Tastes

Because I'm now posting my reviews in three places always, and sometimes in four, I'm omitting, now, to check the color. It's a small thing, but it saves me a little time and energy. I was unable to find anything about the mash bill, except that it's Buffalo Trace's Mash Bill #1, which is low rye - and I'd already figured it was a low rye mash bill from the lack of spice. I got this bottle at Kelly Liquors in the Mountain Run Shopping Center, and came away without a receipt, so I can't tell you exactly what I paid. But MSRP is $30, and while I think I paid a bit more, it wasn't much more. NOSE: Caramel apples, some kind of smoke - hickory?, a musty or earthy note of roasting ears, fried creamed corn, freshly sawed wood, butterscotch, fresh shucked corn, cinnamon butter, and vanilla. MOUTHFEEL: Velvety but thin. TASTE: Vanilla bean? (it's some sort of vanilla, but not one I'm familiar with), butter, and honey - just the three notes. FINISH: Medium-long, beginning with honey that fades, and then oak coming in late. SUMMARY: This is good bourbon, and the price is fair, but it absolutely isn't worth the hype. This is not a superior bourbon, just a good one. The nose is very complex, but the taste is disappointingly simple, with just three notes. It does taste good, but not as good as the nose led me to expect. It's a unicorn here in Albuquerque, but if I get a chance to buy it again, I will. RATING: I use a scale based on my hick language, which has eight levels. This whisky comes in at 6, which is fine, equivalent to 3.75 stars, or 75/100 or 7.5/10 as you prefer.

In searching for the mash bill on this whisky, I found two. The most common was 78% corn, 12% rye, and 10% barley; the other was 75% corn, 13% rye, and 12% barley. I presume the one that came up most often is the correct one - but it may be that at some point Heaven Hill changed the mash bill a bit, though none of the differences are major. A fifth cost me $19.99 at Kelly Liquors here in Albuquerque - the Mountain Run store, specifically. There's no age statement, though since it's a bonded whisky it's at least four years old; the bonded status also means it's 100 proof. The color in the glass is copper gold. NOSE: The first note I got was just something metallic. Then it smelled hot, which I don't believe the nose has ever given me - of course when I stick my nose in too far and sniff too vigorously I get a scorch, but even gently nosing it this whisky smelled hot. Then I got some sort of sour grain, a musty note, corn pops, vanilla, acetone (an odor I like), and malted milk. MOUTHFEEL: Smooth and viscous. TASTE: It was indeed hot, hotter than I've come to expect from a 100 proof whisky. But there were also notes of caramel, malted milk, clover honey, strawberries, and milk chocolate. FINISH: Oak, honey, and red pepper, with a medium length. SUMMARY: I'm glad I've adopted the practice of not reviewing a whisky till the second glass at least, because my first glass of this was a bit disappointing. But on this second glass, it was considerably better than I expected. It's not a terribly complex whisky, but it's not bad at all, especially when you consider it's a $20 bottle. RATING: Good, which equates to 3.125 stars, or 62.5/100, or 6.25/10.

I previously reviewed this back on February 7 of 2022, but I was still fairly new to whisky then, and I now have 15 months more experience and figured it would be good to review it again. Though this is, as Scottish law defines the term, a "single malt" (it has a mash bill of 100% "malted" barley, and is the product of a single distillery), I prefer to call it "barley whisky." There is no legal definition of "single malt" in the United States, and anyway we speak American English, not Scottish English. Why not just call it barley whisky, and say that a barley whisky must have a mash bill of 51% barley, so that American distillers don't have to either conform to foreign regulations, or ignore those regulations? And "sprouted" is, in the States, a far better word than "malted," which conveys no meaning to most people. But that's just my gripe - the whisky is far above all that. It's 94 proof, has a mash bill of 100% sprouted barley (some from Texas and some from Scotland), and is old gold in the glass. A fifth cost me $41.99 at Kelly Liquors in the Mountain Run Shopping Center here in Albuquerque - and as you'll see below, I consider it worth every penny. NOSE: The nose is very dense, and at first all I got was an impression of dark mixed fruit. As I continued to nose the whisky, I began sorting things out, and the individual notes were lighter and sunnier. I found pears, mangos, plums, applesauce, an almost peaty smokiness (though this isn't a peated whisky), pecan praline ice cream, crisp juicy apples, caramel candy, vanilla extract, butter and citrus honey, and something warm and savory that I couldn't further identify. The nose on this stuff is so delicious that I have to remind myself to begin sipping. MOUTHFEEL: Smooth. TASTE: I never can find as much in the taste as I do on the nose. This is surely a defect in my palate. What I got here was golden honey, peaches, a tiny bit of oak, baked apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon. FINISH: This is a long finish, beginning with oak and apples, moving into cinnamon oak, and fading into brown sugar. SUMMARY: This is a luxurious and fruity whisky. If you're used to bourbon or rye, this will be something very different. It is similar, naturally, to Scottish "single malt" whisky, which is fruity, but with the higher proof than Scotch or Irish whisky of a similar price, and the effect of aging in the more extreme Texas climate, it's not as light as whisky from Scotland or Ireland. At three years old this is a young whisky - considerably younger than "single malt" from Scotland - but aging in Texas has made it robust and wonderful. This is one of the best whiskies I've ever had. RATING: On my hick scale, I put it at Mighty Fine, which is equal to five stars, or 100/100 or 10/10.

