| Hola Free Rangers, En route back from Kentucky, having tasted and selected barrels of 1792 Full Proof Bourbon and Sazerac Rye. And while if one can get an appointment, the barrel buying is good out here, it’s officially harder to get most Buffalo Trace products in Kentucky than it is in Brooklyn. I found a retail shop in Louisville asking $15 a pop for 50ml of Buffalo Trace Bourbon, a fee for which we’d gladly sell you three of them. While my checked bag (aka styro 12-pack) it’s loaded up with whiskey, it’s mostly just inexpensive bottles that don’t leave Kentucky’s retail market, largely from a stop at a Total Wine & Spirits on the way back to the airport. And the most impressive rare juice I tasted was a pour of a never released EH Taylor Barrel Proof Rye from the desk of (unreasonably young) Master Distiller, Ross Cornelissen at 1792. Louisville itself, birthplace of Muhammad Ali and Hunter S. Thompson (but not Elvis or the ancient Greeks), has seen better days, but it’s difficult to tell when those days may have been. The block opposite the giant Louisville Slugger on Main Street is almost completely devoid of retail. Though interesting art has popped up through the cracks, letting one know that life still springs eternal (for now), and that the human spirit lies not so dormant just below the dilapidated surface. About an hour outside of town, at the Buffalo Trace Distillery, they have so many experimental and historical projects going from which millions of collected data points lead the fine folks there to often repeat that the best Bourbon has yet to be bottled, but the rarest item they had available for tasting or purchase was Blanton’s, which they limit to 1 bottle every 90 days, but we’ve got plenty of that back at the shop. Anyway, our Sazerac Rye barrel- about which I am fairly jubilant- just might make it to our shelves by the end of the year. The somewhat beleaguered 1792 Distillery tells us that their bottling and shipping queue is between 6-9 months these days, so we’re looking at delivery first quarter next year. I’ll have to inquire if our barrel will enjoy a birthday between now and bottling; it certainly seems likely. But as for whiskey that we actually have to sell you today, we recently received our 13th barrel from the fine folks at Kings County. It’s a deep, dark, and delicious 6 year Barrel Strength Bourbon from a 15 gallon barrel that didn’t quite hit hazmat proof before bottling, but it sure was barking at the back door, clocking in at 138.4 proof. While the balance is excellent for it’s abv, I most certainly add a healthy splash of water before drinking, but to each their own. There isn’t a ton to go around, and we’re not particularly looking forward to being sold out of this one, so this week only enjoy 10% off with a strict limit of 1 x 750ml bottle, and 2 x 200ml bottles per person. And on the wine front, we were recently informed that our favorite quality/$ Veneto producer is leaving one of our favorite distributors, so we bought every bottle of Buglioni Valpolicella, Ripasso, and Amarone that we could get our hands on, and the stack(s) in the cellar appear load-bearing at this point. Buglioni Valpolicella 2019 is a classic dry Corvina based red blend that has been one of our go-to near universal food pairing wines for years. Buglioni Amarone 2018 is a big bold beast that employs the same blend of grapes, subjected to the Appassimento process which allows the berries to dry out, reducing the water per fruit (and increasing sugar per volume), and significantly concentrating the flavors. This Amarone pairs beautifully with red meat, rich stews, and is really wonderful with dry aged cheeses. Buglioni Rispasso 2019 is the middle child in that Valpolicella juice is passed over the remaining lees from the Amarone, where is picks up some of those darker, richer flavors and textures that one finds in the Amarone, but without much of the extra residual sugar. We’ve hoarded up enough that our supply should last well into the fall, but in the interest of reducing those stacks a bit, and having fewer to move down the block(?!), we’re offering 10% off all of the above Buglioni wine(s), or 20% any 6+ bottles (with a complimentary Free Range bottle tote). As always, these sales are ONLINE ONLY for this week only! Happy hunting! (!) Click here for the hidden sale page (!) *** Online exclusive! *** *** This week only! *** Cheers, Jack Proprietor Free Range Wine & Spirits P.S. Free Range E-mail Archive |
