Old 4th distillery, during this COVID-19 outbreak, has shut down production to make hand sanitizer, to GIVE AWAY FOR FREE! I will be supporting these guys in anyway I can. Thank you O4D!
Suntory Ao is now $50 and well worth it! It's complex enough for a beginner to need to look to find flavors, but simple enough that they'll find them. And on top of that, it's delicious.
I actually help bottle at Old Fourth Distillery from time to time, and can say that there are definitely differences from barrel to barrel, though most are pretty similar. I’ve liked all of the barrels I’ve tried (probably 10 or so), but barrel 6 was amazing (and thus I have three of those bottles hanging around).
It seems that I have an advantage of Ao by living in Japan. Just bought a half-size bottle for roughly $26. Definitely worth it, but not if it was at the overseas price.
The Suntory World Whiskey Ao is one I have been VERY curious about but at this stage of learning about Japanese whiskies I prefer to stick to 100% Japanese to not confuse my palate. I did this while studying wines years ago as I focused on single varietal wines (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cab Franc etc.) before diving into Bordeaux style blends. So, I've been avoiding Japanese blends and trying to get as many mizunara cask whiskies as possible.
From what I understand, it's barrelled in Indiana, then sent to outside Atlanta to age in the Hotlanta heat and humidity! Love this stuff and am a big fan. It's all in the aging of the product!
I'm very thankful that MGP whiskeys are really good. Many of the middle shelf products of good quality were distilled there. All of our collections are better for it.
To answer your question, there are very discernible differences from barrel to barrel. I am lucky enough to live in Atlanta and have tried their bourbon from 5 different barrels. A great product from a very cool company and your absolutely right, the bottle is a piece of art.
I would have to agree, from Atlanta as well, have been able to try a few different barrels and they have noticable differences. Haven't found one I didn't like though! Their other stuff is good too, lawn dart makes a very refreshing hard lemonade for some of these hot days
Thanks to Rex and Daniel I can now drink proudly at night knowing that it is making a positive impact on my students. Came here for whiskey and left with life changing advice
Hey legends. I was watching an episode you made last year and i spotted a bottle of willett pot still bourbon in the background. I'd love to see a review of that whiskey before i head out and buy it. Cheers from Australia!
In October 2020, Beam Suntory announced that it was expanding availability. Ao used to be Japan only, but is now available in select travel retail (airport duty free)
After seeing your Rare Whiskey Friday video the other week, I was able to get my hands on a bottle of the Lip Service Rye. Rye tends to meh at best for me, but i do enjoy the spice that it brings to the table. To me I kept thinking this is one of the most interesting Bourbons i've tried. Daniel, it seems to me like most American whiskeys tend to be a 3 grain blend for the mash. Are there any examples of whiskeys that would have a two grain mash and be 50/50? Corn & Rye, Corn & Wheat, Rye & Wheat? I would be curious to see what a even split mash would produce.
Well you wont find any bourbon thats 50/50 it needs to be 51% corn at least and vice versa if its labeled a rye. Beyond that you should find 2 grain whiskeys such as high rye bourbons and the like yeah.
It's funny you mention that because Ao means blue in Japanese. I'm in japan right now and just bought a bottle of this after tasting it at a local whisky bar. The bartender told me it is blue, like JW Blue.
A traveling friend is bringing me a bottle of Ao. Will provide feedback when I get around to opening it. It's "budget" for Asia. BTW a good comparison taste for this would be Jim Beam Legent, which is the Jim Beam/Suntory "American Cousin" of this whisky.
Hi I'm following you from last one bad half year I want to know that why all the single malts comes with cork not with the regular cap's I'm waiting for your reply
As a teacher of more than 15 years I can verify that whiskey absolutely plays a role in the grading of assignments that take place outside the workplace.
Though they have some very nice indian single malts and japanese whiskies in my area i have yet to try any of them. Side note i love the bottling of the bourbon
@@bigbud6842 the "budget blends" that they did on this chanel. Where a challenge to get as close as possible to a realy expensive, or super rare whisky, by bleanding other bottles.
I find the same thing to be true with meats. When you add too many different ones to something like a stew, it blands out and loses each one's richness.
