You’ve heard of the hair of the dog? Well, if you make the winning bid on this Col. E.H. Taylor collector series, you’ll take home five limited-edition bottles of whiskey and benefit the dogs (and cats) in the care of the Franklin County (Ky.) Humane Society.

The set includes one bottle each of the E.H. Taylor Single Barrel, Barrel Proof, Rye, Old Fashioned Sour Mash and Tornado Surviving Bourbon, all autographed by Buffalo Trace master distiller Harlen Wheatley. Each is 100 proof except for the Barrel Proof, which is 134.5.

The Franklin County Humane Society benefit, which includes dinner and a cash bar in addition to the silent auction of the bourbon collection and other items, is from 7 to 10 p.m. this Saturday, April 20, at the Capital Plaza Hotel in Frankfort. Tickets to the semi-formal affair are $50 per person. For more information, click here.

Strictly speaking, today’s Shot isn’t about bourbon. It’s about something that pairs beautifully with bourbon in cocktails: bitters. One of the best-known names in bitters is Peychaud’s. The brand is owned by Sazerac, which is based in New Orleans. But did you know that all the Peychaud’s in the world is made in Kentucky? Every bottle is filled in Building 3 at Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Ky. You can read more about bitters in my story in the current issue of The Bourbon Review, available at Liquor Barn outlets and the Louisville Visitor Center.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen lots of new bourbons hit the shelves. Right alongside them has been a growing collection of bottles filled with a clear spirit. Variously labeled white whiskey, unaged whiskey or the colloquial white dog, this is “pre-bourbon,” the spirit before it has picked up that nice amber color and those wonderful caramel and vanilla flavors from aging for years in a charred oak barrel.

This is partly a reflection of the current craze for anything related to bourbon. On one end of the spectrum you have the pricey super-premium and overaged bourbons; on the other end, you have this homage to the moonshine history, which was as colorful as its products weren’t. But unaged whiskeys are also a way for distillers, particularly small craft distillers, to bring in some cash until their bourbons are ready, a process that usually takes four to six years or more - a long time to wait for a return on investment.

Now a really huge distiller, Jim Beam, has gotten into the white whiskey business with Jacob’s Ghost, named for its founding father. Beam notes in press materials that Jacob’s Ghost is not moonshine, nor is it unaged. It is aged for at least one year in a charred barrel, which it says gives the whiskey “a smooth, sweet flavor with hints of smoke, rounded out by soft barrel notes on the finish.”

While Slate.com’s Drink writer Reid Mitenbuler didn’t give a specific reaction to Jacob’s Ghost in a story posted last Friday, you can get the gist from the headline: “Putting the White Dog To Sleep: Unaged whiskey helps young microdistilleries keep afloat. There’s just one problem: It tastes awful.”

Without the final step of aging in barrels, Reid writes, “white dog is to whiskey what coal is to diamonds.” The story’s suggestion: Rather than drum up early capital with white dog, microdistillers should consider making gin instead. “Like white dog, gin is distilled from grains, but it passes through botanicals like juniper berries, coriander, and cardamom to absorb appealing flavors,” Reid writes - and it requires no aging.

However, it’s also apparently very difficult to scrub out of the still. Drew Mayville, director of quality at Buffalo Trace, told me on a recent visit that he would love to make a distilled gin on the distillery’s mini-still, but master distiller Harlen Wheatley “would kill me. He doesn’t want to run gin anywhere in the distillery. Gin will stick around in all these columns. It’s dangerous thing. I’ve heard stories – you could be making the next product and you’re going to taste gin in it. Gin sticks around forever.” 

Meanwhile, Beam kindly provided the Bourbon Babe with a bottle of Jacob’s Ghost, and I’ll share my tasting notes tomorrow.

Later this month, the 12 bottles in the eighth round of Buffalo Trace’s Single Oak Project will appear in stores, marking the halfway point of this ambitious experiment to find the Holy Grail of bourbon.

