Gary, do you mean the pride of Tuthilltown, New York?
Although I haven't had a chance to try Hudson Baby Bourbon, thanks to LeNell and Ben the corn whiskey section of our "shrine" contains a bottle of what must be called Hudson Infant Bourbon.
Well, I guess it could also be called
Old Gristmill Authentic American Corn Whiskey, too, since that's what its name really is.
Technically, it isn't "bourbon". So it might not be the white dog for their Baby Bourbon, but I think it is. The label proudly states it's "100% Hudson Valley Corn", and bourbon is usually thought to be a combination of mostly corn, along with some rye or wheat and some malted barley to get the fermentation going. By law there must be more corn than all the other grains put together, but there is no upper limit on how much corn. Bourbon COULD be 100% corn, provided it meets the other requirements.
What may be confusing to some is that we're mostly accustomed to seeing bourbon as "straight bourbon whiskey", although it doesn't have to qualify as straight whiskey in order to be labelled bourbon. Hudson Baby isn't a straight whiskey. But it isn't a blended whiskey, either. For those readers who are just beginning to explore the details of the American whiskey world, this is an excellent place to learn. Take some time and work through the forum threads. Use the forum's search function to find discussions about "what is a bourbon". Plan to spend some time with it -- if this doesn't bore the crap outta you right away you'll probably find it fascinating and addictive.
Okay, back to Baby. Baby's label states that it's made "from 100% Hudson Valley Corn", which is also what the Old Gristmill label says. HOWEVER... the label only says that the corn used is 100% Hudson Valley, not that 100% of the ingredients are corn. In fact, it doesn't really say that all the corn is from the Hudson Valley, either. Only that Hudson Valley corn, unblended with other corn, is among the corn used. I have no reason to doubt that all the corn is Hudson Valley local corn, but it's important to take note of such things when examining label statements.
The label (at least as far as I can tell from the photos I've seen) also doesn't give an age statement, but Tuthilltown distiller Ralph Erenzo is quoted in the Poughkeepsie Journal as saying it's aged only three months.
Let's put that into some perspective: Federal regulations prohibit selling, as straight whiskey, a product that has not been aged for a minimum of two years in a new, charred oak barrel. If thus aged under four years, the time must be stated on the label (i.e. "This whiskey is 36 months old"). Four years and above does not require an age statement at all, although most distillers will quickly boast of additional aging. There are exceptions. The federal regs, aware that such boasting ought to be controlled just a bit, require that, if there is an age statement, the age shown cannot be higher than that of the YOUNGEST whiskey in the bottle. No fair putting one ounce of 12-year-old into a bottle of two-year-old whiskey and calling it twelve. Or even six. There is no upper limit; that is, even if every drop is over ten years old you can still call it an eight-year-old if you want. And there are many reasons why a distiller would want to do that.
There is a tradition in American whiskey (mostly unobserved by the current major distillers) of what was once called "quarter whiskey". As the name suggests, this was whiskey aged for, you guessed it, three months (a quarter of a year). Although I don't know if it was actually called Quarter Whiskey, Jack Daniel's used to market a brand called Lem Motlow, which was aged three months. They did that until fairly recently (mid-'80s?). Pint bottles can be found occasionally on Ebay selling for several hundred dollars.
In the case of Baby, though, none of that matters. Because it's not a straight whiskey. Basically, it's bourbon if it's made from 51% or more corn (including 100%, Hudson Valley or otherwise), it's distilled at under 160 proof, it's aged FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME in a new, charred oak container, it's alcoholic strength is reduced to no more than 125 proof before barreling (it can only be reduced, since nothing but water may be added to it -- especially not neutral spirits), and it is bottled at no less than 80 proof.
Hudson Baby is all of those things... and more.
Like Fritz Maytag's Old Potrero whiskey, Erenzo and partner Brian Lee produce in very small runs. Maytag calls his "essays"; Tuthilltown's are called "batches". These are "Small Batch" indeed. How small? Well, consider that their first batch sold out almost immediately, and with the confidence that comes of a sellout, Batch 2, presumably, was somewhat larger. The total bottling for batch 2 (which is also sold out now) was 420 375ml bottles. Total! That's 210 standard-size bottles, or a little shy of one normal 53-gallon barrel (allowing for absorbtion; no time for angels, though).
But Ralph & Brian's website (
http://www.tuthilltown.com) doesn't say what kind of cooperage they use. What it DOES say is that you can order a personal barrel from them. As is true with all distilleries, you get your whiskey bottled (375ml or 750ml, your choice) and delivered to you via a licensed spirits retailer, along with the cask. There is a photo of a pair of hands holding the cask. The cask in the photo is 3 gallons. It's labelled "Batch #1, Keg#1" and is obviously a documentary souvenir of the distillery's first "baby steps". Those are proud hands holding that cask. They claim the aging period for a two-gallon cask (they offer several sizes) is three months. That would lead me to believe that the commercial product is aged in 2- or 3-gallon casks. I've seen photos of the bottle, and that aging period puts a very lovely color into this whiskey.
I'm excited to try Hudson Baby Bourbon, although it appears that the Goddess and I will need to arrange a trip to N'Yawk in order to do so.
Hey, LeNell! How far is Gardiner from Brooklyn?