I've reviewed this whisky once before, on April 8 of last year. A year later my notes are different, partly due, I'm sure, to the training of my palate over time, but also I'm sure partly due to the subjective nature of tasting whisky. I thought more highly of it then than I do now, but I had less experience then, and its fall in my estimation isn't due to the quality of the whisky, but rather to my having since discovered even better juice. The mash bill is 84% corn, 8% rye, and 8% barley. A fifth cost me $27.99 at Kelly Liquors (just a couple of dollars more than I got a fifth for at Total Wine a year ago, which is amazing considering that Total Wine is always cheaper, and prices have been going sky high since January of 2021). It's 90 proof whisky, there's no age statement (and the label doesn't call it straight whisky, so that aid to guessing the age is absent), and in the glass the color is dark gold. NOSE: Vanilla, pecans, honey, some kind of grain note that I can't be specific about, cinnamon, sweet corn, something earthy, peanuts, and puffed wheat. MOUTHFEEL: Silky TASTE: Honey, oak, cinnamon, charred wood (I expect from the Lincoln County process), black pepper, and pecans. FINISH: Medium in length, with only pecans and a little oak. SUMMARY: The taste is nowhere near as complex as the nose, but it is good. I especially enjoy the nuttiness of this whisky. This is the first whisky where I detected a nutty note (pecans in the finish), and although I've since detected nuts in other whiskies, this is still the nuttiest I've ever had. RATING: Good, which translates to 3.125 stars, or 6.25 out of 10/62.5 out of 100.

I didn't realize it until I got the bottle home, but I wound up with a Total Wine store pick. They done good! This bottle comes from barrel #21757. It's 109.6 proof, and while the label doesn't have an age statement the Total Wine sticker says 42 months, which is 3.5 years. The mash bill is 100% roasted Texas blue corn. It's dark copper in the glass. NOSE: This is the most complex nose I've ever encountered since I began drinking whisky in September of 2021. I got brown sugar, cinnamon, coffee cake, roasted sweet corn, mesquite smoke, very ripe peaches, plums, kiwis?, pomegranates?, some kind of citrusy juice, pineapple juice, creamed corn, a hickory fire, and fresh baked cornbread. I kept going back to the nose over and over, and for 15 or 20 minutes I kept getting new notes. MOUTHFEEL: Usually a single word suffices, and when one doesn't, two do the trick. But this mouthfeel is silky, creamy, buttery, and smooth. TASTE: Brown sugar, cinnamon, black pepper, butter, honey, red chile, spiced honey, and oak. FINISH: Long, beginning with oak, then going into mesquite smoke, and finally trailing slowly away with red pepper. SUMMARY: This is a glorious whisky, and is a great example of the Balcones touch. It's worth every penny I paid, and more. This juice drinks like a highly complex and perfectly aged bourbon. RATING: Mighty fine!, the highest rating on my hick scale.

