Unfinished Business Dept: Bearmark vs 'Fast Aging'

[Capn Jimbo]

"Fast Aging": dream come true or a nightmare?


As noted elsewhere, I'm taking some leave for the reasons stated. Still there are a couple of pieces of business that were promised you, and that I'll try to fit in.

The first concerns what I consider the ridiculous notion of "fast aging" using all manner of nutty techniques: saran wrap, loud rock music, pulsating air pressure and/or temperature, underwater aging, small or micro barrels, banana peel dunder, special light treated wood stave, et al. It's endless.

After the Lost Spirits debacle I came across the distiller that I consider the poster boy for "fast aging", namely...


Cleveland Whisky's Black Bourbon

A marketing maven by the name of Lix, from Cleveland, Ohio of all places, managed to convince a funder of small businesses to invest a substantial amount of money based on a get-rich quick method of using alternating air pressure and temperature to "fast age" his bourbon. So just how fast is "fast"? Are you sitting down?

Six days!

Furthermore, Lix makes some pretty outrageous claims. He claims his supersonic aged bourbon is "the equivalent of 10 to 12 year old (premium) bourbon"! His explanation: each of his pressure pulses duplicates a day of aging and breathing of a traditional barrel. His method: he buys bulk, new make bourbon, lets it rest in the barrel for 6 months, then transfers the new bourbon to stainless containers along with staves cut from that barrel. The pressure pulses force the bourbon into and out of the wood repeatedly for accelerated contact and penetration into the wood.

Here's the numbers: 10 years of traditional aging involves 3,650 daily cycles of "breathing" as the barrels expand during the day and contract at night. Lix believes he is duplicating these cycles in just 6 days of frequent "pulses" of pressure. By my reckoning that's 608 pulses per day, 25 pulses per hour, or roughly a pulse every 2-1/3 seconds. Still, he's not telling. Am I skeptical? Is the pope Catholic?

Now if Lix is right, and a 10 to 12 year old premium aged bourbon can be produced in 6 days, he will have mega-corporations lined up to buy his method, to save literally hundreds of millons of dollars in expensive cooperage, real estate, warehousing, aging and angel's losses. Probably more. But if he's wrong - as I believe - then he's just another huckstering dreamer. How to find out?


But fair is fair

As most of you should know, I am completely skeptical of fast aging claims for reasons that have been repeatedly noted in this forum. But fair is fair, so I contacted the distiller for what is only the second time I've requested a freebie (the first was to ask Phil Prichard for a bottle of his special reserve, which is sold ONLY at the distillery). The problem:

I am prejudiced, period and proud of it. There is no way in hell I could set my predisposed skepticism aside.

So what I did do was to contact our own Bearmark, who is a webmaster and bourbon reviewer in his own right. What I know about rum, he knows about bourbon. I've come to know him as having a good palate, and as an honest reviewer who writes well. With this in mind I acted a matchmaker and managed to convince a very skeptical Lix to send BM a bottle. In return, the Bear assured Lix he'd get a fair review, that he'd read no competitive reviews before doing so, and that he would share his findings with both moi and Lix before publication.


So where are we?

Close my friends, close. Bear let me know that he has received the bottle and is now engaged in an extended analysis, which will include some blind tasting among a number of experienced bourbon afficianados to see if Lix's amazing claims are true. I expect to be able to publish the outcome shortly.

Stay tuned....

[Dai]

I look forward to Brother Bearmarks review.

[bearmark]

I've completed my review of Cleveland Whiskey's Black Reserve Bourbon and here it is. I won't provide any spoiler information here, so you'll just have to check it out and return here for comments and discussion.

I'll be sending the link to Tom Lix for comment as well and will post a follow-up from him if he desires. I do want to publicly thank him here as he's been very pleasant to deal with and a good sport about the entire process. I respect his excitement and enthusiasm, as well as his ingenuity, and I wish him well in his endeavor to revolutionize the industry.

[Capn Jimbo]

A public acknowledgement...


...of Bear, who took on a complete and fair analysis of the Poster Boy for Fast Aging: Cleveland Bourbon. This guy doesn't even distill his own product, but buys 6 mo. old bulk bourbon, and claims to turn it into the equivalent of a fine 10 to 12 year old aged bourbon in...

6 days!?. I'm quite serious.

"Fast aging" is a wet dream for small distillers who can't afford to set aside product for expensive traditional aging so they try all manner of tricks to avoid that. None of them have worked. Frankly, I am so sick and tired - both of these claims, and of the monkeys who actually believe them - that I have become understandably prejudiced. Still it was my goal to finally and closely examine this product, so the only honest thing I could do was...


Dump the responsibility on Bearmark, lol...

I contacted Cleveland Bourbon who agreed to provide a bottle for analysis, and then Bearmark who agreed to provide a particularly close examination and honest reporting of it. He agreed to keep CW informed, and took exceptional pains - and much time - to thoroughly examine this product for one reason: this was no ordinary review, but a review of the claim of "fast aging" as well.

I wanted an honest and unbiased review, and Bearmark was the man.

Bear was trapped: CW on one side who extolled their amazing new process, and Moi on the other who felt this was absolute mooseshit. Thus he threaded this needle by being exceptionally thorough, forthright and honest.


The result?

I'm not telling, as you really must read his amazing review at his lovely website, which I have long followed. I will say this: the Bear lived up to his assignment. The only impression I will share is this: in every death row old movie, there is a kind and gentle priest who accompanies the once brazen but now fearful murderer...

To the electric chair.



*******
The review:
http://mark.abear.net/blog/?p=1402
A brilliant review by one of our own. Don't fackin miss it!

[Capn Jimbo]

Thanks to the Bear...


...and his outing of Cleveland Whiskey's "six-day" fast-aged bourbon. As hard as it may be to believe, Barack Obama recently visited this uh, gentleman - as an example of innovation. Spare me. Fortunately our President did not try the whiskey.

Source, the good man at Whiskycast, who also facilitated a review that confirms our Bear's...

http://whiskycast.com/president-visits- ... d-whiskey/
http://whiskycast.com/ratings/cleveland-whiskey/

For what it's worth, Whiskycast also reports that Bacardi has purchased Angel's Envy "Small Batch" Bourbon (which is currently the subject of a class action lawsuit). "Envy" actually purchases bulk bourbon. Bacardi also bought existing shares in Compass Box - thank God! - which means they will have no real control over John Glaser who did not accept any investment money from the Batmeisters...

http://whiskycast.com/bacardi-jumps-int ... envy-deal/