Bourbon & Whiskey News Highlights from September 2024 >> 30 Stories!
In September 2024, the bourbon and whiskey industry showcased significant developments including market reports, distillery news, and new bottle releases. Highlights featured long-standing icons like Jimmy Russell’s 70th Anniversary, new distilleries breaking ground, and the reveal of five inductees into the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame, reflecting ongoing growth and innovation.
Industry Market News & Related Announcements>> 3 Stories
Wayne and I anticipated the release of W.H. McBrayer Batch 4 and were excited when we got the email saying it was ready for ordering. We were unable to complete the pick up at Revival Vintage Spirits this time so we had it shipped to us. It arrived pretty quickly. Unfortunately, I was unable to sample it because of recent knee replacement surgery. Aye! We had to wait about ten days. Needless to say, we were very excited when I could partake and we didn’t waste any time popping the seal on one of the bottles we purchased.
Please be sure to read our approach to Tasting Whiskey if you haven’t already.
Tasted Neat – It drinks like a mature bourbon and carries a lot of complexity. Cherry, tobacco, vanilla cream, and oak. The finish was cinnamon, black pepper, leather, and oak.
Tasted with dried cranberry – The cranberry brightened up the overall taste of it by bringing more fragrant notes such as orange zest versus the deep dark notes when tasting it neat.
Tasted with a pecan – The pecan was similar to drinking it neat except that there was the addition of a hint of dark cocoa and the spice level was higher.
Tasted with dark chocolate – Very rich and reminiscent of a dark chocolate turtle. The spice is somewhat reduced and the finish is tobacco and nutmeg. Very nice.
General Notes: Neat remained our favorite way to drink it but the dark chocolate was excellent as well. In addition, the brightness that the cranberry brought forward was very nice. This batch is super flavorful overall and would be excellent with a steak dinner before or perhaps afterwards with a nice cigar.
Comparison of W.H. McBrayer Batches 1-4
Bill McBrayer asked for our opinion across the four batches. We explained that we only had one unopened bottle of Batch 1 and we were holding onto it for sentimental reasons. He was kind enough to send us a small sample of Batch 1 so we could taste and compare all four batches.
This was several days after our original tasting of Batch 4. We nosed and tasted each batch. We then waited 15 minutes to allow them to open fully and nosed and tasted them again. The notes below are from the final tasting.
Batch 1 2021 Aged 4 Years, 4.5 Months 103.6 Proof
Batch 2 2022 Blend of five 4-year-old barrels and one 5-year-old barrel 100 Proof
Batch 3 2023 Blend of six 5-year-old barrels, two 6-year-old barrels, and two 4-year-old barrels 103.5 Proof
Batch 4 2024 Blend of 5-7-year-old barrels 106 Proof
Tasted Neat: *Wayne: Tobacco, vanilla, leather, black pepper *Rebecca: Cherry, vanilla, tobacco, leather, cinnamon, black pepper, oak
Taste Rank: *Wayne: 3 *Rebecca: 2
Taste Rank: *Wayne: 4 *Rebecca: 4
Taste Rank: *Wayne: 2 *Rebecca: 3
This was our favorite taste profile!
Throughout the tasting process, we nosed and tasted one at a time. We wrote our findings individually and shared with one another afterwards. We have found that sharing too soon can overly influence one another.
Discussion and Final Notes
We weren’t surprised that we selected Batch 4 overall. It has had more of an opportunity to mature. Each batch of W.H. McBrayer has been outstanding and Batch 4 simply raised the bar a bit with its additional maturity. The original heirloom mashbill creates a bourbon that is unlike others on the market today. If you appreciate a complex flavor profile as indicated in our notes, you will most likely enjoy this as well.
As with any tasting, it is strictly opinion on a particular day. We each struggled with determining a ranking because there was something in each batch that we really enjoyed. Ultimately, it came down to what we enjoyed “most” at that moment in time. We could do this again next week or next month and have somewhat different results. This is one of the things that we truly appreciate about bourbon.
