NIGHTCAP: March
Welcome to our monthly roundup of things that caught our attention. This, is Nightcap : March.
The parties kept on rolling here in New Orleans, we went from completing Mardi Gras, and moved right into the New Orleans Bourbon Festival. This column will be heavy on Bourbon Festival content at the bottom, but will also have the usual snark n’ sass and whiskey things that might only interest me.
We survived. We did it by hydrating, and feeding the mouth hole.
STUFF-
Suntory Global Spirits (just rolls off the tongue doesn’t it?) is releasing a limited edition Old Grand Dad 7yr bottled-in-bond. No word yet on pricing. Take my monies please. What’s the under/over on complaints about pricing? I’m predicting $50-70 on this one. Hoping it’s less, as Turkey 101 8yr was also just announced at $45.
Old Tub will likely end up back as a distillery only release. Act accordingly. I love this bottle, and it’s my girls only thing she’ll drink (lucky for my wallet!), but it’s always been a weird release for a brand as big as Jim Beam, errrrr Suntory Global Spirits. While it is a historic brand, (click the link to read on their own website), it was pre-prohibition and didn’t return after repeal day, when Jim Beam became the brand that grew to be world famous.
This was likely always intended to be a limited edition wide release, but I’ll wager it did well enough to stick around, until it won’t. The price is so favorable to the consumer, it doesn’t really fit well in the overall portfolio, and if you’re a company, do you really throw your marketing muscle around on a $22 bottle? No, you primarily ignore it and watch it die. I’d expect a return to where it started, a nice gift shop pick up to commemorate your trip to Clermont. If you live in Kentucky, please remember us poor souls down the river….
I shit you not, Stellum is back? from the ashes, and holy crap, they are putting out an actual Mullets labeled release. For those of you that don’t know, when Stellum first came out, a lot of people did videos about it, and yes, Sunday Night Fights with yours truly and Chris were among them, sharp eyed folks noticed that the videos had mirror effects and it showed MULLETS instead of STELLUM. Bravo, Barrell. Bravo.
Old Overholt 12yr is coming this year, soon, and it’s the third in their annual limited release cask strength offering. Word is, this was the best of the three, act accordingly. Beam gift shop people, you know it will hit there early.
Old Sport from Old Carter, coming to you soon.
IN DISAPPOINTING CELEBRITY WHISKEY NEWS-
Just gonna link this here without commentary, which as you very well know IS a form of commentary.
There’s a Dominique Wilkins whiskey coming out….. who is Dominique Wilkins? A basketball player that last played in 1999. JFC.
AC/DC is releasing a whiskey. I’d throw snark, but I like the band, awww hell, it’s another cash grab and there’s no playing nice about it.
Steph Curry did his day job and celebrated with another limited edition whiskey to commemorate the fact that he did his job. $333 because you know, he sinks a lot of threes, which if you buy this bottle, will also sink a lot of threes.
SOME SNARK FOR FUNS-
Canada put their elbows up, and Brown Forman had an emo-cry-cry about it.
People that say that Redwood Empire is too expensive are not to be listened to, especially because they were probably Blue Run chasers.
Green River is another company that values their people. I almost knocked myself out with my eyes rolling back inside my head while I typed that.
Heaven Hill released Five Brothers. 5yr bourbon, 90 proof, $107. And they don’t have enough bourbon to return the age statement to Fighting Cock? This is a suckers buy at that price.
You meet some very cool people at the New Orleans Bourbon Festival. No, not me, her.
NEW ORLEANS BOURBON FESTIVAL STUFF-
The New Orleans Bourbon Festival is likely one of the most disorganized festivals around, but once again, they managed to put on a terrific event. As much grief as I give the organizers, and they deserve most of it, they really do love the event, and the people visiting. They work hard to pull it off and frankly the party and the people keeps me coming back year after year. I cannot wait until next year already. Here’s some things from that week-
It was fascinating listening to so many brands painting a rosy picture about the health of the industry. It was almost defiant in nature. Pressing them further, many acknowledged that the big brands were going to feel it (especially with tariffs uncertainty) but that this was going to be good for consumers (I am not certain this is the case) and that (insert small brand name here), they were doing well.
