Tastes

Non-chill filtered and 112.9 proof. Barrel #15-2672 (208 bottle yield) aged 4 years (distilled Spring 2015 and bottled Spring 2019). It has the same high rye mash as the Bonded version 65% corn, 30% rye, and 5% malted barley. N: Fresh cut wood, mint, nutmeg, vanilla, brown sugar and cinnamon. P: Creamy toffee, maple syrup, peppermint, vanilla and a bit of cocoa. F: Oily mouth coating keeps the toffee on the tongue just a little bit longer - then diminishes as peppermint, spices, and almonds take over. This is very similar to their bottled in bond bourbon. This is just a little more vibrant on the flavorings because of the proof. I think the relatively low age and high rye mash bill work well here. If you don’t like the spice, just let your glass air out a bit, and it will sweeten up some to balance it more if you desire (and don’t mind a little wait). It’s nicely put together and enjoyable. I look forward to their future offerings.

A 4 year old high rye straight bourbon distilled Spring 2015 and bottled Spring 2019. The mashbill is 65% corn, 30% rye, and 5% malted barley. Non-chill filtered. New Riff is not available in my home State of Michigan currently, but it is in Indiana as of April. I find myself in Indiana somewhat frequently for family and such. N: Vanilla, caramel, peppermint, nutmeg, cloves, seasoned oak, cinnamon. P: Caramel, vanilla, peppermint, cinnamon, light absinthe, baked pecans. F: Hints of ginger, dark chocolate, licorice, peppermint, allspice with a nice oily coat. New Riff is a fairly new distillery in Newport Kentucky (just south of Cincinnati over the Ohio River). The high rye and relatively low age makes the rye notes very noticeable. I really enjoyed this. I definitely would purchase another bottle. Folks that done care for much spice, are probably better off leaving this alone. At $40 (although I think I may have paid $35 for it as I believe it was part of a weekly sale when I bough it), it is more expensive than most 4 year olds, but it’s definitely better than most 4 year olds as well.

Barreled 2-2-2009. Barrel # 6189. Ironically, this is the 3rd bottle in the last few weeks that I’ve purchased that has had Groundhog Day as either the dump date, barreled date, or bottled date. N: Brown sugar, cinnamon, Bit-O-Honey, vanilla, caramel, figs, anise, rickhouse. P: Cinnamon and caramel topped brownie with raisin sprinkles with apples and licorice. F: Oak, allspice, tannic and drying. A pleasant mix of candy and spice. Lots of cinnamon and caramel play together well here. As is usually the case, the bottle sweetens up a bit over time with candied and fruit notes. I wasn’t happy about this winning best bourbon last year at the San Francisco Spirits and even less happy about it winning best of show this year in San Francisco. It probably will make this less readily available (even more so). Honestly, it boggles my mind how this could win best of show. I sure would like to try that particular barrel they had in the competition, it must have been special. This is another one that I have considered a daily drinker, because I can usually find it. Hopefully, that remains unchanged. Decent bourbon at decent price is an every increasing challenge. In a few years, there may be a glut - hopefully. We will see.

10 years old and 90 proof. Laser code Julian date of “19033”, or 2-2-2019. It lost the Single Barrel labeling back around 2014. Although it’s not labeled as a single barrel anymore, it estentially still is. The barrels are dumped in series. They dump a barrel - bottle it, dump a barrel - bottle it, and so on, but since there is the potential for left over bourbon between barrel dumps, some portions at the beginning and the end are mixed with the previous barrels. N: Oak, creme brûlée, cinnamon, vanilla, a little mint. P: Oak, pepper, mint, cinnamon, nutmeg, spiced maple syrup, vanilla. F: Oak, creamy cocoa, licorice, toasted oak. Oak, spice, mint, and a little vanilla for the most part. A fairly spicy bourbon, but not overly so. It’s pretty even keel all the way through from start to finish. I drink these bottles every so often. I’ve always liked them for the money. They run $31.99 around my neck of the woods. In today’s day and age, that’s a good value to me. 3.75 to 4.

90 proof and “aged at least 36 months”. I’ve had a few of these bottles over the years, and I’m sure I’ll have more in the future. I thought I’d put a review up for it on this app. N: Cornbread, acetone, brown sugar, anise, lemon, a bit of caramel trying to hide. P: Buttered corn, butterscotch, oily peanuts, a bit of spearmint. F: Toasted oak, baking spices, licorice. Fairly similiar, but not totally identical, to the Ancient Ancient Age 10 Star (AAA 10 Star). This doesn’t have much going on with it either. It’s pretty strong with the corn notes. Although, it’s relatively decent value when you consider it’s 90 proof and was $9 or $10 a bottle. I’ve only seen this 90 proof version in Kentucky. The 80 proof version is available pretty much everywhere. I like to use this as one of my “beater whiskeys”. One that I don’t have to think or care about when out hiking, fishing, on horse back, or whatever. I wouldn’t expect many folks to drink this neat, nor would I necessarily recommend it - except for it’s value.

