I have been messing about with Evan Williams Single Barrel and Knob Creek Single Barrel bourbons, as I noted earlier in another post. I concocted a vatting of 65% EWSB (for its softness and delicate sweetness) and 35% KCSB (for its rich and thick barrel flavors). That vatting of two excellent bourbons made for an excellent new bourbon....... but I thought it needed the 'rounded' sweetness that comes from a malt whiskey.
At first I dropped the 35% KCSB to 30% and added 5% excellent Irish Whiskey from the Irishman brand. The Irish malt whiskey performed well, but then I thought I might try a more robust malt...... one from America.
So I next tried some of Wasmund's malt whiskey which has the added feature of using fruit wood chips in the aging process.......... this was a step in the right direction and something I liked better than the whiskey vatted with Irish Whiskey. But, there are some sweet wood overtones with Wasmund's which although quite interesting on their own, seemed to slightly miss the mark at which I was aiming.
Not totally satisfied (but highly pleased with the Wasmund's mixture) I next tried (at John Lipman's suggestion, I believe) some St. George's Single Malt Whiskey. I find this whiskey to be a mite more 'robust' than Irish Whiskey and not quite as woody/fruity sweet as the Wasmund's. Was this the mixture/vatting I was looking for? Well, almost.........
But methinks, I have the softness and delicacy of the EWSB, the creamy richness of the barrel from the KCSB, the rounder and fuller sweetness of the St. Georges' malt........... but where is that lengthening tannic/metallic depth that, in my opinion, can come from either many years in the barrel, and/or copper pot distilling. This commodity of depth and added complexity that I am searching for is difficult to come by in the best proportions for my palate....... but I know I certainly like it.
So, I take 45 ml of my 60% EWSB, 30% KCSB, and 10% St. George's malt mixture, and I add 5ml (11% by volume) of Woodford Reserve Master Distiller's Four Grain Whiskey for that extra pot still acrid/slightly bitter/dryness that (in my opinion) holds all the delicate sweetness, rich barrel creaminess, and rounded and fuller malt sweetness across a more complex, balanced, and longer finish.
You, with your own idiosyncratic palate, may or may not like this whiskey, but for me, it is superb!! One can easily be seduced by any of the elements of which I speak - the delicate sweetness of the EWSB, the rich creamy barrel flavors of the KCSB, the more rounded and less delicate sweetness of the malt whiskey, or even, for a few of us, the correctly allocated subtlety of the pot still or of extended time in the barrel. And there are American whiskies which aim at each of those characteristics. But bringing them together for a great whiskey is a rarity (again, in my opinion).
All the things I expect of a great American Whiskey are here!! Being the wonderful guy that I am, I can suggest to you a bourbon that meets these same expectations. If you can find it, the 2008 Old Forster Birthday Bourbon, which is still available near me, is a bourbon of the type I extole....... with those same qualities as this one I made......... with slightly less sweetness.