Tastes

AND WHAT BE A PIRATES FAVORITE DISTILLERY? Four square? NO. CLEARLY IT’S BARRRRRRRTON. This is round two of the rum division of my barrel-finished bourbon bracket. Last time, Blood Oath Pact 5 edged out Jefferson’s. Tonight the blind taste test was Borough vs Barrel Dovetail. Nose and body went to Borough, so despite Dovetail winning the finish, I give the win to Borough. Next time: Borough vs BOP5 for the best rum finish. Though it may not seem like it, by day I really am a productive member of society. The tasting of Dovetail: I can’t figure this one out. So for starters let me point out the obvious: this is not a bourbon. To my credit, I genuinely believed this was a bourbon when putting it in my barrel finished bourbon bracket. I couldn’t locate a fourth rum finish bourbon off-hand, plus this sample was generously provided to me by Andrew-Nguyen1. So let’s do this! Cheers! The nose is heavy char and caramel. Bit of mint. The body honestly reminds me of some Canadian whiskies I’ve had in the past. I’m going to go with creme brûlée. I know that sounds pretentious as hell, but I’ve actually had creme brûlée, and this really does kinda remind me of that. Marshmallow. Caramel. Coffee. Finish fades off with the caramel. Slight lemon, also a hint of maple syrup. The finish is by far my favorite part of this drink. This was a good sample. I’m happy I tried before I buyed. Trought before I bought. I won’t be adding this one to the shelf, but honestly, that’s mainly because it’s not in my wheelhouse. The flavors here are solid, and if you’re a fan of strong-flavored Canadian whiskey, I think you’d like this one as well.

Happy Bottled In Bond Day distiller friends. Exactly 123 years ago today, Congress found a way to be certain that this glass in front of me wouldn’t kill me. Quickly, that is. And I appreciate that accomplishment, so to celebrate, I’m revisiting a BIB bourbon I had about 2 years ago. I’m also drinking this under U.S. Government supervision. Don’t worry about that last part. Fun fact: I’m drinking this tonight from the same Heaven Hill souvenir shot glass that I drank it from 2 years ago at Heaven Hill’s Bourbon Heritage Center in Bardstown. Look at ya boy getting all sentimental. Here’s the review from 2 years ago: “Very smooth and flavorful, though it packs a punch going down. I get citrus, honey, black pepper. Wooden hints as well.” The tasting tonight: Barrel 5757. Barreled on 8.9.08. The nose is bourbon basic but done well. Caramel, vanilla, very light oak. The body is hotter than I expected, and more bitter as well. There’s orange, leather, and salt. For me the orange is the main flavor, whereas the other notes are more of a mouth feel as you transition to the finish. Really wish there was more sugar on that body to pull out that orange more. Finish is pleasantly spicy. Black pepper, rye, brine. Black pepper is the dominant flavor. So I’ll give the me from two years ago a fist bump through the TARDIS door. Though I agree with most of the flavors, I think it’s cute I used to think this 100 proof whiskey “packs a punch.” Oh honey... Edit: I don’t mean to throw too much shade here, but why is this bourbon sought after? It’s good. It’s totally sufficient. Yet, there are literally dozens of better options on shelf right now at freaking Meijer. MEIJER. Edit 2: BDanner is right about a value buy. I can only think of 2 bottles in this price range I’d rather have, and one of them is equally hard to find. I will likely pick up another if I see it on a shelf, but I would never go hunting online for this guy.

