May 2 - Drammers Birmingham......
Hello Birmingham Drammers!
Our next tasting will be on Friday, May 2nd at 7pm with an array of exciting new releases of bourbon, single malt Scotch, Irish whiskey and more! A big thank you to Justin for organizing and to Reid for hosting us again and to Reid for hosting! (address: 2311 Morris Ave #301).. Here’s the lineup:
Booker’s 2025-01 - Barry’s Batch. The first US release of Booker’s 2025 Collection is Booker’s Batch 2025-01 “Barry’s Batch”. This batch is named in honor of Barry Berish, former Beam Chairman and CEO, who sadly passed early in 2024. Booker’s “Barry’s Batch” is made up of barrels from four production dates that were aged in 5 different warehouses. The age of the batch is 7 years, 2 months, and 4 days. The proof of the batch is 125.7 proof. The breakdown of barrel storage for the batch can be found here.
Russell's Reserve - Drammers Single Barrel Bourbon. Earlier this year, a group of our chapter heads came together at the Wild Turkey Distillery to select this single barrel of Russell's Reserve. The barrel we selected was distilled Oct. 1, 2014, dumped on May 14, 2024 and bottled on June 11, 2024. Barrel #23-0035, aged in Warehouse TY-K, Floor #4, aged 9 years, 7 months, 13 days. Bottled at 55% abv / 110 proof (as many distilleries do these day — instead of cask strength, they pick a number just below cask strength so they don’t have to refile the label with the TTB for each single barrel). The barrel yielded 186 bottles.
Angel’s Envy Bourbon - New Single Cask Pick. This only arrived last week, and you will be among the first in the club to try it! A single cask pick from the Angels Envy Distillery, bottled at 55% abv (110 proof). Angel’s Envy deserves credit for normalizing the concept of “finishing” American whiskies, in this case aging in a barrel that used to hold Port wine barrels, causing it to soak up some of that port flavor and color from the wood. This has long been a thing in the Scotch world but until Angel’s Envy came along in 2006, it was fairly unusual. This single barrel, high-proof version is especially tasty.
The Hearach - Single Malt Scotch. This is the first legal whisky from the Isle of Harris, and it is fairly hard to come by. We recently hosted an online event with their distillery team, and we're proud to say we brought in more versions of their flagship The Hearach, than anyone else in the country. The Hearach single malt whisky was made using soft Outer Hebridean waters from the Abhainn Cnoc a ’Charrain, which runs over the oldest rocks on earth, and 100% Scottish Concerto barley that was lightly peated at 12-15ppm using peat cut by hand at 'Cleite Mhòr', an area of South Harris where peat has been harvested for generations. This Scotch also benefits from a long fermentation that runs for up to five days, as well as maturation for at least five years in three cask types, Fino butts, first-fill bourbon, and oloroso sherry casks.
Wilderness Trail - Drammers Single Barrel Bourbon. Next up is our single barrel from Wilderness Trail — barrel no 771648, aged 5 years, 3 months, aged in an ISC (Independent Stave Co.) classic #4 barrel, rickhouse E-N25-10-4, Yeast strain FP1. Wilderness Trail as many of you know specializes in wheated bourbon, which is the case here, and they also use a sweet mash process (so they do NOT use backset from prior distillations in subsequent mashes, unlike most distilleries). Drammers had selected a single cask of Wilderness Trail a couple years ago that was accidentally lost by the distillery (they accidentally used it in a small batch blend, ha, which does happen from time to time). So, this is a barrel we’ve been waiting for for a long time now. The barrel yielded 204 bottles.
JJ Corry “An Ban Rion". Our first-ever Drammers pick of Irish whiskey has arrived, not a single barrel but a private blend! Our members in Charlotte, NC got together last Summer to create this blend, ultimately settling on only using Irish Single Pot Still samples (so, whiskeys made from a mash bill of at least 30% malted barley, at least 30% UNMALTED barley, and no more than 5% other grains), and all the samples are ex-sherry cask, with a heavy dose of PX Sherry and a very small — transformative — amount of amontillado sherry cask to bring that some nutty flavors to the mix. 57% abv.
Westward - American Single Malt - Drammers Pick. This distillery is based in Portland, Oregon and is not only our favorite distillery in that city, it's one of the most important American single malt distilleries in the country. Our Portland members selected this single cask, an exceptional version of their flagship, which has huge malty notes. The distillers behind this distillery came from a brewing background, and you can taste that in their whiskies. Bottled at cask strength, as always.
Lost Lantern hand-selected this cask from Wollersheim Distillery in Wisconsin. With roots dating back to the 19th century, the family-owned winery and distillery has revived a long tradition of Wisconsin distilling. This 5-year-old straight bourbon whiskey was made from 66% corn, 22% rye, and 12% malted barley, all locally grown. Natural cask strength, 131.2, 1 of 200 bottles.
We hope you can join us! We'll order in light food (likely pizza, included). Please let us know if you have any questions!
Cheers,
Charlie, Justin and Drammers Club