Tastes

The mash bill on this juice is 75% corn, 13% rye, and 12% barley. It's seven years old, of course, and cost me $21.99 at the Total Wine location in Uptown. It's a 90 proof whisky, and is copper colored in the glass. NOSE: Cinnamon, honey, citrus, something musty, a fruit note that might have been grape, apple, and a very light smoke. I don't know whether I've ever mentioned this, but I continue nosing all through the evaluation, and get more notes after I begin sipping, which isn't surprising because taste and smell interact with each other. MOUTHFEEL: Creamy - far more creamy than you'd expect from a 90 proof whisky. TASTE: Citrus, cinnamon, honey, a little oak, and brown sugar. FINISH: Medium, beginning with oak, then bringing in a brief citrus note, and then fading into dark chocolate. SUMMARY: This is not regular Jim Beam. It's just a few years older and a few proof points higher, but it's much superior to the white label. It's not a highly complex whisky, but it's very good. It's much better than the price - it's worth at least $10 more. RATING: On my hick scale, which has 1 on the bottom and 8 on the top, this comes in at 6, Fine. This translates to 3.75 stars, 75/100, or 7.5 out of 10.

I find that the mash bill on this whisky - as with all Knob Creek - is 75% corn, 13% rye, and 12% barley. It's 100 proof, a fifth cost me $69.99 at the Kelly Liquors store in the Mountain Run shopping center here in Albuquerque. Of course there's a 12 year age statement on the bottle. In the glass it has a dark copper color. NOSE: Immediately I got honey butter with cinnamon. Next came a musty corn note, smoke, milk chocolate, hot vanilla, candy corn, photo cocoa, a tinge of citrus, vanilla icing, and something floral. After I had the first sip a burned wood note also entered the nose. MOUTHFEEL: Smooth and somewhat creamy. TASTE: Spring water, fresh flowers (these two aren't tastes so much as things the whisky reminded me of), cinnamon, dark, chocolate, and a little oak. I never get as much on the palate of a complex whisky as I do on the nose, but I had the impression that there were notes just outside my range, which someone else could pick up but I couldn't. FINISH: Long, beginning with oak. Semisweet chocolate comes in, and fades into a lingering oak and chocolate. SUMMARY: This is recognizably a Knob Creek bottle, but it's different from both the 9 year and the Single Barrel Select store pick I have. It began, in the first glass I had, with far too much oak, but it's opened up wonderfully, and that overabundance of oak is no longer there. I got notes on the nose I've never gotten from anything else, and if my palate were so inclined I believe I would've gotten more notes there. The price is high for me, but the whisky's worth it - it's fantastic stuff. RATING: My hick scale has eight levels, with 1 being the lowest and 8 the highest. I give this whisky an 8, Mighty Fine. This is equivalent to five stars, or 100/100 or 10/10.

I got this bottle (a fifth) for $49.99 at the Uptown Total Wine store here in Albuquerque. It's 116 proof, has a two year age statement, and is dark copper in the glass. The mash bill is 70% white corn, 25% rye, and 5% sprouted barley. NOSE: Over a number of dives into the glass I got dark caramel, something that I can only characterize as warm, green leaves, brown sugar, eucalyptus, butter, bread, musty corn, and cornbread. MOUTHFEEL: Heavy and creamy - I thought of saying oily, but it doesn't quite fit that word. TASTE: Again it took several sips for me to get caramel, brown sugar, butter, honey, milk chocolate, and red pepper. FINISH: Medium, with milk chocolate, a little red pepper, and a little oak. SUMMARY: The nose and palate are so complex that it's hard to pick out specific notes - but it's DELICIOUS. This is everything the Musician promises but doesn't deliver. This is excellent whisky. RATING: My hick system has eight levels, with 8 being the highest. I give this that eighth rating, Mighty Fine. That comes out to 5 stars, or 100/100 or 10/10.

This is a 121.8 proof bottle - according to the label, it's Batch 8. It cost me $38.99 for a fifth at the Uptown location of Total Wine here in Albuquerque. There's no age statement, and it has a mash bill of 68% corn, 28% rye, and 4% sprouted barley. In the class it's a definite copper color. NOSE: This is a far more complex nose than you'd expect from the general reputation of Bulleit bourbon, and it's certainly more complex than the standard 90 proof expression. Through several sips I got Roasted corn, caramel, cinnamon toast, brown sugar, vanilla buttercream icing, green summer leaves, a fresh plowed field, maple syrup, a little bit of sweet smoke, and vanilla ice cream. MOUTHFEEL: Creamy. TASTE: I got cinnamon, honey, red pepper, brown sugar, honey butter, and a very faint oak note. It would concern me that I get so much less on the palate than I do on the nose, but I've learned that my mouth is considerably less sensitive than my nose - this is a typical occurrence. FINISH: Honey, cinnamon, spicy oak, and a lingering milk chocolate. Overall the finish is medium in length. SUMMARY: This is an excellent bourbon, with a good proof. It has a delightfully complex nose and a highly satisfying palate. And the price is right. I'll definitely buy this stuff again. RATING: On my hick rating scale it comes out at the 7th level (counting from the bottom), which is Right Fine. This is equivalent to 4.375 stars out of five, 87.5/100, or 8.75/10.

