BEHIND THE BOTTLE

PT.1: For most who are in the know, J. Matt and Ylli are a match made in heaven. Talk about letting Ylli cook in their kitchen to release some of the most sought after drams that usually sell out in record time. I’m talking full barrels, not a ‘sold out’ 30 bottle drop. There’s something to be said about letting a chef in the kitchen and telling him you just want something good. For those of you not familiar with J. Matt or Light Whiskey as a category, I entertain you look them up. Higher proof, less strict ‘straight’ regulations- this results in great chef’s choice.

With that in mind, this blend of 3 barrels came to be from a trip down to Kentucky, where Ylli and Long visited the Bourbon 30 warehouse. There, they were greeted with multiple welcomes from the amazing J. Matt crew. Onward to picking some juice. It was already a long day of drams before they got to J. Matt, but they muscled forward. Life is hard, as it always goes. 10 barrel thiefs later, of some of the best in the warehouse, Long was content with his picks on which barrels were the best. A phenomenal rye sitting real pretty in the corner (ask Ylli about this) and a light whiskey barrel that was the epitome of what would happen if you distilled marshmallows.

Ylli is never content. He knew all the raw profiles of everything they tried and knew he could cook something up that would beat all the raw barrels respectively. Long already tapped out. After sampling so many 60%+ ABV drams, he was about to get into tipsy-tired mode. So while sitting back on a barrel watching Ylli double thief barrels, whip out beakers and test tubes (seriously felt like they were in a chem lab), Long was handed drams on drams of what Ylli was cooking.

It wasn’t until probably the fourth dram he was handed until Long’s eyes lit up. ‘This is stupid.’ If you’ve heard Long or Ylli talk about some of the barrel drops the ALCTD team has been releasing, calling the dram in question; stupid, dumb, disgusting, etc. is what they say when they hate themselves for how much they enjoy that dram. SEE PT. II

Pick Contributors: Ylli (AWGF), Long (The Don)

Tasting Notes Contributors: AWGF, The Don, The King

PRICE: $54.99 - 375ML
AVAILABLITY: 750ML SOLD OUT, 375ML AVAILABLE