Hey guys, what do you think? According to the Bottled in Bond Act definition, "The green stamp over the cork which is used gives the name of the distiller, the location of the distillery, the quantity of spirits in the bottle." That, and, "The Act requires the spirit to be the product of one distillation season and one distiller at one distillery." should make it mandatory for Old Fourth to clearly put MGP of Indiana Distillery on the bottle/stamp. A mere drawing with 'IN something something' should not suffice, right? Did they get away with cheating after all? Any thoughts?
In middle school I had a teacher that regularly came to class on Monday a bit hung over from the weekend. We use you to joke that his morning coffee had pepto bismol in it.
Every day is “Rare Whiskey” day here in the Northwest. More of a universal representation would keep me on this channel. For now, no reason to froth over a whiskey I will never see unless I adopt my own Marvelous Bastard.
(insert long drawn out story here so Daniel looks at this comment) It's nostalgic at this point, but I'll be happy to see a new intro for vault 2.0! Y'all have a plan yet?
Just opened a gift that was Old Fourth Ward Bottled in Bond Bourbon today from my in-laws in Atlanta. Went to the distillery for a tour. Their Gin and Vodka was very good as well.
I had it at my favorite bar in Kyoto. I didn't like it; I found it interesting in that as I went through it the different regions came out. None of them came out very well.
The fact that Old Fourth Distillery is BIB explains why it has to have some reference to the distillery MGP. Part of the requirements to be Bottled in Bond is, the bottled product must identify where the spirit was distilled. I'm surprised the embossing of a picture on the bottle met this requirement.
Interestingly, that's true of all sourced bourbon regardless of bottled in bond or not. Provided the state of distillation is different from the state of bottling and release. The picture shouldn't have met that requirement. But that's the unpredictable TTB for you.
If I had discovered whiskey sooner, I might have stayed in teaching a few more years. Nah, maybe not, but at least the last several would have been less painful.
For sure, if that is the intent. My understanding is that may negate some of the effects of the heat, but you will still end up with a different result than if you used the "smaller" barrel in a cooler climate. You might want to use that heat to your advantage. It can potentially speed the process up a bit and you can end up with some interesting results. The heat doesn't have to be a negative thing.
Daniel - "Hakushu" can be pronounced "hah-coo" "shoe" (technically, the name is "hakushuu", and the last "u" sound lasts a bit longer than the other vowels). But, it's generally spoken a little more casually as "hak'shuu" - "hak-shoe". The name is made up of two characters - "haku" = "white" and "shuu" = "sand bar". ("Shuu" is also part of "Kyuushuu", the third largest of the islands that make up Japan, where it can mean "state" or "prefecture". It's where I live.) I may try looking for Ao ("blue") tomorrow when I go to the discount store near me. (Amazon Japan shows it in the 6700-7200 yen range, call it $55 to $65.) Are there any other MBs in Japan?
DANIEL,YOUR WIFE GOT TEACHER OF THE YEAR IN JR HIGH SCHOOL......THAT IS SAYING A LOT ABOUT HER AS A TEACHER......JUST TRY TO REMEMBER YOUR DAYS IN JR HIGH.....
Being married to a teacher... I can attest to the grading of papers practices talked about in this video... And how many things go ungraded and in the trash...
Wait.... how can you source a Bottled-in-Bond??? I'm not going to disagree that MGP makes some damn good bourbon, but with the requirement to be distilled, aged and bottled under the supervision of the same Master Distiller, how could that possibly work with any sourcing?
The bottled under supervision part isn't a requirement. The distiller requirement is about the making of it. Once it's in a barrel, it just needs to be in a government bonded warehouse for at least 4 years. However, this label is illegal. It's required to say on the label what distillery distilled it in addition to who bottled it. They sort of did that by putting the DSP in small print on the graphic of the bottle. But it's a bit on the shady side. The bourbon is tasty though.
