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Posts Tagged Limited Edition

2012 Four Roses LE Single Barrel Coming Soon

Mar 30

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LAWRENCEBURG, Ky. (March 30, 2012) – This spring, Four Roses Distillery will issue the newest release in its series of limited-quantity special bottlings with the 2012 Limited Edition Single Barrel Bourbon, which will be bottled at barrel strength and encompass a spicy, full-bodied recipe.

Four Roses Master Distiller Jim Rutledge personally selected a 12-year-old bourbon that uses Four Roses’ recipe coded OESK, one of the ten uniquely handcrafted bourbon recipes produced by the Lawrenceburg, Ky.-based distillery. Among the flavor characteristics, the new bourbon exhibits an aroma of smoky oak featuring ripe red cherries, nutmeg and hints of toasted almonds. The palate offers flavors of creamy vanilla and caramel combined with layers of rich honey, cinnamon and brown sugar, finishing with soft undertones of toasted almonds.

“This year’s single barrel selection really brings out the spicy aroma and flavor that is characteristic of our OESK recipe,” said Rutledge. “When I tasted it I found cinnamon and nutmeg spices were evident, and felt it would make for a great bourbon to be enjoyed neat or on the rocks.”

Four Roses’ ten distinct recipes allow the distillery to continually offer a variety of unique, limited-edition single barrel bottlings.

A barrel strength bottling offers bourbon enthusiasts the opportunity to taste straight from the barrel, when the bourbon is uncut and non-chill filtered. At a proof range between 100.6 and 114.4, approximately 4,000 bottles of the Four Roses 2012 Limited Edition Single Barrel Bourbon are planned for distribution in mid-April to U.S. markets where the brand is currently available.

“I believe this bourbon has the potential to become a classic,” added Rutledge. “It’s a testament to the capabilities of our ten recipes, the flexibility of our distillery and all the people attached to the brand.”

 

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Woodford Reserve Releases 2011 KY Derby Bottle

Mar 31

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March 31, 2011, Louisville, KY – Woodford Reserve, the Official Bourbon of the Kentucky Derby® is honoring the country’s favorite horse race with the release of the 2011 Kentucky Derby commemorative bottle. The limited-edition bottle features the artwork of award-winning artist and Virginia native Brett Amory.

Amory showcases two horses racing in those final moments towards the finish line with the only splash of color on the bottle. One can feel the intensity of the race shown by the two horses digging into the ground while dirt is tossed up in the air. The two colored horses along with their jockeys are the main feature on the bottle, standing out against a silhouette of muted browns and grays of the historic spires and fans in the background. The bottle also features Amory’s signature prominently at the bottom of the label as well as a neck-tag bearing information about him.

“The build up to the Derby is unlike any other sporting event,” says Amory.  “Louisville is absolutely transformed, and people from all over the world come to join the excitement.  I wanted to capture on canvas that one key moment they all came to see.”

The limited edition liter-size bottle will be available in early April in 42 US states at a suggested retail price of $42.99.

“The horses–what the Derby is all about–grab you on the bottle,” says Laura Petry, Woodford Reserve brand manager.  “So it is very fitting as a proud supporter of horseracing and the ‘official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby’ for the past 13 years, that Woodford Reserve is honored to be a part of the greatest two minutes in sports that takes our breath away every year.”

In addition to purchasing a true collector’s item, consumers can enter Woodford Reserve’s Kentucky Derby Sweepstakes with a chance to win a VIP trip to the 2012 Kentucky Derby. Consumers can enter by either registering their bottle’s unique number printed on the neck label, or by entering any random five digit code at www.WellCraftedDerby.com. Consumers may also enter by mail.  Upon registering they will be given a randomly-generated post position, from 1-20, for the 2011 Kentucky Derby. If the horse that starts from their assigned post position wins, he/she will be entered in the grand prize trip drawing. Official Rules are available at www.WellCraftedDerby.com.*

* NO PURCHASE NECESSARY – a purchase will not improve your chances of winning. Must be 21 or older to participate. Limit 12 entries per person and email address. Void in CA, VA and where prohibited. Other restrictions may apply.  See Official Rules for details.

Woodford Reserve also sponsors a Grade I race, the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic, which is run on Derby Day, May 7, 2011, and has become one of thoroughbred racing’s premier turf events.

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Four Roses 2011 LE Single Barrel Coming Soon

Mar 21

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BourbonBuzz.com just received news from Four Roses that their annual Limited Edition Single Barrel Bourbon will be introduced in May. The 20011 offering will have a flavor profile that has never been commercially offered by them before. Keep reading for the news about the 2011 LE Single Barrel and Small Batch straight from the Master Distiller, Jim Rutledge.

