BLANTON'S!

[Linn]

BLANTON'S SINGLE BARREL BOURBON

DISTILLER: Buffalo Trace Distillery. This distillery has a long and storied history dating back to the early 1860's.

NAMESAKE: Named in honor of Colonel Albert Bacon Blanton. This story really begins with Albert's father Benjamin Harrison Blanton. Benjamin went west in 1849 for the gold rush and apparently did quite well for himself as he returned to Kentucky and purchased a farm he called Rock Hill. He bulit a distillery on his farm that would be sold in 1870 to Col. Edmund Haynes Taylor, Jr. and his partner Capt. George T. Stagg.

Albert began his distilling career in 1897 at the age of 16 as an office boy at the George T. Stagg Distillery. He must have been a bight and industrious young man as he was allowed to learn every job at the distillery. Not yet 20 years old Albert was appointed distillery superintendent in 1900. In 1912 Albert was promoted to plant manager, and in 1921 he became president of George T. Stagg Co. The best part about all this is that Col. Blanton became an exceptional master distiller along the way.

Master Distiller Emeritus: Elmer T. Lee joined the distillery in 1949 and was mentored by Col. Blanton until he retired in 1952. Elmer became the distillery's manager and one of greatest master distillers of our time. Elmer came up with the idea of marketing a single barrel bourbon in honor of Col. Blanton in 1984. It has since become one of the world's most beloved bourbons.

Master Distiller: Gary Gayheart is the man who is actually running the stills today, and doing a damn fine job of it too!

Warehouse H: Col. Blanton was very fond of bourbon from a single barrel and in 1935 built the only metal clad warehouse at the distillery. A 15,000 barrel house to age his personal private stock of bourbon. Today every barrel of Blanton's is aged at warehouse H. It has been erroneously reported by some writters that Elmer hunts down the best barrels of bourbon to be moved to warehouse H to finish ageing. During a private tasting event at the distillery I asked him where he found most of his barrels. He threw his head back and cackeled with laughter and said something very like 'at the filling station'! So the barrels are simply filled and rolled directly to warehouse H for their entire maturation process. That's the magic of the metal clad warehouse.

Mashbill: Blanton's is distilled from a mashbill that is today known as 'BT#2' It is roughly 75% corn; 13% rye, and 12% malted barley. Elmer won't tell me for sure, but you have to take these simple grain ratios in stride. Buffalo Trace has absolutely HUGE fermenters. Made of cast iron with thick hammered copper inserts they are several stories tall and hold 93,000 gallons of mash. A real formula or 'recipe' would start with water in this case about 45 to 50,000 gallons then would come the corn measured out by the ton. After the corn is cooked and allowed to cool the rye is added by the thousands of pounds. Then the rye and corn are cooked together at a lower temprature and allowed to cool. About the 150 degee f mark the malted barely is added and cooked slowly for a certain time and finally the yeast is pitched. So you can see that the simple corn to rye to malt ratios that many whiskey writters use is of little use to the consumer. All you really need to know is if the mashbill is wheated or rye and if rye is it high in rye as is Old Forester or Old Grand Dad or low in rye as is I.W. Harper and Old Charter, and Eagle Rare or is it somewhere inbetween as in this case is 'BT#2'. We do know that this is the very same mashbill that Col. Blanton was distilling after the end of prohibition and is the same mashbill that he taught Elmer T. Lee to cook.

Tasting Notes - The bottle of Blanton's used for this tasting was graciously donated by Jeff Lackman (grtrx). Thank You Sir!

Bottle #188 from Barrel #24 off Rick #16 in Warehouse H

Dump Date: July, 10th, 2002

Proof: 93

Color: A firey burnished copper amber that sparkles like the true gem that it is.

Nose: Wonderfully balanced top notes of oak; vanilla, and candied apricots. Lovely buttery caramel and toffee undertones. Wisps of honeysuckle and nectarines playfully tease from one nosing to the next.

Mouthfeel:Sensuously soft and coating with a nicely rounded body.

Taste: The vanilla; sweet oak char, and caramel all convey from the nose in a wonderfully balanced vortex of delight. There is an interesting bit of malt on the tip of the tongue that is almost scotchlike. A kind of fruity underlayment broods in the backgorund and defies description, but you know its there. Because Blanton's is so well balanced all the constituent flavors are very well amalgamated and it is difficult to try and pick up on all the complexities. Just drink the damn stuff and don't worry about it!

Finish: Semi-dry in a slow decay the rye and the proof warms the back of the throat bathed in a pleasant spiceyness. Angles dance.

Overview: Blanton's is one of the very best bourbons ever to be bottled. It is a sheer delight in every way. A question that I hadn't thought to ask Elmer T. Lee until now is does Blanton's taste anything like the bourbon that Col. Blanton bottled for himself and friends from his own private stock in warehouse H? I'm not a betting man, but I'll bet the answer is YES! So sit back and enjoy a trip back in time sip by glorious sip.

- Linn -