I cracked this open recently, and didn't like it. Thankfully I only paid the equivalent of about 60 bucks for it, but even then I feel it's very overpriced. I should have guessed as much as from my experience everything in the 60 bucks range with a heavy, fancy bottle tends to be disappointing, and more of a gimmick relying heavily on marketing to sell a bottom shelf product at mid-level prices. It is very muddled, like drinking someones 'infinity bottle' who only drinks cheap stuff. I felt the bourbon was very forward, maybe because it had no right to be there, and I feel that it would be a much better blend (and more expensive) if they didn't bother with the bourbon or Canadian. Very underwhelming, confusing, muddled but easily drank. I don't usually ice my whiskey but this one is certainly one that I would put ice in and happily drink without much thought on a summers evening. I'm a big fan of Suntory, especially their cheaper stuff like Suntory Old, which is ten times better than this nonsense. If you want a 'world blend' from Japan which is seriously, seriously good and works out at around 60-80 bucks try to get your hands on Nikka Session, delicious, but really all it seems to be is Nikka Miyagiko with a hind of floral peated highland, very nice though.
Can we pleas stop referring to Alberta Distillers limited, as just Alberta. Being a Canadian, and a Albertan, this is absolutely driving me up the wall! Locals in Alberta (the province) refer to it as Alberta distillers.
Japanese can say or write whatever they want...it's a whisky lawless world over there...and looks like that bottle hasn't cork stopper...for that price?
If anyone cares about vodka this comes from Wikipedia: European Union regulation The recent success of grape-based vodka in the United States prompted traditional vodka producers in the Vodka Belt countries of Poland, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Sweden to campaign for EU legislation that would define vodka as only spirits made from grain or potatoes. This proposition provoked heavy criticism from South European countries, which often distill used mash from wine-making into spirits; although higher quality mash is usually distilled into some variety of pomace brandy, lower-quality mash is better turned into neutral-flavored spirits instead. Any vodka not made from either grain or potatoes would have to display the products used in its production. This regulation entered into force in 2008. Canadian regulations Under Canadian regulations, Vodka is a potable alcoholic beverage created by treatment of grain spirit or potato spirit with charcoal, which renders the product without aroma, taste or distinctive character. United States regulations Pursuant to the Code of Federal Regulations (27 CFR 5.22), which define the identity standards for various alcohols, vodka is in the class of neutral spirits and is defined as: "neutral spirits so distilled, or so treated after distillation with charcoal or other materials, as to be without distinctive character, aroma, taste, or color.”
![Best Whiskey For The Money [Crowdsourced from Whisk(e)y Lovers]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/r4zc9p4YPk4/mqdefault.jpg)
Old 4th distillery, during this COVID-19 outbreak, has shut down production to make hand sanitizer, to GIVE AWAY FOR FREE! I will be supporting these guys in anyway I can. Thank you O4D!
Suntory Ao is now $50 and well worth it! It's complex enough for a beginner to need to look to find flavors, but simple enough that they'll find them. And on top of that, it's delicious.
I actually help bottle at Old Fourth Distillery from time to time, and can say that there are definitely differences from barrel to barrel, though most are pretty similar. I’ve liked all of the barrels I’ve tried (probably 10 or so), but barrel 6 was amazing (and thus I have three of those bottles hanging around).
It seems that I have an advantage of Ao by living in Japan. Just bought a half-size bottle for roughly $26. Definitely worth it, but not if it was at the overseas price.
The Suntory World Whiskey Ao is one I have been VERY curious about but at this stage of learning about Japanese whiskies I prefer to stick to 100% Japanese to not confuse my palate. I did this while studying wines years ago as I focused on single varietal wines (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cab Franc etc.) before diving into Bordeaux style blends. So, I've been avoiding Japanese blends and trying to get as many mizunara cask whiskies as possible.
The Spirit Monk[e]y approves.
From what I understand, it's barrelled in Indiana, then sent to outside Atlanta to age in the Hotlanta heat and humidity!
Love this stuff and am a big fan. It's all in the aging of the product!
I'm very thankful that MGP whiskeys are really good. Many of the middle shelf products of good quality were distilled there. All of our collections are better for it.
To answer your question, there are very discernible differences from barrel to barrel. I am lucky enough to live in Atlanta and have tried their bourbon from 5 different barrels. A great product from a very cool company and your absolutely right, the bottle is a piece of art.