Many consumers look forward to our annual Limited Edition series of Special Single Barrel and Small Batch Bourbon offerings. (I enjoy reading the speculations of Bourbon connoisseurs across the U.S. relative to the recipe we will use for our next LE Single Barrel offering. Speculating on the formula of recipes for our LE Small Batch is too complex for speculation.) We are targeting May for the introduction of our Limited Edition Single Barrel Bourbon. This year we will use one of the 10 recipes that has not previously been bottled as a stand-alone Bourbon brand, and I am confident it will be a resounding success. I’m afraid the demand will be greater than our supply, and I won’t know for sure how many bottles we can fill until the barrels are actually dumped and gauged. The recipe we will use this year is OBSQ. “B” mashbill consists of: 60% corn, 35% rye and 5% malted barley. “Q” yeast generates a floral essence and when I first analyzed samples from the barrels we have selected I distinctly recall the first aroma I noticed reminded me of a “bouquet of red roses,” and it was Amazing! I believe you will have the same delight and perception.

Four Roses’ 2011 Limited Edition Single Barrel Bourbon is uncut and non-chill filtered with approximately 3,600 bottles to be distributed in May to markets where the brand is currently available.

We are also working on our Limited Edition Small Batch which will be introduced in September. Small Batch takes a lot longer to arrive at the ultimate formula – since various combinations of all 10 recipes may be considered. I’m not sure at this time how many of our recipes we will use to achieve “something special,” but it will probably be specially selected barrels from 2 or 3 of our ten recipes.

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Woodford Reserve Releases Limited Edition Maple Wood Finished Bourbon

Nov 1

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November 1, 2010, Louisville, Ky. – Woodford Reserve announces the latest extension of its acclaimed Master’s Collection which will be released on November 1. Called ‘Maple Wood Finish,’ it is the fifth in the series of limited edition bottlings and continues Woodford Reserve’s tradition of crafting rare whiskeys that extend the category in bold new directions.

This whiskey is one of the most unique Master’s Collection’s to date as it is the industry’s first bourbon to be finish aged in barrels made from sugar maple wood. Barrels play a key role in producing bourbon, with approximately 70 percent of the spirit’s flavor and aroma and all of its color provided by the barrel. Woodford Reserve’s new offering features bourbon finish-aged in uniquely crafted barrels made of maple wood, something never before done in the industry.

“Sugar maple trees have a complex natural chemistry, rich in calcium, potassium and other minerals, but they are best known for their flavorful sap which contains as much as 3% sugar,” said Woodford Reserve Master Distiller Chris Morris. “Though it was thought that whiskey barrels could not be crafted from sugar maple wood, our Brown-Forman Cooperage has done just that. Of all the distillers in our industry, we are the only bourbon company that crafts its own barrels, giving us unique knowledge and control of the process. The Master’s Collection Maple Wood Finish uniquely finish-ages Woodford Reserve in a toasted, not charred, maple wood barrel, resulting in a whiskey enhanced with hints of maple, honey and cinnamon.”

Ever year, one of the five sources of flavor is changed for the Master’s Collection expressions. These five sources – grain, water, fermentation, distillation, and wood-aging – are unique to bourbon whiskey, and altering just one of them creates a totally new flavor profile.

“Bourbon must be matured in new, charred oak barrels, and in our quest to fully understand the contribution oak wood makes to bourbon, we have studied other Kentucky hardwoods as well,” said Wayne Rose, brand director for Woodford Reserve. “This has led to some exciting discoveries and innovative barrel finish concepts. One of these – Maple Wood Finish – is a first for the spirits industry and has resulted in an amazing, elegant whiskey.”

Maple Wood Finish is the fifth in the Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection series following the Four Grain, Sonoma-Cutrer Finish, Sweet Mash and Seasoned Oak offerings. Released periodically at the master distiller’s discretion, the Master’s Collection whiskeys are extremely limited in quantity and bottled only once, in a proprietary package inspired by the copper pot stills of The Woodford Reserve Distillery.

The inspiration for the Master’s Collection is rooted in the rich history and tradition of what is today known as The Woodford Reserve Distillery. In the mid-1800s distillery owner Oscar Pepper and Master Distiller James Crow studied and recommended use of key processes like sour mashing and charred barrel maturation at the historic Woodford County distillery. These practices are still maintained in the bourbon industry, and today the distillery receives more than 100,000 visitors annually and is the only one in America to use bourbon triple distilled in traditional copper pot stills.”

Woodford Reserve Maple Wood Finish will be sold in 45 U.S. markets, and a limited quantity will be available in Canada, the United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Germany, New Zealand and Australia. Each bottle is individually hand-numbered and presented at 94.4 proof. Available in major metro markets, only 1,676 cases are available with a suggested retail price of $89.99 for a 750ml bottle.

Tasting Notes for Woodford Reserve Maple Wood Finish

Color:            Golden brown.

Aroma:         Rich and sweet with hints of brown sugar glazed baked apricots, milk chocolate and fresh toasted oak.

Taste:            Warm with cinnamon spice, faint hints of maple syrup, berry fruit and a touch of nuttiness.

Finish:          Crisp with delicate maple syrup notes lingering on with a touch of warm fruit.

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Heaven Hill Announces Fourth Annual Release of Parker’s Heritage Collection

Aug 10

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BARDSTOWN, KY–Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc., the country’s largest independent family-owned and operated spirits producer and marketer, announces the September release of the fourth edition of Parker’s Heritage Collection, a limited annual series of rare, aged American Whiskeys that pays tribute to 6th Generation Master Distiller Parker Beam.  The fourth release is a cask-strength, non-chill filtered wheated Bourbon, meaning it uses soft winter wheat instead of rye as the “small grain” to produce a less spicy, rounder Bourbon.

This year’s release of Parker’s Heritage Collection follows last year’s “Golden Anniversary” Bourbon edition, which captured the “American Whiskey of the Year” award from Malt Advocate Magazine, in addition to being named “World’s Best New Release” in Whisky Magazine’s annual 2010 World Whiskey Awards. The 2009 release, a 27-year-old Bourbon, was the first American Whiskey to ever win “Best of Show, Brown Spirits” at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

The new release marks the first in the Parker’s Heritage Collection to depart from the traditional Heaven Hill rye-based Bourbon mashbill.  Instead of the more commonly used corn/malted barley/rye recipe, the newest edition uses corn, malted barley and Kentucky winter wheat.  This recipe was first used at Heaven Hill in the spring of 1999, after the company acquired the wheated Old Fitzgerald line of Bourbons.  This new bottling of Parker’s Heritage Collection will mark the first release of Heaven Hill made, extra-aged wheated Bourbon.  And it will delight whiskey connoisseurs because not only is it non-chill filtered, but it also is being released in two very small batch dumps at barrel proof.  And like the previous three editions, it is being released in very limited quantities–only 52 barrels, kept in high storage in open rick warehouses, were dumped for this edition, yielding approximately 4,800 bottles for the United States and limited international distribution.

And in what will be welcome news in still-unsettled economic times, the fourth release, at $79.99, is priced considerably lower than previous releases, which carried an average national retail price of $150 for last year’s “Golden Anniversary” bottling and $200 for the 27-year-old Bourbon released two years ago.  Whiskey aficionados will also appreciate that the natural esters and fatty acids, which are by-products of whiskey distillation and aging, are not stripped away from the Bourbon in a process known as chill filtering, but are left in the whiskey to provide a fuller taste profile and richer mouthfeel.

Packaged in the same upscale 750ml bottle as the previous three editions, the Parker’s Heritage Collection Wheated Bourbon is available in a three bottle case that should start hitting retail shelves during September, nationally recognized as the start of the Bourbon season.

“I am genuinely excited to introduce a nicely aged, cask-strength wheated Bourbon for this next version of my Parker’s Heritage Collection,” noted Heaven Hill’s Parker Beam.  “At this age and barrel-proof, is how a wheated Bourbon shows best…it has the caramel and smoke notes that only ten years in the top floors of our rickhouses can produce.  And it has the long, smooth finish that I always look for in a Bourbon, with that softness that wheat brings to the recipe. I am very pleased that we now have wheated Bourbon that I feel has aged long enough to wear my name on the label.”

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Jim Beam Signature Bourbon Available at Duty Free Shops

Jul 14

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Liquor supplier Beam Global Spirits & Wine has launched in July a new premium expression of Jim Beam Bourbon whiskey that will be available exclusively in duty-free and travel-retail. Jim Beam Signature will be initially sold at Gebr Heinemann outlets worldwide and carries a recommended retail price of €29.99 ($38).

The limited edition was created by Jim Bean master distiller Fred Noe using six unique grains and aged for six years in hand-selected white oak barrels, and is presented in a 1l flask-style bottle that comes in a soft faux leather drawstring bag printed with its name, Fred Noe’s signature and a neck tag with the story behind the whiskey.