AND WHAT BE A PIRATE’S FAVORITE BARREL? Rum? AYE, YOU’D THINK THAT. BUT IT’S ACTUALLY FIRST FILL AMERICAN OAK THAT’S BEEN CHARRRRRRRRRRRED. This is the rum barrel finished bracket of my finished bourbon experiment. Tonight is a blind taste test between Jefferson’s Reserve Old Rum Cask Finish and Blood Oath Pact 5. Though I preferred the nose of Jefferson’s, BOP5 won out big on body and finish. I respect the way both drinks approached rum barrel finishing, and I think those approaches were different. BOP5 requires more discipline to really see what it has to offer than JR does, but if you put in the effort, there’s simply more reward there. Next blind taste test is between Borough and Barrel Dovetail (big thanks to Andrew-Nguyen1 for the Dovetail!) The tasting of Jefferson’s Reserve Old Rum Cask Finish: The nose is the best part of this drink. I could sniff this all day. I normally don’t care for this Jeffersoniness in my whiskey, but this is the best I’ve ever seen this scent profile done. There’s the grape jelly, but it doesn’t smell sickeningly sweet like it can. There a cherry sweetness there too. There’s a bitterness in the nose that balances. I get salt, lemon, brine. Body is an honest extension of the nose, but that overly sweet mouth feel is still there. Sweet grape jam and cherries dominate the body. Finish is where the saltiness and brine kick in. I think somewhere hidden in that transition is where I was detecting a bitter lemon scent, but the flavor isn’t detectable for me. I just recall the mixture of brine and sweetness doing that to my taste buds in the past. There’s chocolate there. I get leather, oak, baking spices too. Pick one = chocolate. I don’t hate this drink. It’s one of my favorite Jefferson’s to date because they dialed back that grape jelly nonsense a bit with the salt and brine. I think the rum influence also did some interesting stuff with the sweet body, almost creating a tropical vibe. Still, I’d put this more into the “interesting” category of drink than the “enjoyable” category. At this price, I definitely will not buy again.

This is the port finish section of my barrel finished bourbon bracket. This is a blind taste test of Isaac Bowman vs Breckenridge. The tasting of Breckenridge: The nose is so delicious. It’s got cherries, grape, raisin, vanilla, and cane sugar. While I do think sangria, I don’t only think sangria. I can pick those scents out individually, which to me is the mark of a good whiskey. Body hits first with caramel. Then the port hits hard, but in a good way. Mostly cherry and sugar, but the other nose flavors are there if you look. Finish shows off more of the underlying bourbon. There’s lemon and sweet fresh bread. Is a lemon scone a thing? It’s some sort of tart desert, and it’s fantastic. For me, Isaac Bowman won out, but it was close. IB capitalizes on more of the sweet tones in port in a magical way (AE does this too.) I’d claim Breckenridge does an equally good job but with the dry tones. Nose and body of Isaac Bowman won for me, but I’d probably give the finish to Breckenridge. Overall enjoyment of IB makes it the champ. I really like what Breckenridge did here. They marry good bourbon to the port finish, and it makes a solid product that tastes more like a work of art and less like an attempt to join a fad. It’s the most expensive port finish in this competition, but it’s worth the money at least once. Port finish summary: 1st - Isaac Bowman 2nd - Breckenridge 3rd - Angel’s Envy 4th - Boondocks Disclaimer: I bring up AE a lot, and usually in an unfavorable light by comparison. I wanted to take a second to say: I actually really like AE. I have limited releases from 4 different years, a bottle I personally filled at their distillery, a display stand made from a barrel stave, and a laser-etched glass all on its own shelf in my whiskey cave. Geez that was weird to type out. Used to be simply a man cave, but apparently I’m being honest with myself tonight and speaking harsh truths about what my basement has become. Point is: I respect AE a lot for what they have done and what they have inspired in the bourbon community, this whole current experiment I’m doing included. That said: when an underdog comes out and puts up numbers on a reigning champ, you can’t help but get excited. And that’s really what my AE remarks are all about. Isaac Bowman knocked my freaking socks off. It is the best port finished whiskey on the market. And now, this one comes exceedingly close to winning, beating AE for me in all the categories except cost and nostalgia. Dollar bills be damned, I’d probably keep this guy on my shelf. But as the most expensive 2nd place finisher in this competition, I probably won’t. Shelves are only so big, you know? EDIT: out of laziness and nothing else (didn’t want to juggle 3 glasses up a fight of stairs) I poured Angel’s Envy, Breckenridge, and Isaac Bowman into one glass. The result may be better than any of the drinks individually...

