Straight Bourbon Blended Whiskey | 45.5% ABV

Score: 6/10

**Good stuff.**
***TL;DR***
*Helping me increase the lane count on my bourbon flavour highway*

Gratitude for all that whisky brings

The house is silent and I’m enjoying the exhale. I’m sitting in my favourite armchair tapping keys on my laptop. My wonderful wife, having run around during the day and feeling a bit under the weather, went to bed a half hour ago.

Perhaps, at times, the Gemini dichotomy in me is clear to see – while I enjoy talking and chatting up folk – I also do enjoy quiet and solitude; being alone with my own thoughts. And so, I sit here soaking up the silence and basking in the glow of thought and reflection.

It’s been a full year since I moved to North Carolina. I miss my dear friends back in Connecticut, but I am so very happy and fortunate to have made the move. New people. New surroundings. The experience of change. My thirty-second year of practicing law has had its highs and lows, and it is becoming more and more apparent that my days in the law are numbered. Mrs. Shaw and I speak of needing to find, create and do other things - we call them our “pivots” - to recharge our batteries and challenge ourselves. Ideally, in some way, we would do something to give back to the community; things to enrich our souls.

As those thoughts about enriched souls come to mind and swirl about, it is impossible to not reflect, especially at this time of year, on all that has touched me and all of those things and people for which I am appreciative.

Yes, I think about family. I am ever grateful for the time I have had with those that have touched my life but have moved on to Valhalla. I am also mindful and so appreciative of family and friends that remain on this blue orb with me. Frankly, I often feel a bit ashamed that I don’t reach out to them more often. I need to be better at calling, as text messages, alone, don’t cut it. My Mother used to say that if you have something positive to say – say it. Otherwise, all people hear are negativities and complaints. With that in mind, and honoring the memory of my Mother, a few thoughts to share.

It may seem trite and canned to say this, but, truly, my mind often wanders to my whisky family. Three years ago, I would not have recognised the phrase “whisky family”. But, after penning my first Dramface review more than two years ago, the Uisge Beatha Family Tree came into focus and took shape. A family that, while strangely physically and geographically challenged, is as welcoming and embracing as any.

My whisky family tree began with - and has grown from - Dramface.

At its foundation, I am ever so thankful for Wally who invited me – Ogilvie, a relative single malt whisky noob and a Yank – to come into the fold at Dramface and write. Our “Papa DFer”, Wally, is a force of nature. A more welcoming and supportive person you will not meet. And yet, as is a consistently recurring quirk of my whisky family tree, this foundational part of my tree I have never met in person. All communications are done through WhatsApp and video chats.

I will continue to look forward to the day that I am able to meet the Papa DFer, in person.

Then, once invited into that fold, I was introduced - via WhatsApp at first - to the other writers and another branch of my whisky family tree. The DFers are amazingly embracing and each is as engaging as the other; utterly interesting with great hearts. And yet, again, despite there being twenty-eight of us on our Dramface WhatsApp thread, I have not had the pleasure of actually meeting any of the other twenty-seven in person.

I am grateful for each and every one of those twenty-seven brothers and sisters and, one day, I will be able to meet each and every one.

The most surprising branch of my whisky family tree has been the sturdy bough created by the Dramface readers. The input, interaction and comments (supportive, constructive, always appreciated) have been tremendously heartening and enriching. Without doubt, I have been the beneficiary of the embarrassment of riches provided by our Dramface readers. Thank you, all.

I hope there is a time in the not-too-distant future where I can attend whisky tastings and events and bump into readers so that over time I can thank you, each, in person.

And then there are the Colonials; a wholly unique offshoot branch of the Dramface whisky family tree. We have Aengus and Broddy from Canada, Tyree and Calder from Australia, Murdo from Hong Kong, and Eallair and Nick from here in the US.

During our last podcast – chatting before we started recording – we recognised that, absent whisky and Wally’s great vision, there is no bloody likelihood that we would have met and bonded as we have. Such varied personalities, from such varied upbringings, and from such varied experiences. From thirty-some year olds to those of us pushing close to sixty years of age, how is it that we managed to have our life paths cross?

Dramface. Whisky. Magic.

With these thoughts in my head, I reached for the glass next to my armchair. It is a whiskey that is somewhat of a surprise, and it is a perfect segue from what I have just typed.

A month ago, my buddy Eallair had reached out to me to ask if I had heard about this whiskey. I had not. With his strong recommendation, I went to my local liquor store – and as it is a bourbon – I was able to find it. So, this whiskey is a direct result of the whisky family tree of which I am so very humbled and appreciative.

Review 1/2 - Ogilvie

Baby Jane Straight Bourbon Whiskey, a blend of straight bourbon whiskeys, Batch 10, bottled 2024, 45.5% ABV
US$50 (£40) paid with wide availability

I am still venturing into the bourbon waters, and I wholly admit I still am a particularly tough nut to crack. I say that as my appreciation for bourbon has not developed as I thought it might. The whisky bar was set rather high with my journey through, and appreciation of, single and blended malts. Overwhelmingly, the flavor profiles of malts are – to me – so much more broad, rich, and interesting compared to bourbons. I have found a few bourbons that have met that bar, but they have been very few and far between.

