J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery Celebrates Its Heritage with Launch of Classic Bourbon
Small Batch Bourbon Available Nationwide Starting Aug. 21st
FRANKFORT, KY (Aug. 20, 2024) – J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery, created by Jeff Mattingly, a descendant of distilling pioneer John Graves Mattingly, is honoring its family legacy with the release of its Small Batch Classic Bourbon on August 21st, on what would have been John Graves Mattingly’s 201st birthday.
The Classic Bourbon is the first flagship bourbon released under the J. Mattingly 1845 line of whiskies, and will offer fans a consistent taste profile they will be able to find year-round at retailers and online. “Previously, all of the J. Mattingly 1845 double-staved whiskey releases have been custom blends, created for specific retailers, our guests at the distillery, or by our blending team to honor a specific cause or event,” said Harry Richart, president of J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery. “This classic double-staved release is now our anchor “house style” from which all of our custom blends, including your own, emanate.”
If early reviews are any indication, J. Mattingly 1845 is right on track – famed Whiskey Bible author Jim Murray scored the Classic Bourbon a 96, saying, “This is extraordinary bourbon for a 6-year-old, having been taken as far as it can go – a bit like an apple plucked from the tree when at its most carmine but juiciest… Every year you will find a very small handful of bottlings which is a real bourbon-lovers’ bourbon. Well, this is one of them.”
The J. Mattingly 1845 Classic Bourbon is a six-and-a-half-year blend bottled at 119 proof. Like all J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery releases, this bourbon has undergone the Distillery’s signature double- staving™ process, allowing the whiskey inside the barrels additional surface exposure to charred barrel staves to impart more flavor and color.
“This bourbon is the very definition of complex, as well as one which appears to like to stretch a point as far as it can without being guilty of over-indulgence. Unquestionably this is due to the Double-Staving™ method deployed which, with its extra charring, has turned a 6-year-old into something showing the honeyed and toasted intensity of a bourbon a little over three times that age: remarkable. More remarkable is the feeling that just another summer month of maturation and this would have clicked from brilliance to failure: such is the fine line of success in the rarefied atmosphere of whiskeys at this stellar level,” continued Murray.
The Classic Bourbon is available at the Distillery in Frankfort, in select retailers, and online, with shipping to 46 U.S. states. Suggested retail pricing is $110 for 750 mL.
About J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery
The Mattingly family has been synonymous with distilling in Kentucky for more than two centuries, having a hand in the development of at least nine separate distilleries in the Commonwealth, and with connections to some of the most illustrious names in the distilling industry, including George Garvin Brown, the Willetts and the Samuels.
It all started in 1845, with John Graves Mattingly’s first distillery in Marion County, Kentucky, Registered Distillery #2. Many historians today believe his distillery was the first registered distillery in Kentucky.
In 2010 Jeff Mattingly took up the family mantle and started his own craft bourbon business. Today, Jeff’s son Cameron has joined the team as Vice President of Production, continuing the legacy into the latest generation for J. Mattingly Distillery 1845 in Frankfort, Kentucky. Together father and son offer their proprietary double staving process as well as a custom bourbon blending experience unparalleled in the spirits industry, available on-site in Frankfort or online at https://jmattingly1845.com/build-a-bottle/
For more information about J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery visit www.JMattingly1845.com.
INTRODUCING OUR NEW CORE COLLECTION.
Four whiskies, each a destination on your map of flavour.
Discover the whisky inspired by a pâtissier’s test-kitchen…
Part artistry, part alchemy, Nectarosity generously brings you honeyed fruit and toasted oak notes, straight from our Blending Room.
TASTING NOTES
Joyously zesty with honey, lychee, juicy apricot and pineapple. Toffee and vanilla pull off a palate takeover, with lasting flavours of cinnamon bun.
Or, meet our regal sage with a crown of oak…
Magisterial and powerful. Balanced by a benevolent generosity that says ‘what’s mine is yours – enjoy…’ So, will you do him the honour?
