Election Day in America: Remus bourbon in the glass

Today is the big day that the whole of America and to a certain extent the whole world is watching forward to every four years. Election Day in the United States of America. We could not let the moment pass without drinking something as American as a good bourbon. We found one in the sample drawer that has a link to American politics. The Remus Repeal Reserve is a series of bourbons “crafted to commemorate the repeal of Prohibition on December 5, 1933”. Prohibition is a period in which all production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages was suspended under the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution. It was enacted between 1920 and 1933, and proved to be yet another chapter in America’s shaky relationship with whiskey. Not only socially it was a centuries old theme, also taxation stirred quite some trouble. For a quick read I recommend the Wiki page for the Prohibition.

The drink on the table today is a straight bourbon whiskey honouring the name of George Remus, the apparent “king of bootleggers”. Distillation takes place in the Ross & Squibb Distillery in Lawrenceburg, in the state of Indiana, home of the 23rd President of the US, Benjamin Harrison. Pour yourself a glass and settle in front of the television, watching CNN or Fox, whatever your preference there. Soon enough we wake up in a world that knows the answer to the question who is going to be the 47th President of the United States: Kamala Harris or Donald Trump?

Remus Repeal Reserve Series VI, bottled at 50 % abv

Make up: Bottled in 2022, this whiskey is around 8 years old. Maturation took place in new charred oak and the whiskey was bottled at 100 proof, which translates to 50 % abv (and not 57,1 % like we see on Scotch).

General impressions: Opens on the traditional outburst of vanilla, but we can definitely deduct that there is something more going on underneath the omnipresent wood smoke and smells of new leather. It needs a bit more time before pine forest aroma rises from a damp earthen floor. I will kickstart it later with some water. Taking a sip undiluted, the mouthfeel can only be described as very soft, with gentle and balanced wood tones, some chocolate and a slightly sharp finish. Until now, this is a regular and decent bourbon. 

With water, the lumberyard opens its doors some more. It is the taste that offers now a little more complexity, but all well within the narrow spectrum in which bourbon whiskey works. Some more nuts, a little bit of caramel, but I find the wood very dominant. In the end, I get hints of milk chocolate.

Conclusion: Let us hope the elections will be as boring as this whiskey. Whoever wins, whoever loses, take what the voters hand you and owe up to it. All symbolism aside, this is a perfectly fine straight bourbon whiskey, which ticks all the boxes, but offers little else that we have not seen in a million other expressions. Whoever offers me a bourbon that is not as generic as raindrops falling from the sky, I will repay with a sample from my drawer.

Score: 82 points

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