Tastes

I’ve seen this quite a bit and always wanted to try it. Thankfully, I had a chance to try a pour without buying a bottle. The nose was sweet with a real ethanol burn. Being only 100 proof, I didn’t expect that much of an ethanol burn from the nose. The palate confused the ethanol taste with some earthy notes and then a little cinnamon. I wasn’t feeling this and the finish confirmed my opinion. The finish was a ton of earthy oak notes with a little sweetness. The ethanol burn confused through which was probably my least favorite aspect of this bottle. I was hoping for more flavor, however this is only a $40 bottle. Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this bottle. Just wasn’t my pour.

I’ve had some port barrel finished bourbons and they’ve been pretty good. Thankfully, I was able to try this as a sample instead of purchasing it to try. The nose, well, there was no nose. This was the craziest thing. I tried this with a friend and both of us couldn’t pick anything up at all. First bourbon that had nothing to offer before hitting the palate. Palete hit and this was cherry, blackberry medicine. It was the cough syrup my mom used to make me drink back in the day. The finish had some sweetness to it but all I could taste was the medicinal flavor. It was so powerful that everything else faded away. I’m extremely thankful I was able to try this before wasting any money. I would consider this a drain pour. Quite terrible and I hate saying that about any bourbon. I will definitely not be purchasing this. Scale .25

I’ve seen this bottle before but never had the interest to try it. Always found it for $35-$40 and the size was only 375mL which is small for the price. Thankfully, I was gifted this bottle by a family member who knew I enjoyed bourbon. I poured some in a glencairn glass m, neat, and let it rest for 15min. The nose was quite interesting. Had notes of vanilla, musty oak, more must and dust (like an old forest) and kept continuing with oak. The nose was pretty good which got me excited. The palate is where everything went to a halt for me. It had a kick of cinnamon with oak and then went to a really, really odd taste. Think chemicals or plastic. It was the strangest palate I’ve had in a bourbon. The chemical presence was so strong that it took over the entire finish. The finish was even worse than the palate. It was chemicals, plastic, like old plastic toys, and a very bad lingering finish. Think of chewing a toy that was in the garage for quite some time. This might be my Least favorite bourbon. What’s disappointing is that the price is so high for a craft bourbon in a half size bottle. This isn’t worth it. Pass on this bottle and spend $35-$40 on a different bottle that is normal in size.

I’ve been tempted to buy this bottle as I’ve heard great things about Redwood Empire as a distillery and I enjoy ryes. I was able to try this at a bar, neat, in a glencairn glass. The nose was was strong with mint, pepper, and rye spices that hit quick but ended sweet. It wasn’t too enjoyable as I didn’t have a real desire to go back to the nose. The palate had a strong rye spice punch that was full of honey and spice. It wasn’t too complex and more just rye spices which left me wanting more. It didn’t wow me and more of disappointed me since again, I wasn’t drawn to it. The finish was short, peppery and grabbed at your taste buds with the rye spices. Overall, for a $32 bottle (this was $8 a glass), it wasn’t a terrible rye but I have many other ryes I enjoy for $30-$40. I would even spend that extra $10-$15 for a more enjoyable rye. I’ll pass on grabbing this bottle BUT I do want to try their other offerings.

I’ve seen these bottles in stores a plenty but the price for the quantity of bourbon always steers me away from buying it. I was able to try this pour for $10 at a local bar. Had it near in a glencairn glass. The nose was full of spice with some floral hints. It actually got me excited for trying it as I could smell mint, cinnamon and the rye spices I would hope for. The palate is where things turned for me. I had an odd flavor of more of cigar taste and oak. It was quite interesting as I didn’t have any of the spice I would expect. Almost like I just lit up a cigar. I’m a big fan of cigars but not necessarily drinking them. The finish was short, a little heavy in the bite and not memorable or really enjoyable. I’d prefer to just smell this than follow through on drinking it. Overall, I wouldn’t order this again or buy a bottle. I’ve had plenty of better ryes than this.

Never heard of this rye and figured I’d try it while at a bar. Had it neat in a glencairn glass. The nose was pretty good. It was sweet with honey, spice, lemon and overall, quite enjoyable. The palate continued the rye spice I expected but the flavors moved to more honey and tea like. I’m a fan of tea all around and this reminded me of it quite a bit. The finish wasn’t too long and had more notes of honey and peppered tea. A strange combination. Wasn’t too complex but enjoyable none the less. There was little heat (90 proof) and I actually enjoyed this glass. The pour only cost me $9 so my expectations weren’t too high. Overall, I’d drink this again.

I’ve heard great things about this distillery and see it commonly on shelves. It was on sale the other day and figured I’d give it a shot. I had this neat in a glencairn glass. The nose was strong with a cherry, spice, and vanilla sweetness to it. The cherry and spice was quite strong which got me really excited. The nose kept me coming back for more. The palate, whoa, this was like a cherry hot tamale candy! The spice came through as cinnamon for me and the cherry lasted the entire time. The proof was great in that it lingered and the mouthfeel was fantastic. The finish kept the hot tamale candy taste with a little heat but not an ethanol heat. This was a cinnamon and cherry heat which tasted fantastic. I was by far blown away on how great this pour was for a $33 bottle (on sale). I’ll definitely by another when empty and try their other offerings.

I’ve heard the story of this bottle and it sounded really cool. I saw it at a hotel bar and jumped at the chance of trying it. Usually this bottle goes for $60-$70 which has always been to much for me to try. Had this neat in a rocks glass. The nose was wasn’t bad with some spice, caramel and a hint of ethanol. It had a stronger nose than expected which was a positive. The palate had a decent mouthfeel where the spice grew to more of a oak flavor. The caramel was there but there was more spice than sweetness to the flavor. The finish was decent more of the spicy flavor but it didn’t have me wanting to go back. This is where I enjoyed the nose but drinking it didn’t get me excited. I’m really glad I didn’t buy a bottle and waited to try this. A lot of the smaller craft/gimmick (even if cool) bottles have high prices and sometimes aren’t just worth it. I’d put this one in that category.

Never heard of this bottle and saw it on the shelf at a bar. Figured I would give it a shot. Had this neat in a rocks glass. The nose was faint with caramel and a little bit of spice. Didn’t pick up too much ethanol which was nice. The palate was quick with a follow through of caramel and vanilla. This reminded me of a simple bourbon you would normally use for mixing. No character and the finish proved that. The finish was faster than the palate. You could taste the caramel for a second and then poof, gone. I wouldn’t recommend this for a sipping bourbon but maybe you could use it for cocktails, probably not an old fashioned though.

I’ve seen this at many bars and liquor store shelves for $50+. I’ve always wanted to try it since I see it everywhere and had a chance for a pour at a bar. Starting with the nose, this really wasn’t “enjoyable”. It smelled like ethanol with a sweetness to it that wasn’t normal. I don’t know how to describe it, it was odd. It didn’t make me think it was terrible but more that I was confused on what to expect from the taste. Almost bland if you will. The palate made sense after the confusion of the nose. This was ethanol and just alcohol. No taste really except for a sweetness that lingered from the nose. Wasn’t awful but wasn’t great. Almost like I wasted a pour. So odd. The finish was the same. Nothing stood out. Probably one of the oddest bourbons I’ve had in that I regretted getting this pour. If anyone started a bourbon journey with this bottle, I could see them never going back to bourbon - which is sad. I’d stay away. Nothing to see here.