Tastes

This is a four, maybe five-star whiskey . . . or would be, if it weren't for the finish, which is maybe one of the worst I've ever encountered in a whiskey. Nose and taste are trademark Jack, but more intense and--dare I say--beautiful: banana, caramel, vanilla, milk chocolate, berries, a touch of citrus and some varnish (though not unpleasantly so). But the aftertaste, the way it sits in your throat, is just brutal soggy wood, sour fruit, bitter corn, sour oak. Tremendously unpleasant. I've sampled from a few different barrels (as well as from the duty free-exclusive Silver Select), but they all seem to share the shockingly unpalatable finish.

I could take or leave the standard Maker's, but I legitimately love Maker's 46. It's got to be one of the few "weird extra oak!" gimmicks that actually works. Nose/taste of honey, black cherry, Wheaties, apples, cinnamon, chocolate, slate, sugar cookies, apple crumble. Reminds me at times of the frosted side of a Mini-Wheat. It's a beautiful whiskey--maybe, considering the price and availability, the best wheated bourbon out there that you can *actually* regularly find.

On its own merits, and on quality-for-dollar, it probably deserves 4 stars. But I have to admit that this one doesn't appeal to my tastes personally--I've had an open bottle for a very long time, and I find the profile much too sweet. Light smoke, the classic sherried berries and baking apples and grapes, oodles of heather. But there are just so many sherried whiskies out there, and I wish this one dialled back the sweetness a bit or felt a bit more substantial.

Buffalo Trace is what I think when I think "bourbon". It's not perfect, but as far as widely available, affordable, flagship offerings go, there's not much out there tastier, more versatile, or more reliable. Taste is apples stewed apples and cherries and cherry wood, baking spices, orange zest. Vanilla building over time, some toasted oak flavours. Palate is a bit hot and the body is a touch thin, but honestly it's a great all-around bourbon. Better than bottles for which I've paid twice the price.

It's worth pointing out that in Canada, Eagle Rare runs $50 or more per bottle (as compared to about $35 for standard Buffalo Trace), and at that price it's not really worth the extra money over Buffalo Trace's flagship. Having said that, this is still an excellent bourbon--full of vanilla and oak and that prototypical cherry/apple character I get from most BT whiskeys. BUT it should also come with the caveat that it's at times an inconsistent bourbon: though it no longer officially carries the Single Barrel designation it is still effectively a single barrel product (just a technicality of the bottling line BT uses), and I've found a lot of variation--from barrels that might as well have just been bottled as Buffalo Trace to perfectly balanced masterpieces to bitter, over-oaked messes. Still, when it's on, it's as good a regularly available bourbon as there is out there.

Has a definite Brown-Forman provenance (think Old Forester or Woodford) at--locally, anyway--twice the price. Nose and taste are fine, but between the cost and the brand's lack of forthrightness, I can't really recommend it.