Beam Global director of European travel-retail Gareth Brown said: “Jim Beam Signature is an extremely rare and special bottling that embodies the craftsmanship and quality that has been passed down 215 years of unbroken family distilling.”

Let us know if you find this premium release from Jim Beam. We are anxious to sample it, but not close to any duty free shops. If any of our traveling or foreign readers could send us a bottle, please contact us.

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Four Roses Set to Release Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon

Jul 13

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This September, Four Roses Distillery will release a new Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon, adding to its collection of special offerings which showcase Four Roses’ ability to work with 10 proprietary bourbon recipes to create unique and varied expressions.

The Limited Edition Small Batch includes three of Four Roses’ 10 recipes. It will feature the Four Roses recipe coded OBSV aged 15 years, OBSK aged 11 years, and OESK aged 10 years. The three bourbon recipes have been mingled at barrel strength to create a rich, complex spirit defined by soft oak, caramel and honeysuckle aromas. Subtle flavors of cherries, apricot, light spice, honey and raspberries are present giving it a creamy, smooth and mellow finish.

The release is timed to coincide with the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. Approximately 3,600 bottles of this uncut, non-chill filtered bourbon will be produced and distributed in markets where Four Roses is currently available.

The new Limited Edition Small Batch comes on the heels of Four Roses’ most recent limited edition product – a single barrel bourbon released this spring to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Lawrenceburg distillery building.

Unlike the Limited Edition Single Barrel, which represents one Four Roses recipe aged to perfection, the new Limited Edition Small Batch represents a marriage of recipes to create a unique and special Bourbon of complex and layered flavors.

“The three recipes chosen for this small batch bourbon each express unique flavor characteristics that collectively create an exquisite, timeless bourbon,” said Jim Rutledge, Four Roses Master Distiller. “As this bourbon is being released during our distillery building’s 100th anniversary year, we wanted to commemorate a special time with another special bourbon. I believe this is a classic, well defined bourbon you’ll not just savor, but long remember.”

Four Roses is the only distillery that combines five proprietary yeast strains with two separate mashbills to produce 10 distinct bourbon recipes, each with its own unique character. More information about each of Four Roses Bourbon recipes is available at www.fourroses.us/ten .

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Early Times 150th Anniversary Release Revisits Old Times

Apr 8

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Early Times Kentucky Whisky, first distilled in 1860 in Early Times Station, Kentucky, is a whisky known for its rich heritage and mild taste profile. To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the brand, Early Times Kentucky Whisky will release a one-time, limited release expression in a 375ml commemorative bottle.

Although the year 1860 congers up images of “early times” today, at the time, the brand’s original distillers believed the industry was turning too modern, too quickly, and wanted a brand that captured the “good old days.” Thus, the brand name Early Times was selected to remind consumers of the old-fashioned methods of making whisky – mashing grain in small tubs and boiling the beer and whisky in copper stills over open fires.

Closed by Prohibition, the distillery, brand and barrel inventory was acquired by medicinal whiskey permit holder Brown-Forman Distillers in 1923. Brown-Forman moved the production of Early Times to Louisville, Kentucky in 1935 where it has thrived to this day. Every drop is distilled under the late 1800’s permit number DSP – 354.

“This commemorative bottle celebrates the rich history of Early Times’ role as the second oldest continually produced whisky brand in America,” said Joe Murray, brand manager for Early Times. “While Early Times is now made with modern methods, its name still invokes images of the good old days and still provides a welcome reward at the end of a hard day’s work. As one of America’s top selling Kentucky Whiskies for the last 60 years it still lives up to its reputation as ‘The Whisky that made Kentucky Whiskies Famous.’

The Early Times 150th anniversary edition will come in a unique 375ml bottle and carry an Early Times retro 1920’s label. The distillery will produce only 3000 cases which will be available in 20 US states at a suggested retail price of $11.99.

“Early Times 150 is crafted to emulate the flavor profile the brand would have possessed in 1923 when it was acquired by Brown-Forman,” said Chris Morris, Brown-Forman Master Distiller. “Most whisky aficionados who have been treated to a prohibition-era medicinal whisky taste a late bottling. These contain whisky that was aged up to three times longer than the distiller planned. In 1923 Brown-Forman began bottling 5-6 year old Early Times as medicine. This bottling, with its light honey color, mellow oak, brown sugar, vanilla aroma and simple sweet corn, vanilla and faint butterscotch taste bring back the best of a by-gone time – an Early Times to remember.”

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