Bourbon Tasting at the Black Acre Foundation

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Bourbon Tasting at the Black Acre Foundation

Unread postby bourbonv » Thu Oct 06, 2005 10:18 am

I am going to be doing a bourbon tasting as a fund raiser for the Black Acre Nature Foundation on November 5th. The Black acre Foundation is a nature preserve, sort of a small Bernheim Forest, that is an old farm in southern Jefferson county. The Farmhouse dates back to the 1840's and is set far enough back from traffic and other homes that it is almost like being is the woods in rural Kentucky.

The tasting is going to be of the following bourbons:
1) Maker's Mark Gold Wax 86 proof bottled for "Bud and Marie" dating to about 1970. This product is at least 10 years old, maybe older.
2) Pappy 15yo
3) Elmer T Lee
4) Geo. T. Stagg Spring 2005
5) Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2005
6) Woodford Reserve Four Grain Bourbon

After the tasting a dinner will be served that will include my world famous bourbon baked beans and a Bourbon Banana Cake that is out of this world.

If you are interested in attending this event the ticket prices are $100 for Black Acre Members and $150 for non-members. You can contact Carolyn Comer at (502)266-9802 or send a check to the Blackacre Foundation, 3200 Tucker Station Rd., Louisville, Ky. 40299.

If you live close to Louisville or are planning a trip here at that time this will be a fun event to attend. There are only about 40 tickets available and it did sell out completely last year. And on a personal note, that date is also my 47th birthday, so if you would like to come and help me celebrate, please do so.

Mike Veach
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"Our people live almost exclusively on whiskey" - E H Taylor, Jr. 25 April 1873
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Unread postby bunghole » Thu Oct 06, 2005 10:43 am

Mike, as much as ima would love to attend, ima gots to work for a living.

November 5th?

Hmmmm!

:arrow: ima :smilebox:
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Unread postby bourbonv » Thu Oct 06, 2005 10:54 am

Linn,
I would to have you join us if you could. I realise the ticket price is a bit steep for working folk like you and me, but that is why I try to pick bourbons that will be worth the price - not to mention the excellent food. I don't have the menu on hand but I do remember that I was impressed by what they were discussing at the last planning meeting. I can also say that the food was excellent last year as well. It is a great event and one of the few fund raising events they hold. It is for a great cause.

Mike Veach
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"Our people live almost exclusively on whiskey" - E H Taylor, Jr. 25 April 1873
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Unread postby bunghole » Thu Oct 06, 2005 11:16 am

Mike, my Lear JEEP is in for service. Yes it's cloud rated and has four jet drive, but sadly ima cannot attend.

ima wishes this were true as ima could fly to Kentucky in less than 107 proof minutes!

Don't tell the B.A.T.F. ! Shhhhhhhh!

:arrow: ima :wink:

Happy Birthday My Brother!
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Unread postby bourbonv » Thu Oct 06, 2005 11:21 am

Linn,
My birthday is not till the 5th of November, but thanks for the early well wishes. I hope others will at least join us is a drink of spirits to honor the spirit of the occasion that night.

Mike veach
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Unread postby bourbonv » Fri Nov 04, 2005 3:03 pm

This tasting looks like it has sold every ticket. I will let you know how it turns out and opinions on the products on Sunday. It is going to be a great birthday for me, made better thanks to some great cigars, compliments of bunghole! Thanks Linn, I am looking forward to lighting one up after the tasting.

Mike Veach
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Unread postby bourbonv » Sun Nov 06, 2005 12:46 pm

Well the tasting was a huge success and over $3,000.00 was raised for the Blackacre foundation after expense (glass rental, etc.). It was pretty much a sold out crowd with 35 people there including myself. It was scheduled to start at 6:00 but of course many people were late, so we started at about 6:30. It was a warm November night with the temperature in the 70's. The 1840 farmhouse and its outbuildings are surrounded by trees several decades old and the whole complex is set back from the nearest road by a 1/4 of a mile or so with a gravel driveway winding through fields of grasses about twice that distance.

We started the night with a 15yo Pappy Van Winkle. It was a very good bourbon with strong caramel and chocolate flavors and a dry woody finish. After the night was over 8 people there voted this their favorite of the night.

The second bourbon we drank was Elmer T Lee. It was less flavorful than the Pappy and if I had to do it over again, I would have switched the order of the tasting and done Elmer T Lee first. It was a very fruity sweet flavor with apricots and vanilla with some very nice sweet spices such as nutmeg and alspice. At the end of the night there were 9 people who voted it their favorite and 7 of them were at one table!

The third product we tried was the Spring 2005 George T Stagg. It was a product that several people did not like at all. The high alcohol content turned them off and even adding a little distilled water did not help their opinion much. It was a very sweet molasses and pepper spice flavor with lots of wood tone in the taste and finish. At the end of the night 4 people voted it their favorite of the night. I thought it curious that those that complaind most about the Stagg voted the Pappy, at 107 proof, their favorite. I think it was nore than just alcohol that turned them off to the Stagg.

The fourth product we drank was the 2005 Old Forester Birthday Bourbon. It was a very good product in everybody's opinion with lots of fruits and spice flavors but no alcohol burn at all. It received 4 votes as favorite at the end of the night but just about everybody placed it in the top three.

The fifth bottle we tasted was a personalized bottle of Maker's Mark from about 1970. It is a gold wax sealed, 86 proof product for Marie and Bud. It was a very nice product that was well balanced in flavor. It started with a caramel apple sweetness with a hint of chopped nuts on that candied apple! The finish was slightly flavored by oak but with lots of sweet vanilla and caramel flavors lingering. At the end of the day 10 people voted it their favorite of the night and that included myself.

The last product we was the Woodford Reserve Master's Collection Four Grain Bourbon. It was the most unusual product we tasted last night with an un-impressive nose and heavy cereal grain flavor tinged with copper. The finish was short and slightly dry with wood. This was a bourbon that several people disliked quite a bit, but then several people also wanted to know where they could get a bottle. Nobody voted it their favorite but there were a few that thought it placed second. It is an usual taste that is also an expensive taste. According to Chris Morris they will release the rest of the product in 6 to 8 months and then there will be no more of the four grain - an experiment that has ended. He did say that there are other experiments in the warehouse yet to be brought out, but none of them are four grain.

During this tasting I did some trivia questions and gave away some door prizes. There was a $40.00 gift certificate for lunch at the Bourbon's Bistro for two, an Autographed bottle of Birthday Bourbon and an Autographed Kentucky Derby bottle of Woodford Reserve.

After the tasting was dinner with roaste duck crepes and salad and bourbon baked beans and rolls. There was wide variety of deserts and I had bourbon banana cake, bread pudding with bourbon caramel sauce, and molten chocolate with a raspberry sauce. There was also cheese cake, custard pie and a couple of other items that escape my memory right now. Everybody enjoyed dinner and wine for a couple of hours and the party broke up about 9:30. As the weathermen predicted, the rain held off until after midnight and i had a pleasent drive home enjoying a cigar compliments of Bunghole.

Mike Veach
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"Our people live almost exclusively on whiskey" - E H Taylor, Jr. 25 April 1873
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Unread postby Brewer » Sun Nov 06, 2005 6:14 pm

Mike,

This sounds like a very enjoyable evening. I'm glad that a good amount of money was raised. Is this an annual event?
Bob
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Unread postby bourbonv » Sun Nov 06, 2005 6:57 pm

This was the second year of what we hope to make an annual event for the fall.

Mike Veach
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