What’s happening in wine and whiskey this week:

This Week’s Unicorn Review Stories

🥃 Gina Pace spoke to Wild Turkey’s Bruce Russell about the new Austin Nichols Archive Collection Gold Foil Edition, a tribute to the highly collectible Cheesy Gold Foil whiskeys of the 1980s and 1990s.

New Bottle Releases

Penelope Architects of Golf (SRP $60)

This is the latest release from Penelope Bourbon, a brand that started out in 2018 by sourcing its whiskey from MGP and is now owned by the distillery. The Architects of Golf collection starts out with three different bottles, each at 94 proof but finished with a unique combination of wooden staves. Golf Hole 1 is said to have notes of dark chocolate, sweet oak, and roasted nuts; Golf Hole 2 is said to have notes of dark chocolate, butterscotch, and vanilla; and Golf Hole 3 is said to have notes of chocolate mousse, vanilla, and oak. 

Chicken Cock Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey Blended With Laird's Apple Brandy (SRP $65)

Chicken Cock, a brand that we’ve covered before, has an interesting new expression that is worth mentioning. As you can tell by the name, this whiskey, which is being released to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary, is a blend of 70% Chicken Cock Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey and 30% Laird’s Apple Brandy, both of which were aged for a minimum of four years. As you’d expect, the rye whiskey definitely dominates the palate, but the apple brandy shines through as well making this an interesting blend of spirits to try in your favorite cocktail.

Unicorn Whiskey Pick of the Week

Buffalo Trace Single Oak Project Rye Bourbon (SRP $75)

Earlier this year, Buffalo Trace launched two new whiskeys that kind of flew under the radar, at least compared to the distillery’s major tentpole annual releases like Pappy Van Winkle, the Antique Collection, and ultra-aged Eagle Rare bourbons. The pair consisted of Low Entry Proof Wheated Bourbon, part of its Experimental Collection, and Single Oak Rye Bourbon. This week we are going to take a closer look at the latter, and dive into what makes this outstanding bourbon tick.

Buffalo Trace launched its Single Oak Project back in 1999, which involved picking 96 oak trees from the Missouri Ozarks and cutting them into 192 individual barrels. To study the effects of maturation on the whiskey, the following steps were varied: mashbill (either wheat or rye bourbon), length of time the staves were seasoned, wood grain size, barrel char level, what part of the tree the staves were cut from, and warehouse type (wooden or concrete floor). In 2011, Barrel #80 was selected by consumers as being a standout from the bunch, and this new permanent release is a recreation of that whiskey in terms of mashbill and maturation conditions.

Specifically, this is Buffalo Trace’s rye bourbon (the distillery does not reveal exact mashbills). It was entered at 125 proof into barrels made from staves cut from the bottom half of a tree that were seasoned for 12 months and then charred to level four. This bourbon was aged in one of the distillery’s concrete-floored warehouses for a full eight years and the whiskey was bottled at 90 proof. Of course, this is not going to be the same as that initial Single Oak release from 15 years ago, but if you’re going to attempt to recreate a past whiskey, this seems to be as close as you can get.

And it’s a really tasty bourbon. At 90 proof, there’s just a bit of heat on the palate, but nothing that overwhelms the notes of vanilla, caramel, black pepper, oak, maple, cherry, orange, and butterscotch. This bottle might be a bit hard to find—it’s available in 375-ml size at the distillery and select retailers in limited quantities—but check the website to see if any are available at auction—if you’re a fan of Buffalo Trace’s more experimental side, this is one worth checking out.