This bottle cost me $43.99 at the Uptown Total Wine Store in Albuquerque. It's 10 years old, of course, and 90 proof. Online I found information indicating that the mash bill is 75% corn, 13% rye, and 12% sprouted barley. It has a new copper color in the glass. NOSE: Dusty caramel, vanilla, creamed corn, buttered roasting ears, cinnamon rolls right out of the oven, coconut (coconut?!), and very ripe bananas. It seemed like every time I nosed it I found something else, including one note I've never gotten from a whisky before. MOUTHFEEL: Smooth and slightly oily. TASTE: Cinnamon, butter, honey, brown sugar. FINISH: Medium - oak, with a bit of honey. SUMMARY: This is a better bourbon than the notes above might indicate. The nose is complex, but the taste is more simple, and the finish just gave me two notes. However, it's still a real good bourbon; I have no complaints about it at all. It's definitely worth the price, and maybe a bit more. RATING: My hick rating system says this one is Right Fine, which is next to the top in my eight level scale (I count from the bottom, so this is a 7). This rating equates to 4.375 stars, 87.5/100, or 8.75/10.

This is a pint bottle, which cost me $30.99 at the Uptown location of Total Wine here in Albuquerque. There's no age statement, it's 112.2 proof, and it's dark copper in the glass. I found very limited information on the mash bill. Some sites said that it's a blend of two mash bills, one high rye and one low rye, while others said that it's a 95/5 mash bill. Since Sagamore Spirit began by using MGP juice, and now - or so I understand - is distilling its own whisky, it may be that both have been true at different times. But while I often find it frustrating that distilleries frequently don't let you know what's in their whisky (all other products have to list their ingredients), this is perhaps the most frustrated I've been. NOSE: I first got vanilla, then cinnamon, a mineral note that reminded me of the rough gravel that granite decays into, and honey. As I began sipping, a fresh mowed grass note appeared, with a hint of smoke, nearby rain, and summer leaves. MOUTHFEEL: Creamy. TASTE: Cinnamon, brown sugar, butter, red pepper, and black pepper. The pepper notes came in late, but were very emphatic. FINISH: The finish overall is long, and begins with cinnamon and brown sugar. These fade out, and a strong oak comes in, which is what lingers and lengthens the finish. SUMMARY: This is fine whisky. It's a little hot, but not too much, and the taste more than makes up for it. In some ways this drinks like a bourbon, but it has definite rye characteristics. I highly recommend this juice. RATING: In my eight level hick scale, which counts from the bottom, this receives a 6 rating, which is Fine. This is equivalent to 3.75 stars, 87.5/100, or 8.75/10.

This is Buffalo Trace juice, so finding information on it is hard - indeed, I couldn't find anything about the age, and all I could learn about the recipe is that it's Buffalo Trace's wheated mash bill. This is 90 proof whisky, and a fifth cost me $39.99 at the Mountain Run location of Kelly Liquors. It's golden in the glass. NOSE: I immediately got a huge blast of caramel and butterscotch, with honey butter coming in next. There was a note that I can only characterize as what, when I was a kid, we all called "Mexican candy" - brown, white, and red squares of coconut candy. Next was a strong buttercream icing note, and finally creamed corn came in. MOUTHFEEL: Smooth. TASTE: Spring water, honey, cinnamon, and light brown sugar. It surprised me that there was so little on the palate, after that nice nose. FINISH: Medium short, consisting only of oak and a slight honey note. SUMMARY: This bourbon is all right, but not anything special. It's another piece of evidence that Buffalo Trace's reputation has a lot of hype in it. RATING: On my hick scale it's the fourth level (counting from the bottom) - Okay. That comes out to 2.5 stars, 5/10, or 50/100.