The project began in 1999, when Buffalo Trace hand-picked 96 trees with different wood grains and then divided them into a top and bottom piece, for 192 sections. Staves were created from each section and dried for either six months or 12 months. Then 192 barrels were made. They were given either a No. 3 or No. 4 char and filled with either wheat or rye recipe bourbon at two different proofs, 105 or 125. They are being aged in two warehouses - one with concrete floors and one with wooden floors. That’s seven variables that are being employed, for a potential of 1,396 taste combinations.

Since 2011, Buffalo Trace has released a series of bottles from the experiment every three months. After tasting, a consumer can go online here and review a bottle, at which point all of its details are revealed.

Halfway through the experiment, barrel No. 106 is at the top of the list, closely followed by No. 97. With two years to go, though, anything could happen. The numbers being released this month are 27, 28, 59, 60, 91, 92, 123, 124, 155, 156, 187 and 188. All have an entry proof of 105.

These bottles retail for about $46. That’s pretty steep for a 375ml bottle, so I’m guessing most of you aren’t going to rush out and buy a complete set. Same here. So far, I’ve tasted just one, No. 78. It was pretty good, but with nothing to compare it to, I am not exactly immersed in this experiment.

I’d like to be, though. So here’s an idea: I’d love to meet up with others in the Louisville area who’ve purchased different bottles for a Single Oak Project Tasting Party. If you’re interested, drop me a message and we’ll see what we can get organized.  

Two upcoming events on Saturday, Feb. 9, would make fine Valentine’s Day gifts for the bourbon lover in your life. From 3 to 5 p.m., Moonshine University at the Distilled Spirits Epicenter, 801 S. Eighth St. in Louisville, will present an Enthusiast Class called “Like Bourbon for Chocolate,” featuring the bourbon truffles of Art Eatables. I’ve noted before here that bourbon and chocolate are an excellent pairing, and Art Eatables truffles marry just the right kind of chocolate with each bourbon selected. The class is $59 per person. You can register here.

Also on that Saturday, Buffalo Trace in Frankfort presents its second “Buffalo Love,” a dinner featuring tastings of the distillery’s bourbons paired with cuisine from Dupree Catering. Drew Mayville, Buffalo Trace’s director of quality, will lead the tastings. I can’t make it this year, but last year’s inaugural event (above) was excellent. The event has been moved to the clubhouse to accommodate more people. The dinner is from 7 to 9 p.m.; an optional tour of the distillery begins at 6. The cost is $100 per couple. Find out more here.

In my resolutions for bourbon lovers earlier this month, I encouraged you to try out one (or more) of the flavored bitters on the market. Last night I followed my own advice. A quick search on the Google for a recipe using orange bitters led to this cocktail from Bourbon & Branch, a speakeasy in San Francisco (check out their cool site here). I made a few brand substitutions to accommodate what I had in the liquor cabinet, as you’ll see below. The coffee liqueur gives this cocktail a nice dark chocolate essence, sweetened by the bourbon and orange.   

Bourbon & Branch’s Revolver Cocktail

Ingredients

2 ounces bourbon (Bulleit recommended, but I used Buffalo Trace)
1/2 ounce Tia Maria coffee liqueur (I used Kamora) 
2 to 3 dashes orange bitters (I used Regan’s Orange Bitters No. 6)
Orange peel for garnish

Directions

Combine all ingredients except orange peel in a mixing glass with ice and stir.

Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and add orange peel.

Makes 1 drink.

“Justified,” the FX show about a U.S. marshal keeping the peace by whatever means necessary in Harlan County, Ky., returns for a fourth season tonight at 10. I’m not sure what U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant, above) will be up to this season, but it’s a pretty sure bet that somewhere along the way, bourbon will be involved. And helping to keep that bourbon real is Amy Preske, PR manager for Buffalo Trace Distillery.

Preske provides the show with bottles of the distillery’s brands for use in various scenes. I caught a glimpse of the distinctive Blanton’s bottle in one scene last season; Preske said she also sent bottles of Elmer T. Lee when her contact asked her for suggestions about what a certain character might drink. There it is next to Robert Quarles (Neal McDonough), member of a crime family from Detroit, below.

