Hey Guys, Ed the SavWay Spirits Guy here, thanks for the glowing review! It is definitely my favorite thing I've done this year. The Bhakta 1928 is a completely unique product that created its own category, and I completely understand the confusion on it. So I figured I should give some background / clarifications on the 1928 and what goes into these bottles for those who are interested. After Raj Bhakta left WhistlePig, he was looking for something new to do and fell in love with two criminally underrated and unknown spirits (at least in the US): Calvados and Armagnac. Calvados is a protected AOC apple brandy from Normandy, and closely tied with the cider industry there. It is distilled from apples and aged in oak barrels for several years, with a similar grading system to cognac. For example, the XO used in this bottle is a blend of minimum 10 year old Calvados with an average age of 29 years old. In contrast, most applejacks and apple brandies you see on the shelf are really just apple *flavored.* Meanwhile armagnac is the older, more rustic cousin to Cognac and is known for its dark fruit and funky rancio notes. While the cognac region is on the coast and was able to quickly spread around the world, Armagnac is landlocked therefore remained a regional specialty. Which is great news for those in the know, because that means it is insanely inexpensive for its age and quality. For example, Bhakta actually offers a line of vintage armagnacs, and if you are a child of the 80s, that means that you can get your birth year vintage from them for between 250-300 dollars. Literally any other spirit, and you will be tacking on a couple extra zeros to that price. I recommend everybody grab them while they still can. But anyway, Raj found an Armagnac distillery that had an extensive library of vintages tucked away, from both themselves and other producers, and just flat out bought it all. And so Bhakta was born. the 1928 is indeed a blended spirit (not finished) that doesn't belong to any defined category. The standard offering from Bhakta is 60% Rye Whiskey (5-6 years old, of unknown source), 30% XO Calvados, and 10% Vintage Armagnacs ranging from 1941 to 1973 in a blend of Raj's design. The 1928 is in reference to every bottle having a small amount of 1928 vintage armagnac in it. The store picks that you will see are not a barrel pick in the traditional sense, but instead a blending experience where you get to play around and iterate until you find your own perfect blend. At which point they whip up a demijohns worth for you (about 72 bottles). I highly recommend it for anybody who gets the opportunity. As far as what goes into it: 60% 2018 year Rye whiskey: You have no control over this, but it is mostly filler and is overwhelmed by your choices of calvados and armagnac anyway. 30% XO Calvados: You get a choice of XO calvados that was finished in either ex-Bourbon casks, Islay Scotch casks (this will result in a noticeably smokey version, so be careful of that if you are not a fan of peat), or French Oak / Unfinished which is the "traditional" choice, and what I went with. A bit of a boring choice perhaps, but I just love the nuttiness that the french oak brings. 10% Armagnac: And this is the really fun part, and will drastically change your blend way more than you would think. You have a choice between 8 different vintages ranging from 1962 to 1996, and you can choose up to four of them with an even split. So if you see 2 different years on the label, each one is 5% of the bottle, if you see four then each one is 2.5%. Because the vintages can be from different producers, all with their own styles, there is a wide range of flavors ranging from super oaky, honeyed stone fruits, dark fruits, or straight up acidic. Unfortunately, there really isn't a good way to know what profile a bottle will have from just looking at the years. For our blend in the video the 1983 brings fruity black pepper, the 1991 is lightly sweet and floral, and the 1996 is rich and earthy with plenty of rancio notes, as well as a token amount of 1928 vintage armagnac. And one more thing: It's actually $65 a bottle, but I promise you, still well worth the money.
Thanks for all the clarification Ed. It really is a special bottle and I hope people stop by and pick it up. I will probably be sending my buddy Cody in to get me another bottle. I also picked up your FEW pick and we will be reviewing that one too. It could be fun to have you on the channel in the future to talk about your experiences with picks and what you are excited about. Cheers
First time watching a Power of Bourbon video and now a new subscriber... Thanks, Ed for sending the link. Couldn't agree more with the sentiment that SavWay continually brings in amazing picks (or blends in this case). Ed is part of our local whiskey club and always brings the knowledge to us noobs. A couple of us even got to do a pick with SavWay at FEW. Very cool experience and one of my favorite bottles ever. Anyway, SavWay is a great store in Oakbrook / Hinsdale, IL if you're ever in the area.
Yes I love SavWay anytime I get up to visit my friends in Chicago. Ed does some amazing picks and they have a great shop. Keep any eye out I picked up on of the FEW picks too so video will be showing up. Cheers
Hey Guys, Ed the SavWay Spirits Guy here, thanks for the glowing review! It is definitely my favorite thing I've done this year. The Bhakta 1928 is a completely unique product that created its own category, and I completely understand the confusion on it. So I figured I should give some background / clarifications on the 1928 and what goes into these bottles for those who are interested.
