Tastes

I have several of the other Old Forester offerings and thought I’d give this relatively new Rye variant a try. The nose has rye spice, freshly baked bread, butterscotch and red apple. The palate is not very sweet, only slightly sweet with a spicey and creamy mouthfeel. It has rye, vanilla, and a hints of butter and black licorice. And some barrel. There’s a slight ethanol note. There’s a medium-long finish with a nice lingering rye spice note. Overall, a pretty decent rye. Especially for the price. I will add that it’s somewhat unique. Maybe because of the higher malted barley content? I need to do a side-by-side with other budget ryes (Wilt Turkey, Rhittenhouse, etc.)

I happened to find an older bottle with the more ornate rippled glass from early 2018. This was a pick done by The 404 Kitchen in Nashville, TN The nose has vanilla, rye, sour bread dough (not sourdough bread). There’s also some baking spices with brown sugar, dark fruit and a little oak. The palate has a light oily mouthfeel. I get oak, leather, rye, and a little bit of black pepper. It starts to dry out the mouth in a chalky way as you move it around. The finish is nice, with some burn. It’s on the shorter side of long with lingering oak and rye notes. I think this one is pretty decent and differs from the other WT offerings at this price. Though if I had the choice, at this price point I would go Rare Breed all the way. And then Russels Single Barrel.

The nose has rye spice with charred marshmallows. There a light fruit in there as well. The palate is very light (to be expected at 81 Proof). It has rye with honey and vanilla. The finish is medium-short. A lingering rye spice with slight tingling in the mouth. Fairly easy to drink, but not a whole lot going on outside of rye. Not bad though.

I’ve been looking forward to trying this one after having Rowan’s Creek and other Willett offerings. I’ve heard this is the higher proof version of Rowan’s Creek, let’s see. The nose has that standard Willett freshly baked bread with baking spices thing going on. Along with hints of cinnamon, spearmint and cooked plumbs. I also pick up some vanilla, brown sugar. The palate has an oily mouthfeel and is semi-sweet. There is a continuation of those baking spices along with rye. The finish is long and holiday spices linger for a while along with some oak. It dries the mouth a little, but not too much. I like this one a lot. It feels like a more mellow and matured version of Rowan’s Creek. Though I will say, Rowan’s Creek has a lot more upfront in your face spicey and earthy flavors going on the nose and palate, though a lot lighter mouthfeel. I would say Noah’s Mill is Thanksgiving and Rowan’s Creek is Christmas. In both flavor and level of relaxation. (I’m more relaxed during Thanksgiving)

Since I’ve picked up a few bottom feeders, I thought I’d pick up this Buffalo Trace family variant to see how it compares to the other bottom shelfers. I didn’t notice until I got home but it’s actually a Liter. I rarely see that size. As a reminder that my tasting notes on these a fairly subtle, but this is what I picked up. On the nose I get that Buffalo Trace dark fruit note along with some baking spices, vanilla and a hint of rye. The palate is light, which I would expect at 80 proof. I get a continuation of the nose with the sweet dark fruit dominating. The flavors in the finish are gone pretty quickly, with just a mouth tingly light burn that last for a little bit. Really not bad. I prefer this to some other bottom shelfers that I’ve tried recently including Old Charter 8, and Heaven Hill Old Style (white label)

After almost finishing my first bottle of the current Rare Breed (116.8 proof), I found an older bottle and decided to compare them. Here’s what I got on this one. The nose has milk chocolate, some baking spices, vanilla, and a hint of plumb. The palate is a little sweet with a slightly thicker mouthfeel. It has some vanilla, honey, a little rye, and slight fruitiness. The finish is medium in length and has a little burn, and at a times a very slight momentary bit of ethanol. Compared to the 116.8 proof version, I would say this (112.8 proof) is not quite as good. When I first nosed it, it definitely reminded me of the newer one. But after comparing them back to back, the newer 116.8 proof has more complexity and depth. Maybe it’s because it’s the end of the bottle so it’s oxidized more, and I was comparing that to a fresh bottle of the the older 112.8 proof? Who knows. My thoughts are that they’re getting better with every release. So I’m not going to seek out these rarer older bottles.

Ok so this is not the 3yr batch 6, but it is the 4yr Batch 13. Didn’t see one listed, so I’m using this, should be close? I had heard a lot about the Oldfangled Knotter by these guys but I can’t found it. Then I saw this one, and thought I’d see if it’s decent. The nose has fresh banana, light oak, plumb, red apple and a touch of rye. The palate is sweet with rye and vanilla. Not much else going on here. The finish has a subtle lingering tingling on the tongue, but the flavors disappear fairly quickly. So I’ll say it’s a medium length, short on flavor. Overall it’s fine. The nose offers a lot more than the palate does. It’s easy to drink, but you’re not going to find anything really interesting while sipping it.

After discovering Makers 46 a while back, I was intrigued by the wood stave finishing idea, since I loved the 46. I also have a Private Select bottle that has some similar qualities, (different staves). So the RC6 was high on my list to check out! The nose has cinnamon, freshly baked bread, maple syrup, a little bit of red apple and dark stone fruit. The palate has a thicker oily mouthfeel with cinnamon, oak, a little bit of leather and some dark fruit. The finish is long with a decent, but welcome burn. It dries out the palate a little. I like this one. It is noticeably different than my Private Select. I was thinking it might be closer to the 46, but I guess that’s what the cask strength 46 is for (I wish that was readily available). But I like what this has going on. I need to spend more time with it, but I’m enjoying it.

I’ve been enjoying the #12 and really enjoying the new BiB. A local store had a 9yr pick so here it is... The nose has sweet vanilla, caramel, and corn. The palate has sweet corn, some caramel and vanilla. On later sips I also get some cola. Finish is a little burn and brings back some of the memorable corn and sweet notes of a medium length. I like this one. I guess I’m officially a Dickel fan! This one is a slight variation of their #12 and BiB. The flavors are not as pronounced on this one, but offers different ones. So I guess it’s a nicer, un-offensive (to some) version of the other two (which I also really like).

I’ve been seeing this forever, and it being a Buffalo Trace mashbill #1 bourbon, I thought I’d see what a $16.99 bottle variant of it tastes like. The nose has fresh banana, vanilla and light caramel. The palate has a fairly thin mouthfeel, but slightly oily at the same it. There’s banana, vanilla and light and I mean extremely light oak. The finish is short. To be expected from an 80 proofer. I get a little bit of baking spices here for a second. I mean It’s fine. Nothing harsh about it, which is a victory when trying anything in this price range. It tastes somewhat watered down, so the higher proof version is probably more full. Someone very new to bourbon would probably call this “smooth”.