Experimental Bourbon
For decades, the bourbon industry was not very progressive when it came to changing how they made their particular style of whiskey. There would be the occasional tweaking of the grain recipe or the length of the aging process but that was about as far as it ever went. These days, some master distillers are on a quest to find new ways of making their bourbons taste unique and hopefully make them irresistible to the ever growing crowd of bourbon lovers around the world.
Buffalo Trace distillery in Frankfort, KY recently unveiled its brand new Warehouse X that was inspired by, of all things, a tornado.
Back in 2006 high winds tore off part of the roof and walls of the distillery’s Warehouse C. The barrels of aging bourbon that were left exposed by the storm ended up with a very distinctive flavor profile that ended up in the very sought after 2012 release of E.H. Taylor Jr. Warehouse C Tornado Surviving Bourbon. The enriched flavor of the bourbon from the exposed barrels gave master distiller Harlen Wheatly the idea to experiment with the elements inside a climate and light controlled warehouse. It’s hoped that by manipulating light exposure, humidity and airflow the bourbon will take on that extra element of flavor like the original “tornado bourbon” release.
Buffalo Trace also launched the Single Oak Project where barrels are made from selected oak trees and then charring the inside of different barrels to various degrees of intensity. There are also periodic small batch releases from their Experimental Collection of whiskeys aged in woods other than oak and an evolving grain recipe.
Woodford Reserve’s master distiller Chris Morris has been one of the pioneers of whiskey experimentation. One of his latest endeavors is the Woodford Reserve Double Oaked Bourbon made by using an additional lightly toasted barrel during part of the aging process. The bourbon ends up with a very full and distinctive flavor that’s a bit sweeter than their very popular Distiller’s Select Bourbon.
Blank has also released some different interpretations of rye whiskey that have been well received and he continues to experiment with different grains in his bourbon mash bills.
After decades of producing only one bourbon, the folks at Maker’s released Maker’s 46 that turned out to be a big hit for the distiller. Seared French oak planks are added to the original bourbon for a portion of the aging process thereby creating a more complex flavored bourbon.