“It’s pretty common to be asked to supply product for a show or a movie, at least once a month, probably more,” Preske said. “We’ve sent empty Pappy bottles to ‘Justified’ and other productions, which we advise them to fill with tea. I just sent one empty and one full bottle to the producer of a movie called ‘Growing Up and Other Lies’ (scheduled for release this year), and they sent me pictures of it being used on set. I sent 200 empty E.H. Taylor Jr. bottles to the HBO set of ‘Boardwalk Empire’ (see still below); they reproduced the old label, which I also sent them pictures of.”

Buffalo Trace isn’t the only distillery placing products in film and TV productions, of course. Preske said she’s also seen Wild Turkey on “Justified,” for instance. “My contact said they try to keep it spread between all the distilleries so it’s fair. I would imagine that it’s fairly common. I’m not sure we’re doing anything that’s unique!”

Maybe not, but I think it’s still pretty cool - and I’ll bet Raylan Givens would drink to that. Right, Raylan? 

Thought so.

Looking for festive things to do this weekend? A couple of distilleries have holiday-related goings-on:

Buffalo Trace in Frankfort is all decked out for the season with Christmas light displays. You can drive through the distillery property nightly through Jan. 1, starting at dusk and ending at 11 p.m. (Note that the distillery itself will be closed on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.) Buffalo Trace is located at 113 Great Buffalo Trace. Click here for tour information and maps.

Woodford Reserve Distillery in Versailles has its final Holiday Luncheons this weekend. The buffet created by Chef-in-Residence Ouita Michel and her culinary team is open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today through Saturday and 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday. After you dine, you can take a tour of the distillery or visit the gift shop. The buffet is $25 per person. I’m told that the weekend is fairly booked, but there’s always the chance someone will cancel. Call ahead for reservations at (859) 879-1953. Click here for directions.

And as always, celebrate responsibly!

My reporting at Buffalo Trace for an upcoming story led me to the lab, where I encountered this beautiful piece of furniture: the tasting table. It’s here that the distillery maintains the flavor profiles of its products. Each day, a glass of whatever brands are being tested is placed on the table as the gold standard, along with samples drawn from distinct barrels. The day I was there, the glasses were filled with Eagle Rare and Hancock’s Reserve. During the day, members of Buffalo Trace’s tasting panel, 19 employees from throughout the distillery, stop by and taste from the various glasses arranged on the world’s greatest lazy Susan. If a sample doesn’t measure up, they turn that bottle sideways.

Employees make their way onto the tasting panel by first agreeing to stop by consistently, and then, after a period of developing their palates, passing a blind taste test given by lead chemist Chris Fletcher. He uses black tasting glasses, noting that “so much of what we taste is with our eyes.” Try that at your next cocktail party!

Before I left, I had the opportunity to take a spin and taste one of the samples of Hancock’s Reserve, below. I did not turn the bottle sideways.  

Photos by Chad Carlton

Lots of people enjoy a bourbon before dinner, then switch to coffee with dessert. But the flavor profile of bourbon - vanilla, caramel, dark fruit, spices - pairs beautifully with many dessert options.

Learn more about serving bourbon with dessert by joining me, the Bourbon Babe, on Thursday, Nov. 8, at Volare restaurant, where we will enjoy three fabulous pairings by Chef Josh Moore:

• Pumpkin cheesecake with a gingersnap crust and crème anglaise, paired with Larceny Bourbon;
• White chocolate mousse torte with an Oreo crust and raspberry coulis, paired with Buffalo Trace Bourbon; and
• Caramel Godiva crème brûlée with fresh berries, paired with 1792 Ridgemont Reserve.

The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the restaurant’s private dining room, and the cost is $30 per person. Make your reservation by calling 502.894.4446. Volare is located at 2300 Frankfort Ave. in Louisville.