New Heaven Hill Wheater Has Cognac Vibe.

It is in very well-aged wheated bourbons that you can experience why I believe bourbon whiskey evolved more in imitation of cognac than scotch. Without the sharp, grassy notes of rye the new charred barrel reigns supreme and it is almost possible to forget you are drinking whiskey and not brandy.

You can taste this for yourself if you are lucky enough to snag a bottle of Heaven Hill’s upcoming limited edition, cask strength, non-chilled filtered, 10-year-old wheated bourbon. That is this year’s Parker’s Heritage Collection release, which should start to appear in stores next month. But it won't be there long. There will be fewer than 5,000 bottles available. The suggested retail is $79.99.

Here are my tasting notes for the first of what will be two batches. The first one is 63.9 percent alcohol (127.8° proof).

Undiluted I get red raspberry on the nose and very dark molasses on the palate. Diluted I get caramel and vanilla on both, also old oak on the nose and on the palate very light notes of mint, oregano, and teriyaki sauce.

Especially when diluted it is all wheater, with caramel and vanilla dominating, though at times the caramel slips away and pancake syrup sweetness takes over. Undiluted it is very rich and intense. More licorice comes through, especially on the finish.

That’s what I think. Here is what Parker Beam has to say about his latest creation: “I am genuinely excited to introduce a nicely aged, cask-strength wheated bourbon for this next version of my Parker’s Heritage Collection. At this age and barrel-proof is how a wheated bourbon shows best. It has the caramel and smoke notes that only ten years in the top floors of our rickhouses can produce.”

Parker loves those top floors. That’s why this whiskey bears little resemblance to any other 10+ year old wheater you know. This is also some of the oldest wheated bourbon made at the Bernheim Distillery in Louisville since Heaven Hill took it over in 1999. The second batch, in fact, is not quite old enough and won’t be dumped until next month.

Not that $80 is cheap, but this year is more in line with the first Parker’s Heritage Collection releases in 2007. Prices for 2008 and 2009 were $200 and $150 respectively.

Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition Coming In September.

It’s hard to make money writing about whiskey but there are other benefits. I get lots of free samples for one. What’s more, I get lots of very good free samples, like advance tastes of limited releases.

While they are all great and I hope they never stop coming, some excite me more than others. Only a few invariably get tasted right away.

At the top of that list is Four Roses.

When a box arrives from Bandy Carroll Hellige (Four Roses’ ad agency) I can’t wait to get it open. Today it contained a tiny (100 ml) bottle of the 2010 Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition, which is scheduled for a September release of 3,600 bottles.

Four Roses, you see, has a unique advantage over other distilleries when it comes to limited editions. It is the only distillery that makes ten different bourbon recipes and because it makes them year in and year out, its warehouses contain all ten whiskeys at every possible age from newborn to double-digits.

The possibilities are endless.

In the USA, Four Roses has three platforms: (1) standard, a mixture of all 10 recipes; (2) small batch, a mixture of two to four recipes; and (3) single barrel, by definition a single recipe.

Each spring Four Roses issues a limited edition from the single barrel platform and each fall it issues one from the small batch platform.

Finally, for full geeky pleasure, the ten recipes have names, sort of, a sequence of four letters. To find out what it all means go here.

This fall’s small batch will be a mixture of three bourbons, a 15-year-old OBSV, an 11-year-old OBSK, and a 10-year-old OESK. It’s bottled uncut and unfiltered, so 110° proof (55% alcohol).

The nose is about what you would expect with tobacco-ey wood notes. I was surprised, therefore, that the taste starts out fresh and fruity, with citrus, raspberry, honey, and oak. Then came the dark caramel and molasses, syrupy and just slightly bitter. The finish, also slightly bitter, is very rich and long.

Every mixture of bourbons from the Four Roses vaults is interesting, but this is one of the more successful purely for drinking. To the extent they use these limited editions to test candidates for future regular-issue products, this would be a good one to consider.

Woodford Seasoned Oak Finish Out November 1.

Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection Seasoned Oak Finish will be released on November 1. I told you about this limited edition bottling here, but with the official launch comes a press release. Here are some excerpts:

It is the fourth in the series of limited edition bottlings and continues Woodford Reserve’s tradition of crafting rare whiskeys that extend the category in bold new directions.

Seasoned Oak Finish features bourbon finish-aged in unique barrels crafted with wood that has been seasoned longer than any previously used in the industry.

"Of all the distillers in our industry, we are the only bourbon company that crafts its own barrels, giving us unique knowledge and control of the process," said Woodford Reserve Master Distiller Chris Morris. "As the rough oak staves are exposed to seasonal weather changes and subsequently dried, this natural cycle develops a new range of flavors in the wood."

This seasoning progression changes the wood by reducing tannins and ultimately creates a new range of flavor compounds. The staves for most bourbon barrels are seasoned for three to five months; however, Seasoned Oak Finish combines fully-matured Woodford Reserve with barrels crafted from wood that has been exposed to the outdoors for three to five years -- the longest seasoning known in the bourbon industry.

Released periodically at the master distiller’s discretion, the Master’s Collection whiskeys are extremely limited in quantity and bottled only once in a proprietary package inspired by the copper pot stills of The Woodford Reserve Distillery.