To give credit where credit is due, I saw a YouTube video by First Phil Whisky called “7 BEST Bourbons for Scotch Drinkers”. A great video. His opening really spoke to me when he said: “To be honest, bourbon has never really convinced me. I’ve never thought it was on the same level as a Scotch.” Bingo. Spot on. As with Phil, I am a single malt guy first.

Despite my buddies who rave about this bourbon and that bourbon, most often bourbons – to me – are heaped into a universal and narrow profile of brown sugar, oak, caramel, vanilla, graham cracker . . . and, from there, different bottles can add flavors of (for example) cherries, nuts, or banana.

Single or blended malts, in my experience and to my palate, have significantly broader flavour profiles with a significantly broader range of palates. Another way to look at this is the difference between a four lane highway and a ten lane highway. (I wish I could take credit for this simile, but no. I thought it was from First Phil, but I haven’t been able to find it – so to whomever coined it, thank you.)

For quite a while, the bourbons I have tried have been limited to that four lane-wide highway. Some are better than others, but only a rare bourbon here and there has made my eyebrows rise unexpectedly…in a good way. However, because Eallair spoke so highly of this, I have purchased a bottle to see how this navigates the four lane highway.

Nose

There is an earthy sweet but briny waft, which surprises me. Some bourbon notes come forward of honey and graham crackers. This doesn’t jump out as overly sweet, though I detect a hint of butterscotch. The scent of hay bales. Sweetness continues as I continue nosing. Salted toffee? A scent of the juice from canned pears. Copper coins. And a bit of spice, though not strong. Unique, good, but not overpowering.

Palate

The sweet does come forward but it – as foreshadowed by the nosing – has a briny foil to it. Really interesting. I get a creaminess here and this reminds me of the peach flavoured Quaker oatmeal of my youth. There is an earthiness here – I can’t put a better descriptor to this, sorry. The earthiness works well with the sweet and briny profile. As I sip and discern, it is not lost on me that the lower proof works well here. A bit of orange blossom honey. The salted toffee comes forward mid-palate and lasts through a non-insignificant finish. On the finish there are some cashews and white pepper.

The Dregs

This bottle paints outside of the usual bourbon outline – and does so rather well. The uniqueness of this bourbon comes from, (at least from my view), the fact that the bourbon uses proprietary heirloom corn, uses water from upstate New York, and that the blending and aging is done in Brooklyn, New York.

Brooklyn? Known for the original Dodgers, the origination of hip hop, a certain bridge, and Coney Island (and Nathan’s hot dogs!); the borough of Brooklyn is not exactly known for bourbon. Not all of the distillate is from Brooklyn, New York as the label and website indicate that distillation also occurs in Kentucky. More specifically, the website says:

“Baby Jane is a bourbon whiskey made from our own unique heirloom corn, “Baby Jane.” This unique corn has depth, sweetness and creamy-spiciness that makes Baby Jane Bourbon truly different. Distilled by Widow Jane Distillery in Red Hook, Brooklyn and in Kentucky. True small batch bourbon; hand-assembled in Brooklyn, blended only a few barrels at a time. Non-chill filtered and proofed with our own mineral water from the legendary Rosedale mines of New York.”

There isn’t much other information about this bourbon, unfortunately. Whether on the bottle label or the website, there is no specific information regarding the mashbill. The website does indicate that “[f]or our heirloom varieties . . . we cook our grains including non-GMO heirloom Baby Jane corn, malted rye, and malted barley.” How much of each is used remains a mystery. The website says there is no chill filtering, as noted above. We know there is no added coloring present because, to be classified as a bourbon, no additions to the distillate can be added other than pure water. As for the age of what is in my glass, the only indication comes from the label. The liquid is at least two years old as the bourbon is labeled as a blend of straight bourbon whiskies. How much older than two years, if any, we have no idea. Not to bring negativity to an otherwise pleasant experience, I have to say that some more information would be nice.

Whether it is the unique, proprietary heirloom corn that is used, whether it is the distinct limestone mineral water, or a combination, this is a pleasantly different take on bourbon. To use the simile noted above, this bottle expands the bourbon whiskey highway palate from a four lane road to a broader six lane thoroughfare. This has more and different flavors than the vast majority of bourbons I have sampled to date; quite well crafted.

Baby Jane bourbon is from the Widow Jane Distilling Company. Its flagship offerings – the Widow Jane bourbons – are generally aged from 10 to 20 years, have received critical acclaim, and also bring a significantly increased price point. Here in North Carolina, I found a Widow Jane at the $90.00 price point and, to be honest, I haven’t lost any sleep after I passed on it. The Baby Jane in my glass was purchased for $49.99. For such a well crafted bourbon, this is priced well.