This is the port finish section of my barrel finished bourbon bracket. This is a blind taste test of Boondocks vs Breckenridge. Winner to face against Isaac Bowman, which beat out the OG barrel finisher, Angel’s Envy. My tasting of Boondocks: The nose is very fruity. There’s cherry, grape, caramel. It smells like a sangria. It is really good. This is where it starts to fall apart a bit. There is honestly not much left to say about this whiskey. It tastes like a very well made port. Finish is mild, low burn, and porty. If you poured this for someone and told them it was port, they’d probably believe you and get confused why there were getting drunk so fast. Even attempting to split up body and finish is complicated, but if I had to try, I’d say there’s a vanilla flavor that is more prevalent in the body and a brown sugar that pops up slightly in the finish. The scents you get on the nose really are the stars here, and attempting to judge the underlying whiskey proved futile for me. I find this interesting given that this is an 8-year aged bourbon. I’d expect it to have enough self-identity that a port finish would be more like a haircut and less like a nose job, but here we are. At 8 years, either the base juice just got overpowered by a delicious port, or the distiller found a blend that really delivered on the port at the expense of the bourbon’s natural identity. Best comparison I can think of: this whiskey feels very much like smothering bread with a really delicious cheese and then trying to judge the merits of the bread. That said, I love what they did here, because I love sangria and I love port. It is genuinely a delicious drink, and given that I paid $20 for a 375mL from an online retailer in CA, I’d never hesitate to buy this one locally on a shelf should it show up. Hell, it may be close to $15 normally. Are there more complex port finished bourbons out there? For sure. But this is a fair contribution to that whiskey space from Boondocks. However, in this blind taste test, I give the win to Breckenridge. Equally good, but more interesting. I look forward to pairing Breckenridge vs Isaac Bowman in the near future. I went back and compared this to AE (think consolation match), and AE wins decidedly. If Boondocks is normally $15-20 for a 375mL, then it has a place in the market. If they are (or will be) out there for $40 for a 750, I’d never buy another one. Worth a try, worth a buy at $15-20, but at dead last in this port-finished competition, not worth a buy at $40.

To the victor goes the spoils. This match was Boone County 1833 10 year Sauternes barrel select vs Jefferson’s grand selection (Sauternes). Winner of this is my favorite Sauternes cask finish bourbon, having beaten out Amador Double Barrel and Hillrock (Sauternes). There was no point in doing this blind. I would’ve had to do this in the dark, because after having seen what this Boone County looks like in a glass, it’s just noticeably darker. Both of these also have a signature taste, so I know what to expect. Also, I’ve already tried these before in depth on distiller, so this is just an abbreviated update. For the nose, I prefer BC. To sum up each one quickly, BC is raisin/cherry, Jefferson’s is gummy bears/jelly. The body of BC is seriously good. It wins hands down. BC = sangria, Jefferson’s = more damned gummy bears/grape jelly. The finishes are similar. They both have a dry raisin sendoff, and I believe this to be an inheritance from the Sauternes. The Jefferson’s is noticeably smoother, but the BC has some extra heat and cinnamon too, which I appreciate. I’d give this to BC, but slightly less confidently than in the other two categories. Takeaway 1: Guys & gals, this Boone County finish is seriously good. As a huge fan of bourbon, I can’t think of too many bottles I’d be more excited about getting a chance to grab another of. To the best of my knowledge, there were only 61 bottles of this produced. It is phenomenal, so that is unfortunate. If you happen to find one of these is out there in the wild, you owe it to yourself to grab it. I paid $130 for this bottle. I’d pay $250 for another. In all seriousness, I’d entertain trading a Stagg for another bottle of this. It’s truly special. Takeaway 2: I don’t get Jefferson’s. They definitely have a signature juice profile, I just don’t understand why they went with it. It’s definitely not my bag, but if you’re into the Jefferson’s flavor profile, I think you should grab this bottle. The Sauternes finish amplifies that signature Jefferson’s profile, which could be a good thing for some of you, but IMO when matched against something as stellar as this BC, its flaws become that much more conspicuous. —— Current results: Sherry Champion - WT Revival Sauternes Champion - BC 1833 10 year I think I’ll finish up the port bracket next.

