Before we dive into my blend, let's discuss the core Bhakta 1928. The base of the blend is Rye whiskey distilled in Indiana at the famed MGP distillery (now known as Ross and Squib), then they add French Calvados (a type of Apple Brandy), and lastly rare and old Armagnac (Cognac’s older brother). According to Scott Dilley of Bourbon Lens, the blend is as such:
- 60% – 2018 Rye finished in virgin French Oak 30% – XO Calvados 10% – Armagnac from 1928 – 1941 – 1962 – 1973 – 1996
The standard bottling of Bhakta's 1928 is bottled at 100 proof or 50% ABV. Now that we've talked about the original, let's talk about The Terrance Blend. But in order to do that, we have to talk about the Blender; Me. You've probably never heard of me, but my name is Sam Green and I'm the author of The Beginner's Guide to Whiskey. I've been working in the whiskey and hospitality industries for the last 9 years, and over that time I've been training my palate to dissect what I'm tasting and pick out nuances and flavours. That said, I'm also a proof chaser which is a little ironic.
The set up:
Lovescotch had been selling a good amount of the standard 1928 Bhakta and my friend Tom, who worked for Bhakta at the time, had mentioned doing a private blend to me a few times. I floated it past the team at Lovescotch and they said go ahead. I'd been working with the team at Lovescotch doing reviews and tasting notes for their barrel picks, and since I had the connection to Bhakta they entrusted the blend to me. So I called up Tom and we set a date. He'd come to my flat, and we would go through the process. At this point in time I don't think I had any idea what standard 1928 tasted like. Which was fine as I wanted to create something unique that'd stand out. The blend session started with a few ground rules.
- 60% of the blend has to be the rye whiskey
- Only one cask-finished Calvados can be selected
- Up to four Armagnac vintages can be selected, but the more used, the smaller the ratio
- At least one Armagnac vintage must go in the blend
In order to best build my blend, I tasted everything neat first to understand the flavours and nuances of each spirit. Especially important were the Armagnacs as they were all of different vintages and ages. The oldest being from 1973, and the youngest from 1996. There were also three different options for Calvados - Islay Cask, Bourbon Cask, and French Oak. Once I had done that to my satisfaction I grabbed the graduated cylinder that Tom brought with him and went to work experimenting with everything to try and find the flavour profile I liked the most.
After what seemed like both an eternity and an instant I had my first blend ready. I did four blends, all named after dogs that I’ve had in my life. I think the first blend I came up with was either Scooby or Tiger. Both had the same Armagnac vintages, (1973 and 1991) but had different Calvados cask finishes. Tiger used the Bourbon cask finished Calvados, and Scooby utilized an Islay cask to add a subtle note of smoke. Next we had Bear Brain which used the same vintages but the Calvados was a french oak finish. Then we have Terrance which became the winning blend. 30% Islay Cask finished Calvados, 5% 1979, and 5% 1989 vintage Armagnac. The two contenders were Bear Brain and Terrance.
Bear Brain named after my childhood dog Bear, and Terrance, my current pup. I took them into Lovescotch and tasted the ownership team and a couple of the staff and, much to my surprise, everyone loved Terrance the most. Next we had to come up with a name, as Terrance was originally meant to be a placeholder. The owners weren’t particular about the name, especially as we weren’t sure how successful this was going to be, so we kept it as Terrance. I called Tom a few weeks after we did the blend and gave him the greenlight to have “Terrance” vatted at the Bhakta HQ in Pultney, VT.
A few weeks after that Terrance was ready to ship. A little over a year later, and we still have a few bottles of the original batch, and I’m long out of my blender's sample… In fact I actually don’t have any “Terrance”; I should probably pick up a bottle for my collection. After all it’s not everyday you get to blend your own Whiskey and name it after your rescue pup! Terrance Bhakta is exclusively available on Lovescotch.com.
Click here to purchase Terrance Bhakta.
