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The Craft Side Of Bourbon

The Craft Side Of Bourbon

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$46.99
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  • CategoryWhisk(e)y

The Craft Side of Bourbon
 
Age ain’t nothing but a number. Just take a gander at the new Bourbons storming the shores of Lake Michigan. With all due respect to their elders (we’re looking at you, Kentucky), these young whippersnappers have their own way of doing things and aren’t afraid of experimentation and getting a bit crazy with their craft. Kind of like that one night during your freshman year of college. You know the one. 
 
Okay, you’re giving us that look. “Lake Michigan?” We know, we know… Kentucky gets all the love when it comes to any serious discussion on Bourbon. After all, the corn-based Whiskey’s name was derived from Bourbon County in Kentucky, where it’s been produced since the 18th century.
 
But there’s a new craft side of Bourbon that’s picking up steam, particularly to the north. The three distilleries being featured in your Tasting Box opened their doors around Lake Michigan after Prohibition, making them the new kids on the Whiskey block. Now remember: all Bourbons are Whiskey, but not all Whiskeys are Bourbon. (We’ll get into that a bit more in the Smartass Corner.)
 
The three young’uns featured in your Box are a precocious lot, with a preference for locally-sourced ingredients and a rambunctious streak that results in new expressions and out-of-the-box innovation. You’ve got Koval, a Gold Medalist overachiever sort, with the sweetness of an apricot custard and a peppery caramel finish. Then there’s FEW, the spicy smooth talker of the bunch and finally Journeyman’s Featherbone, a spirited and adventurous dram. 
 
Watch yourself Kentucky, the boys from the north mean business.
 
Now let’s throw back a tumbler and toast to youth!
 
SmartAss Corner:
 
1. Time to make good on our word. Here’s what separates Bourbon from the rest of the Whiskeys:
- It must be made from a grain mixture that is at least 51% corn.
- It must be distilled to no more than 80% ABV and entered into the barrel for aging at no more than 62.5% ABV.
- It must be matured in new and charred oak barrels.
- It must be matured, if only briefly. If a bottle does not bear an age it is at least 4 years old. If it has been aged for a minimum of 2 years and does not have added coloring, flavoring or other spirits, it may be called straight Bourbon.
- Bourbon that has an age state on its label must be labeled with the age of the youngest Whiskey in the bottle.
- It must be bottled at 40% alc. or more.
 
2. Koval is the first distillery in Chicago since the mid-1800s. In Yiddish, “Koval” means “black sheep” or someone who does something new or out of the ordinary. Baaaa on, baby.
 
3. Evanston, Illinois, the home of the Temperance Movement, remained dry for over a century. You can thank the master distiller at FEW for overturning those laws to become the city’s first distiller of grain spirits.
 
4. EK Warren was the original builder of the factory housing Journeyman Distillery. An interesting twist to the factory’s history: Mr. Warren was a staunch Prohibitionist.
 
5. The craft Bourbon boom is very real. The number of craft distilleries in the US exploded from around 50 ten years ago to well over thousand in 2016.
 
6. Surprising Prohibition fact: Although it was illegal to make alcohol, people weren’t barred from consuming it. Patients could still legally buy liquor from the pharmacy or their doctor to cure whatever ailed them.
 
7. The Green Mill, a prohibition-era speakeasy and jazz club in Chicago, is still open today. Al Capone was a big fan.

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The Craft Side of Bourbon
 
Age ain’t nothing but a number. Just take a gander at the new Bourbons storming the shores of Lake Michigan. With all due respect to their elders (we’re looking at you, Kentucky), these young whippersnappers have their own way of doing things and aren’t afraid of experimentation and getting a bit crazy with their craft. Kind of like that one night during your freshman year of college. You know the one. 
 
Okay, you’re giving us that look. “Lake Michigan?” We know, we know… Kentucky gets all the love when it comes to any serious discussion on Bourbon. After all, the corn-based Whiskey’s name was derived from Bourbon County in Kentucky, where it’s been produced since the 18th century.
 
But there’s a new craft side of Bourbon that’s picking up steam, particularly to the north. The three distilleries being featured in your Tasting Box opened their doors around Lake Michigan after Prohibition, making them the new kids on the Whiskey block. Now remember: all Bourbons are Whiskey, but not all Whiskeys are Bourbon. (We’ll get into that a bit more in the Smartass Corner.)
 
