Blades & Bourbon

Just received 2 bottles of Pinhook Bourbon War - Vertical 8 (year).

There are 4 more years of the series to go; years 9-12. I've got unopened bottles of Vertical 4-8 in the rack.

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I opened 1 of them and did a side-by-side tasting of the Vertical 7 with the 8 and, frankly, I didn't notice much of a difference in the color, aroma or taste.
There also was essentially no change in the %ABV and proof at 57.5%/115 and 57.3%/114.6 respectively.

Although it's blended & not straight from the cask, I still would have expected the Vertical 8 to have higher %ABV, deeper color & different aroma from the Vertical 7 & I was a dissappointed not to notice any differences between Vertical 7 & 8 because the point of the series to smell, taste & see differences in the blend from year to year as the casks age. Isn't it? 🤷‍♂️

Anyway, here's some background info on the current release and the Vertical Series generally: Pinhook Bourbon War Vertical 8.
 
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Sarge, I love the shared info, thank you Sir ! It's interesting to see others opinion about this line !
I also have the bottles from 4yo, alone with unopened one to back up the one we tried already.
I'm getting the 7 and 8 soon, 7 is kind of hard to find around me but 8 was available.
Pinhook started Interesting thing with this series, I hope to be able to get to the end of it... :cool::thumbsup:

One thing I noticed with this brand - they have very good blender, because at least in my case,
I will probably recognize their stuff in "blind" testing about 80% of the time, their impressions are different in a way,
but always have specific, recognizable taste, a "Pinhook Character".
Besides being fan of the Kentucky's classic 80% Corn mash, I don't discriminate, I love MGP and Tennessee whiskeys and in fact any other State bourbon.
One thing for sure, it's top quality liquor.
 
" OMG !!! " 🤩 😍 :cool::thumbsup: hhmoore hhmoore you are about to try something very special... I did try this one a week ago.
Unbelievable pour, I like it so much ! I Envy you ha ha ha...
Seriously, this is very good, I'm sure you'll enjoy it !

I did try this other Angels Envy, still the "special" selection, also finished in Rye and
Plantation XO Rum casks, that were previously used for French Cognac... I am very impressed of the taste...
I'd compare it probably to Dixon Dedman's 2XO series, The Innkeeper but the Innkeeper isn't so complex in the finish.
I can't really describe it, I'm not that good with all the flavors and stuff but I know both bottles ( yours and the AE of my picture) are absolutely delicious !

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And if I may suggest, if you like Rye, I tried a sample from a friend of mine, a Sagamore 8 Years Old Rye, Reserve Series... Probably the best Straight Rye I tried this year...
I don't have link intentionally, Total Wine carries it and you can find it if interested, I'm sure, to mention again - its's well worth the $$

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POCEH KOCEB said:
The other two bottles are my Amburana experiment with chips from Southeast Company.
Cigar Cut/Batch/Blend are popular this days and very expensive, usually 2-3 different casks finished top quality Bourbon.
I mixed one bottle (#1) of Buffalo Trace mashbil #1 - Benchmark BIB 50abv and
another bottle (#2) with 60% Weller Wheated Bourbon and 40% Old Forester Rye.

The result is very concentrated Amburana taste in #1 and much smoother, mellow taste in #2 even both are around 50abv.
I would drink #2 for itself over ice, it's enjoyable. #1 I would add to another drink, probably 20% of it. It pleasantly changes the taste to the nice Amburana hints.
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I've seen results of some of these tests and it seems that you have to be careful with the timing- a couple of days too many and the taste can get too strong.
 