As for the liquid itself, this is a solid 6/10. Of the many bourbons that I have tried, there are only a handful that have garnered a six or higher. Among them have been Rabbit Hole Dareringer, the Kentucky Tea Batch of Booker’s, Heaven Hill Bottled in Bond, and Wild Turkey Rare Breed. Most have been “meh” (or worse) – and, again, that bourbon slant is as I see it.

It is me and my palate. It might be different if I had started my whisky journey with bourbon, but no. My palate has become accustomed to, and been tempered and rounded by, the experiences of malt. So, for those that love bourbon, I am not sure how you reconcile my palate with yours. Perhaps a bourbon aficionado will score this a 7. I don’t know. All I can do is to speak to my own observations and thoughts. That said, I can relay that a few friends have tried this since I purchased the bottle, and while it did not blow the doors off their taste buds, they, to a man, spoke favorably of the liquid.

Thank you, Eallair for the recommendation. I am glad to find some bourbons that bring more interesting flavors than the usual suspects. This Baby Jane meets that standard, and I am glad to have this in the bourbon cupboard.

It’s Christmas Eve as this reaches you and the days ahead on the pages of Dramface will be a little patchy as the team takes a break. Tomorrow, however, sees most of us contribute our whisky bottle of 2024 to share with you, so that should keep you busy for a few days.

Thereafter, there’s a rumour Dougie is penning his 2024 Round Out and I very much look forward to that. We’ll be back in the New Year of course, but in the meantime; there follows a wee bonus review to match mine, from my Colonial pal Eallair. Enjoy!

And, again, thank you – all you Dramfacers and Dramface readers. Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season with health and happiness, and wishing us all a better, more peaceful and harmonious world.

Score: 6/10 OS

Review 2/2 - Eallair

Baby Jane Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Heirloom Corn, Batch 59, bottled 2024, 45.5% ABV
US$59 (£45) paid

I was first introduced to Baby Jane’s Heirloom Corn Blended Straight Bourbon from a neighbor. He found a bottle, fairly priced, and invited my wife and I over for a BBQ and dram. It was a sun soaked, summer afternoon on the Colorado Front Range. The day stretched into the evening, and this Widow Jane surprised us both, dram after dram.

Widow Jane’s Baby Jane is my introduction into “heirloom” corn varieties and their potential for bourbon making. The story from Widow Jane Distillery, in their own words, has been that they created this corn varietal working collaboratively with a farmer in upstate New York. They set out to develop an heirloom corn based on a hybridisation of Bloody Butcher and Wapsie Valley corn varieties. They were shooting for something that would bring extra flavour and a perceptibly creamier mouthfeel than the typical Yellow Dent corn used for most every other Bourbon, and at a lower cost than Bloody Butcher itself.

Apparently, it took them four years to establish a sustainable crop for whiskey production. While researching for this review, I came across a photo of one of the cobs and I have to say, the end product is a strikingly beautiful corn with bold red-coloured kernels. Very photogenic. On top of the unique character of the corn itself, Widow Jane distills Baby Jane on a pot and column hybrid still.

Let’s see what the sum total of these parts is.

Score: 7/10

**Very good indeed.**
***TL;DR***
*It may be winter, but the flavour takes me right back to sunsets and summer*

Nose

If this is representative of any or all other heirloom corn varieties, then there’s much to appreciate and look forward to if “craft” Bourbon is your thing. Like Ogilvie I would not classify myself as a Bourbon enthusiast, much less an aficionado, but this whiskey is very easy to like. I compared it against a fairly standard Buffalo Trace barrel pick and could immediately notice the stark contrast between them.

There’s a rustic dimensional sweetness that starts with something like what I imagine a fresh batch of homemade graham crackers would taste like. Layers of apple cinnamon pie filling. Warm, sweet corn.

By comparison, the Buffalo Trace begins with paint thinner notes and finishes with some weird off notes. The Baby Jane is beguiling and pulls you back for more, again and again. This is very pleasing to nose.

Palate

The warm, homemade graham crackers come back. Cinnamon bark. Vanilla bean. That rustic vibe comes through again - which I suppose I can only better describe as “dimensional.” This is not a straightforward bourbon, rather there’s depth of character to Widow Jane’s Baby Jane. The mouthfeel is very noticeably creamy. It glides across the palate with a thick, floating coat. The Buffalo Trace, in contrast, is watery and thin.

The Dregs

Revisiting Baby Jane brings me back to this summer’s garden-side tasting at my neighbours. If I close my eyes I am transported to the lowering sun setting behind the peaks behind us. My buddy and I regaled each other with our comments of stunned surprise at each sip. Our antics, no doubt entertaining to our significant others, continued well into the evening hours - lasting through the deliciously prepared steak dinner and beyond.

Baby Jane is a keeper and redefines what I expect from other bourbons. Moreso, I think Widow Jane has also redefined what I should expect from craft bourbon distillers as well. It sets a high standard for me.

Happy Christmas!

Score: 7/10 EMc

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. OS

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