This is the prime season for distilleries to release their premium products, just in time for upcoming holiday giving. So you’re likely to discover some new items the next time you visit your favorite wine and spirits store, perhaps including the latest editions of the annual flagship releases from locally based distilleries The Ingram Distillery and Whiskey Jypsi. Read on for the details!
You might remember The Ingram Distillery by its former name O.H. Ingram, and their product line of whiskeys aged on the river in barges is still aggregated as O.H. Ingram River Aged. Hank Ingram started his business a decade ago, storing barrels of purchased whiskey on barges to take advantage of the rising and falling of the river to agitate the liquids inside and accelerate aging.
A few years back, Ingram moved their base of operations downriver from Wickliffe, Ky., to a new location in Columbus, Ky., after they outgrew their original storage capacity. The new landing allows for multiple custom floating rickhouses and is where the team led by master blender Scott Beyer created Batch 5 of their Flagship Series.
This micro batch was created from just eight barrels of high-rye-content bourbon with a mash bill of 60 percent corn, 36 percent rye and 4 percent malted barley. While I’m repeatedly on record as saying I don’t care where the chemical reaction took place to turn starch and yeast into ethanol, that particular mash bill hints that the barrels traveled southwest down the Western Kentucky Parkway to get to the barge, and the Indiana distillery from whence they (probably) came has a reputation for making some outstanding whiskey.
The barrels spent seven years in constant motion on the barge as the Mississippi flowed past with high humidity and extreme temperature conditions. These are all good things for whiskey. Then Beyer blended the eight barrels to create a special whiskey that Ingram calls Flagship, the leader of their fleet.
The high rye content shines through the nose like the aroma of a pomander, or clove-studded apple, alongside other baking spices like nutmeg, making it perfect for a holiday toddy. (Well, except that it’s 116.5 proof, so don’t spill it on the chestnuts roasting in an open fire.) On the tongue, the higher proof pulls the best of the barrel into the mix — nutty chocolate, cinnamon, pepper and vanilla. The mouthfeel is surprisingly creamy for such a high proof, and the finish lingers until it fades to just the final hints of caramel apple.Â
With an MSRP around $65, this would make an excellent holiday gift if you can find it!
Whiskey Jypsi is the project of country music star Eric Church and entrepreneur Raj Alva. The pair met on a golf trip and became fast friends — and later, business partners in the whiskey venture. Church has always been quality-focused in his work and the brands he associates himself with, including his longtime connection with Jack Daniel’s. When the duo decided they wanted to jump into spirits, they teamed up with whiskey maker Ari Sussman and told him to make the best whiskey he possibly could, cost be damned.
Like the “gypsy” from Church’s song lyric for “Never Break Heart,” the company doesn’t stay in one place for long and is happy to move from place to place to source the best whiskey they can find. Their first releases included blends of spirits from Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, Canada and India, and they have been well-received by customers and the spirits press.
This year’s highlight release for Whiskey Jypsi is Volume 3 of their Legacy series. In honor of the upcoming 250th anniversary of America’s independence, this particular release is called “The Declaration,” and it’s a throwback to old-school distilling processes like how they used to make traditional Maryland-style rye whiskey.
Instead of blending different grains, Legacy is a combination of three different types of whiskey. Sixty percent of the blend is 8- to 12-year-old Indiana rye that has been finished in apple brandy barrels from Mount Vernon Distillery as a nod to George Washington. Almost a third of the recipe is a rare find of 20- to 25-year-old Canadian corn whiskey (because Eric Church doesn’t give a flip about tariffs!). Whiskey Jypsi did rebarrel the Canadian product in new American barrels and toss a bald eagle in each cask for extra flavor. (Just kidding about that last part.) The remaining 10 percent is an 8-year-old single malt from Virginia.
The whiskey won’t show up in stores until around the middle of November, and it will probably retail in the $200 range. But I’ve sampled it already, and I can say it’s a genuinely unique whiskey that packs an amazing punch of flavor into the glass. The ability to blend such disparate components into something cohesive and enjoyable is a real talent, and Sussman has clearly got skills!
The new oak adds fresh interest to the ancient corn whiskey, which could have given in to the oak after its long rest. The age combined with the tannins of old wood and bite of new wood bring the blend to life and awaken the corn, which can get a little flabby after time. The spicy rye is definitely discernible as well, although the single malt wasn’t as prominent in the mix with only 10 percent of the volume. I could detect the presence of a bit of that honey-and-apple character that malted barley can contribute at its best.Â
Legacy Volume 3 isn’t a whiskey for everyone, but if you like well-crafted spirits that will challenge your palate and blow your mind a little bit, it’s definitely worth scouring the shelves for.
