This special offer from our Four Grain is the first bound bourbon in Colorado history. True to the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897, this bourbon is at least 4 years old, is a single season and distiller product, and has been fully matured in our federally destined Rickhouse. In addition, Laws makes a four-grain bourbon: 60% corn, 20% old wheat, 10% heritage rye, 10% heritage malted barley. This is lot #6 of the series, and I`m now very excited to see if lot #7 will be nine years old. Bourbon lies on its strength and maturity, this Bourbon Laws takes on a slight amber color after pouring. I thought the nose had a scent that looks like a skin I sometimes make, made of orange peel and dried apricots. In addition, there is a vaguely nutty quality. Sipping the Laws Four Grain gave me the same thing, but seasoned with pine needles and cookie spices. Much of it falls out of the picture in the finale, leaving a woody and nutty character persisting. The rich taste of our bourbon is impossible to reproduce. Not just because of what we do, but because of what our farmers do.
After two Colorado family farms have grown our heritage varieties of wheat, barley and rye, our labor-intensive cooking technique brings to life the individual character of each grain, while the sour open-air porridge adds moving complexity. After three years in 53-gallon charred oak barrels, influenced by our high mountain climate, a brand new bourbon is rolling out. I took the “free” tour of Law`s Whiskey House in the winter of 2017 with a Denver Post reporter who took a video tour of Colorado distilleries for her newspaper. At the time, they were only 3 and 4 years old of bourbon and there was a noticeable difference with lot #1 of 4-year-old bound bourbon. Since I live on the west slope about 300 miles from Denver, I don`t have the same access to their excellent whiskey as someone in Denver. Anyway, I was lucky enough to get a 6-year-old bottle of bound bourbon – also lot #1. The last thing I was able to get was the 8-year-old bound bourbon that you checked here, lot #6-S, and found to be an exceptional bourbon. I just called the tasting room today to find out if there would be a 9 year old bound bourbon, and they didn`t know. Anyway, in the meantime, I have a 7-year-old San Luis Valley Rye that is also very good, and remains a big fan of Law`s Whiskey in Denver, hoping that 9 and 10 years of bound bourbon will come to me. In recent years, Colorado-based Laws Whiskey House has relied on the age of its linked whiskies year after year.
I enjoyed watching the progress and results so much that I think I need to plan a visit to Centennial State in 2023 to coincide with the release of the next batches of bourbon and rye. I`m particularly attached to these things because I`ve been beating the drum of the growing maturity of American Craft Whiskey for longer than there are those whiskies related to Extra-Aged Laws. In this case, however, it`s more than that. This stuff is so good. The Laws Four Grain Bourbon Bonded (Lot 6) is one of those whiskies where the nose is absolutely divine and complex, but does not transfer to the palate. While I guess it`s a more hearty bourbon, I can`t get past all the cinnamon and hay. This four-grain bourbon may be better if you find the right dish to accompany it. Our solera aged pure bourbon whisky, refined in cognac barrels, starts with Laws` well-aged, well-aged, grain-baked bourbon.
We migrate this matured whisky into cognac barrels of different sizes, adding aromas and complexity of the French oak. These barrels are then married in a 50-year-old cognac food, 60 hectoliters (1,600 gallons) for secondary solera-type aging. Each year, we harvest only part of the softening whisky and immediately fill the container with new Four Grain ready for cognac. This Solera cycle creates a complex spirit with lively and open bourbon flavors, followed by nuanced notes of cognac. The oldest of the French fires, Armagnac, is complex and rich. We decided to finish our four-grain bourbon in this barrel to highlight the subtle notes of fruit and spices.