Tastes
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Old Carter Straight Bourbon Batch 3 (2019 Release)
Bourbon — USA
Reviewed December 3, 2019 (edited January 9, 2021)Coming back to this bottle after 10 days. Main difference from this tasting and the last is the rye spice is less up front. If this is a blend of 12-15 yr/old Dickel, which previous releases were rumored to be, it isn’t surprising because of their high corn and low rye mash bill. Proof: 106.8 Batch 3, Bottle 994 of 1539 Color: beautiful amber Nose: deep, dusty cherries, corn, butterscotch and caramel Palate: quite rich but lighter and not as oily as I remembered from the last tasting, more caramel and some vanilla, a nice amount of oak, baking spices start to show up mid palate Finish: medium to long and spice shows up at the end Overall this is a great blend, and I’m not sure how much 15-year-old Bourbon is in this but it’s not overly oaky at all. Is it worth the $150 - $200 price point? I don’t think it is. A good Russell’s Reserve Barrel pick is just as good for 1/3 the cost. If you want something closer to this (probable) mash recipe then grab some Knob Creek Single Barrel — especially if you have store picks in your area that are more than 10 years old.150.0 USD per Bottle -
Knob Creek 9 Year Single Barrel Reserve
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed December 1, 2019 (edited December 30, 2019) -
New Riff Kentucky Straight Bourbon Bottled In Bond
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed December 1, 2019 (edited January 23, 2020)Readily available in many markets and spreading fast, New Riff Bottled in Bond is one of the best new bourbons on the shelf. Nose: gentle and sweet, some toffee, fruits, even some hints of lemongrass & mint from the 30% rye in the mashbill. Very welcoming and approachable. Reminds me a bit on the nose of the great Woodford Reserve Rye. Palate: rich and bright, with zesty spices and a bit of oak Finish: short and sweet This bourbon rivals the likes of Elijah Craig, Four Roses and others in the 30-40 price point and around 100 proof. Fantastic addition to Kentucky bourbon. -
Knob Creek Small Batch Bourbon (NAS)
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed December 1, 2019 (edited December 30, 2019)One of my “big five” bourbons I always recommend to newbies. (The others are the mainline offerings from Buffalo Trace, Elijah Craig, Four Roses, & Woodford Reserve). These are five bourbons you can generally get under $30 a bottle and are not only great representations of bourbon but also very consistent and damn drinkable. Nose: rich maple sugar with hints of peppercorn and maybe cinnamon Palate: balanced between vanilla and baking spices with hints of caramel Finish: short to medium, with a little clove from the rye spice at the end It’s hard to find a better 100-proof bourbon at the price point of Knob Creek Small Batch. If you like this then you’ll love the Knob Creek Single Barrel, one of the best bourbons on the shelf year after year. -
Weller Special Reserve Bourbon
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed November 29, 2019 (edited March 21, 2022)At SRP this is a good wheated bourbon. Anything above and you’re wasting your money. Makers Cask Strength and Makers 46 consistently outshine this repeatedly. Nose: a bit of apple and spices, also a bit unbalanced with a dose of ethanol, cherries, corn, caramel Palate: rich but a bit astringent, taste includes butterscotch & vanilla spices Finish: medium44.0 USD per Bottle -
This is a single barrel store pick (Apple Spirits, Somerset KY USA), 2019 Nose: slightly more cinnamon and less up-front vanilla and caramel sweetness in the typical Eagle Rare Palate: quite rich with cherries and hints of caramel and more cinnamon Finish: medium with pleasant mix of spice and oak Not too dissimilar from typical mainline Eagle Rare, which isn’t a bad thing. But, in search of the little subtleties in this single barrel pick I will revisit the bottle in a couple of weeks.37.0 USD per Bottle
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Old Forester Single Barrel Bourbon 90 Proof
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed November 28, 2019 (edited January 4, 2020)This is a single barrel store pick from Chuck’s Liquors (Bowling Green, KY USA) Bottled: 2019 Warehouse: L Floor: 4 Nose: Woodford mash bill shows up but with a little more volume—sweet fruits, vanilla, caramel Palate: quite rich for a mainline Old Forester, the single barrel variant shines here, the barrel and oak come through on the palate quite well. The oak is subtle but it’s there. Finish: medium, with some rye spice This is a great example of what the main OF line can be. The Whiskey Row series is excellent for sure but this single barrel is great as well if you have had the regular 86 or 90 proof or even the bonded version.41.0 USD per BottleChuck's Liquor Outlet -
Nose: a mainline malted scotch, nothing too out of the ordinary, honey, vanilla and a nice hint of cherries; bourbon lovers might recognize the nose once they get past the malt Palate: this is where this whisky shines, rich and balanced, baking spices, fruits Finish: medium with less spice at the end A very pleasant scotch from start to finish65.0 USD per Bottle
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Rebel Yell Kentucky Straight Bourbon 100 Proof
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed November 28, 2019 (edited May 13, 2021)Nose: sweet corn, vanilla, hints of cherry Palate: richer than the 80 proof but spicier than expected as the lower proof Rebel Yell was always pretty smooth if one dimensional. Finish: short to medium The nutty nose on this especially betrays what I imagine is Heaven Hill sourcing. I’d say this is a few points better than the 80 proof and since the price point is pretty similar I’d go for this one over the 80.14.95 USD per BottleChuck's Liquor Outlet -
Larceny Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed November 26, 2019 (edited January 5, 2020)This is a single barrel store pick (but not barrel proof) from Cox’s & Evergreen, Louisville, KY USA Age: 6 years (barreled March 3, 2013) Barrel number: 6357498 Rickhouse: FF, Floor: 4 Nose: sweet dusty corn, vanilla, hints of baking spices and light fruits Palate: bright and spicy, with notes of orange and cinnamon Finish: creamy at first then ethanol flies in at the end with a decent bite and medium finish OK, as a Weller 12 & 107 superfan, I regularly recommend (and drink) widely available wheaters that I believe are just as good as Weller Special Reserve since that old staple has now been relegated to the Pappy insanity train. Makers Cask Strength, Makers 46 and Larceny are three I highly recommend. The two Makers Mark offerings more closely resemble Weller in my opinion and I would drink those any day since Weller has become so restricted under the supervision of Buffalo Trace. Larceny however is a toss up. It has the familiar Heaven Hill nuttiness that is polarizing in the bourbon community. I enjoy it. Some do not. Larceny barrel picks are pretty rare to find but I hope more barrels are provided going forward to see what this “baby Fitz” has to offer.30.0 USD per BottleCox's Spirit Shoppe and Smoker's Outlet Westport
Results 111-120 of 295 Reviews