Woodford Reserve Seasoned Oak Finish will be sold in 44 U.S. markets, and a limited quantity will be available in Canada, the United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, New Zealand and Australia. Each bottle is individually hand-numbered and presented at 100.4 proof. Available in major metro markets, only 1,337 cases are available with a suggested retail price of $89.99 for a 750ml bottle.

We preview the 2009 Four Roses Single Barrel Limited Edition.

'Challenging,' like 'interesting,' is commonly used as a backhanded compliment to describe something of dubious merit which the observer is unprepared to condemn outright. Heavily-peated single malts often receive one or both of those assessments.

But 'challenging' also can mean a creation that requires extra effort from the reader or viewer or, in our case, drinker, an effort which ultimately is rewarded.

Four Roses Bourbon is notable, in its standard expressions, for its exceptional balance, which makes it easy to enjoy. But Four Roses also has had an aggressive limited release program and some of those whiskeys have been challenging, though usually in the good way.

That is the case with the 2009 single barrel limited edition, which won’t be in stores until June.

I got a preview.

The Four Roses Single Barrel Limited Edition 2009 Release will be uncut and not chill filtered. The distillery will be able to produce up to 1,800 bottles, from the super select barrels, that will be distributed in select U.S. markets.

Master Distiller Jim Rutledge specially selected the sophisticated 11-year-old whiskey from among the 10 bourbon recipes the distillery produces.

"We’re excited to continue the tradition of releasing an exceptional, and very unique single barrel limited edition that consists of one recipe we feel exhibits various combinations of flavors and aromas pleasing to any Bourbon enthusiast," said Rutledge.

What makes this release challenging is an unusual bite that persists in the aftertaste. It still has the complex but balanced flavor profile for which Four Roses is famous, but with an edge. I taste citrus, licorice, honey, and wheatgrass, all improbably rolled into one.

This is not a starter bourbon, but most experienced bourbon drinkers should appreciate it.

These releases are very small and typically sell out quickly. The price point will be a little higher than the standard Four Roses Single Barrel, which sells for about $40 a bottle. If you’re interested, it is not too early to alert your favorite whiskey monger and ask them to reserve a bottle for you.

Four Roses is now available in almost 20 U.S. states, and will continue expansion in other markets throughout 2009.

Call It Belated Birthday Bourbon.

Old Forester Birthday Bourbon is one of those great, annual, limited-edition bottlings that are so popular with hard-core bourbon enthusiasts.

The birthday is that of Old Forester and Brown-Forman founder George Garvin Brown, who was born on September 2. That's usually when the new edition is released. This year, Brown-Forman released their Old Forester Repeal Bourbon on Brown's birthday and said Birthday Bourbon would be out a little later.

It's now a lot later, we're running out of 2008, and still no 2008 release.

I did some digging and here's what's up.

Old Forester Birthday Bourbon comes in a special bottle and that supplier went out of business. Brown-Forman found a new bottle and it is similar but not the same, so when they put it on the bottling line it had some problems. Those problems finally have been resolved and the product is now being bottled. Obviously, that means they will miss the holiday season completely.

Jim Beam also had some "glass problems" recently with their new rye whiskey. It happens.

Being that this is an enthusiast product, people will want to know if this means the whiskey is going to be different. The answer is no. The particular batch of Old Forester selected for the 2008 release was actually chosen about a year ago (I helped). When they couldn't bottle it at the intended time, they dumped the barrels anyway and tanked the whiskey in stainless steel, so it will be the whiskey it was supposed to be.

Look for it after the new year.

Coming Soon, Another Limited Edition from Four Roses.

Gentlemen and Ladies, start your engines. Or start salivating. Whatever. Here comes the next Four Roses Limited Edition.

In April, just in time for the Kentucky Derby, Four Roses will release another limited edition bourbon. It is to honor the brand's founding 120 years ago. It will be barrel strength again, single barrel and in the single barrel bottle, very similar to the Rutledge 40th Anniversary edition in that respect. This is a 12-year-old and non-chill filtered. Proofs will range from 103 to 116. There will be approximately 3,000 bottles produced.

I've had a sample and it's very unusual, with very bright fruit flavors. My main thought was of the homemade raspberry preserves a friend of mine's mom makes, maybe even pomegranate. I haven't talked to Jim Rutledge about it, but my impression is that he set out to find something a bit different. Don't even think about stashing this in the bunker. You really have to drink it.

Although they haven't said so per se, I suspect this will be an annual thing, at least as long as they continue to be successful. The last one sold out quickly and generated a lot of buzz.

The 40th was primarily sold in Kentucky, with a little bit going to New York. This one will be in Kentucky, New York, New Jersey, Tennessee and Illinois.

Suggested retail is $69 to $100, depending on the market, probably cheapest in Kentucky and Tennessee, most expensive in NYC. That's a bit more than last fall's Rutledge 40th. The standard Four Roses Single Barrel sells for about $35 a bottle, so they basically double it for the limited editions.

Also, here's good news for those of you just dying to get your hands on any Four Roses bourbons. Although I don't know which ones, they expect to have distribution in 15 more states by the end of 2008, bringing the total to 20.