A brand I shall not mention said they were up 24% over last year so far and were continuing to grow. I specifically asked Redwood Empire if they were doing ok with all the things happening, and Lauren Patz said, “well, we did just buy a distillery.” Fair point, and I wonder if we’ve all gotten a little caught up in the hype of the bubble bursting.
I do believe we will see more age statements returning, or plussing, at higher prices of course, and contraction. Also, successful distilleries don’t just lay off 30% of their workforce, but could this just be a dip, and could bourbon boom again? With Beam down 200,000 cases of white label over last year, that’s money that has to be made up somewhere and will be made up with more premium releases or increased prices for the consumer. Marketing reductions are definitely having an impact and are giving smaller brands oxygen to grow.
I asked several distilleries how they were doing, and they all said similar things. Why am I left feeling like this is anecdotal? Well, these were the brands doing well enough to afford to be at the festival. Several brands that have been here in the past were not here this year. So maybe not everyone is doing well. Time will tell, and I hope people come out of this dip ok.
Why am I the only angry dude in the photo?
SOME THINGS I NOTICED DURING THE FESTIVAL-
Big brand participation was different outside of Four Roses who still takes the festival experience seriously, and rewards folks who come to their booth with swag, and plenty of their Limited Edition to share.
Sazerac had an expanded booth at the festival and they had Taylor Small batch, Taylor Single Barrel Bourbon, Taylor Rye, Weller Green Label, Weller Orange label, Blanton’s, Eagle Rare, 1792 Single and Small Batch, Thomas S. Moore and for whatever strange reason a plastic handle of Tom Moore.
The crazy thing is, at the end of the tasting Friday night, they still had pours available of all of them except the Orange Label and Taylor Single Barrel. Saturday night at closing you still could’ve had almost all of the offerings. It was fascinating to see and while I can only speculate here, perhaps SazCo has lost the mindshare of the festival whiskey nerds?
On the other hand, while I’m not one of the people that judges a festival based on how many allocated bottles brands pour at the grand tastings, some do. I don’t chase them down (unless Sazerac 18 is being poured) because I personally prefer to engage with smaller brands at festivals, but it seems as if some portion of the VIP ticket holders try to get their money’s worth in allocated pours. That’s a pity, as they sloppily miss a lot of very cool things.
Heaven Hill brought one bottle of the Heritage 19yr for each night of the tasting, both were gone in less than 8 minutes after the doors opened. Then all they had left were the grain to glass nonsense. They used to bring at least some Elijah Craig 18yr but nope, that was it. Dead booth much of the night, even with the incredible Bernie Lubbers being there.
There were more “booth people” this year than I can ever remember. Marketing agency staffing isn’t the same as having actual knowledgable brand reps at the booths. This festival does tend to attract a nerdy crowd that has nerdy questions.
Preservation “distillery” was there, and they seemed a bit too knowledgeable, so I asked if they actually did work for Preservation or an agency, and they did in fact work for Preservation. Their new brand revival of Cock of the Walk is pretty good and their rep knew all about the history of the label too. Well done. Speaking quickly on Cock of the Walk, the label looks like it was laser jetted on a printer from the 90’s, but at least it kept the look of the original, which was likely laser jetted in the 90’s.
I don’t enjoy old fashioned’s. This is not that. I enjoyed this. I can see enjoying this too much on a hot day.
Penelope showcasing Peach Old Fashioned was a bold move for a festival. I posted a picture of it in Instagram stories before the grand tasting began, and my DM’s blew up asking how it was. Let me tell you there are a lot of whiskey snobs that secretly enjoy RTD’s. At the end of the tasting, the amount of Peach corks they had stacked up was hilarious. Remember, Blanton’s had leftover, and Penelope went through MULTIPLES of these. I’m convinced that there isn’t any better marketing and sales team on the ground that is doing what Penelope is. It was a highlight of the festival for me personally and their booth space was really well thought out.
