Top Pick American Whiskey at K&L California – American Whisky News
February 17th, 2014
- Buffalo Trace K&L Exclusive Single Cask #43 Lot 4669 Kentucky Straight Bourbon 750ml ($24.99)
Last October we toured Buffalo Trace distillery for the first time and got to select samples directly from the distillery. Getting to bottle our own selections from one of the nation’s best and most-popular distilleries is a fantastic way for us to provide something unique and interesting for our loyal whiskey customers. Now that the word is out that Pappy Van Winkle is made at the Frankfort facility, tourists have begun flocking to Buffalo Trace to conduct their own whiskey pilgrimages. When we were there in the Fall the campus was a madhouse of Bourbon aficionados and die-hard enthusiasts. We were lucky to taste anything as the gift shop was completely sold out of everything except cream liqueur. Luckily, there were two solid, classic Buffalo Trace casks there for the taking and we snatched them up. The #43 barrel offered plenty of burnt sugar, toasted nuts, and barrel spice right on the nose, with more on the palate right afterward. The cask yielded a little more than 200 bottles and we’re pumped to finally have them on our shelves. (David Driscoll, K&L Spirits Buyer)
- Buffalo Trace K&L Exclusive Single Cask #45 Lot 4669 Kentucky Straight Bourbon 750ml ($24.99)
Last October we toured Buffalo Trace distillery for the first time and got to select samples directly from the distillery. Getting to bottle our own selections from one of the nation’s best and most-popular distilleries is a fantastic way for us to provide something unique and interesting for our loyal whiskey customers. Now that the word is out that Pappy Van Winkle is made at the Frankfort facility, tourists have begun flocking to Buffalo Trace to conduct their own whiskey pilgrimages. When we were there in the Fall the campus was a madhouse of Bourbon aficionados and die-hard enthusiasts. We were lucky to taste anything as the gift shop was completely sold out of everything except cream liqueur. Luckily, there were two solid, classic Buffalo Trace casks there for the taking and we snatched them up. The #45 was more herbaceous and full of bold rye flavor with plenty of wood spices on the finish. It’s a more intense version of the standard formula wi th everything dialed up a bit. We’re excited to have it all to ourselves! (David Driscoll, K&L Spirits Buyer)
- Faultline Straight Bourbon Whiskey 750ml ($39.99)
We’ve been doing gin and single malt for years, and now rum, so why not throw our hat in the Bourbon pool? One of the obstacles that kept us from making a Faultline Bourbon earlier was availability: the current demand has made the extra barrel a thing of the past. One of the only distilleries that would sell us a cask for a private label was the old LDI distillery in Indiana, but with the already overcrowded LDI market (Bulleit Rye, Templeton Rye, High West, etc) we didn’t think our product would be different enough, or of the quality we desired, for the Faultline name. That’s when John Little from Smooth Ambler stepped in and said he’d be happy to help us do something special. If we were going to work with LDI casks, then we needed the capability to blend something special to taste – the specs wouldn’t sell this baby. John had some incredible 10 year old low rye formula that we used in conjunction with some 7 year high rye. We kept tastin g and tasting until we found the sweet spot at 100 proof. It’s FAR better than I ever thought it would be. I hoped we could provide something fun and different, but the final whiskey is phenomenal. It’s rich, with sweet fruit right on the entry, a full-bodied mid-palate, and a long, rich, spicy finish. It tastes like it came from Four Roses or somewhere fancy and at 50% it pops in all the right places. I hope we can make another batch like this because this Bourbon is the new king of K&L. Taste it if you don’t believe me. (David Driscoll)
K&L Wine Merchants
http://www.klwines.com
Phone: 877-KLWines (toll free 877-559-4637)
Email: wine@klwines.com
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA![]()















