Jefferson's Bourbon - Chambers Street Style

4/10/15-

(A commemorative Hank Williams, Jr. bottle at the Jim Beam museum.)

We continue our Bourbon odyssey with a special selection from Trey Zoeller’s fantastic Jefferson’s label. Jefferson’s is unlike other Bourbon, because instead of distilling they focus on purchasing the best barrels possible from other producers to create superb, ultra-small production lots. Trey created the Jefferson’s label in 1997 before the world’s Bourbon craze started, and distillers were eager to sell barrels on the side. Trey happily saved exceptional barrels of whiskey from being blended into batches with over a hundred other barrels, which is how big labels like Jim Beam maintain a consistent flavor over the millions of bottles they produce yearly. Today Bourbon is a hot commodity, and sourcing barrels is not as easy as it once was, but luckily Trey’s 15 years of experience and family connections (his father Chet has the enviable title “famed Bourbon historian”) keeps Trey close to the good stuff. The Jefferson’s company approached us to do a collaboration, and we gladly accepted. After tasting several of their custom blends we unanimously selected the beautifully named “B-806.” This is a fantastic very small batch Bourbon blended by one of the best independent bottlers and available only at Chambers Street Wines. Remember, the Derby is just around the corner… John Rankin