I would have to agree, from Atlanta as well, have been able to try a few different barrels and they have noticable differences. Haven't found one I didn't like though! Their other stuff is good too, lawn dart makes a very refreshing hard lemonade for some of these hot days
Thanks to Rex and Daniel I can now drink proudly at night knowing that it is making a positive impact on my students. Came here for whiskey and left with life changing advice
Hey legends. I was watching an episode you made last year and i spotted a bottle of willett pot still bourbon in the background. I'd love to see a review of that whiskey before i head out and buy it. Cheers from Australia!
The Suntory Ao whiskey is cheaper in Japan if you can get it outside an airport. I think my bottle was 6500-8000 Yen at a local liquor stores.
Tried, for the first time at my workplace whisky club today... Balcones - Brimstone, and discovered that I Effing LOVE it!
Being from Alberta and liking Ardmore and Japanese whiskey, the combination in Suntory is promising
In October 2020, Beam Suntory announced that it was expanding availability. Ao used to be Japan only, but is now available in select travel retail (airport duty free)
We need to see a comparison of the 5 different whiskeys blended into the Ao on their own. For science.
Going for mooch points I see.
And how to bleand them from many othets
The hot mess that was Chad week was my introduction to the Vault. I loved every second of it.
My wife’s a high school teacher too, and I can vouch for the fact most grading is done under the influence
Congrats to your wife , great profession and great to get honors
After seeing your Rare Whiskey Friday video the other week, I was able to get my hands on a bottle of the Lip Service Rye. Rye tends to meh at best for me, but i do enjoy the spice that it brings to the table. To me I kept thinking this is one of the most interesting Bourbons i've tried. Daniel, it seems to me like most American whiskeys tend to be a 3 grain blend for the mash. Are there any examples of whiskeys that would have a two grain mash and be 50/50? Corn & Rye, Corn & Wheat, Rye & Wheat? I would be curious to see what a even split mash would produce.
Well you wont find any bourbon thats 50/50 it needs to be 51% corn at least and vice versa if its labeled a rye. Beyond that you should find 2 grain whiskeys such as high rye bourbons and the like yeah.
It feels like these Suntory Blends are the Johnny Walker of Japan.
It's funny you mention that because Ao means blue in Japanese. I'm in japan right now and just bought a bottle of this after tasting it at a local whisky bar. The bartender told me it is blue, like JW Blue.
It actually cost 4700 yen in Narita Duty Free which converts to $47 bucks.
A traveling friend is bringing me a bottle of Ao. Will provide feedback when I get around to opening it.
It's "budget" for Asia.
BTW a good comparison taste for this would be Jim Beam Legent, which is the Jim Beam/Suntory "American Cousin" of this whisky.
Hi
I'm following you from last one bad half year
I want to know that why all the single malts comes with cork not with the regular cap's
I'm waiting for your reply
Proof that whiskey is essential in education and achieving ones drams / dreams!!
As a teacher of more than 15 years I can verify that whiskey absolutely plays a role in the grading of assignments that take place outside the workplace.
Though they have some very nice indian single malts and japanese whiskies in my area i have yet to try any of them. Side note i love the bottling of the bourbon
Where did budget blends go?
I need Rex week
Budget belnds are budget blends man you really dont need reviews from professionals to pick or help you enjoy cheap stuff.
@@bigbud6842 the "budget blends" that they did on this chanel.
Where a challenge to get as close as possible to a realy expensive, or super rare whisky, by bleanding other bottles.
As someone married to a (now former)high school english teacher, I can confirm whisky has helped get through many awful papers
Is Tenjaku Japanese Whisky available in the USA, I used to live in Aberdeen but now live in Lagos Nigeria
I find the same thing to be true with meats. When you add too many different ones to something like a stew, it blands out and loses each one's richness.
Hey guys, what do you think? According to the Bottled in Bond Act definition, "The green stamp over the cork which is used gives the name of the distiller, the location of the distillery, the quantity of spirits in the bottle." That, and, "The Act requires the spirit to be the product of one distillation season and one distiller at one distillery." should make it mandatory for Old Fourth to clearly put MGP of Indiana Distillery on the bottle/stamp. A mere drawing with 'IN something something' should not suffice, right? Did they get away with cheating after all? Any thoughts?
Yeah, it's a slip by TTB. But not surprising.
