While visiting the Stitzel-Weller Distillery final month in Louisville, Kentucky, I discovered that Blade and Bow, one of many three Diageo-owned manufacturers that the historic distillery hosts in the present day, occurs to be one of many solely bourbons produced by means of the solera-aging technique.
Solera-aging is a fractional mixing course of that refills its reserves because it pulls from them, assuring that the age of the shares will increase over time. It’s generally seen within the manufacturing of sherry and Brandy de Jerez, and sometimes rum. However there’s an excellent motive why Blade and Bow has come to make the most of the method: preservation.
When Diageo acquired the Stitzel-Weller Distillery—which closed in 1992, after 57 years in enterprise—it additionally obtained the shares of a 21-year-old bourbon that occurred to be a few of the final juice made within the shuttered facility. Based on Blade and Bow lead educator Doug Kragel, Diageo confronted two decisions: both launch the deadstock bourbon as a one-and-done restricted version or discover a approach to protect it.
Diageo selected the latter route and created Blade and Bow, a bourbon that mingled sourced Kentucky bourbons with the rescued 21-year-old.
“We wished to attempt to discover a approach to protect it and construct on the previous to create one thing for the longer term,” Kragel says.
In sensible phrases, which means that Blade and Bow is created utilizing a five-tier system established in 2015 that attracts on 5 numerous bourbon barrels. The primary tier consists of seven-year-old Kentucky bourbon; the second tier is seven and eight-year-old Kentucky bourbon; the third tier is seven, eight, and nine-year-old Kentucky bourbon; the fourth tier is seven, eight, 9, and 10-year-old Kentucky bourbon; and, lastly, the fifth tier is seven, eight, 9, and 10-year Kentucky bourbon, plus Stitzel-Weller’s 21-year-old bourbon.
Twice a yr, a draw-off pulls principally from the fifth tier for bottling, after which replaces what was drawn from the fifth tier with bourbon from the fourth tier, which is then re-supplied with bourbon from the third tier, and so forth. This fashion, that fifth tier is rarely solely depleted, however continues getting old as it’s fractionally drawn-off and refilled.
Apart from assuring that some quantity of the 21-year-old makes it into every bottling, Kragel says it influences the character of the bourbon.
“It provides us the chance to do one thing sudden within the bourbon world, which is that it smells just like the youthful bourbon and it drinks like an older bourbon. And people to me are the perfect two elements of these classes.”
Extra to the purpose, Kragel explains that Blade and Bow advantages from the contemporary and floral aromas present in six to seven-year-old bourbons, whereas nonetheless having the wealthy mouthfeel extra frequent to bourbons which are between 12 and 20 years previous.
“I believe we sort of have the perfect of each worlds,” he says.
Nevertheless, the query stays: what’s going to occur when the 21-year-old is gone? Kragel says that its shortage has been accounted for in Blade and Bow’s intentionally sluggish roll out however acknowledges that the classic Stitzel-Weller juice will change into a proportionally smaller a part of the mix over time.
It provides us the chance to do one thing sudden within the bourbon world.
Nevertheless, it could quickly get replaced by contemporary reinforcements being distilled on the unique supply. Diageo has been distilling on a small scale at Stitzel-Weller because it re-opened the distillery in 2015, and the primary new bourbons distilled on-site are about to hit the seven-year threshold that might qualify them to be used in Blade and Bow’s solera set-up. Kragel clarifies that it isn’t but a certain factor as these new bourbons have to be additional evaluated for mixing, however they might present an ideal bookend to the Blade and Bow story.
“That’s what Blade and Bow is about,” Kragel says. “Constructing on the previous and creating in direction of the longer term.”