bdmicarta said:
I've seen results of some of these tests and it seems that you have to be careful with the timing- a couple of days too many and the taste can get too strong.
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Yes, you are correct Sir, I agree. I found out that the 2 weeks stuff is good to add to some drinks but the Amburana taste is too strong to be poured as a single drink...
I'm more prone now to leave the two parts of the blend for 4-7 days in the chips and than take it out so I can drink the ready to go blend over ice or water, or straight.
Since my 60/40 % blend is gone... I got now just 50/50% Finished Rye and Wheated whiskey, both about 50 abv. Both finished for 6days in the used already chips.
The blend isn't overpowered by the Amburana taste and you can detect all the finishes, at least I can and doesn't bother me... Taste very good IMO.
Maybe I posted the picture recently, those are the two bottles I used, now I got every day's pour for me and (my neighbor 🤣 ) for almost a month,
I don't really drink such volumes as it may look from all those pictures I post ha ha ha ... :cool:

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POCEH KOCEB POCEH KOCEB my absolute favorite Angels Envy was the original Cask Strength. (Not knocking the more recent cask strength releases, I just haven't been willing to pay the ridiculous prices.)
I'll take a look for that Sagamore 8yr Reserve... but our former governor limited my alcohol acquisitions by prohibiting (out of state) shipments of spirits to individuals.
I have found the Old Forester you mentioned a few posts up; but I haven't made the purchase yet.
 
The Angel's Envy Rye, to me, is like Creme Brulee in a bottle.
excellent after dinner sip and even if you're not a rye person, its worth a try. It is my wife's favorite so we always have bottle on hand.
 
hhmoore said:
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This one? 111.4 pr? I found it locally at a decent price. I'll grab a bottle
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YesSir! Its around $80 in "my" TW on the West Coast of FL. And it's very rare find around me anyway.
Any price below this IMO would be a steal, ha ha ha... :thumbsup:
If you are prone to higher proof, you'll like the Old Forester... They are few bottles, I was very impressed this year, some expensive, some - not.
OF SB is one of them, must mention the 2XO Innkeeper, the 2 impressions of the JD SB, Rye and reg. whiskey, must mention the AE from my previous post,
another one very impressive was the 4Roses SB, beautiful Bourbon, and last but not least - Old Soul Cask Strength, high proof but almost no trace of it...
It's helping in my case, that we are 4 friends that are looking for interesting bourbon to try and we split the cost when find something really good.
I really like the Old Scout stuff, out of Indiana, and their Rye was always impressive.
IMO, the Sagamore 8 yo, is probably better than the rare bottles of Old Scout Rye, the Single Barrels, Full proof and such.
This is the only way I can explain my criteria... :thumbsup:
 
Unfortunately, prices here on anything allocated/limited tend to be ridiculous. I looked up this year's AE cask strength - nearly $400. I'm not paying that for something I'm going to drink; and I don't need it for bragging rights (I've got the original release for that - in the wooden box and signed by Lincoln Henderson 6-7 months before he passed.)
The Sagamore is $70 locally, the OF is $100 (plus a 5 hr round trip or shipping...and there's nothing there to entice me to waste that much of a day off, lol)
 
hhmoore said:
Unfortunately, prices here on anything allocated/limited tend to be ridiculous. I looked up this year's AE cask strength - nearly $400. I'm not paying that for something I'm going to drink; and I don't need it for bragging rights (I've got the original release for that - in the wooden box and signed by Lincoln Henderson 6-7 months before he passed.)
The Sagamore is $70 locally, the OF is $100 (plus a 5 hr round trip or shipping...and there's nothing there to entice me to waste that much of a day off, lol)
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I totally agree on the price and time wasted for such purchases... I hate bragging about prices and stuff like this, I had very rare bottles
but my favorites are usually around or sub $30-$40 for every day drinks. I brag about the time I spend with my friends around a decent bottle but the price...
I think the mentioned prices for Sagamore and OF are actually better than I can find around, minus the time for driving...
I recently discovered that my 12miles away Total W will deliver my order for the huge amount of $4.99 with the tip included in the purchase price,
so I wasn't even wasting time going there...

I'd personally go with the Sagamore as probably IMO, the best option for top shelf Rye for a decent price, locally.

Loooove that ZT... Nothing like the Old School production and designs... 🤩:thumbsup:
 
The Sagamore is local, and the place used to consistently have the best prices. Now, though, one has to pay attention because there's plenty of craziness happening.
 
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