In middle school I had a teacher that regularly came to class on Monday a bit hung over from the weekend. We use you to joke that his morning coffee had pepto bismol in it.
Every day is “Rare Whiskey” day here in the Northwest. More of a universal representation would keep me on this channel. For now, no reason to froth over a whiskey I will never see unless I adopt my own Marvelous Bastard.
(insert long drawn out story here so Daniel looks at this comment) It's nostalgic at this point, but I'll be happy to see a new intro for vault 2.0! Y'all have a plan yet?
From the bottles on the desk... is an Oak & Eden review coming up?
They already did oak and eden
Glen Garioch is pronounced as Glen "Gheery" as in the word cheery. But I'm sure you probably know that by now. Good video! Cheers!
Just opened a gift that was Old Fourth Ward Bottled in Bond Bourbon today from my in-laws in Atlanta. Went to the distillery for a tour. Their Gin and Vodka was very good as well.
I had it at my favorite bar in Kyoto. I didn't like it; I found it interesting in that as I went through it the different regions came out. None of them came out very well.
The fact that Old Fourth Distillery is BIB explains why it has to have some reference to the distillery MGP. Part of the requirements to be Bottled in Bond is, the bottled product must identify where the spirit was distilled. I'm surprised the embossing of a picture on the bottle met this requirement.
Interestingly, that's true of all sourced bourbon regardless of bottled in bond or not. Provided the state of distillation is different from the state of bottling and release. The picture shouldn't have met that requirement. But that's the unpredictable TTB for you.
If I had discovered whiskey sooner, I might have stayed in teaching a few more years. Nah, maybe not, but at least the last several would have been less painful.
What's for chow?
where can you get the Japanese one
I wonder if they could just use giant barrels to reduce the impact of the heat in Texas.
For sure, if that is the intent. My understanding is that may negate some of the effects of the heat, but you will still end up with a different result than if you used the "smaller" barrel in a cooler climate. You might want to use that heat to your advantage. It can potentially speed the process up a bit and you can end up with some interesting results. The heat doesn't have to be a negative thing.
I'm pretty sure that suntory owns most of the distilleries on that list if not all.
All!
@@WhiskeyVault I teach English to a lot of suntory employees in Japan and they always tell me which distilleries they're buying.
Daniel - "Hakushu" can be pronounced "hah-coo" "shoe" (technically, the name is "hakushuu", and the last "u" sound lasts a bit longer than the other vowels). But, it's generally spoken a little more casually as "hak'shuu" - "hak-shoe". The name is made up of two characters - "haku" = "white" and "shuu" = "sand bar". ("Shuu" is also part of "Kyuushuu", the third largest of the islands that make up Japan, where it can mean "state" or "prefecture". It's where I live.) I may try looking for Ao ("blue") tomorrow when I go to the discount store near me. (Amazon Japan shows it in the 6700-7200 yen range, call it $55 to $65.)
Are there any other MBs in Japan?
How do I get some bourbon from your guys distillery here in Indiana
Unfortunately, right now it's only available directly from our distillery in TX
Whiskey Vault ok then am I able to order some on line or would I have try drive all the way down there to buy it
I have a friend who in college 20 plus years ago went to Russia and said that vodka there was superior to any he ever had in U.S.
It's now $31 at Narita thanks to the exchange rate....
DANIEL,YOUR WIFE GOT TEACHER OF THE YEAR IN JR HIGH SCHOOL......THAT IS SAYING A LOT ABOUT HER AS A TEACHER......JUST TRY TO REMEMBER YOUR DAYS IN JR HIGH.....
How did Rex completely miss an opportunity to mooch five whiskeys. Oh how the mooch has fallen.
I'm Japanese and I really love ao, but it's so difficult to buy.
Gotta couple interesting ones!
Open the Octomore right behind Daniel....🥃
Love from India
nice!
The Spirit Monk[e]y has come early again.
some would call that premature ejaculation - LOL!
@Anonymous Anonymous The Spirit Monk[e]y welcomes any excuses to drink more whisk[e]y.
Being married to a teacher... I can attest to the grading of papers practices talked about in this video... And how many things go ungraded and in the trash...
First!!!!!!!!!
