Johnny Drum Private Stock

So my wife and I have been planning on going to the whisky bar in our city for months now. Every time we make plans SOMETHING always come up. I get called into work a day early, we can't afford to go out, a public holiday that we forgot about is occurring on the day we're going and they're closed or as just happened this last time around, my wife and I got sick.

This has been extremely frustrating for me as this bar has quite a few whiskies I've been meaning to try for a while and so as the day was ending yesterday I was feeling a wee bit down. To the rescue comes my brother in law! I get a text message from him saying "If you can't go to the whisky then the whisky shall come to you!"

A couple hours later my brother and sister in law arrive at the house and he brings with him a bag of whisky. In this bag are a couple whiskies I've never had before along with a couple I've tasted.

The first two that we cracked open, The Macallan 10 yr old Sherry Cask and Sazerac Straight Rye, I've just reviewed. Next up comes one that had attracted my attention being the bourbon man I am. A bourbon I'd never tasted before (amusingly enough my brother in law wasn't a bourbon man until I started introducing him to Blantons, Hogs 3, Knob Creek, etc.) This bottle is Johnny Drum Private Stock which according to my information is aged 15 yrs and sits at a comfortable 101 proof.

Now I've always had a preference for good whiskies done at higher proof because as many of you already know the flavors shine through much clearer. Up to this point I've been impressed and enjoyed what we've been drinking, but I'm rather curious as to the bourbon and how my awesome brother in law did on his first purchase of a bourbon, especially considering the fact that it's one I know nothing about.

I pour myself a dram and slowly give is a nose. Ah yes there are my lovely bourbon smells coming to me. My wife gives it a smell and says that she smells a bit of red licorice coming through. I do too, but it's rather faint for me. What is singing for me on my nose is maple, vanilla, honey, some oak and a bit of apple. If this tastes as good as it smells I'm in for a real treat!

The first thing I taste is the 101 proof alcohol, but surprisingly it's not unpleasant and it doesn't dominate the flavor profile. What quickly emerges is some lovely apple, cinnamon, maple syrup, honey, vanilla and lots and lots of rye and oak. This is a very nice bourbon!

The finish is long and lingering with lots of oak and sweet spices singing through with just a bit of the alcohol coming through.

Even though this is a 101 proof bourbon it doesn't take too much like 101 proof. This is a whisky that one can happily drink neat. Other then my poor wife who promptly cried "it burns!" Mind you to be fair to my poor wife and the whisky she was sick and everything was burning that night. I didn't try this with any water to see what would happen and I'd love to give it a shot. Once I get my bourbon selection up and running in my cabinet there will definitely be a spot for this lovely fellow on my cabinet for a good long time!

For $135 AUS it's a good price, however you will need to search around to find a bottle of this.

Johnny Drum is a brand from the collection of Even Kulsveen's Kentucky Bourbon Distillers, Ltd. This means that he buys and bottles the whiskeys, and the distillery for each product is unstated. There are Johnny Drum products 4,12,and 15 years old. The Johnny Drum Private Stock review bottle does not have an age statement, but previous editions of Johnny Drum Private Stock with the same labeling have been labeled 15 yrs old. My estimate here is that this is mostly 15 yr old whiskey but there are probably some younger whiskies in this as well

Nose: moderate intensity sweet maple, oak, a little caramel and vanilla

Taste: first arrives a lot of intense oak and maple flavours, then big delicious rye spices, pleasantly sweet, with a significant alcohol greeting when consumed neat

Finish: the finish is long and strong with wood flavours and spices remaining til the end

Balance: this is a very flavourful bourbon, with good balance between the wood and rye flavours. I have tried the younger Black Label Johnny Drum and like it as well, but this Private Stock is more sophisticated and smoother. This is not a very commonly available brand in my area, but I would definitely recommend your trying it if you have the opportunity to do so. Having sampled maybe 70 bourbons I would describe Johnny Drum Private Stock as a quintessential example of what a good flavourful bourbon tastes like