bourbonveachdotcom

For those that have been following my blog, you know that Bill Thomas and I had four barrels of Bourbon made at Kentucky Artisan Distillery in the spring season of 2018. We have bottled this Bourbon and I asked Rosemary and Matt to do the tasting notes for my blog. I, of course, think it is excellent whiskey, but I wanted other opinions to publish, so I bowed out of doing the tasting notes.

I wanted to make a 19th century style whiskey, so I had inspiration from my grandfather, Al Veach. He was a moonshiner in the 1930s and 40s, in Barren County, Kentucky. He only grew Hickory Cane white corn, so he made his moonshine out of that corn. The nearest town to his farm is Fountain Run, Kentucky and there was a pre-Prohibition brand with that name, so I decided to revive the old label. I had Jade Peterson, the distiller at KAD, to make it as close to a 19th century bourbon as possible, so he distilled it at 119 proof after the second distillation. We put it in the barrel at 103 proof. The modern twist I decided to use was 3% chocolate malt in the mash bill of 65% Hickory Cane corn, 20% rye, 12% distiller’s malt and 3% chocolate malt. I was hoping for some subtle chocolate flavor in the Bourbon. I chose a screw cap bottle and the label incorporated the pre-Prohibition design as registered with Mida’s Criteria in their 1899 Register of Trademarks. We bottled it in bond after seven years of aging. Here are Matt and Rosemary’s tasting notes.

Fountain Run Bourbon

Proof: 100

Age: Seven Years Old ( Spring 2018 (January) to Spring 2025 (May))

Nose:

• Matt: Caramel, peaches, banana leaf, chocolate and oak wood.
• Rosemary: Caramel, apples, and oak wood.

Taste:

• Matt: Chocolate, peaches, banana, nutmeg and oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and the peach is enhanced. Tasted with a pecan and notes of coffee and cinnamon come out to join the party.
• Rosemary: Caramel, chocolate, apples, cinnamon and oak wood. The dried cranberry tames the spice and enhances the fruit. The pecan enhanced the chocolate and added a coffee note.

Finish:

• Matt: Medium long with oak wood and chocolate. The dried cranberry added lingering peach notes to the finish. The pecan made the finish longer with oak wood, peaches and chocolate.
• Rosemary: Medium long with oak wood and a mocha chocolate note. The dried cranberry reduced the chocolate but added lingering fruit notes. The pecan made the finish longer with oak wood, chocolate and coffee notes.

Rosemary suggests that she would pair this excellent whiskey with one of my favorite cigars, a My Father The Judge for a chocolate bomb. I agree.

Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller