Tastes

This has really grown on me. I was gifted an open bottle which tends to depress your appreciation of a nice bottle. If you didn't invest our own money and research into a bottle you have less investment. But as I've sampled this bottle over the past few weeks, I've really started to enjoy it a lot. Even at full strength it is palatable, although I like a drop or two in this to bring it down a tad. So much baking spice! Lots of cinnamon. Dark fruits are in the background. Maybe a touch of apple. The flavor is rich and laquered. The finish is light baking spice and fruit - just delicious. I really enjoy this, and will likely buy another when it is done given that I see if for about $59 out here and there is no run on these bottles. It honestly reminds me of a lower-priced, less aggressive Bookers that you can easily purchase. A good drink and a good value.

All the same notes as Talisker 10, except that the peat and brine is less pronounced, a clear orange note emerges, and the "chili catch" on the end has been polished to a shine. This is well executed - but why don't I like it more? The fact is that this doesn't quite blow me away (and it was quite expensive and hard to obtain). I've enjoyed other 18 year olds more, for example the divisive Bowmore 18 which was so much more assertive and flavorful. I might even go so far as to admit (somewhat shamefully based on the hate that it receives) that I enjoyed the Johnnie Walker 18 more, as it was better integrated, with richer flavors like dates, even at a pitiful 40% ABV. By comparison to some of these other 18s, this Talisker is a bit thin, even at a higher alcohol content, with brittle high notes of salt and citrus instead of richer flavors. And I guess I'm just enjoying richer flavors more right now.

The nose on this is pretty nice - I get almost a tropical fruit note mixed with cereal and maybe a touch of honey. The palate is a little less enticing for me - the notes definitely carry over, and the first few sips are pretty good. But then I notice that it just gets brinier and brinier and turns into a salt bomb. By the end of a small pour I'm done and don't want another. I can't think of another dram that wears me out faster than this one. Maybe the Talisker House Greyjoy which I also disliked due to what I perceived to be an unacceptably high amount of salt. All that said, it's actually pretty good, but as I noted it wears thin on my palate really fast. So if I go for this it's always a small starter pour as I work through the bottle. I'm sure others have said it before, but this is like Talisker with the peat ramped down and the brine ramped up - which is not the direction I want to go.

I received an already opened bottle of this from someone and finally got around to a review as I'm close to killing this off. The bottle is pretty neat, all embossed and old school looking, and it comes with an actual cork - just cork, like a bottle of rum in a pirate movie. So what is this like other than the beautiful bottle? The nose is ethanol, brown sugar and spice. A bit youthful but the relatively low ABV helps keep that young spirit in check and it is pretty decent overall. Similar notes on the palate but it gives way on the finish to dark fruit and more ethanol and spice on the finish. There is something off in the finish - it has an artificial taste to it, like Splenda? The finish is throwing me off, but overall it's okay. Nothing special though. It appears this is nearly $50 though. I wouldn't recommend spending anything close to that on this.

I've heard a lot about how good these Elijah Craig barrel proofs are. I happened to see one in a random store I was passing by and grabbed one even though I have never tried any Elijah Craig, even the small batch. I've actually waited several weeks to review this, because it's so overpowering compared to everything else I've tried that it took me some time and a few samples to be able to figure out what was going on. Nose is strong maple syrup and brown sugar. The palate is oily and viscous, and overwhelming without water. I need a little water to make this one palatable, but wow. With just a splash, that palate becomes a warming, tingly wave of flavor, with spice, baking crust, dark fruits and cherry. And the finish - some of the strongest cherry notes I've tasted and it goes on forever. There are other flavors in here as well of course, it's just that the flavors are so strong it floods my palate. Definitely caramel and vanilla in there as well. It's quite an experience, and a really top tier bourbon. For me, it's a special occasion bottle because it's so powerful - you won't be absent-mindedly sipping on this. But I'd rate something a little less intense ahead of this one at this point just because of that intensity - you're not always in the mood for it. But when you are - this one delivers.

