When the whiskey revolution began, it was all about more.
And not just about more Pappy and more Weller.
It was about learning more, tasting more, finding more, and exploring more. We were thirsty. We wanted to know what else was out there. We spent hours on the internet searching through blogs and message boards to see if anyone had a new secret. We were buying more whiskey than we could drink, simply because we wanted to try as much new stuff as possible.
Today, however, the motivations have changed. The whiskey expansion of the last ten years has overloaded consumers with too many choices, overwhelmed their wallets, and sent them back to the familiar comfort of the classics. Rather than take a chance on something new, many are sticking to what’s tried and true.
Not that you can blame them. The odds of being burnt by a bad bottle are higher than ever because there’s more whiskey out there than ever; the countless one-offs and misguided efforts to capitalize on craft’s big moment have made exploring more perilous.
Ten years ago, we were looking for hidden gems from the past, hoping to find something old and overlooked. Today, we’re sifting through hundreds of young spirits, trying to figure out which new distillers actually know what they’re doing.
Having cut my teeth between 2005-2009, I’m still motivated by a desire for new blood. I still believe that numerous skilled entrepreneurs are making what will ultimately become new classics; the new whiskies that we’ll be seeking out years from now once the rest of the world catches on to their brilliance. If you’re sick of drinking the same Bourbons over and over and you’re looking to branch out from the standard Kentucky fare, let me tell you about the best wheated Bourbon you’ve probably never tried.
Some of the McKenzie Bottled in Bond Wheated Bourbon batches I’ve had from Finger Lakes Distilling in upstate New York would fool just about any Weller fan in a blind tasting. At four and a half years of age and 100 proof, I decided to taste last year’s batch against an open bottle of Weller 107 I had sitting on my counter. Mind you, I’m not one that breaks Bourbon down into commodities, looking to compare apples to apples. I just like having a nice comparison for people when I talk about new products. Tasting it side by side with the industry’s most popular bargain brand, I was mightily impressed.
“It’s taken off like gangbusters for us,” Brian McKenzie told me as we caught up over the phone recently. “We loved the whiskey and we knew it was going to be well-received, but it’s taken off more than we ever could have imagined.” It’s not hard to understand why. At around $55 a bottle, the McKenzie Wheated Bourbon is everything the craft distillation renaissance promised us, but rarely delivered. Using local grains from the New York countryside, the team at Finger Lakes Distilling has put together a mash bill of 70% corn, 20% wheat, and 10% malted barley that absolutely sings with new charred oak, baking spices, and toasted vanilla. “We’ve been making wheated Bourbon for a while,” Brian continued, “but most of it was allocated to single barrel releases. We figured it was time to make it a standard release.”
So why BIB? Why use the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897, a definition meant to protect consumers at that time from adulteration and fraud, to make a craft whiskey in the modern age? “We think Bottled in Bond is a way to help differentiate serious craft producers from others. There aren’t many craft producers out there who have 4 year old Bourbon,” Brian added, noting that a number of small producers release their whiskies while still in their infancy. The BIB requires that a whiskey be the product of a single distillation season, of a single distillery, at 100 proof, and at least 4 years of age, which certainly gives the McKenzie a boost in its authenticity. What’s interesting is that the 100 proof bottling strength is the same potency McKenzie fills its barrels at.
“Our whiskey comes off the column still with the thumper at 130 proof, but we fill our casks at 100,” Brian continued. “We tasted a number of whiskies made in the fifties and sixties from our dusty hunting collection—old Jim Beam and Wild Turkey bottles from that era. From what I understand, they were filling at lower proofs back then.”
Why fill at a lower proof? Brian explained:
“Two things: a higher water content acts as a solvent so far as pulling flavor out of the oak. I don’t think we can scientifically explain exactly what that does, but it pulls out different flavors for sure. The second thing is we use less water to cut when it’s time to proof down for bottling, which means we add hardly any water when it’s time to bottle.”
And what about the New York maturation conditions? Is there a hot and cold contrast between seasons, similar to Kentucky?
“Our aging conditions are similar to Kentucky, but we do heat the rick house in the winter to make sure it gets ample cold and hot fluctuation, as our winters tend to last a bit longer. We’re right on Seneca Lake where there’s a microclimate that gets a little hotter compared to towns further north. It’s the same reason the vineyards around here do well, because they can survive the cold winter with the water helping to keep it temperate. The lake holds the heat from the summer time and the surrounding hills help to trap it.”
With all the care that Brian and his family put into the careful production practices, it’s clear that the wheated Bourbon mash is only one of many factors that contribute to the whiskey’s ultimate flavor. But I eventually asked Brian the same summative question that I knew most consumers would ask me: why does it taste so good? “We pay very close attention to the fermentation process,” he answered, alluding to the sweet and round flavors in the whiskey; “We make sure the conditions are ideal to prevent any negative flavors. That’s a big part of it since we don’t have much temperature control around here.”
Given that we’re still in the midst of the Van Winkle era, the fact that McKenzie is selling a wheated Bourbon recipe certainly helps with marketing and sales, but it’s not the sole reason for the whiskey’s success. There’s simply no substitute for attention to detail, time in the barrel, and a little TLC. Good Bourbon comes from good producers. It tastes good because these guys know what they’re doing. The singularity of a secret recipe is always a sure fire marketing bullet, but the proof is in the pudding.
-David Driscoll