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[UPDATE: PLEASE NOTE WE ARE SOLD OUT OF SET A, BUT SET B IS AVAILABLE]
Fellow Drammers!
We are very excited to welcome Woodford's master distiller Chris Morris this Friday, and we'll be drinking nearly their entire range of products. Chris first joined Brown-Forman back in 1976 as a trainee in their central lab, and rose through the ranks, understudying Woodford's first master distiller Lincoln Henderson starting in 1997, and eventually succeeding him as master distiller in 2003. He has pioneered the bulk of the innovation at Woodford, including starting their Master's Collection series, which we'll be exploring in depth on Friday. As previously noted, on top of 5 of their Master's Collection bottlings, we also secured one bottle of their highest-end release ever -- the Woodford Reserve Baccarat edition, which was released last May with an MSRP of $1,500/bottle. As of this writing there are 8 spots left if you want the set that includes this bottle, which is SET A on the website (and another 19 spots for SET B which includes 3 Master's Collection samples not included in SET A).
Here's our lineup for Friday:
- Baccarat Edition -
This was a limited edition available only at Travel Retail and released in May 2019. They basically bill it as including the best juice they find from their thousands of barrels, and then finishing that bourbon in select XO Cognac barrels sourced by our guest speaker, Master Distiller Chris Morris. The XO barrels all matured the XO Cognac for at least 3 years before they were filled with Woodford Reserve. If you search online you'll see the reviews for this have generally been very positive. Hard to imagine that many if any of us will ever get another chance to try this. 45.2% abv. (This pour is included in SET A only). Please note that it is expected to arrive in NYC tomorrow or Wednesday (it had gotten to London by last Wednesday), but of course with this COVID situation, it's possible it will not arrive in time to distribute for the tasting, if that happens I'll send it with the next batch.
- Master's Collection: Sonoma-Cutrer Finish -
While the folks in SET A are tasting the Baccarat, the folks in SET B will get to try this one-off Woodford finished in Sonoma-Cutrer pinot noir barrels, this was I believe only the 2nd release in the Master's Collection edition (a little fuzzy on the release date, possibly 2007, but in any case certainly long since unavailable). Like all of the Woodford releases, it doesn't carry an age statement, but some online sources indicate that it is was matured approximately 7 years in new oak before finishing for another 10 months in wine barrels. With a mashbill of 72% corn, 18% rye and 10% malted barley. Woodford clearly had an early interest in this type of finishing, releasing a different Sonoma Chardonnay-finished bourbon back in 2007. The reviews indicate this is a cherry bomb, and that the red fruit notes turn to grape on the finish. Triple-distilled in pot stills. Should be very interesting to try. 45.2% abv. (SET B only).
- Master's Collection: Maple Oak -
Released in late 2010, this was the 5 in the Master's Collection series, following the Four Grain, Sonoma-Cutrer (above), Sweet Mash, and Seasoned Oak (below). Very interesting experiment -- sugar maple oak being very difficult to make barrels out of, and more akin to the Lincoln County process associated with Tennessee whiskey (there they push the whiskey through charred maple). Apparently this goes to the theory behind the Master's Collection, that every 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." Only 1,676 cases ever shipped of this. This is the European release of the bottle, which may account for its slightly higher abv of 47.2% vs. the usual 45.2% in the US. (SET A only). 47.2% abv.
- Master's Collection: Classic Malt -
This was released in 2013 as part of a 2-part experiment the Straight Malt being the other one, both of which were 100% malted barley whiskies (in sharp contrast to the straight malt whiskey they settled on adding to their core range in 2018 (see below). This was aged in "used cooperage", akin to its more scotchy brethren across the Atlantic (in contrast, the sister release Straight Malt was in new oak casks). 45.2% abv. (SET B only)
- Master's Collection: Seasoned Oak -
The fourth in the Master's Collection series, released in 2009, the experiment here is that it was finished in barrels made with staves that have been seasoned 3 to 5 years, which according to the reviews had a big impact (we'll want to confirm with Chris, but I believe normally their core range products are aged in barrels seasoned only 3 to 5 months). Once again, this is the EU release of the bottle of 70cl, and bottled at 50.2% abv. (SET A only).
