There’s been a lot of whiskey news of late, and not just the unfortunate event that took place at the Barton 1792 Distillery last week. There have been some intriguing new releases that are worth your attention, so grab a Glencairn glass and read on.
Tullamore makes one of my favorite Irish whiskeys at affordable price points, so I was pleased to find out about their latest expression, Tullamore XO Rum Cask Finish. After experimenting with a variety of barrels that had previously held Caribbean rums, they settled on a first-fill cask that had been used to age Demerara rum. The result is a golden-hued Irish whiskey with lovely vanilla and oak notes on the nose plus a hint of citrus and banana. The tropical flavors are even more apparent on the tongue, accented by some nice spicy characteristics that are not usually apparent in the traditionally flatter one-note expectations of Irish whiskey. Bottled at 86 proof and selling for around $30 a bottle, it’s definitely worth seeking out.
Closer to home, the Nelson boys at Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery continue to innovate within their Belle Meade Bourbon line. The Nelsons are quite aware that to make a sourced whiskey product stand out on the crowded shelves of liquor stores and bars, they need to keep coming up with new expressions, and their latest initiative should prove to be quite popular.
Their new Belle Meade Bourbon Select Cask Series is a line of limited-edition single-cask full-strength Belle Meade Bourbons, finished in either Sherry, Madeira, or Cognac casks and offered in small quantities to select markets, which Nashville is thankfully one of. Since they are single-barrel selections, the age and proof of each release will vary, but that just means they will have unique characters. The very first 2018 Select Cask release is a Nashville Cask Strength Select Cask Madeira, 111.2 proof and designated specifically for our local market. Priced at $100, it’s aimed at collectors, but I’m sure it will find popularity in Music City.
You can be among the first to try another new BMB product on Wednesday, July 4  from 11:00 am until 4:00 pm at a tasting that will feature all sorts of fun activities, including BBQ from Peg Leg Porker, free tours of the distillery, corn hole games, and music by Grammy-nominated and Grand Ole Opry fiddler Matt Combs, along with his Nashville string-band. The highlight for guests will be the access to the first taste of the highly anticipated new release:Belle Meade Bourbon Cask Strength Reserve, a blend of seven superior barrels bottled at cask strength with the signature high rye character of Belle Meade Bourbon. This Reserve blend is not cut to proof, and like a prized Single Barrel, it will vary by batch in the likely range of 110-120 proof. The barrels combined in the Reserve are from 7-to-11 years old, and are selected for their flavor, character and strong blending capability. The bottles will retail for $59.99.
My third recommendation could be a little more controversial. I’ve been slightly suspicious of Uncle Nearest, a line of Tennessee whiskeys produced to commemorate the contributions of Nearest Green, an African-American who is believed to have helped Jack Daniel learn how to distill whiskey. When it was first announced, there were questions whether the Jack Daniels management had ever given proper credit to the 19th century distiller, but there is evidence that they had acknowledged Green in some literature in the past, and they have added information about his life into their public tours.
I wondered whether it was appropriate to trade on this legend and whether it was being utilized in a marketing ploy to sell whiskey that was actually made by two unidentified distilleries. I also wondered who taught Green how to distill and why that person didn’t get any credit. These unanswerable questions end up not mattering too much to me, since marketing and telling stories is a big part of any successful whiskey company. (If you're interested, here's Scene contributor Betsy Phillips' take on the issue.)
I met with Fawn Weaver, who is the impetus behind the new products and who has announced plans to build a new distilling facility in Shelbyville. Weaver also started up a foundation to award scholarships to descendants of Nearest Green and announced the first class of recipients last year. I told her my question was not why Green hadn't received enough credit for teaching Jack Daniels but instead I wondered why we don’t have more African-Americans in the distilling business today. She seemed sincerely interested in my question and said she’d consider doing something to support some sort of initiative along those lines in the future.
However not good, IMHO, was the Uncle Nearest line's first release of 1856 Premium Whiskey. It's sourced from a Tennessee distillery and labeled Tennessee whiskey, meaning there are only a few choices of where it could have come from, and you can bet one of them is not Jack Daniel's. I found it pretty unremarkable considering its premium price — about double what you’d pay for, oh say, a bottle of George Dickel Tennessee Whisky.
I was more forgiving of their second product, Premium Silver Whiskey. It’s not a white dog, meaning an unaged corn whiskey that will someday be an aged brown water product. Instead, working with a second Tennessee distillery, Uncle Nearest is intending to create a whole new category of whiskey through the use of an 11-step process that takes place over 25 days. They triple-mellow the whiskey through charcoal filtration and bottle it at 90 proof to create what they are calling a premium silver whiskey.
Is this marketing speak? Sure it is. Did I especially enjoy the slightly vegetal, corny clear spirit as much as a glass of aged Tennessee whiskey? Not really. But it is a novel product and would work pretty well for a White Manhattan or as part of a Mule or Buck, with ginger beer, or ginger ale and citrus, respectively. Weaver and her team are seeing good success expanding distribution across the country, and their new distillery should be a boon to the Middle Tennessee economy, so I’ll at least suggest you check it out.
Harder to find, but well worth the effort is a series of new experimental releases from Chattanooga Whiskey Co. They’ve recently opened a new large production facility near the riverfront in the Chatty, which has allowed them to use their original microdistillery to concentrate on experimental products that are intentionally malt-forward. On a recent trip, I was fortunate enough to sample Batch 004, Scottish Style High Malt; Batch 005, Wheated High Malt; and Batch 006, a Beer Barrel Finished Wheated High Malt, and I found them all delicious and delightfully different from most of the rest of the products from Tennessee distilleries.
Working with a 100-gallon system, Chattanooga Whiskey makes about a barrel a week in their experimental facility, literally about as much as the big boys make in under a minute. Their latest releases continue the innovation with Batch 007, a Tennessee Rye Malt, and Batch 008, a Tennessee Single Malt. These are the most limited releases to date at around 60 cases each, so the best place to find them is in the bottle shop at the distillery, but I have heard that a few bottles might make their way into the Nashville market. If you find any of them, ring me up!
