Since moving into our apartment, we have struggled with finding the best use for our second bedroom. It is not quite big enough for a true guest room, so we had a desk in there for a while to use as a home office. Needless to say we still set up shop at the dining table.

I finally decided that Keith deserved one room that was just for him. My original goal was to have a room where he could spend time with a good book and a dram. Well, the new plan has only half worked. The room came together as I had envisioned. However, rather than a place to cozy up with a book, it's become a very stylish storage room for the bourbon.

Organizing the bunker became all the more crucial when I learned about the new bottles from Smooth Ambler that would need a home. I'm coming to terms with the fact that all three book cases will soon house nothing but bourbon. Thankfully, I have time to strategize about a new home for our library.

Wine cellars are so last year. Bourbon bunkers are all the rage these days. Wait, no? Just my house?

The still at Old Scout.

Back in December, I was lucky enough to travel to Maxwellton, West Virginia to visit the Smooth Ambler distillery. The purpose of the trip was to select a barrel or two (we actually picked three) and establish a relationship with the proprietors, John and John. The Johns were incredibly generous with their time--they spent several hours taking us through their rick houses and explaining their approach to the business. Best of all, they let us taste as many barrels of whiskey as we wanted.

One of their two rick houses.

Smooth Ambler has taken a unique approach to the business. They are distilling their own juice, but everything (with the exception of the Yearling) bottled so far is from the LDI distillery (now MPGI) in Indiana. They are completely forthright with the source of their juice, which is refreshing in an industry not known for its honesty. Their oldest juice produced in house is nearing four years old and the exciting news is that it is a wheated bourbon! They plan to release it when it's ready--they've done an adequate job establishing solid lines of revenue, so there is no need to rush it to market.

The rick house holding the juice distilled on-site.

 As I said, the Johns let us taste at least 15 samples--it could have been more--of the sourced bourbon and rye of various ages. I'm not a huge fan of LDI's rye, but if you've not had their bourbon, get yourself some Old Scout, because it is damn good. We ended up choosing three barrels: one seven year old, one eight year old and one ten year old. Smooth Ambler will bottle at barrel proof, which is a nice touch. The Johns were really fun to work with--at one point we were sort of lukewarm on a couple of samples so one of the Johns ran out and got several more for us to taste.

The bourbons are schedule to arrive this month and I can't wait to post tasting notes. All three of our picks were complete winners, but I'm most excited about the eight year old as it was my favorite of the line up.

Parker's Heritage Collection is a highly sought after annual release from Heaven Hill distillery.  The Heritage Collection allows Parker and Craig Beam, the father-son Master Distiller team at HH, to really explore the studio space in the Heaven Hill rick houses.  In past years, they've released a wheated bourbon finished in cognac casks, an ultra-aged bourbon (27 years) and a cask proof wheated bourbon among others.

PHC 2012

This year they've a high proof, 131.6 proof, mix of wheat and rye mash bills.  I was able to secure this bottle from Hi-Time Wine out of California.  I've spent some time with this bourbon, as I've tasted it a couple times over the course of the past 6 weeks or so.  On to the details:

Nose: Cinnamon, orange peel, and a whiff tobacco and leather.  I can tell from the nose that this is a complex bourbon.

Taste:  A maple sweetness on the tip of the tongue upon entry.  As it moves across the tongue, I got some traditional rye spiciness, and on the back of tongue I got more of the pleasing sweetness usually associated with a wheater.

Finish:  A nice complex mix of spice and sweet.

Overall:  I rate this at 89.  This improved a good deal after I opened.  When I first tasted it a few weeks ago,  I did not care for it.  After opening up some, it seems to have improved.  I'd be interested to taste this blind, since I know what's in it, I know what to taste for.  It would be interesting to see what I could pick out not knowing what it is.

All that said, it isn't as good as some of the Parker's Heritage Releases, though I haven't tasted them all.  The 2011 cognac barrel finished bourbon is one of my all time favorites, but this one does not reach that level.  It's a good bourbon though, and and if you can find for around $70, I think you should buy it.  I bought two; one to drink and one to bunker.

I have descended further into my bourbon obsession. I have decided to begin bunkering bourbon.  A lot of enthusiasts have bunkers, but to this point I've resisted starting one.  I resisted for a couple of reasons: First, We don't have a lot of space.  Second, bourbon is for drinking.  I've never seen much reason to have a bunk of bottles laying around that aren't being actively sipped on.

So what changed my mind?

Well, this post on the Top Ten Whiskey of the Fall on the Whiskey Advocate blog started it.  If you notice, the list contains only one whiskey under $100.  And that whiskey is a bourbon.  It is my opinion that bourbon is the best deal in whiskey, but I'm not sure it will stay that way forever.  In fact, I think we're already seeing bourbon prices begin to rise--it is not unusual to see Pappy 15 in the $150 range and Pappy 23 in the $300 range.  More and more distilleries are releasing "Limited" or "Special" editions that come with a hefty price tag.  Luckily, we all can find great bourbon for under $30, but it might not last forever.

So I've decided to select a few whiskies that I especially enjoy and hold on to them for a little while.  If prices keep rising I can break into the bunker or try to find a trading partner to get a bottle I can't find. If prices go way, way up, then I'll think about putting a bottle up for auction.

My first two bunker selections are the 2011 Parker's Heritage Collection and E.H. Taylor Tornado Surviving bourbon.  I have open bottles of both on my shelf and they are a couple of my favorites.  Based on the limited release of these bottles, I suspect these will become very hard to find over the next couple of years.