I had been thinking that each group of single barrel bottles could have a different mash bill (one barrel from one, one barrel from another), but it turns out that all Four Roses Single Barrel is the OBSV mash bill, which gives 60% corn, 35% rye, and 5% barley - a high rye mash bill. I'll leave for those who are interested in such things enough to do the digging, to see what that means about the yeast strain and whatnot. For what it's worth, this bottle is from warehouse MW, barrel 60-2E. A fifth cost me $41.99 at the Uptown store of Total Wine here in Albuquerque. There's no age statement, though the Four Roses Web site indicates that single barrel bottles are all 7-9 years old. In the glass this whisky is dark amber. NOSE: This is highly complex. I get a floral note, and honey, and had to work to get more - it's indeed complex, but I also find it an elusive nose. Finally I was able to start untangling it, and got honey butter, cool spring water, baked apples, waffles, apples and pears, caramel, wild strawberries, and fresh baked bread. MOUTHFEEL: Smooth and creamy. TASTE: With that nose I expected the whisky to be equally complex on my tongue, but it's nowhere close. I got spiced honey, cinnamon, black pepper, red pepper, a thin bitter chocolate note, and brown sugar. FINISH: The finish is long, beginning with alcohol, then giving a little bit of chocolate, and finally a little bit of black pepper. SUMMARY: The nose on this whisky is extraordinary. I don't know when I've gotten anything so complex from a bottle. But after the promise of the nose, the taste is disappointing. It's not that it tastes bad - on the contrary, this is good tasting bourbon. It's just that the taste doesn't measure up to the complexity of the nose. And because it's a high rye mash bill, it's spicier than I really prefer. At the price, I won't buy another bottle, but if it were five or 10 dollars cheaper, I would. RATING: Fine, which is only two steps below the highest level of my hick system, but still not at all what I expected and hoped for.

A fifth of this juice cost me $24.99 at the Uptown Total Wine store here in Albuquerque. It's 90 proof, and there's no age statement (though as a straight whisky it has to be at least four years old to do without). In the glass the color is amber. NOSE: Something smoky, clover honey, something floral, creamed corn, corn pops, vanilla, and possibly grapes MOUTHFEEL: Silky TASTE: Honey, brown sugar, black pepper, vanilla, cinnamon FINISH: Spice, oak, a tinge of honey - very long SUMMARY: I bought this bottle because two Total Wine employees independently recommended it as being similar to Buffalo Trace, which is allocated here (I've only seen it on the shelf once). It's been a long time since I had my bottle of Buffalo Trace, but my memory tells me it's a valid comparison. I wish this were a higher proof whisky (I've been drinking higher proof whiskies lately, and I've learned that I like 'em), and that there was more information about the whisky (I can find anything definite about it except the mash bill, and even that I've only located in two places, one of them here). But it is a good, sweet bourbon, yet with enough oak to please me, especially in the finish. I'll definitely buy it again. RATING: Fine

NOSE: Sour, grass, grain MOUTHFEEL: Slightly creamy TASTE: Watery honey FINISH: Nothing at first, then some quick oak SUMMARY: This stuff might work in a drink, but straight it's no good. It's certainly not worth the price - it might be worth $5, but not $32.

I couldn't find any information about the mash bill. Since it is bourbon it has at least 51% corn, but beyond that, who knows. It's three years old, straw gold in the glass, and cost me $9.99 for a fifth. NOSE: Alcohol, something medicinal, a sour note, grass, honey, and lemon cough drops. MOUTHFEEL: Watery. TASTE: Lemon cough drops, honey. FINISH: Lemon, a faint oak - short. SUMMARY: This is a barely adequate bourbon, down around the quality of Jim Beam white. At $10 it's at its maximum value - I wouldn't pay a dollar more for it. It's sad to realize that this is the successor to Heaven Hill Bottled In Bond, which surely was much better than this sorry juice. RATING: Poor.

I got a fifth of this whisky for $24.99 at Kelly Liquors in the Mountain Run Shopping Center in Albuquerque. The mash bill is 72% corn, 18% rye, and 10% barley. There's no age statement, and it's 100 proof. In the glass the color is new copper. NOSE: I came back to the nose several times, and got more notes each time. In the order in which I discerned them, I got corn, grass, honey, cinnamon, a spice which might have been paprika, honey, vanilla icing, milk chocolate, a little bit of smoke (hickory?), a very faint oakiness (I don't believe I've ever gotten oak on the nose before), and buttered roasting ears. MOUTHFEEL: Initially it was creamy, but on subsequent sips it seemed like the creaminess was slightly watered down. TASTE: Honey, candy orange slices, red pepper, oak, and lemon. I'm getting used to not getting as much on the tongue as I get on the nose, but this is a big difference. FINISH: Long, beginning with oak, then black pepper, walnuts, and some jalapeño in the throat. SUMMARY: I like the metal screw cap on this bottle. A cork doesn't improve the whisky, and a cap is easier to deal with. This is good bourbon. However, it lacks the notes I've come to expect as typical of bourbon - bananas, caramel, and butterscotch. And I'm not sure it's significantly better than the 86 proof expression. The proof is, yes, 14 points higher, but I don't think the taste is correspondingly better. RATING: Fine (just above good, the third rating down).