TASTING NOTES
Chocolate fudge cake undercut with clove and cardamom, with hints of plum jam and redcurrant jelly, then rich cherry, toffee and oak, finished with raisin, honey and brown sugar.
Our August Auction ENDS SOON!
Place your bids until 7pm (BST) Sunday 25th August 2024.
Every month, we present an incredible selection of whiskies and other fine spirits to our members right across the globe. You will find everything here from limited edition releases and vintage bottles to whole casks of rare whisky. There is certainly something for everyone – whether you are looking to collect, invest or enjoy!
Karuizawa – 35 Year Old (1978) Single Cask #8383
Glenfiddich – 35 Year Old (1987) Archive Collection (Single Cask #20025) Bottle #2
Port Ellen – 33 Year Old (1981) Single Cask #1295
Macallan – 52 Year Old (1946) Select Reserve (75cl)
Hibiki – 21 Year Old (Kutani Ceramic Decanter) 2004 Release
Selling whisky? Why not arrange the pick-up of your bottles using our global courier service? If you’re based in Scotland, you might want to arrange the personal collection of your bottles. Wherever you’re based in the world, we will make getting your bottles into our monthly auction as simple as possible. Get in touch with the Whisky Hammer team now by dropping them a message at sales@whiskyhammer.com.
SPRINGBANK 18 YEAR OLD 46%
100% Bourbon
UK RRP £110 – £115
NOSE
Tropical fruits are at the forefront in notes of papaya and pineapple. There is a malty, dried barley note, with vanilla and custard creams.
PALATE
Notes of golden syrup and honeyed granola emerge on the palate, along with fruit gums, pear drops and butter icing.
FINISH
The tropical fruits carry through to the finish, with the addition of a herbaceous, gorse note and a touch of sea salt.
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof “Batch B524” Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
750ml $69.99
The old stalwart from Elijah Craig released originally more than 10 years ago has become a standard barrier for the category. Heaven Hill does three small batch cask strength releases of their finest well aged stock a year and while they’ve recently deviated from the previous 12-year-old standard, the whiskies are no less impressive at 11 or 13 years old. In fact, some of these slightly younger batches will remind you very quickly that older isn’t always better in bourbon. Clocking in at a modest 11 years and 2 months, you’d be hard pressed to perceive the slightly lower age statement had it not been disclosed. Dense, big and powerful, this extremely well-made bourbon is the benchmark for quality and price in the industry. Clocking in at an inviting 130.6 proof, every single lover of full-strength bourbon will be satisfied after just one sip of this excellent new batch.
David Othenin-Girard | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: July 19, 2024
As Heaven Hill’s competitors continue to increase the prices of even younger casks strength stocks, Elijah Craigs full bore explosiveness and everyday consistency offers an respite from madness elsewhere in the category. And while the taters and flippers might skip this batch because it doesn’t show the big age statement, the rest of us proper drinkers will be quietly enjoying another excellent batch of ECBP. It’s difficult to point to a better bourbon on the shelf under $70 from any producer and as long as you’re initiated into the cask strength club, there’s little risk of not liking this one. Let’s have a taste. The color is a typical deep auburn (1.5). The nose is extremely approachable right off the neck pour but absolutely loves air. Dense caramel sauce, brown sugar syrup, deep roasted oak spice, candied almonds, toasted vanilla bean. Keeps opening and giving with air and time. This is some of the bourboniest bourbon I’ve bourboned in some time. Behind the sweet sugar and oak, flecks of cinnamon, ancient furniture, varnish and stewed plums. On the palate, it’s got surprising lift and gorgeous fruitiness up front. The supple texture is the hallmark here and the dark woody character of the nose does not translate into bitterness or harsh tannin. That said a beautiful building spice takes over after the surprisingly refreshing front and warms the entire body perfectly. This is just really solid in every way. It doesn’t color outside thelines, but honestly we never asked it. It’s an absolute joy to drink and although it’s completely familiar in everyway it’s still exciting from the first nosing to the long lingering finish. Anyone who poopoos this batch for not being 13 years old hasn’t given it a fair shake.
