Blanton's Straight From the Barrel

Extremely hot. With water you can get the proof to what you want. I like that. As a sipping whiskey I think it's a bit much.

I did not get a lot of heat or spice for this 131 proof batch. It was more of sn orange perl with some fig and then it tsiled off to s normal finish. Was very surprised that it drank well below its proof.

Every sip has so much going on it could be overwhelming for someone new to full proof bourbons. Vanilla and spice, heavy oak. Complex all the way through with a long finish. Near perfection.

Like regular Blanton's but stronger. Notes of orange liqueur. Some cherry bitters. Packs some heat. It's fun to tick but there are better options in terms of both price and availability.

128.8 Proof Nose is very “Buffalo Trace” and by that I mean vanilla+fruit+oak, but in this case we have some additional complexity in the form of caramel, creamed corn, and a weird, earthy, musty rickhouse funk; yeasty and dank, I found the unique aspect quite enjoyable. Ethanol is pretty low given the proof. Palate matches the nose very well but let me try to elaborate a little; vanilla bean, red apple, berry, caramel flan, soft oak, caraway seed, orange peel, and that funk from the nose is also present here; it’s like a mix of shoe leather, wet paper, beet, and moss. While that doesn’t sound great, I actually liked it. Flavors are definitely punchy. Finish does take a bit of a downturn with a prickly and sharp turn into Spicetown. Cinnamon, pink peppercorn, ginger, allspice, and ghost pepper. Basically just a blast of heat and slightly sour, almost reminiscent of sweet and sour sauce. Oak turns disappointingly astringent. Mouthfeel is full but also manages to be grainy at the same time? (Not even sure how that’s possible, but here we are) Overall, while I enjoyed the nose and palate, there’s a lot of heat and sharpness in the finish for something that is often billed as world class. Still a quite good whiskey but falls short of greatness and thus, falls short of my expectations as well. At $199 I paid via mail order this is certainly not a rebuy but my ranking will reflect MSRP, even though none of us will ever find it at that price.