Good ‘ole AAA 10 Star. I’ve had this bottle for about 4 years, and I’ve been through a few bottles of these in past as well. This bottle has a laser code from late 2014. This has no age age statement (so to speak), but print on the neck says it’s at least 36 months old. Although I’ve heard and read things that puts this older, I have no idea - but it comes off to me as being fairly young. The last time I was at Buffalo Trace, I tried to get more info on the age but I was unsuccessful. N: Corn, maple, vanilla, oak, brown sugar, light banana and apple. P: Corn, maple syrup, brown sugar, light allspice, vanilla. F: Thin, allspice, oak, light pepper and mint. I typically like corn forward bourbon (Wathens, Old Tub, Garrison brothers, etc..). This is corn forward as well, but it’s not as dominant as the bourbon’s mentioned above. I don’t see this one much anymore. I would usually buy it when I saw it. It’s fairly cheap; I think around $16 a bottle? It’s been awhile so I’m not sure what it goes for now. Maybe more expensive now like everything else. After drinking much better bourbon over the years, I don’t really miss not finding this so much, but I still retain a soft spot for it. Bottom line - it’s nothing to seek out really. Although, It’s decent for the price.

This is Single Barrel store pick - 115 proof - Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey. N: Seasoned oak, rye bread, spearmint, vanilla, cinnamon, butterscotch, teaberry. P: Spearmint, teaberry, light vanilla, butterscotch, faint dill. F: Oak and nutmeg, mint morphs into black pepper. The nose is fairly busy and powerful, as you would expect with that high of a Proof. On the palate, an initial alcohol bite gives way to that of chewing sticks of spearmint and teaberry gum at the same time with a little dill, vanilla, and butterscotch on the side. It’s heavy on the mint overall, but that’s not really surprising. A decent rye all-in-all.

I received this as a Christmas present from my boss. It was a very nice Christmas gift I must say. The only other time that I’ve ever had the regular Woodford Reserve was at the distillery 3 or 4 years ago, but I don’t remember much about it. N: Rye bread, peppermint, teaberry, vanilla, cinnamon, faint citrus, nutmeg, mulling spices. As the bottle sees some air time, toffee/caramel notes open up. P: Rye, mint, lightly oily and tart, not much sweetness until halfway through the bottle and then the toffee/caramel notes kick in. F: Toasted oak, anise, tannic, drying, yet lightly oily, with assorted baking spices. It was interesting to review this on the heals of Wild Turkey 101. This being a rye forward bourbon as well, but certainly not identical to WT101. It’s an easy sipper, but nothing really exciting. It’s similiar to WT101, but the Wild Turkey balanced out more (candied notes vs. spice) working through the bottle.

I’ve reviewed this once before back in 2015, I believe, but I decided to review this again upon hearing what Bruce Russell said on Reddit - thanks to David Jennings for the heads up. Certain bottles from 2018 (July, August, September) contain “quite a bit” more of 10 year bourbon than on average. This usually hovers closer to 6 to 8 years. They were running low on 8 year (mainly because of the Longbranch launch), so they used more 10 year for a few months. I found a 2018 September (LL/GI*****) 1.75L bottle and thought that I would review it. N: Oak, cinnamon, vanilla, toffee, brown sugar, rye, herbal mint, apple. P: Vanilla, caramel, rye, mint, cloves, nutmeg. F: Cloves, light oak, mint. Nice creamy mouthfeel. A bourbon with wonderful rye notes for sure, but this has some excellent candied notes as well. I cannot say with certainty what the mashbill on this is - the bottle says it’s “high rye”. I’ve seen a few different guesses on the rye portion - anywhere from 13% to over 20% for the rye portion. I honestly believe, like most people, that it’s around 13 to 15% rye based on what I feel are credible sources from Wild Turkey and elsewhere, but I can’t say for sure. The Distiller app lists it as 13% rye, which could very well be true. I’d like to know where they got that information. Whatever the mashbill may be, Wild Turkey does a really good job of accentuating the rye - whether it be from filtering, entry proof, aging strategy, or whatever. This bottle really opened up nicely with air time. It really seemed to shine then - more caramel and vanilla to balance against the spice. I didn’t do a comparison between this and a “normal” version of the 101, but it may have been nice to compare. I may still do that yet. This is a solid and versatile bourbon for the money. It works neat and in cocktails.

Smooth Ambler’s 1st bourbon release that is distilled, aged, and bottled at their West Virginia distillery. It is a 100 proof wheated bourbon with no age statement, although Smooth Amber says it’s 5+ years old, and not chill filtered. The mashbill is 71% corn, 21% wheat, and 8% malted barely. Aged in #4 char 53 gallon barrels. This particular bottle is from batch 16. N: Pears, fresh bread, oak, malt, the “heads” cut, light hints of vanilla and maple. P: Initial sweetness is overtaken quickly by dryness and bitterness. Light vanilla and maple - bitter apples, pears, oak, malt, corn. F: Dry, astringent, burnt pepper and oak. This has a very atypical bourbon taste profile. This bourbon has garnered quite a few negative reviews and comments. I knew that before I purchased a bottle, but it didn’t stop me. It is fruity and somewhat dry. It’s hard to believe that this is 5 years old. It seems a little light in color considering it’s 5+ years old and bottled at 100 proof. I would have expected it to pick up more barrel notes, but this profile is definitely grain driven. I don’t know if they aged it low in the rickhouse, or not much stave penetration took place, or what, but something is amiss here. If you have ever smelled the “heads” cut of a distillate (the compounds that come off the still before the etOH), you would recognize it in this. Nothing is really “good” about this bourbon, but the tannic/astringent burnt oak finish is the most off putting. I haven’t had a bourbon like this in quite awhile. I’m a fan of this company, mainly because they are pretty straightforward about giving you information about their products, and they have put out some decent sourced products (mainly Old Scout) in the past. I have no doubt they will put out better products in the future.