Jim Beam (sorry, say it with me folks, Suntory Global Spirits) didn’t even bother to come to the festival. Not even any local marketing agency participation at all. What a disappointment from my favorite major distillery. Not that long ago they had their highball stand as well as their pours, and even a seminar with Bobby. Last year it was a table with their standard lineup in a sad corner. This year? Donuts. I know Suntory Global Spirits (this is so dumb) spends a great deal of their time and capital at Tales of the Cocktail (and their events are among my favorite every year), but to just not be here? Inexcusable.
Wild Turkey was also notably absent which is just a goofy move considering the return of the 8yr age stated Turkey 101, this would’ve been the showcase event to show it off! So many influencers come to this event. A real missed opportunity for Turkey.
Jack Daniel’s took the week off as well. Oddly Jack was absent, but portfolio mate Old Forester was present, with booth people happily pouring nothing special, so maybe it’s best Jack was playing putt putt somewhere being the lifestyle brand they are.
Redwood Empire Haystack Bourbon was spectacular. While I think the rye is better personally, I had a pour on two nights and it was top 3 of things I had all weekend. Also, Lauren Patz is a national treasure.
A good old time hockey, Still Austin distillery only FLEX. These insaniacs made a Kentucky Style Rye, in TEXAS.
Still Austin stole the show for me, no they didn’t pour Tanager at the grand tasting, but they sure as hell had their distillery only rye, which was the pour of the festival in my opinion.
Barrell is still doing great work, their double oak was excellent, and even though I can get it in lots of places, I still had a pour of Seagrass, because it’s just that good after all this time. I”m glad they’re still around, somehow.
OTHER THINGS FESTIVAL RELATED-
I wanted to talk to Sara from It’s Bourbon Night about some Youtube questions I have, but everyone was talking to her so I left her alone the two times I saw her outside of the festival having food. I think it’s best to give people space when they’re “off the clock.”
Dark Arts was the darling of the festival this year, winning a ton of awards, and preventing Silverback Distillery from three-peating on Best in Show. Their cemetery/ghost tour was a wild hit, and next year they might be doing two of these?
RY3’s new cigar series is going to be a box office smash!
Brands have got to figure out the seminars. They can’t all pour their entire freaking portfolio and expect people to survive or not waste the whiskey. The seminars start at 10am and it’s absurd to expect folks to taste through your portfolio. My recommendation is to bring TWO things to try during the seminar, which is PLENTY for 1 hour.
I’d bring one standard you want folks to know about, and 1 special or legacy thing that you won’t have at the booth later, as a reason to show up. Invite them to visit your booth at the grand tasting to try everything else. Old Carter gave people a reason to show up, they poured Kentucky Owl Bourbon batch 2. Which I didn’t know about….
A Mark moment.
Old Carter’s new label Old Sport Straight American Whiskey was very delicious and I think will appeal to a lot of people.
Speaking of Old Carter I had an important moment that matters to me personally. I missed the Old Carter seminar (I’m not “off the clock” until the Grand Tastings) where Mark had poured Kentucky Owl Batch 2 Bourbon.I didn’t even know this had happened so I didn’t have any feelings of FML.. I ran into Mark at the Grand Tasting and he pulled the bottle out of his bag and poured some for me. Now, Kentucky Owl was a brand that I had a deep connection to, it really changed my understanding of whiskey and gave me the opportunity to revive the passion I have for it the way that Willett and the defunct Black Maple Hill had. Batch 2 bourbon was one I’ve never tasted, and here it was, in my glass and dammit if I didn’t have the Ratatouille moment.
Influencer seminars are not the slam dunk organizers think they are. Some very loud influencers had what anyone would consider to be light attendance. Also, influencer marketing is also not the value they tell you it is, especially when they recycle their video year after year with slight modifications. They think we don’t notice, but we DO in fact notice because we are that guy.
This label is so kick ass. So is what’s inside it.
