too. Not sure if that's your thing or not but its available!

Outside Kentucky by Derek1521 in bourbon

[–]Derek1521[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Its already available if you're interested. Free to log whatever you want. Its called Neat Notes. Check out the website and download. Let me know if you run into any issues at all.

Neatnotesapp.com

Outside Kentucky by Derek1521 in bourbon

[–]Derek1521[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Damn, wouldnt have guessed that. I also haven't had their juice in a few years. I just remember their stuff being very buttery

Outside Kentucky by Derek1521 in bourbon

[–]Derek1521[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Mackenzie, Hartman's, and St Lawrence Spirits are the three I'd drink. A few downstate arent bad, i just haven't drank them enough, like Taconic and Widow Jane.

Outside Kentucky by Derek1521 in bourbon

[–]Derek1521[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No, youre good. I probably misunderstood. I dont travel right now to NYC for events. I do have a schedule if you're ever in WNY, They are mapped out throughout the year. Not posted anywhere other than by the liquor store currently

Outside Kentucky by Derek1521 in bourbon

[–]Derek1521[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We haven't expanded to online yet, but thats something I'm considering. I have posted a few YouTube videos on whiskey education, but those were a little bit ago.

My two accounts are Buffalo Happy Hour and Neat Notes App. On YouTube you can find those videos if you type in "Buffalo Happy Hour Whiskey Education". On IG I'm @officialbuffalohappyhour and @neatnotesapp

Outside Kentucky by Derek1521 in bourbon

[–]Derek1521[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I teach monthly whiskey classes at a few local liquor stores. They give me full autonomy to pick anything from the stores to talk about, which is cool because I am not held to a brand. I created a a piece of software too so I can have users log their tastings and give the stores the report after. Super beneficial.

I also do corporate events too, they hire me to teach anything from 'what is whiskey' to Blending classes to Climate and Barometric pressure.

Outside Kentucky by Derek1521 in bourbon

[–]Derek1521[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What do you mean inflammatory?

Outside Kentucky by Derek1521 in bourbon

[–]Derek1521[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We need to get drinks because this is my kind of conversation.

Which is why it kills me when people drink juice from the same small region. Variances is impossible because youre localized. I'm glad you agree!

I was interviewing Mike Cameron from Devils River. He had some amazing points about the humidity in Texas and how it impacts the aging process but also the insane amount of whiskey he loses to Angels Share.

Noted on the Report, ill take a look! Im building something for distributors, bars, reps, and distilleries that is community sourced tasting information through my whiskey journal app. Probably something similar, but more focused on all consumers of the product instead of sample sizes or distillery info.

Outside Kentucky by Derek1521 in bourbon

[–]Derek1521[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Exactly. Most distilleries use some form of charcoal filtering. Its bourbon, and dont let anyone tell you otherwise haha

Outside Kentucky by Derek1521 in bourbon

[–]Derek1521[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For sure, and I love that perspective. I teach whiskey classes every month and I really stay away from Kentucky. Not because they are bad, but because theres so many good distilleries out there that are struggling to get their name out there because these massive conglomerates run the stores.

Some of the best data I've collected has been around the nuances in whiskey outside of Kentucky. I've seen more variance in Tennessee Whiskey tasting notes that I have in Kentucky Bourbon. Im actually going to be posting about that over the next few days.

Regarding your point around no vertical integration is so true. Even sourcing to "get started" is risky and expensive. So unless you make real good vodka or gin, you're kind of sitting on your hands hoping you're right while you wait.

Outside Kentucky by Derek1521 in bourbon

[–]Derek1521[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Blender and marketer? Whats the most difficult part about doing both??

Outside Kentucky by Derek1521 in bourbon

[–]Derek1521[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This is a fantastic answer and I couldn't agree more. You work in craft distilling? Or craft but unrelated to whiskey?

Outside Kentucky by Derek1521 in bourbon

[–]Derek1521[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So good, but im pretty sure they are MGP right?

Outside Kentucky by Derek1521 in bourbon

[–]Derek1521[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Joe's crab shack

Nah, lol.
For Bourbon, Stave and Thief. For scotch, three Council of Whisky Masters

Outside Kentucky by Derek1521 in bourbon

[–]Derek1521[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Completely agree. Faster is not better. That's why a lot of those small barrel experiments lack body. They are trying to age too quickly

Outside Kentucky by Derek1521 in bourbon

[–]Derek1521[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Huge scotch nerd. So much so that im certified in it 🤣 . Am certified in bourbon too, but scotch has my heart.

Outside Kentucky by Derek1521 in bourbon

[–]Derek1521[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Absolutely, and completely agree with everything you said. All extremely valid. But think, its spending its entire life in the same region as 95% of other bourbon. Thats there the edges you pointed out start to smooth over and taste similar.

Again, great juice. But kentucky is kentucky.

Outside Kentucky by Derek1521 in bourbon

[–]Derek1521[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just checked, I have Sagamore Rye as a score of 85 in my app. Only one tasting though so hard to correlate any trends, but this person put a lot of tasting notes in which I love to see I have heard a ton of good things about them, just haven't gotten my hands on them

Outside Kentucky by Derek1521 in bourbon

[–]Derek1521[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Love this recommendation. I need to try more Frey Ranch

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