I've gotten in to Wild Turkey products recently, particularly the 101, Rare Breed, and Russell's 10 and Russell's SiB bourbon offerings which are pretty great across the board. Some of these offerings are among my favorites in entire categories, like best budget drinker (101), best single barrel (Russell's SiB) and best priced barrel proof (Rare Breed). All are easily obtainable. And then there is Kentucky Spirit, which is something of an odd . . turkey. It predates almost all of these offerings except for the 101. It was released about 10 years after Blanton's and believe is only the second single barrel broadly released to the market. It's also apparently on the upper end of age (~8 years per barrel) as opposed to the 6-8 year barrels comprising 101. It's bottled at the same 101 proof as good old WT 101. So I started to get fascinated by this bottle because the 101 is so good to start with, and this is an older single barrel variant? Sounds really great! My bottle is not a store pick, just regular. On the nose it is heavy caramel and vanilla, plus a little oak spice. I don't get a lot of cinnamon or cherry like I do on other turkeys. On the palate, similar notes of caramel and vanilla and spice continue, and there is an uptick of oak spice on the finish. It's nice and better put together than Wild Turkey 101, but honestly I'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between this, WT 101 or a watered down Rare Breed. The profile is not similar to Russell's SiB or Russell's 10, both of which have much stronger cinnamon, orange and maple honey. And therein lies the problem. The whisky world and most importantly other superior Wild Turkey offerings have largely eclipsed this bottle. WT 101 may be superior to certain single barrel offerings of Kentucky Spirit, and you can get WT 101 for as low as $18. Kentucky Spirit is $65. $65! Over 3 times as much! Are you kidding? Rare Breed is also much more impressive, consistent and much stronger at 116 proof, and it's only $45. Russell's SiB is $55, so $10 less, 110 proof and infinitely better in my opinion. And a Russell's SiB store pick is the same price, which is a joke because those are some of the best bottles in bourbon. I can't justify paying anywhere close to this for Kentucky Spirit, and it's not because it's bad. It's because all the other prime Turkeys are better and cheaper! Kentucky Spirit has outlived its usefulness and its time to address the issue. There are a bunch of options that would be exciting for consumers (pick some or all): - Give an 8, 10 or even 12 year age statement. - Don't chill filter it. - Offer it at true barrel proof - Lower the price to $35 so it slots between Russell's 10 and Rare Breed. Any or all of these moves would justify the current price and offer something different to the consumer other than a single barrel. Ordinarily I don't let price and value affect a review so much, but the price and value discrepancy here are so glaring it becomes the whole story. Hopefully they make an adjustment because I think any of these changes would make this a great bottle and add something big to the portfolio. For now, it's just not special enough to warrant the huge increase over WT 101.

Ah, Blantons. I'm excited to add my comment to the hundreds already here, even if it will be buried like a sandstorm in about 10 days. I have an odd history with Blantons. My friend went on the bourbon trail around 2015 and became a Blanton's fan, but he was the kind of guy that thought dumping it in an Old Fashioned was how you drink pricy bourbon. As a result, I'd tried Blantons before I became a whisk(e)y fanatic, but hadn't really tried it. I tried it one other time neat as part of a flight of whiskies at Hard Water in SF and though it was just fine but nothing special after blowing through a bunch of American Single Malts right before (I started my whisky journey with scotch). Fast forward to now. Blantons has become impossible to find for under $125 where I live and is derided as a "tater bottle" by people who have moved on to non-allocated whiskies or barrel proof monsters. And the fact is, they're right. No one should spend $125 on this bottle because it's beautiful and has a friggin' horse on it. There are dozens of equivalent or better whiskies you can get for Blantons now theoretical retail price, notably from Wild Turkey (shameless plug for Russell's SiB here) or honestly whichever of the major producers you prefer - stuff like Old Forester 1920 or Four Roses Select or Jack Daniels Single Barrel at Barrel Proof or . . . you get the picture. So that's it, right? No need to ever re-visit this because it's just hyped John Wick garbage for people who don't know anything? Maybe. That's part of the reason it's expensive. But I'm human. I went to BevMo to buy a Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit and nearly had a coronary when I saw two Blantons in a display case. In one of the most pitiful moments of my life, I had to ask a sales associate if the Blantons was actually for sale and if I could buy both. You'd have done the same thing. So humiliating retail experiences aside, what do we have here? Well, in this case a damn tasty bourbon that doesn't blow your face off. Nose is beautiful, balanced caramel and vanilla. Perfectly executed. Palate is smooth as silk, cherry cola with a slight tingle from the "high rye" (not really high rye, honestly, just higher than Mash Bill #1) in Buffalo Trace's Mash Bill #2. It's delicious. It's friendly. It's smooth. This is a conversion bottle. Your friends that don't care that much about whisky will love it. Your significant other will love it. Your parents will love it. Let them try it at a holiday. Gift them one on their birthday. And then pivot them towards one of the other dozens of bottles out there that is better value for the money and really stands out from the pack without reliance on horses and holy hand grenades and action movies. TLDR: I'm sad to report that Blantons is tasty and I'll buy it whenever I see it for retail. And it makes a spectacular gift, which is where the second bottle I snagged at BevMo will go. Such is life. But it doesn't mean this is the only thing you should drink. Far from it. Use this as a gateway to convert people to whisky and to make people feel special on big events. It has its place. That place isn't a daily drinker for whisky nerds anymore. That's the long and short of it. And it's okay, because if you're reading this, you know of tons of better bottles anyway for everything except gifts and special events.