Wait.... how can you source a Bottled-in-Bond??? I'm not going to disagree that MGP makes some damn good bourbon, but with the requirement to be distilled, aged and bottled under the supervision of the same Master Distiller, how could that possibly work with any sourcing?
The bottled under supervision part isn't a requirement. The distiller requirement is about the making of it. Once it's in a barrel, it just needs to be in a government bonded warehouse for at least 4 years.
However, this label is illegal. It's required to say on the label what distillery distilled it in addition to who bottled it. They sort of did that by putting the DSP in small print on the graphic of the bottle. But it's a bit on the shady side. The bourbon is tasty though.
@@WhiskeyVault Thanks for the clarification, I mis-understood that portion. And yeah, MGP does really good work.
not a snob but Glen Garioch = Geary(gheery) those Scots they have a different pronunciation for everything
That sigh- if you will - that you both made after you found out the price was spot on for the loser melody on the Price is Right
I cracked this open recently, and didn't like it. Thankfully I only paid the equivalent of about 60 bucks for it, but even then I feel it's very overpriced. I should have guessed as much as from my experience everything in the 60 bucks range with a heavy, fancy bottle tends to be disappointing, and more of a gimmick relying heavily on marketing to sell a bottom shelf product at mid-level prices. It is very muddled, like drinking someones 'infinity bottle' who only drinks cheap stuff. I felt the bourbon was very forward, maybe because it had no right to be there, and I feel that it would be a much better blend (and more expensive) if they didn't bother with the bourbon or Canadian. Very underwhelming, confusing, muddled but easily drank. I don't usually ice my whiskey but this one is certainly one that I would put ice in and happily drink without much thought on a summers evening. I'm a big fan of Suntory, especially their cheaper stuff like Suntory Old, which is ten times better than this nonsense. If you want a 'world blend' from Japan which is seriously, seriously good and works out at around 60-80 bucks try to get your hands on Nikka Session, delicious, but really all it seems to be is Nikka Miyagiko with a hind of floral peated highland, very nice though.
For all the teachers out there, make grading time a Suntory time
I’m not a teacher but I now can say I drink so I can bring joy to peoples lives and maybe even get away with it for someone who is gullible lol
it was actually around $55 at costco and $60 at total wine. $150 makes no sense
I see it now sells fro 75dollars
Old 4th got some decent barrels but some really really bad ones too
Thirst!
Ardmore has a little character and *random noise* to it. Please define phfvvt.
Eleanor>old fourth. Cuz texas
Add teachers to ther list.
And another one down.
Can we pleas stop referring to Alberta Distillers limited, as just Alberta. Being a Canadian, and a Albertan, this is absolutely driving me up the wall! Locals in Alberta (the province) refer to it as Alberta distillers.
Japanese can say or write whatever they want...it's a whisky lawless world over there...and looks like that bottle hasn't cork stopper...for that price?
If anyone cares about vodka this comes from Wikipedia:
European Union regulation
The recent success of grape-based vodka in the United States prompted traditional vodka producers in the Vodka Belt countries of Poland, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Sweden to campaign for EU legislation that would define vodka as only spirits made from grain or potatoes. This proposition provoked heavy criticism from South European countries, which often distill used mash from wine-making into spirits; although higher quality mash is usually distilled into some variety of pomace brandy, lower-quality mash is better turned into neutral-flavored spirits instead. Any vodka not made from either grain or potatoes would have to display the products used in its production. This regulation entered into force in 2008.
Canadian regulations
Under Canadian regulations, Vodka is a potable alcoholic beverage created by treatment of grain spirit or potato spirit with charcoal, which renders the product without aroma, taste or distinctive character.
United States regulations
Pursuant to the Code of Federal Regulations (27 CFR 5.22), which define the identity standards for various alcohols, vodka is in the class of neutral spirits and is defined as: "neutral spirits so distilled, or so treated after distillation with charcoal or other materials, as to be without distinctive character, aroma, taste, or color.”
Not impressed with any of the Japanese whiskeys... no matter the age statement or the price. (I live in Japan)
Your profile pic comes from a poster with a great caption doesn't it? (How about a nice hot cup of....)
@@JimmyLeg Shhh...