This is an 86 proof rye that's four years old. Most of the sources I found indicated that the mash bill is unknown, but one article from 2023 said that it's not Jim Beam's usually rye mash (Jim Beam owns the label), but rather is 80% rye and 20% sprouted barley. The preponderance of the evidence is against that one writer, but I do find Old Overholt to be more characteristically rye than Knob Creek rye, which also comes from Jim Beam. It's dark copper in the glass. NOSE: Right off the back I got honey and apples. Then came a flowery note that I only got once or twice, and then vanished. Once the flowery note was gone there was a strong apple juice note, a slight note of mixed spices, and finally spicy butter. MOUTHFEEL: Smooth but thin. TASTE: I kind of wish I hadn't picked tonight to do my review, since my palate just didn't get as much from the glass as I've gotten in the past. Palates are changeable, and what is great one time might seem less so on another occasion. I would've foregone the review until another time, but I'd been planning to do one for two or three weeks and wanted to finally accomplish the task. All I got tonight was spice and oak, but previously I've gotten a definite sweetness as well - but I can't recall the specifics of it. This whisky is better than it seems from what I got from this pour. FINISH: Spiced oak and a vegetal note, with a medium length. SUMMARY: This juice is better than it seems from this review. It's not a great rye, but it is good, and I'll buy it again. And I confidently expect that the next time this bottle comes up in the rotation, it'll give me what I've learned to expect from it - not the most complex whisky there is, but certainly one worth the price, and more. RATING: On my hick scale it's the fifth level (there are eight, counting from the bottom), which is Good. That translates into 3.125 stars, 62.5/100, or 6.25/10.

I reviewed this whisky back in May of 2022, but what with one thing and another hadn't had it since, and after almost two years of practice, I'm far better equipped to evaluate Mellow Corn than I was then. And so I'm doing another review. I'm not certain what the mash bill is. One source said that it's 80% corn, 8% rye, and 12% barley. A couple of other sources said that it's 90% corn, with the remaining 10% consisting of rye and barley. I do know that it's at least 80% corn, because that's what the US government requires, but right now I wonder if anyone outside of Heaven Hill knows what it really is. This bottle cost me $17.99 at the Kelly Liquors store in the Mountain Run shopping center. There's no age statement on the bottle, but this is a bottled in bond whisky so by law it must be at least four years old. Due to the legal requirement that corn whisky age in either new uncharred barrels or used charred barrels, it doesn't pick up a lot of color from the wood, and is straw colored in the glass. NOSE: A note of sweetness without any specific sweet item is the first thing I got. Then came musty corn, a slight lemon sourness, and caramel with vanilla. MOUTHFEEL: Creamy. TASTE: On the palate this juice begins with a definite honey note, the cinnamon, and then through repeated sips I got banana candy, lemon, sweet corn, and a little bit of oak. FINISH: The finish is long, beginning with a sweet note, merging almost immediately into cinnamon, some sweet oak, and finally a lingering spice note. SUMMARY: This whisky surprised me, when I paid attention to it, with how complex it is. Now it's not very complex - it's actually a simple whisky - but it's less simple than I expected to find. I'm glad I decided to review this again, because two years ago I could never have gotten all this from the juice. Even though it is a simple whisky, due to the rules governing corn whisky, it's a tasty one. As a bottled in bond whisky it's 100 proof, but if I didn't know that, I'd never guess it. It doesn't assault you with alcohol on either the nose or the palate - it's indeed a mellow whisky that drinks like it's 10 or 15 proof points lower than it is. It is definitely worth the price, and it's a very affordable price. [edit] When I posted this I forgot to include my rating, so I've come back and will insert it below. RATING: On my hick scale it's the fifth (counting from the bottom) rating, Good. This is equal to 3.125 stars, 62.5/100, and 6.25/10.

This whisky comes from Taos, NM, and is a blend of bourbon and rye. The Web site says it's aged with Ponderosa pine bark and pecan wood, which I think means that they put that into the barrel, though I could be wrong.. The label on my bottle is Sidwinder, but due to another distillery disputing that, it's going to change to Ponderosa (the distillery is the Ponderosa Whiskey Company). It's 80 proof, there's no age statement, a fifth cost me $25.99 at Total Wine, and in the glass it's a wheat color. NOSE: The first and dominant note is custard. It's been years since I had any custard, but that note is definite. Underneath the custard I found the aroma of cookies that a co-worker makes using Ricotta cheese (they don't smell or taste like cheese, and this juice doesn't), a hint of the piney woods, and a little honey. MOUTHFEEL: Thin but slightly creamy. TASTE: Brown sugar, a little oak on the edges of my tongue, very watered down honey, and some cinnamon coming in as I got further into the glass. FINISH: A definite eucalyptus cough drop note, and as I neared the bottom of the glass a flash of pecan that vanished almost as soon as it appeared on the tongue. The finish is medium in length. SUMMARY: This whisky has enormous potential. The nose is incredible, one I've never encountered in any other whisky, and perhaps the most attractive I've ever come across. If the palate followed suit this could easily be my favorite whisky. Alas, the palate just doesn't measure up to the promise of the nose. I suspect that at a higher proof - 100, say, though even higher would suit me - this would be a superb whisky. RATING: On my hick scale I rate it Okay, which is the fourth from the bottom of my eight level scale. This is equal to 2.5 stars, 50/100, or 5/10.