Blanton's Special Reserve

Enjoying rare whiskies and bourbons and being able to chat with likeminded enthusiasts sometimes surfaces some less than favorable aspects of our hobby. What's with people's notion that the only good whiskies worth drinking are cask strength? Just because a whiskey or bourbon is lower proof doesn't make it inferior. Approaching every taste without preconceived notions makes for a much more fun experience in trying whiskey and bourbons from all over the world. This proof snobbery has led to very excellent bourbons like Blanton's Special Reserve becoming the black sheep of the line up. And it's a damn shame. That said, I think Blanton's Special Reserve is a delightful, sweet and delicious selection from Blanton's line up. The nose swims with milky caramel, vanilla, some sandalwood and a little citrus zing. The mouth feel is thin, expected of the proof. Caramel and Vanilla pour on the sweetness on the front of the taste. Some sweet and tart fruit forward notes creep through mid taste, mixed with a slight bitterness. Reminds me orange peels, but if they were mixed with simple syrup. The finish is shorter than Original Single Barrel, but still remarkably satisfying for a lower proof. Creamy caramel returns through that veil of citrusy sweetness and spreads from mid tongue out but then a surprising tannic quality reminiscent of a good Rye takes a bow as the curtain closes. This one is special indeed. If you have the opportunity to give it a try, I'd certainly recommend it.

Disappointing! Coming from Blanton’s you wouldn’t expect the words “special” and “reserve” together to mean “bland” and “watery”. I hear that this is targeted to non-bourbon drinkers but, even those agreed that it felt very weak and diluted.

Light and easy

Beware, this is not going to be pretty. I have been a Blanton's fan since the day i tasted the beige label single barrel one. I have to be honest, i have never had any other than that one. I didn't need to. The standard Blanton's is one incredible bourbon; i even consider it the best bourbon for a normal wallet (meaning: excluding any Pappy Van Winkle). I got my hands on this "Special Reserve" (the green labeled Blanton's) and i felt excited. This is going to be great i thought... i was mistaken. The first thing that caught my attention was the strength. It was 40%abv (80%proof), which is lower than the standard Blanton's. I did not care. I have tasted marvelous whiskies at 40%abv; but it definitively made me rise an eyebrow (if you smell what "The Rock" is cooking, lol). I poured it on the Glencairn. The aroma was great... On the nose: There is a wonderful burnt caramel note that turns into an sour prune. Old bananas, that have turned a little brown but are still edible. Some sourness; oh! a red fruitiness appeared for a second. I believe the plums and sour prunes are the main note here. Vanilla ice cream. Hazelnut. Lovely sweet and sour aroma. Bananas and hay appeared after a first sip. But then... On the palate, my first impression is that the body feels odd. It is different. Caramel, a little watery, definitively a fancy vanilla. Spiciness tried to develop but it just didn't happen. Weak almost a "watered down" feeling. I can hold it for hours on my palate, all flavor has gone after 10 seconds. Easy 10 seconds. It is now 20 seconds and no flavors are here except water (i wrote all that while easily holding the whisky in my mouth). A second sip gave me banana, but then everything else was gone. A very dim vanilla. I even worried for a second, i thought i lost my sense of taste or something, but my nose works perfectly so that is not it. It is simply watered down. (Update: i ate after the whisky, my palate was fine. It was the whisky, not me). Aftertaste has a ghostly Blanton's reminiscense. It feels like i have thrown 10cl of water to it. The sourness is somehow showing itself, but very weak. Hay, a second sip gave me some tobacco leaf, bitterness. It got a little better. No this cannot be possible. I refuse to accept this. Overall, it has been a long time since my last bad whisky. This one is avoidable. It is plain water on the palate. I cannot believe the words i am writing. Completely dissapointing. You know we are living in strange times where your palate and nose can fail and that is a scary sign of something else... luckily it wasn't that thing you are thinking; It really was a bad bourbon... my score for it is 65 over 100, and that is generous, because the nose got 23 over 25 points. Terrible.