Tastes

Smells of boozy molasses. Sweet up front with vanilla notes. Charred oak flavors come through at the end with burnt sugar. Ice brings out, to me, harsher boozy notes. Mixes very well, mild with vanilla notes up front, some boozy oak on the back end. Solid Kentucky mule option.

If this is the 101 level, I'm moving on to advanced classes. Smells of alcohol and straw notes. Taste is alcohol forward with new wood and straw. I can't find any complexity, just boozy notes and a fairly mild, going on bland taste. This might work in a cocktail where bourbon is more of an afterthought, but I couldn't see much use for it on its own.

I'm working through some of the entry level bourbons out of curiosity and I find myself at Jim Beam. I smell sugar and alcohol at first, but take a sip and it turns to a sour wood smell. The first sip is woody and unrefined; it tastes like what it is... cheap bourbon. It might be shot worthy, but sipping my way though it I'm not finding much of interest. I can't see using this in any bourbon forward cocktail. Mixing in ginger beer to cover it up seems to emphasize the rougher aspects of this one without improving it. I can't see ever seeking this one out or drinking it as anything more than a shot with a beer when it's the only option.

I decided to try a few entry level bourbons and rhus was first on my list. There's not much to comment on, because there's not a lot of flavor. Smells sweet and mild. Taste is mild but bland with heavy straw notes and some pepper on the back end. I can't think of much use for this one, unless there's a cocktail where all you want to come through is straw and not much bourbon flavor. It wasn't unpleasant really, I just couldn't find a reason to finish a pour. The splash of ginger beer I added out if curiosity drowned out everything but a hint of straw... moving on.