MORE STUFF-
Pinhook’s vertical series has been extended to 16 years from the originally intended 12. The series 9 Tiz Rye Time vertical is about to come out, and it’s been blended for approachability. It’s probably gonna win some awards, accolades, and be lauded as awesome. It’s probably going to be frequently described as a “bourbon drinkers rye.” I hate that description. Why don’t we change “high-rye bourbon” into Rye Drinkers Bourbon? It’s dumb when you think about it.
Shameless self promotion - Our single barrel pick of Tiz Rye Time (1 of 10 in the country) is landing now in Louisiana, and according to Bryan, it might be our best pick yet. I’ll report back, because we are about to taste the vertical single barrel picks to date. It is most definitely not a “bourbon drinkers Rye” this is a die hard Rye, for RYE fans.
Pay attention to Chicken Cock. This brand is growing, is transparent about their history and has a deep historic connection to New Orleans. It is also, and I quote, “smooth as a bitch.”
I say this a lot, but I’ll say it once more- Proof and Wood are quietly turning out some of the very best sourced whiskey in these United States. If you haven’t been paying attention, now is the time to do so.
IN LOCAL NEWS THAT MIGHT ONLY INTEREST ME-
Local favorite mediterranean food joint Byblos is part of a quarterly fund raising raffle. Tickets are $50 and they go to a very good cause. Click here to learn more or buy tickets.
The Michelin Guide will finally be coming to New Orleans this year, and you can expect some stars to be awarded. While there will be obvious stars doled out, August, Brennan’s, Emeril’s… I want to go on record that Dakar is better than any of them. If they don’t get a star, or two, or three, Michelin is invited to go stuff itself. Also, Jewel of the South better win one too. I also predict MaMou will win one.
New Orleans’ very own Seven-Three Distilling won best small batch at the New Orleans Bourbon Festival. I know for a fact that the competition was tough, and they brought home the W. Big congratulations to a local place that’s doing BIG work.
SOMETHING I LEARNED ABOUT MYSELF-
I’m just not built for day drinking. At all. Mardi Gras sealed what I’ve kinda known for a long while. Drinking a frozen Irish coffee at 7am, followed by a 17yr cask strength Rye at 730am, and 3 fills of Baker’s high-rye before 11am is not what my body prefers. Now, it did help me with when a plastic sports bottle hit me on the head (I only thought I was bleeding for 4.2 seconds), and then took a Nerf football to the beak not even ten minutes later. All this without food. Arriving at the Will and the Way at 1130am for a burger, fries, and two cocktails only led us to more ruin by ending up at Bar Tonique for one more cocktail. By 1:44pm I was done making pour decisions, and then made an actual poor decision. I was going to walk 3.5 more miles to get picked up. All told, day drinking caused me to walk 11.5 miles total, take an hour nap when I got home, only to go to bed 5 hours later and sleep through the night. Mardi Gras man, Mardi Gras.
SECONDARY MADNESS-
A very interesting story on how one guy was arrested for illegally selling almost 2,000 bottles of rare liquor to ONE store in Kentucky in ONE year.
Tanager continues to command stupid money on secondary. While it’s an exceptional release, there’s no way it’s worth $400+. No shade towards Still Austin. Definite shade to the dumb dumbs paying this kind of scratch for it.
Speaking of clowns spending clown money. The new Bomberger’s PFG (which Matt said tasted rancid, and I didn’t like one bit) is commanding $500+ on secondary. Dumb money continues doing dumb money things while the rest of us giggle.
Bookers continues its ascent on secondary. The long overlooked Kathleen’s Batch is no longer overlooked. Bluegill is also taking off.
There are five current listings of Four Roses Al Young bottles on Unicorn Auctions. It’ll be interesting to see if this cannibalizes the price in any way (it will).
That’s it for this month, thank you so much for joining us for Nightcap: March. We’re going to be doing some deep dives on some interesting things this month, so expect to see some more posts shortly, both on IG and here. Cheers!
- Mickey Pinstripe