- Master's Collection: Batch Proof -
The only recent release from Woodford's Master's Collection in our lineup, this was first released in 2018. Basically this is akin to the first "cask strength" release from Woodford, but rather than single casks, as far as I can tell they're putting together a batch just like they would for their flagship bourbon, but and then not diluting it at all, so this one comes in at 123.2 proof, instead of their trademark 45.2% abv. I included this in the lineup over some of the more experimental releases they've done in part because I wanted to use this to have a discussion with Chris about his and Woodford's views on proof generally, as some have written online that they have been resistant to higher-proof releases in the past, so this was a rare opportunity to try the exception as far as Woodfords go. (SET B only).
Both sets will include:
- Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Wheat Whiskey -
I suspect a bunch of you didn't even know that Woodford Reserve made wheat whiskey! It was first released last year (July 2019) and contains 4 grains in the mashbill (52% wheat, 20% malted barley, 20% corn, 8% rye). We'll have to ask Chris how he settled on that recipe, and did they consider going for a bigger mashbill (Heaven Hill's Old Bernheim went a similar route with 51% wheat, so presumably it's because wheat is a mild grain on the flavor palate). Really a bold move from Woodford, since most would think of this as an experiment you're more likely to see from the craft space. We'll be drinking batch no. 12.
- Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Malt Whiskey -
This one was released in June 2018 (I'm writing these in reverse-order of their release only because I find the latter ones more unusual and interesting, and presumably the reverse is true -- that they chose this order of getting to all 4 categories of straight American whiskey in order of the one's with the largest market interest (rye) to the more obscure (wheat). The mashbill here is particularly interesting: 51% malted barley, 47% corn, 2% rye, so a MUCH higher corn ratio to the rye and wheat whiskies. Obviously this is worlds apart from the 100% single malt American whiskies that are the rage now, so again Woodford here is bucking the trend (despite having experimented with the single malt variety themselves, such as the 100% classic malt from 2013 noted above. 45.2% abv.
- Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey -
First released in February 2015, at the time a rare product extension into one of the 4 categories of straight American whiskey defined in 1935 (they would later complete the collection with the Wheat whiskey noted above). They had released a couple of ryes in the Master's Collection series back in 2011, so this was clearly a recipe they had been working on for a while before settling on what we'll be drinking: 53% rye, 33% corn, 14% malted barley. An interesting thing to think about here is that apparently after the 1996 distillery fire, Heaven Hill produced their Rittenhouse Rye at Brown Forman until 2008 when they moved it back to Bernheim, so Brown-Forman generally had a lot of experience making an iconic rye before launching their own (I believe the WR recipe is slightly higher in rye and barley vs. the rittenhouse).
- Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey -
Ok, I know this email has gotten insanely long already, so I'll keep this short. We all know it and I'm sure most of us love it, this is their flagship, 72% corn, 18% rye, 10% malted barley, released at 45.2% abv. We'll definitely want to see how Chris thinks of this in the context of the long history of making bourbon at the site of their distillery.
- Barrel Finish Select: Double Oaked -
(Straight bourbon finished in a 2nd oak barrel, the latter being heavily toasted). First released in February 2012, at the time it was surprising that the 2nd barrel here was a new charred oak barrel (most of the double oaked releases at the time were used oak for the finish). 45.2% abv.
What a lineup, and what a great way to explore the extraordinary history that Woodford Reserve represents in the industry. As noted in my earlier email, although Woodford was only introduced as a brand in 1996, the distillery has one of the richest and oldest histories in the world of bourbon -- Elijah Pepper established the location and distilling began on the site back in 1812. The main structure of the current site was built in 1838, which makes it one of the oldest standing distilleries in Kentucky today. At the time, Dr. James Crow (one of the most impactful people in the history of bourbon) worked there, improving and codifying the process for sour mash fermentation, pot distillation and barrel maturation.
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