Sometimes I feel like the bourbon industry as a whole is becoming more intentionally deceptive. It’s not always a bad thing, because the VOSN line (without question the least forthcoming brand I’ve ever seen) is actually quite decent. This whiskey is the first time a Buffalo Trace product has tricked me. It’s like how a bunch of knock-off romance novels with “highlander” in the title hit the shelves right after “Outlander” premiered on Netflix. I know about Old Charter 8-year. I wanted to try Old Charter 8-year. But that is not what this is. This is a NAS straight bourbon whiskey called Old Charter 8. As a NAS straight bourbon whiskey, it legally must be aged 4 years, but it doesn’t taste much older than that. Also: this is the cheapest allocated bourbon I’ve ever laid eyes on. Limit one per customer, at $16.99 per 750 mL. We Americans have lost our damned bourbon-lovin minds. If you want to get a nose from this, you’re going to have to try pretty hard. There’s standard bourbon scents there, but they are severely muted. I get caramel, honey, and lemon. Body is sweet and gentle. Absurdly low burn. There’s sugar, caramel, smarties. I can get dusty leather too, but not in the same sip. Finish tingles the sides of your tongue, but it’s still very mild. If I had to pick a departing flavor, I’d say black pepper. So I take back every suggestion I’ve ever made for “first bourbon one should try if one isn’t into bourbon.” This is your entry level bourbon. And it’s not because it’s super good, because it’s not. But it is super accessible. What it does well is that it delivers a ton of classic bourbon notes with little to no heat. It really is like someone toned this down on ice, even though it’s neat. The downside is it’s so mild that I don’t find it all that interesting. I personally want more from a bourbon, and while this one doesn’t do anything wrong, it doesn’t blow me away at all. But even so, I’d prefer this to Jack, Evan Williams, all Beams except for SiB, and Woodford Reserve. It’s almost as if someone took a delicious mash bill and took it out of the barrel too soon. Because this is the communion wafer of bourbon, I’d be really interested to try this little guy finished in a port or Sauternes cask, and am definitely still interested in trying Old Charter 8 year, because the base juice is quality. Edit: I did my research. Apparently I’m not the only one who thought BT was up to some shenanigans with this one. A class action lawsuit was filed back in 2016 for this exact reason. So if you ever think I get a bit ornery in my reviews, just remember other people are out there making it rain lawsuits.

The ghosts did it. They got a bottle in my local liquor store. 3 to be exact, and I got one of em. In the past I was very impressed by their single barrel Sauternes finish. I hope this is the beginning of a beautiful thing between Boone County and my honey hole. Nose is very sugary, in a good way. I get syrup, cane sugar, and mild caramel. Delicious. Body is juicy. I get tangerine and salted caramel. I really enjoy that combo, and it just makes your mouth water, wanting more. Finish, on the other hand, is dry. The salt lingers and is joined by a mild spice, something like baking powder. This is genuinely good. This small batch has the swagger of a single barrel and I have nothing but high hopes for the future of this 5 year old distilling company.

