Woodford Reserve goes to Pot

[Sally Toms]

Premium American bourbon Woodford Reserve has met the appeals of enthusiasts by launching a special four grain version of the brand.

Bourbon traditionally contains corn and barley malt, with either rye or wheat as the flavour grain. The mash for the new whiskey contains all four. The full name of the limited edition product is Woodford Reserve Masters Collection Four Grain Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.
‘Masters Collection’ is an umbrella under which Woodford Reserve will from time to time release small quantities of unique 100 per cent copper pot still whiskey.

Woodford Reserve Distiller’s Select, the distillery’s primary expression, combines pot still bourbon made in Versailles with column still bourbon made in Louisville.

Only 250 cases of Four Grain will be released, at $80 a bottle. It is 92° proof. At the unveiling, selected whiskey writers tasted samples from 14 different barrels and, by vote, eliminated two to select the 12 barrels to be bottled.

All of the whiskey was distilled in the Spring of 1999. According to master distiller Chris Morris, the recipe was inspired by one they found dating from 1903.

Probably the biggest attraction of this product, more so even than the four grain mash bill, is the fact that it is the only 100 per cent copper pot still bourbon available.

That also is the most prominent characteristic of its taste. It has a chewy granola mouth feel, a lot of caramel from the wood, violets from the rye, and something on top that tastes like chives.

[Deactivated Member]

Well, my first taste of this was from the hand of WhiskeyMag's own Chuck Cowdery, and I found it to be confounding. It is almost 'unfinished', with prominent copper from the still on the palate, along with unmarried (unmarriageable?) grains. A subsequent taste after release was no more pleasant. I have a sealed bottle sitting on the bar at the moment at the request of a collector acquaintance, but I won't be buying this with my own money.
Credit Brown-Forman for trying something new. But something's missing here.

[MGillespie]

I wanted to try this at WhiskyFest the other night, but they had already run out...

Mark