A package arrived yesterday with the following label. I was pretty sure what it was, and anything with that text is going to be good:

I had recently ordered a bottle of some of the finest bourbon around: George T. Stagg. It only comes out once (sometimes twice) a year, and my bottle from fall 2004 was almost empty. Once I heard that the 2006 bottling was released (a bit over a month ago), I started hunting around for a bottle. It took a while. Southern California may know a lot about wine, but people here don’t know the first thing about spirits (tequila aside). I keep hoping I’m going to find some store or club or something where civilized folk can pick up a drink, but so far no luck. I struck out totally in San Diego, but ended up finding a place in LA that carried the Stagg. Hi-Time Wine, of course a wine shop, also happens to have an interesting selection of spirits. They carried some of the Stagg, and as a result I opened the box yesterday to see a magnificent sight.

Now, the George T. Stagg is an amazing bourbon for a lot of reasons, and really should be tried if you’re a bourbon fan. I’m no expert, but a few highlights:

• It’s unfiltered. This means that it can develop a cloudy haze, especially in colder temperatures or when water is added. As a result a lot of whiskey manufacturers have cold filtered for years under the belief that people will much prefer a perfectly clear drink. Unfortunately, this filtration process removes a lot of the particulates which impart a much different flavor to the alcohol. I tend to think the unfiltered whiskeys have a bit more body, a sensation which is hard to describe but nice to drink.
• It’s cask strength. This means it’s not watered down, or at least less watered down, from the strength it is when it comes out of the cask. Most whiskeys have water added to them, bringing the alcohol content down to closer to 40%. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it tends to open the alcohol up and reduce some of the burn. My previous bottle was 65.45% alcohol, which is crazy. This year’s bottling is an even stronger 70.3%. That is a lot of alcohol.

  

• Drinking George T. Stagg isn’t just drinking another bourbon. One of my friends described drinking the Stagg as liquid smoke. Christy’s description was, “it’s like a party in my mouth and they just won’t go home!” Drinking the Stagg is an intense, wonderful experience. It tingles up front, and then the heat roars up through your mouth, down your throat and nestles warmly in your stomach.

Since I have a review section, I’ll throw a rating in so it qualifies. The 2004 edition is one of my favorite bourbons, although you do have to be in the mood. If you’re looking for other great bourbons with more reasonable alcohol content you might want to look at Five Roses or Elijah Craig 18 year.

Rating: *****

(I use the spelling “whiskey” throughout this post, which is technically correct since American and Irish whiskeys are spelled this way. Scottish (so tasty), Japanese and Canadian whiskies are spelled “whisky.” I tend to just type “whiskey”, so in this case I lucked out and got it right)