Each year I scout the Midwest for "highly allocated" (hard to find) rare whiskies. This whiskey offering has an Irish whiskey, 2 bourbons and a rye whiskey.

We start strong, offering the Red Breast 15year Cask Strength Irish Whiskey. Prior to Prohibition, 80% of Irish whiskey was exported to Irish expatriates in the US. As a result, only 4 Irish distillers survived Prohibition: Bushmills, Jameson, Middleton, and Powers. One of the oldest Irish brands is Red Breast created by Jameson in 1912

Red Breast is world renowned for their single pot 12year Irish whiskey. Last year Red Breast introduced a 15year, cask strength whiskey to rave reviews. This is extremely hard to find and always at a premium price. I love this whiskey.

Our second "highly allocated" whiskey is Baker's Bourbon, named after Baker Beam, a grand nephew of Jim Beam. Baker grew up on the Jim Beam estate and started working at Jim Beam Distillers as a night watchman when in high school. He held every job in the distillery, before eventually ascending to master distiller.

After Baker retired, his cousin Booker Noe become President of Jim Beam Distillery. Booker created Baker's Bourbon in his honor. Baker's is always bottled at 107 proof, yet each bottle differs slightly. Baker's uses the single barrel approach rather than batching multiple barrels into one batch before bottling. Each barrel has slightly different flavor tones than another. From my experience, i have loved every Baker's tasting from each different bottle.

Our 3rd offering is the High and Wicked Bourbon. This too is extremely hard to find as well. This bourbon is 84% corn, 8% rye, and 8% barley. They age the bourbon 14 years in a char oak cask before finishing the bourbon for 6 months in a Hungarian dessert liqueur cask. This creates a delightful complex bourbon to be enjoyed.

Our fourth whiskey is our own Cedar Ridge Bottled in Bond Rye Whiskey. Cedar Ridge is based near Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and this rye whiskey has received national accolades. Their Bottled in Bond Rye is special edition created to commemorate the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897. The Bottled in Bond Act created processes to ensure quality standards for consumers. This Cedar Ridge Rye is another great highly allocated whiskey.

Should you win this selection, you can arrange for a private whiskey tasting for your friends. I will bring my whiskey geek handouts and the whiskey flavor wheels so we can have a fun informational whiskey tasting.

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