After Raj Bhakta left WhistlePig, he was looking for something new to do and fell in love with two criminally underrated and unknown spirits (at least in the US): Calvados and Armagnac. Calvados is a protected AOC apple brandy from Normandy, and closely tied with the cider industry there. It is distilled from apples and aged in oak barrels for several years, with a similar grading system to cognac. For example, the XO used in this bottle is a blend of minimum 10 year old Calvados with an average age of 29 years old. In contrast, most applejacks and apple brandies you see on the shelf are really just apple *flavored.* Meanwhile armagnac is the older, more rustic cousin to Cognac and is known for its dark fruit and funky rancio notes. While the cognac region is on the coast and was able to quickly spread around the world, Armagnac is landlocked therefore remained a regional specialty. Which is great news for those in the know, because that means it is insanely inexpensive for its age and quality. For example, Bhakta actually offers a line of vintage armagnacs, and if you are a child of the 80s, that means that you can get your birth year vintage from them for between 250-300 dollars. Literally any other spirit, and you will be tacking on a couple extra zeros to that price. I recommend everybody grab them while they still can.
But anyway, Raj found an Armagnac distillery that had an extensive library of vintages tucked away, from both themselves and other producers, and just flat out bought it all. And so Bhakta was born.
the 1928 is indeed a blended spirit (not finished) that doesn't belong to any defined category. The standard offering from Bhakta is 60% Rye Whiskey (5-6 years old, of unknown source), 30% XO Calvados, and 10% Vintage Armagnacs ranging from 1941 to 1973 in a blend of Raj's design. The 1928 is in reference to every bottle having a small amount of 1928 vintage armagnac in it.
The store picks that you will see are not a barrel pick in the traditional sense, but instead a blending experience where you get to play around and iterate until you find your own perfect blend. At which point they whip up a demijohns worth for you (about 72 bottles). I highly recommend it for anybody who gets the opportunity. As far as what goes into it:
60% 2018 year Rye whiskey: You have no control over this, but it is mostly filler and is overwhelmed by your choices of calvados and armagnac anyway.
30% XO Calvados: You get a choice of XO calvados that was finished in either ex-Bourbon casks, Islay Scotch casks (this will result in a noticeably smokey version, so be careful of that if you are not a fan of peat), or French Oak / Unfinished which is the "traditional" choice, and what I went with. A bit of a boring choice perhaps, but I just love the nuttiness that the french oak brings.
10% Armagnac: And this is the really fun part, and will drastically change your blend way more than you would think. You have a choice between 8 different vintages ranging from 1962 to 1996, and you can choose up to four of them with an even split. So if you see 2 different years on the label, each one is 5% of the bottle, if you see four then each one is 2.5%. Because the vintages can be from different producers, all with their own styles, there is a wide range of flavors ranging from super oaky, honeyed stone fruits, dark fruits, or straight up acidic. Unfortunately, there really isn't a good way to know what profile a bottle will have from just looking at the years. For our blend in the video the 1983 brings fruity black pepper, the 1991 is lightly sweet and floral, and the 1996 is rich and earthy with plenty of rancio notes, as well as a token amount of 1928 vintage armagnac.
And one more thing: It's actually $65 a bottle, but I promise you, still well worth the money.
Thanks for all the clarification Ed. It really is a special bottle and I hope people stop by and pick it up. I will probably be sending my buddy Cody in to get me another bottle. I also picked up your FEW pick and we will be reviewing that one too. It could be fun to have you on the channel in the future to talk about your experiences with picks and what you are excited about. Cheers
This is the most animated/adamant I have seen you guys about a whiskey. I will be looking for this one! Thx
It's so good! I hope you find it.
First time watching a Power of Bourbon video and now a new subscriber... Thanks, Ed for sending the link. Couldn't agree more with the sentiment that SavWay continually brings in amazing picks (or blends in this case). Ed is part of our local whiskey club and always brings the knowledge to us noobs. A couple of us even got to do a pick with SavWay at FEW. Very cool experience and one of my favorite bottles ever. Anyway, SavWay is a great store in Oakbrook / Hinsdale, IL if you're ever in the area.
Yes I love SavWay anytime I get up to visit my friends in Chicago. Ed does some amazing picks and they have a great shop. Keep any eye out I picked up on of the FEW picks too so video will be showing up. Cheers
Come on TJ, get your stuff together 😜😂
lol it’s so confusing
I guess it's time to do some online shopping or at least talk Brian into buying a bottle so I can try it!
Go for it!
Bach-ta
I like that RUclips has an option to translate it to English