To date, there have been four people that have changed my mind about the quality of a whiskey. The first will never read this because he’s inexplicably averse to distiller. So fuck you big guy. I’m still better at FIFA than you no matter what the record shows. The second was my wiser but far less well endowed friend. The beauty of continually referring to him in that way is that he is undoubtedly reading this right now and is unable to respond, for fear of being labeled as the allegedly less well endowed friend of mine. It’s like taking the batteries out of the other controller before a round of smash brothers, and I’m not sorry. The third was the tasting guide at Willett. She was a prophet. And the fourth was evankatz. Is he the googleable Evan Katz? Or is this another Michael Bolton thing? Perhaps we’ll never know. Summary in case you’re tired of reading: is this truly “Rare Perfection?” No. It’s rare to me, because it tackles some flavor profiles that I’ve never tried before (which TBH is why I didn’t know what to do with it). This whisky deserves stylies for trying something new. It’s very bold. But it’s far from perfection when it comes to enjoyability. It took some gambles here, and to understand what I mean, let’s do a choose your own adventure story. If you want to envision yourself in a post apocolyptic factory, read the next paragraph. If you’d prefer sitting around the campfire in your backyard, skip ahead to the ———. Close your eyes and imagine you’re in a dirty, abandoned warehouse. I’ve been playing a lot of The Division lately, so let’s go with that. There’s a pile of bodies in the corner. There’s flames on something that shouldn’t be flammable. On a nearby counter, you see a flask. You take a sip, because... apocalypse... and this is what you taste. The nose smells like pure rubber. It smells like something not fit for consumption. I could see this being a shoe-polish or some sort of cleaner. The body delivers on that nose. It’s intense. I don’t like it. Finish shows off mild peppermint. By far the most enjoyable part of the drink. ——————— So now go back to a time with good friends around a campfire. There’s a guy with a guitar that you don’t know, but he was a childhood friend of your girlfriend so you’re going to put up with it. He’s playing something that vaguely sounds like Jack Johnson. Your buddy brings you over a s’more. The nose smells like burnt coals. There’s a hint of caramel and sugar, but mostly burntness. Body tastes like a toasted marshmallow. I’ve never experienced anything quite like that in a whisky. There’s a heavy dose of chocolate afterwards. Some coconut too. Finish is cinnamon and gingerbread. I am genuinely enjoying this drink. So wtf happened here? I think this whisky is absurdly bold in flavor. I also think both of my tastings were fair. It reminds me of how the fluoride treatment tastes better when the dental hygienist tells you the flavor ahead of time. Coming into this drink blind, this tastes kinda funky. And I came into this worse than blind—I came into this as a bourbon supremacist who had very strong feelings about Canadian Whisky in general, further jaded by the fact that this wasn’t the bourbon I thought it was. If you come into this with the idea that it could taste of a dessert or something sweet, it hits you in a completely different way. And that is one of the things that is so amazing about whisky. I asked for help understanding this, and a big cheers to evankatz for talking me through it. I’m actually moderately sad that I’ve already offered the remainder of this bottle to a friend, because I think there’s more to find here. But I’m happy that I’ll be able to share a genuinely opinionated whisky, and perhaps help steer the new owner in both directions. Conclusion: This is bold. It takes risks. Not everyone will like it. It’s unique. There’s some interesting stuff here. I will never buy another one at MSRP. IMO it’s too expensive for what it offers, and even with this new flavor profile, there’s not enough value. This should be the poster child for guided tastings, because I understand how this could be a divisive whisky. If you love it, I understand. If you hate if, I understand. My original rating was 0.25 stars. I am going back to my old review to edit the rating out of fairness to the drink, but I will keep the words. For science? I now do encourage everyone who’s curious to try but not buy, if possible. Thanks again to evankatz for encouraging this much-needed re-taste!

So I have all the questions. VOSN 12 is on the short list for my favorite new find of 2019, but finding information on this distillery is like pulling teeth from a jellyfish. Bottle says: “Produced and bottled by Olde St. Nick Distillery Bardstown, Kentucky, U.S.A.” “Produced” to me sounds like code for “not distilled.” If this truly is all sourced juice, I can make sense of this bottle. Otherwise, I got nothing. I would wager that this is from a different mashbill than the 12 year, and possibly also aged with different techniques. They’re that different. The nose is heavy sugar, sweet tarts, honey, slight citrus, walnuts. I know it sounds like bull crap to list that much stuff, but it depends on what you look for. If I come in looking for malty notes, I get sugared walnuts. When I come in looking for VOSN 12 year notes, I get the honey, citrus, and sweet tarts. It’s all there for the sniffing in an incredibly complex nose. Body is funky. There’s almonds, walnuts, honey, fresh grain. Leather too. After a while, I can also pick out chocolate and vanilla. Finish transitions to honey, citrus, and cinnamon. Very dry mouth feel. Very short finish with exceedingly low heat. All the questions. This can’t be the same juice, aged 4 less years. VOSN 12 year tastes like Buffalo Trace juice, akin to RHF and EHT. This tastes like Willett juice, akin to Noah’s Mill or Willett Pot Still Reserve. This is a tasty bourbon, and if you are really into the nutty bourbons, you should probably find a way to try this. However, I feel like it adds less to that flavor profile space (which is already full of high quality, far-cheaper bourbons) than the 12 year does to the tart-apple flavor profile space. Disclaimer: I say that incredibly biased toward the tart-apple stuff. If I could have only one nutty bourbon, prices be damned, this would be on the short list. But I can give you a dozen nutty bourbons I’d rather have 2 of than this 8 year. I can’t say the same thing for the 12 year, and if you’re sitting on the $161 it takes to buy this bottle, find an extra $21 in your couch cushions for the VOSN 12 instead.