The Duke Club - April 2020

This month, for Just A Taste’s Duke Club, I am excited to feature Belle Meade Sour Mash Straight Bourbon.

In the ever growing world of craft spirits, it is important to find producers that offer transparency of their product. One such producer of an incredible bourbon is Belle Meade, the label by Green Brier Distillery in Nashville, Tennessee. They openly admit that this product is distilled for them, but history and story behind Belle Meade bourbon is worth taking a closer look at.

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Belle Meade Straight Bourbon

Blender/Bottler: Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery - Andy and Charlie Nelson

Distilled in: Lawrenceburg, IN

Mash Bill: high-rye mash bill

Aging: aged a minimum of 4 years in new, charred American white oak casks

Serving Suggestions: neat or on the rocks

Cocktail: spirit-forward cocktails, such as old-fashioned, manhattan, or mint julep

Nose: banana, raisins, dried fig, caramel, toffee, burnt toast, marmalade, vanilla

Palate (neat): lush body with ample fruit (banana and fig), spice, and toasted oak
(with water): charred orange peel, clove, mulling spices, tobacco, scorched earth, smoke

Finish: warm, lingering spice with sweet expressions of fruit and oak

About Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery

Andy and Charlie Nelson had long heard stories that an ancestor “toyed” in distilling, but throughout their young lives only assumed it was a hapless moonshine operation. However, one fateful day they were tending errands for their father when they passed the sign for “Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery,” and their family history suddenly came to live. Fast forward several years, the brothers resurrect the old label of “Belle Meade” with little to no changes to the original label. Check out more of the unique history here.

Whiskey 101

There are several terms that pop up often in the whiskey world, so let’s break some of them down:

  • Straight whiskey - must be aged a minimum of 2 years in new white oak barrels

  • Bourbon - whiskey made with a minimum 51% of corn in the mash bill and aged in virgin white oak barrels

    • must be made in the US

    • follows distillation and proof regulations

  • Straight bourbon - requires age statement if less than 4 years old

  • Mash (or mash bill) - the blend of grains used to ferment alcohol prior to distilling

  • Sour Mash - the use of a previous mash to start fermentation of a new mash

    • this method is used in MOST whiskey production

    • this is NOT a style of bourbon and does not denote quality

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