Tastes

The nose is nice and has a sweet charred oak smell. With hints of cherries. Taste: It hits hard with banana bread upfront followed by spice and vanilla. Then the burn hits a little and has a sweet heat that I wish stayed around. Once the heat is gone you are left with the banana bread again. It is smooth and has a good balance and medium-long finish. This is definitely a winner that I would like to keep on the shelf. Good price point and smooth bourbon.

This one is lite on the nose. Slight fruit smell with a hint of spice on the back end. For the sip: it hits with a nice caramel toffee upfront. This is followed by a nice spice with a hint of vanilla. Then you get a little oak on the end with a small alcohol hit. Very balanced drink with medium finish. I wish it lasted a little longer. I would definitely buy again and keep on the shelf. Pick this one up if you get a chance.

I’ve been looking forward to this one. So taking it out of the box and popping the top was a treat. The nose has a nice hint of cherries, spice, oak and caramel. The nose is a solid start to this pour. Upon the first sip you get hit with cherries, caramel, spices, oak and a smooth vanilla finish. It lingers for a while and has a nice balanced feel to it. The taste has a nice progression of change that last longer than most. I’m not a huge knob creek guy. But this one is definitely up there in the list of my favorites. It fits my flavor profile well. It hits on almost all of my favorite flavors and has that refined finish that the age has given it. I hope they keep this around in their lineup. I just wish the retail price was a little lower on this one.

I’ll just get right into this one. The nose was strong and reminds me of acetone. Not making me very excited to taste it. A little sweetness comes out on the nose. First sip was rough. Upfront was a strong alcohol hit. Once that goes away at the very end has an okay sweet corn and spice on the tongue. It lingered for a bit. Second sip was not much different. I added some water and it smoothed out the pure alcohol hit but is not enjoyable at all for me. Overall, I will not be buying this again. Possibly never buy anything from smooth ambler again. $10 bottles of bourbon can be found that beat this.

I’ve been on a rye kick lately. So it’s time to try the Woodford Rye. The nose has an oaky sweet scent with a fruity smell coming through. Now to the taste: It doesn’t hit hard with spice. It’s a gentle heat that gets a little stronger then fades out. Definitely some dried fruit and toasted nuts come through followed by vanilla. Maybe a hint of banana? Not sure. The taste lingers for a good amount of time and changes as you wait. I quite like this in my bourbon/rye drinks. For a normal can find anytime kind of drink. I rank this one quite high. The price point is nice especially for the well balanced flavorful drink you get. I will definitely keep this one in stock on my bar at all times.

I was pretty excited about this one. So I got the bottle home and popped the top. The nose has a nice oak, spice and some vanilla notes. Great start as it doesn’t have that strong alcohol smell to it either. Upon my first sip I get a good helping of spices followed by oak. Then you get some nice sweet flavors come in with a hint of vanilla. It has a nice smooth viscosity as well as taste. Well balanced and it is just all around smooth. The only issue I have is the price of the bottle compared to some other rye’s that I believe are in the same ballpark as this one. It’s well over double the price of a few of them. So I like having a bottle around but I’m not sure I would buy a second bottle.

I was pretty excited to taste this one. So I poured my glass and got ready to relax. You definitely just get a smell of the pear on the nose. I tried to find something else on the nose but just got smoke. So I dove in and took my first sip. It’s easy to sum up as sweet peat. I tried in other sips to pull other flavors out but failed. There is a general fruit/sweetness and peat. They don’t give out the blend recipe but I believe that it’s way to heavy on the scotch and could use more of the bourbon and rye mixed in. Is it awful? No. Is it something I would grab often or buy another bottle? No. I’ll pull this out with friends if we are around the fire or if we are trying to smother our taste buds at the end of the night with smoke.

I had read that this was a sweet drink. So poured my glass and grabbed a bowl of coffee almond ice cream. It is definitely sweet with a rush of vanilla, caramel, light oak and few more sweet notes. The taste lingers for a bit and is smooth with no harsh aftertaste or burn. Nice pour to have on the bar.

This was my first Smooth Ambler experience. This one was a bit of a disappointment for me. It’s not that the taste is bad. The problem is that as quick as you taste the Old Scout it leaves you. Then you have the left over alcohol feel of a young drink. There are to many other drinks at this price point that give better results.

Great rye. This one is highly talked about and most either love it or hate it. You can put me in the loving it family. It has a nice citrus, caramel upfront taste with no harsh taste. Smooth with some light oak and banana nut bread finish. I have bought the every-time I see it in the store.