The three young’uns featured in your Box are a precocious lot, with a preference for locally-sourced ingredients and a rambunctious streak that results in new expressions and out-of-the-box innovation. You’ve got Koval, a Gold Medalist overachiever sort, with the sweetness of an apricot custard and a peppery caramel finish. Then there’s FEW, the spicy smooth talker of the bunch and finally Journeyman’s Featherbone, a spirited and adventurous dram. 
 
Watch yourself Kentucky, the boys from the north mean business.
 
Now let’s throw back a tumbler and toast to youth!
 
SmartAss Corner:
 
1. Time to make good on our word. Here’s what separates Bourbon from the rest of the Whiskeys:
- It must be made from a grain mixture that is at least 51% corn.
- It must be distilled to no more than 80% ABV and entered into the barrel for aging at no more than 62.5% ABV.
- It must be matured in new and charred oak barrels.
- It must be matured, if only briefly. If a bottle does not bear an age it is at least 4 years old. If it has been aged for a minimum of 2 years and does not have added coloring, flavoring or other spirits, it may be called straight Bourbon.
- Bourbon that has an age state on its label must be labeled with the age of the youngest Whiskey in the bottle.
- It must be bottled at 40% alc. or more.
 
2. Koval is the first distillery in Chicago since the mid-1800s. In Yiddish, “Koval” means “black sheep” or someone who does something new or out of the ordinary. Baaaa on, baby.
 
3. Evanston, Illinois, the home of the Temperance Movement, remained dry for over a century. You can thank the master distiller at FEW for overturning those laws to become the city’s first distiller of grain spirits.
 
4. EK Warren was the original builder of the factory housing Journeyman Distillery. An interesting twist to the factory’s history: Mr. Warren was a staunch Prohibitionist.
 
5. The craft Bourbon boom is very real. The number of craft distilleries in the US exploded from around 50 ten years ago to well over thousand in 2016.
 
6. Surprising Prohibition fact: Although it was illegal to make alcohol, people weren’t barred from consuming it. Patients could still legally buy liquor from the pharmacy or their doctor to cure whatever ailed them.
 
7. The Green Mill, a prohibition-era speakeasy and jazz club in Chicago, is still open today. Al Capone was a big fan.
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  • CategoryWhisk(e)y

Whats in the box?

Flaviar Tasting Box

What is it made of?

Tasting Box

The “box” part of the Tasting Box

A cylindrical Pandora’s box, but in a good way. Only good Spirits are captured inside, plus a conctere coaster and some useful info.

Designer Coaster

Designer Coaster

Keep your surfaces spotless and sleek. No need to boast with the stuff you stole from a bar when you can present your Spirit with something more becoming.

Sample Vials

Sample Vials

There are three or five 1,5 oz (45ml) vials filled with your chosen Spirits, waiting for you to open and taste.

Flavour Guide Leaflets

Flavour Guide Leaflets

What exactly are you tasting? Wonder no more, because each box includes a flavour guide for each sample with all the info you’ll ever need.

Customer Reviews

Based on 252 reviews
13%
(32)
58%
(145)
20%
(51)
6%
(14)
4%
(10)
M
Mike
Total waste

When I originally bought this it had an accompanying guided video tasting video that walked through the tasting and gave great information. Now that I'm getting around to actually doing it, it appears Flaviar pulled all the tasting videos from their site. So now I'm just stuck reading two sentences on a card. Total waste of money and zero experience with this.

K
Karl
It was good to taste a variety...

It was good to taste a variety of bourbon, but putting a single barrel with 2 other off brands don’t seem to make the experience as enjoyable. Loved the Koval, liked the FEW, disliked the 3rd.

C
Charlie
Not my favorite tasting box. F...

Not my favorite tasting box. Few has a metallic taste

J
Josh
Koval: Smooth, more than a hin...

Koval: Smooth, more than a hint of tobacco. Mango does come through.
FEW: Slight bite, can taste the caramel.
Journeyman: Semi-smooth, kind of peppery

E
Edward
The first was great the other ...

The first was great the other 2 weren't my cup of tea