Rip Van Winkle and his buddies.

OLD RIP VAN WINKLE

In the 1870s, Julian P. "Pappy" Van Winkle Sr. and Alex Farnsley bought and merged two distillers together which became the Stizel-Weller Distillery. In 1935 Pappy opened a new Stizel-Weller Distillery in south Louisville and was hands on most of the operation until his death at age 91. His son Julian Jr. took over and in 1972 was forced by stockholders to sell the distillery. All of the labels went with the distillery or were sold to other distilleries. Julian Jr. decided to resurrect and old pre prohibition label which the family kept the rights to called Old Rip Van Winkle and used the stock from the old distillery to start the label. After Julian Jr. died in 1981, Julian III took over and carried on with the family business. Lately, Van Winkle has entered into a joint venture with Buffalo Trace to produce their bourbon at their distillery. We shall see how that turns out. In the meantime, we are still getting the bourbon from the old distillery and I must tell you it is outstanding!

The Old Rip Van Winkle 90 proof 10 year old Bourbon is a very smooth, very creamy bourbon with flavors of vanilla with a hint of carmel and a bit of spice on the end. The creaminess stays on the pallet for a good long time and the smooth creamy flavor comes from the wheat used instead of rye. The hint of caramel are what makes this bourbon candy on the tongue.

BELL'S BREWERY
CHERRY STOUT

Bell's Brewery started like most micro breweries with a 15 gallon pot and a desire for fine crafted beer in 1985. At first taste, you get that chocolate and coffee flavor with a tart twist. The tartness comes from cherries grown in the region. I found it interesting that this stout has a tart fruitiness which is, to me, unusual. At first smell you get the coffee and a bit of cherry. I was not sure how this would sit on my pallet until I finished the beer. For those that like a bit of tartness in their beer, this is for you. As you drink this beer the tartness is there throughout until you finish the beer. I, for one am not a fan of tart beers but I can appreciate the taste for those that are fans of tart beers. I would recommend this to those that enjoy a tart beer but it might not be for those that are stout fans.

UNIBROUE
TERRIBLE


In 1990, Unibroue was formed by Andre Dion and Serge Racine with the desire to carve a niche in the craft beer world. They became majority shareholders in La Brasserie Massawippi a financially strapped brewery. They began with Belgian Beers and created Blanche De Chambly, their first Belgian beer. In the years to follow the company brewed some fine belgians and also answered the call to brew lagers for which most Canadians are well versed in. In 2004 they were purchased by Sleeman Brewery which was interested in the modern brewery and efficient labor. They became Sleeman-Unibroue Brewery and created some of the finest Canadian Belgian style beers around. In 2006, The company was purchased by Sapporo International, Japan's older commercial brewer, and continued the tradition of brewing Belgian Style beers. Terrible, which is an Abbey Ale is rich in color and in taste has a classic Belgian flavor with notes of cherry and plum with the full rich and slightly creamy flavor. If you have not tried this one, you can add it to your list of Canadian ales but if you cannot find it don't go out of your way to get it. Wait for it to come to you. I have had several Abbey Ales that taste extremely similar to this and it's a good beer but not great.

That's my reviews for this week. Let me know what you think and I'll post your comment, good or bad on the next blog. Just remember folks, everyone's taste id different so get out there and support your local brewer!