The other day, Steffani Scheurich stopped by and had a drink on the porch. She brought a couple of bottles with her of her latest project – Lythgoe Bourbon. Steffani is the Master Blender for this brand. Steffani comes by her talent through genetics. She is the daughter of Dave Scheurich, the former distiller for Woodford Reserve and she inherited her father’s talent for tasting whiskey. The bottles she brought me and Matt are excellent Bourbons.
The brand is named for Gertrude Lythgoe, a woman who became known during Prohibition as the Queen of the Bootleggers. The brand was created by Dina Coker, who wanted to celebrate the role women have played in the Bourbon industry. After all, women are spending more than $650 million dollars a year on whiskey. The company sourced some Bourbon from Kentucky Artisan Distillers and have bottled this single barrel Bourbon from those barrels. Steffani liked this barrel in particular and after sharing a sample with her father, decided it needed to be bottled as a single barrel. Matt and I sat down and tasted it the other day and here are our tasting notes.
Lythgoe Single Barrel Bourbon
Proof: 100.8
Age: Eight Years Old
Nose:
- Mike: Caramel. chocolate, baking spices and oak wood.
- Matt: Caramel sponge cake, cereal grains, oak wood.
Taste:
- Mike: Caramel apple, allspice, white pepper and Oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and it brings out black pepper spice to join the party. Tasted with a pecan and the chocolate comes forth to join the apple, spice and oak.
- Matt: Caramel, red pepper, cereal grains and oak wood. The dried cranberry brought out notes of raspberry. The pecan added notes of peanuts.
Finish:
- Mike: Medium long with oak, spice and lingering caramel. The dried cranberry made the finish long and dry with oak and pepper spice. The pecan made the finish long and dry with oak, pepper and lingering chocolate.
- Matt: Medium long with oak and caramel. The dried cranberry added red pepper spice to the finish. The pecan made the finish long and dry with oak and cereal grains.
I would pair this fine Bourbon with a My Father The Judge cigar. I think the chocolate in the smoke would pair well with the sweetness of the Bourbon.
Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller