By Joe Bargmann | Feb/March 10 | Talk of the South

The Bourbon Renaissance

Kentucky's finest has never tasted better

The King
Pappy Van Winkle 15-Year-Old, $60

Backstory
The Van Winkle family presides over this coveted, limited-production label, founded by Julian “Pappy” Van Winkle, Sr., in 1935. The 23-year-old costs well in excess of $200, but I actually prefer the 15-year-old, partly for economic reasons but mostly because the stuff is liquid dynamite.

Taste test
Pappy 15 filled my mouth with a dazzling array of lingering flavors—molasses, charred oak, orange zest, caramel. The not-so-secret ingredient is wheat. “At fifteen years, this batch picks up some of the wood from the barrel, but the wheat tends to cue the lighter, toastier notes,” explains Preston Van Winkle, the great-grandson of Julian Sr. As my friend put it, “This is what all bourbon should taste like.” My response: “I only wish!”

How to drink it
One ice cube, two max, and only spring-water ice, just like my pappy taught me.

The Princess
Four Roses Single Barrel, $39

Backstory
More than a hundred years old, this historic brand has enjoyed huge popularity outside the United States—particularly in Asia and Europe. Its reintroduction to the domestic market started in 2002, and the sublime Single Barrel is now available in more than twenty states.

Taste test
My friend was onto something when he pegged Four Roses as tasting a bit like Scotch: Master distiller Jim Rutledge told me that the mash bill consists of 60 percent corn, 35 percent rye, and 5 percent malted barley. “The high rye content makes it lighter-tasting than most bourbons,” he said. “The yeast we use for the Single Barrel creates a delicate, fruity flavor.” But while light on the palate, the stuff is 100 proof and kicks like a mule.

How to drink it
On the rocks, with a splash of sparkling water and a lemon twist to complement the bourbon’s natural fruitiness.

The Workhorse
Blanton's Single Barrel Bourbon, $49

Backstory
Blanton’s claims to be the first commercial single-barrel bourbon, which is fine by me, because it sets a high standard. It was introduced in 1984, but the label’s namesake is Colonel Albert Bacon Blanton, one of the leading figures in the evolution of bourbon during the early 1900s.

Taste test
Blanton’s is aged in the only steam-heated bourbon warehouse in the world, which leads to its deep, concentrated flavors. Dry and delicate on the first sip, the bourbon grows in richness as it sits on the tongue, and there’s a sweet background note, like toffee or caramel, that balances out the dryness.

How to drink it
While its costliness might recommend it as a sipping whiskey, I think Blanton’s makes a killer manhattan. The sweet vermouth counters the dryness, and the bitters seem to draw out the bourbon’s hidden citrus flavors.

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Yankee Whiskey?
Bourbon finds a home up north

Contrary to popular belief, bourbon needs only to be produced in the United States—not just Kentucky—to legally bear the name. (The other criteria include storage in new charred oak barrels and a recipe of no less than 51 percent corn.) A little company called Tuthilltown Spirits in Gardiner, New York, seized on this loophole a few years back and with stereotypical impatience began producing Hudson Baby Bourbon Whiskey ($40; 375 ml bottle), a 100-percent-corn mash bottled young, at no more than two years. “It’s not overwhelming, which it might be if it sat on the oak for a long time,” says Ralph Erenzo, a partner in the distillery. “Frankly, we don’t give a damn about the age of the whiskey. Does it taste good, look good, and feel good in your mouth and on your throat? That’s all that matters to us.” He sounds like a typical cocky New Yorker—but damned if he isn’t justified for being that way, having made a sweet sippin’ whiskey far from the place that bourbon was born.