I picked up this John J Bowman after reading that this is Buffalo Trace distillate, distilled once (or twice, the stories vary) at Buffalo Trace before being shipped to Bowman in Virginia who distills it once more and then ages it about 10 years in upright barrels, which I've never heard of before. It's also a single barrel and bottled at 100 proof - basically bottled in bond, at least by ABV and age. There is a dispute over whether this is Mash Bill #1 low rye (Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, EH Taylor), Mash Bill #2 (Blantons, Rock Hill Farms) or even a mixture of the two. To me, it's clearly Mash Bill #1, but my only qualification as a bourbon expert is that I slept at a Holiday Inn Express last night. So this sounds like triple distilled, slightly older EH Taylor Single Barrel to me - what's not to like? I didn't want to get my hopes up too far that a $50 bottle I'd never heard of was as good or better than Blantons or EH Taylor. But it exceeded my expectations. It's Buffalo Trace through and through, and it may be better than others I've tried. The nose is full on caramel apple - just great. There is also a hefty dose of oak and a little bit of spice and dark fruit - cherry. The palate goes straight towards spice and cherry pie. Very sweet and delicious. Finish is extremely cherry heavy, almost too much - but I'm not sure there is something too cherry-heavy for me. I love it. The tiniest bit of spice, but I have a hard time believing this is Buffalo Trace's high rye Mash Bill #2. I swear that Eagle Rare has the same rye tingle if you chew. It's not much, but it's there and nice. Then again, I've only had Blantons on the Mash Bill #2 side and it's not exactly spicy. So who knows? Seems to me to be very similar to the EH Taylor although this Bowman has heavier fruit/caramel flavors and less toffee/floral flavors. I will have to compare this to EH Taylor, Blantons and Eagle Rare as well in blind tastings, but I'm confident this will do well thanks to the slightly higher proof. I'm really happy with this one - I don't have to close my eyes and imagine that the delicious BT flavor profile is available all day for $50 at my local store. It's simply a matter of where this end up in a blind tasting and how much of it I decide to buy in case this becomes the next tater bottle. Love it!

So I've only tried a standard Russell's Reserve Single Barrel and I thought it was spectacular. So much so that I decided to seek out the only store pick in my area from Bitters & Bottles in South SF. It's called Eddie's Pick and is about 8.5 years old, warehouse A which I believe means Tyrone warehouse, not the legendary Camp Nelson. Anyway, on to the review! This has a lighter, smoother nose of spice, vanilla and cherry than the standard bottle I had, which didn't have much vanilla and had a little something sour like dill which was its only flaw (and it isn't even fair calling it a flaw because the bottle was great). The palate on this store pick has similar cinnamon, red fruit and orange to the standard, plus more caramel and vanilla. This one has a closer profile to Rare Breed due to the caramel. Finish is spicy but less so than the standard, with more vanilla and caramel. Totally delicious, ridiculous value as usual. I think I like this even more than the standard bottle I had. Considering they're all single barrels, it is probably a fools errand to compare and track but maybe I can learn something about the warehouses and dial in my favorite of these wonderful bottles. Not even a Camp Nelson and a total hitter. If I get my hands on a store pick of one of those I may get to my first 5. I love these bottles - they're the best I've come across up until now!

So I love love love Russell's Reserve Single Barrel, particularly the cinnamon, orange rind and spicy finish. I also feel that Wild Turkey 101 has many of the same features as Russell's SiB, just toned down and a little younger and rougher. Ridiculous value for the quality. As for Rare Breed, it's 116.8 proof and from what I've read a mix of 6, 8 and 12 year whiskies. The nose is a bit subdued for such a high proof, but there is a lot of caramel and brown sugar, some vanilla and maybe red fruit like cherry. The palate is a flavor bomb of brown sugar, tingly rye spice and surprisingly, mint. If you do a hearty Kentucky chew, it's very spicy and tingly on the finish with a bit of that very familiar, awesome Wild Turkey finish that I identify as some kind of cinnamon and orange, but not as strong as in the RR SiB. Was extremely excited to try this, and it's really good! But I think that certain features of the Wild Turkey 101 and in particular the spectacular Russell's Reserve Single Barrel that I really love are missing, in particular the stronger cinnamon and orange flavors. Instead, there is a bit more heat, caramel, brown sugar and mint. This just comes down to what flavors you prefer because Rare Breed is great. But I prefer the unique cinnamon/spice/orange flavors because I don't think they're as commonly found in other bourbons. All the same, Rare Breed is terrific and I'm very happy with the purchase. I also frankly have to spend more time with this bourbon. This is only my second tasting. If you're newer to bourbon and chasing all the Buffalo Trace products, get into Wild Turkey instead. It's much more rewarding and so much easier on the wallet for a great product. This is $45 for barrel proof awesomeness and you don't need hunt it down or pay some absurd premium.