Email: wine@klwines.com
Phone: (877) KL-WINES (Toll Free 877.559.4637)
K&L Wine Merchants 3005 El Camino Real Redwood City, CA 94061 USA
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA
Adam tries the Compass Box Flaming Heart 2022 Edition, as featured in the July 2024 Whisky Showcase. Our members scored it 93.74 and put it in the “Smoky & Earthy” flavour profile.
INTRODUCING OUR NEW BOTTLING SERIES: WHISKYLAND
As Whisky Sponge officially draws to an end, it’s about time we introduced our new flagship bottling series: Whiskyland.
Welcome, please unpack all your opinions and pre-conceptions and leave them in a tidy puddle over by that wormhole. Whiskyland is your land, it is a culture and world that you know very well. It is a surreal, often humorous, frequently satirical, reflection of the whisky culture we all live and breathe.
Together, we’ll be exploring strange and wonderful realm over the course of precisely 100 Chapters. You can expect this series to feature bespoke artwork, plenty humour and mischief, and the very best whiskies we can get our mitts on!
WHISKYLAND CHAPTER ONE : SPRINGBANK 1998
When starting any new series, it’s nice to begin in style. It was important for us to have an impressive whisky for our first Chapter of Whiskyland, and we feel pretty confident that this 1st fill sherry butt of Springbank 1998 is every bit as impressive as we could have hoped for. It has matured fully in this cask for 26 years on location in Campbeltown, before we bottled it at natural cask strength. It’s everything you’d hope for from this distillery, age and cask type.
£975.00
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT WHISKYLAND
While Whisky Sponge had the Sponge as its main character, Whiskyland itself is now our character. Imagine ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,’ but for whisky. Each chapter in Whiskyland will feature original artworks that embody the same spirit of inventiveness, mischief, and humour that defined Whisky Sponge.
This series will be home to the best whiskies we can find. Expect single casks, small-batch, and multi-vintage bottlings, all presented in elegant, cognac-style glass bottles. Each chapter will also feature original writing on the rear labels, with underpinning themes of travel, encyclopaedia entries and adventure.
Unlike Whisky Sponge, we’ve decided to be a tad more disciplined with Whiskyland, that means no A & B editions, no side series and no themed off-shoots. Just 100 bottlings, 100 chapters. That’s it. And when it’s done, well, we’ll just have to think of something else…
Chapters Two and Three will follow soon, featuring a Bowmore 2004 and a Glen Grant 1993 respectively. With many other gorgeous drams in the works for the journey ahead.
THE FINAL RUN OF WHISKY SPONGE
As we usher in our new flagship series, Whiskyland, it means saying farewell to the Sponge. But before we do, we are very pleased to introduce to you the last two additions to the Whisky Sponge series: Editions 99 and 100.
Ruadh Maor (Glenturret) 12 Years Old
Big, bold and hugely enjoyable the first Glenturret selected by the Thompson Bros, they chose a Raudh Maor, the peated variant from the Distillery near Crieff. The label pays respect to Towser (1963 – 1987), the greatest mouser to ever live, killing an estimated 28,899 mice at Glenturret Distillery.
TASTING NOTES
NOSE
Chimney smoke and buttery smoked whitefish, lemonade, smoked bacon, iodine, salty brine and some yellow fruit poking its head up.
PALATE
Deep mouthfeel with plenty of maritime notes, old rope, lobster boxes, rockpools and some more citrus notes, verging towards grapefruit.
FINISH
Lasting peat and wood smoke with a touch of herbaceousness.
£65.00
Thompson Bros.
Experience the best of Scottish whisky and gin with Dornoch Distillery. Created by whisky bar owners Phil and Simon Thompson, this new venture brings old styles of distillation to life. Made on-site at Dornoch Castle Hotel, join the crowdfunding campaign to support this exciting new addition to Dornoch.
