New Liberty Bloody Butcher Straight Bourbon Whiskey Single Barrel. The first edition of New Liberty’s Bloody Butcher Bourbon proved how good Pennsylvania distilling could be when it focused on local grains, in this case heritage red kernels of Bloody Butcher corn from Bucks County’s Castle Valley Mill and a smaller portion of malted rye from Deer Creek. Distiller Robert Cassell took it to the next level with this limited new edition, aged for two years (versus nine months in the standard version) in a single barrel with a deeper char. That’s still relatively young, but this richly textured pot-stilled spirit is fully expressive of the corn. A honeyed nose ripe with juicy pear melds with earthiness and a caramel corn finish, backed by a green aroma that reminds of shucking the silk off fresh corn. 95 proof, $59.99 direct from New Liberty Distillery or at the distillery’s stand at Christmas Village.
Uncle Nearest 1884 Small Batch Whiskey and Uncle Nearest 1856 Premium Whiskey. Nathan “Nearest” Green is finally getting his bottled due, thanks to entrepreneur and historian Fawn Weaver, who brought to light the story of the formerly enslaved man who taught Jack Daniel to distill Tennessee whiskey. Green went on to work for Daniel, who never enslaved people, after Emancipation. Daniel always recognized Green as a mentor. Green was eventually recognized in 2017 as Brown-Forman’s first distiller after Weaver’s research.
What pretentious lurid prose! Sounds like ditch water a week after the county fair closed...or a pig trough. Whiskey is not supposed to taste like a third grade party punch bowl spiked with Everclear with earthiness supplied by the fat boy adding a cup of dirt.
That said, Knappogue Castle 14 year old single malt Irish whiskey, 92 proof is a very fine, very smooth sipping whiskey at about the same price if you can find it. My first taste was from a gift direct from the Old Sod. The 12 year old has just a tad more bite.