The Best of Bourbon: H&F Bottle Shop Offering Quality Holiday Sippers

Bourbon!  It can add a little more warmth to your holiday desserts like pecan pie or even carrot cake, and lend hints of caramel and butter notes to your holiday cocktails.   H&F Bottle Shop has a variety of top-notch bourbons and bourbon cocktail kits that will make your time with family and friends just a little sweeter. Check out our impressive bourbon selection (below), and stop by the shop so our beverage professionals can send you home with comfort and joy by the bottle. Our in-house bourbon guy, Nick Hearin, has put together some descriptions to help you find the perfect bourbon for you and your guests.

Selected Bourbons

Parker’s Heritage Bourbon – This bourbon is produced at Heaven Hill Distillery by Parker Beam and his son Craig. This year’s blend is finished in Grand Champagne barrels from Cognac Frapin, which adds a distinct richness to the bourbon. It almost smells like a rum, with hints of dates and mulling spices. This year’s bourbon is bottled at 100 proof, so it can be enjoyed without adding ice or water. It’s easily one of the deepest bourbons out there.

 

Berkshire Bourbon –Berkshire is produced by Chris Wells in Massachusetts. Wells is one the forefathers of American craft distilleries. The whiskey is produced from 72% corn, 18% rye & 10% barley, all of which are locally sourced.  The corn used is grown less than 2 miles from the distillery and is detectably sweet, which is balanced by the sharpness of the rye. It has noticeable vanilla notes with undertones of ripe fruit.

Four Roses Small Batch – This “High-Rye” whiskey maintains its character without being too spicy, and gives off fragrances of orange, vanilla and white pepper.  The palette is incredibly well-balanced, not too sweet, and the piney-peppery aspects of the rye come out in the finish.

 

High West BouRye – High West BouRye is a delicious blend of bourbon & rye whiskey bottled in Park City, UT.  The blend (by David Perkins) is of bourbon (aged 10 years), made of 75% corn, 15% rye & 10% barley; the Rye is aged 12 years, and is 95% rye & 5% barley. This whiskey drinks like a high rye content bourbon or a super-charged Canadian whiskey (with no straight whiskey added). It is very bourbon-heavy up front but finishes with that spicy rye kick. It’s a great sipping whiskey for those cold upcoming nights.

Bourbon Cocktail Kits

Sazerac Kit – This drink was created at the Sazerac House around 1850, and the recipe has changed many times through the decades due to availability of cognac, absinthe, and bitters brands. The recipe we like to recommend calls for Sazerac Rye, Peychauds and Angostura Bitters, Sugar, Herbsaint, and a twisted lemon peel.  The kit comes with: Sazerac Rye, Angostura and Peychaud’s Bitters, Herbsaint, a citrus peeler, and two lemons for $76.

Stone Fence Cocktail Kit – Originally a Colonial-era mixture of high-proof rum and fermented apple cider, but is more often created with bourbon and hard cider nowadays. Comes with Johnny Drum 101proof bourbon, J.K.’s Scrumpy Hard Cider, 2 Collins Glasses, and a 10lb bag of Kold Draft Ice Cubes for $48.