Friday, January 17th, 2020 & Saturday, January 18th, 2020
1. Kavalan Distillery Select Single Malt
Cooper’s Price $59.98
Kavalan is Taiwan’s first whisky distillery. The King Car Group, founded by Mr. TT Lee in 1956, has decades of experience in food and beverage, but producing whisky has always been the founder’s dream. In 2002, Taiwan joined the World Trade Organization, which allowed the establishment of a privately owned distillery in Taiwan for the first time in modern history.
Construction on the distillery began in early 2005 and was completed in only nine months! The vision for the whisky was overseen by Master Blender Ian Chang in collaboration with world-renowned whisky consultant Dr. Jim Swan. The distillery uses copper pot stills from Scotland, and fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks to protect it from the sub-tropical climate of Taiwan. The five-story warehouse houses 30,000 casks tied together because of the high risk of earthquakes in the region. The top floors of this warehouse can reach up to 108 degrees Fahrenheit, causing an “angel’s share” of more than 15% annually! This is more than TWICE the evaporation seen in Scotland. What’s aged 18 years in Scotland, will only take 7-9 years at Kavalan.
Nose: Aroma of ripe tropical fruits, floral notes, and warm vanilla
Palate: Sweet, rich, yet mellow layered taste, the unique tropical fruit notes of Kavalan Classic, and cream caramel embellished with wood and vanilla offer a pleasant, lingering finish.
2. Bear Creek Wheated Bourbon Odell Barrel Finish
Cooper’s Price: $58.99
Bear Creek Distillery is an American craft distillery located in the heart of Denver, Colorado, and is the brainchild of a small group of friends focused on producing exceptional hand crafted premium spirits. Each spirit is produced grain to bottle, in our Denver facility and distilled using our German built, state-of-the-art Kothe still. Our commitment to quality and our community goes beyond the four walls of the distillery. Whenever possible, we use local ingredients and materials sourced from Colorado companies. These ingredients, coupled with a keen eye towards detail, help ensure each small batch is of the highest quality, time and time again.
BCD Wheated Bourbon is fermented and distilled with the same care as our Straight Bourbon but is then matured in 30 gallon American white oak barrels. The mash bill contains mostly corn, wheat, and a small percentage of malted barley.
Holds a dark mahogany color, with aromas of vanilla, oak and caramel. On the palate it is slightly sweet with flavors of caramel and fruit followed by a smooth bourbon finish. This batch spends an additional 6 months in an Odell Bull Proof Imperial Stout barrel.
3. Bulleit 12yr Rye Whiskey
Cooper’s Price $54.99
Bulleit’s 12-Year-Old is a no-nonsense limited release of their classic, award-winning Bulleit Rye, and is matured in hand-picked oak barrels. The mash bill is 95% rye and 5% malted barley, a balanced harmony of smoothness and spice. This opulent and enhanced version of the original is a lovely addition for Rye enthusiasts and is best served neat or on the rocks.
Robust aromas show off a well-aged whiskey – leather, licorice, nutmeg among many other signs of years in oak. Intensely flavorful, with black pepper, burnt coconut, toasted nuts and salted caramel surrounding the firm rye core. Fully formed and top shelf.
4. Mashbuild Rum Cask Finish Rye Whiskey
Cooper’s Price $32.99
There are three ways to get bourbon for bottling: distill it yourself, source it from a company that makes it for you, or buy existing stock from a third party. Because blending is so core to our mission, we knew we needed product from a variety of stills, geographies, and mash bills. So if the question is, “Does Mashbuild distill whiskey, source whiskey, or buy whiskey?” the answer is, “Yes. All three.”
The bourbons you find in a bottle of Mashbuild came from Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, and Colorado, and they are wcorking on additional distilling operations and partnerships in Illinois, Missouri, and Nevada. The oldest stock aging in their warehouses was barrelled between 2000-2007, and includes juice from Four Roses and the old Seagrams distillery, among others.
The barrels we chose were used to age a six-year rum just off of Barbados Beach in Bridgetown, Barbados.
Complex and full of flavor, the spice and caramel notes of the rye whiskey base are complemented by notes of apricot, banana, orange and vanilla imparted by the Barbados rum barrel. This bottle is a truly must-have for anyone who enjoys barrel-finished whiskeys.