The bottom line, McBrayer Legacy Spirits treat their brands like family because it is part of their family heritage. They have taken it slowly and carefully as they entered the highly competitive spirits market and have a terrific long-rang plan. In addition to W.H. McBrayer, they also offer a Bottled-in-Bond (Old McBrayer Bourbon) and Cedar Brook. These brands are not currently distributed but you can simply join their Legacy Club to be alerted to each bottle launch where you will have an opportunity to purchase it online. As of this posting, there is currently availability for Old McBrayer BIB 2023 and W.H. McBrayer 2024. We sincerely hope you will have the opportunity to taste the heritage of this brand.
Cheers, Rebecca
Photos by Rebecca Herman McBrayer
Note: Wayne McBrayer is not affiliated with McBrayer Legacy Spirits. They are cousins, friends, and great people. We support their bourbon journey and respect what they are doing to resurrect a 150-year-old brand that is part of their family lineage.
Spirit Requirements
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey – Such whiskeys have all the requirements of bourbon: Made in the U.S, distilled at <= 160 proof, barreled at <= 125 proof, aged in new, charred oak containers, bottled at >= 80 proof.
Straight bourbon means it is aged at least 2 years (and must have an age statement if less than 4). In addition, to be Kentucky Straight Bourbon, it has the additional requirement that it must be produced and aged at least 1 year in the state of Kentucky.
For additional information on bourbon requirements, please read this post – Bourbon Whiskey.
The bourbons in this review were purchased by us. We were not compensated by the spirit producers for this review. This is simply our opinion based on what we tasted on this day. Please drink responsibly.
Last Saturday, my wife Rebecca and I spent part of the afternoon doing a tasting of the 10 different recipes of Four Roses Bourbon based on the 10 different yeast strains that they use. It was a fun tasting and I was able to pick up a lot of different tastes and scents while we were doing it. It caused me to reflect back to the very beginning of my bourbon tasting and how things have changed for the better.
It was 2021 and I was sitting on our back porch looking over our lake and Rebecca and I were tasting the very first release of W.H. McBrayer. My cousins had resurrected the family bourbon and had released 900 bottles of which we acquired 2 of them. As I nosed the bourbon, all I could pick up was alcohol and when we tasted it, my throat and mouth were on fire! I was beyond frustrated and told Rebecca I’ll never be able to appreciate this or drink it and it has my last name on it!
She encouraged me to not give up and that it was a process. In this case, I stuck it out and she was right. For months, I would only drink my bourbon on ice and slowly I began to like it. The problem for me was that it became way too light and watery. One day I was tasting Maker’s Mark and decided I was going to drink it neat and wow, it wasn’t bad! It didn’t burn and I picked up wheat as a flavor! My nose and palate finally combined to find this once fire juice to be outstanding and worth my time and effort.
Patience is hard, and I find it difficult at times to be patient. This time it paid off and now that once fire juice of W.H. McBrayer Batch No. 1 is pleasant with caramel on the nose and a vanilla and cinnamon on the finish. This 103.6 proof that almost knocked me out of my chair is now almost too low for me. For what it’s worth, W.H. McBrayer No. 4 is coming out soon and my cousin has told me, “the best is yet to come” and I believe him. It’s great bourbon. Be sure to check out their Legacy Club if you are interested.
You may be like I was and not enjoy it. It may to be too hot, taste awful, smell bad and look weird. I encourage you to stick with it. You’ll find that it’s not that bad and you might even find out that you’ll end up loving it.
Enjoy your bourbon journey – Wayne
Photo credits: Rebecca Herman McBrayer
Note: Wayne McBrayer is not affiliated with McBrayer Legacy Spirits. They are cousins, friends, and great people. We support their bourbon journey and respect what they are doing to resurrect a 150-year-old brand that is part of their family lineage.
Your Bourbon Journey 