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When my brother was tasked with bringing some bourbon for a current household gathering, the workers at an area franchise of a significant retailer prompt McFarlane’s Reserve as an inexpensive Weller different. Simply now your thoughts could have come to a screeching halt as mine did; maybe as a result of its fairly daring, and to some, probably blasphemous, endorsement.
When you have by no means heard of this $21 bottle, you aren’t alone, because it has solely been launched throughout the final 12 months and is bottled and distributed by IJW Whiskey Firm, equally obscure and unknown within the spirits world. (Public information point out that the model McFarlane’s Reserve was trademarked in April 2020). Little or no is definitely identified in any other case, and speculations embrace its origins as a non-public fairness firm seeking to dive into the still-booming bourbon market by sourcing from a Kentucky producer. If true, it wouldn’t be unparalleled.
The wager throughout the Drinkhacker camp is that it’s Bower Hill distillate. Listed here are some clues: Bower Hill is called and impressed by the “Battle of Bower Hill,” which is the primary battle of the Whiskey Revolt in 1794. And the origin story of McFarlane’s Reserve is uncannily tied to this battle as effectively, as proudly described on its fairly sparsely populated web site:
In 1791, President George Washington signed the “Whiskey Tax” into legislation and appointed Basic John Neville because the collector of the revenues.
Within the Summer time of 1794, Main James McFarlane and his band of Whiskey Rebels, descended on Bower Hill, Basic Neville’s majestic west Pennsylvanian property, in protest of the tax. On the second day of the standoff, a white flag was waved from Neville’s mansion, and McFarlane, assuming the federal government had surrendered, stepped out within the open and was shot lifeless. McFarlane’s dying additional radicalized the resistance, inciting further violent clashes with the federal government, which finally quelled the Whiskey Revolt within the fall of 1794. McFarlane’s courageous stand, nonetheless, is a long-lasting tribute to American ardour and our intimate and storied historical past with our native spirit.
If one is but to be satisfied of the Bower Hill connection, how about one of many featured cocktails recipes named the Bower Hill Boulevardier?
Anyway, let’s put forensic curiosity to the facet and pop this open:
After letting the bottle settle a bit after opening, the nostril is brilliant and candy with a touch of cinnamon-driven warmth. There may be additionally pronounced astringency that often cuts by some very delicate apple pie baking spices. The palate is a barrage of cola sweetness that alternates with bitter leather-based, and once more some random appearances of astringency. The drink is skinny in texture, which in all probability places the flavors in hi-def, with out some viscosity and weight to mood the exuberant single-focused expressiveness of the spice, candy, and leathery components. White pepper and cinnamon linger longest on the end, alongside an surprising comfortable popcorn and dinner roll notice.
What strikes me most about this bottle is the trace of potential that further getting old and a better proof providing may illuminate. The bottle states that the its common age is 3 years. And all in all, regardless of its imbalance, this can be a very promising pour. The notes are all acquainted bourbon components, however maybe the youth and thinness within the pour drives these notes to emerge sporadically and a bit aimlessly. It’s drinkable, particularly if you issue within the $21 price ticket, and I feel this could do effectively with newer bourbon drinkers or in cocktails the place some added sweetness and spice are desired.
The journey of IJW Whiskey Firm can also be price revisiting as they emerge from underneath the radar over time and we hear extra immediately from the corporate of their future plans and choices.
(And to supply closure on the matter of its similarity to Weller’s, my conclusion is that they’re probably not in the identical camp — or any members of the Buffalo Hint camp.)
90 proof.
B- / $21 / mcfarlanesreservebourbon.com
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McFarlane’s Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon
$21
