Coopers' Craft Barrel Reserve 100 Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Blind Test Nose: very light, baking spice Taste: caramel and vanilla Finish: cinnamon and caramel. Overall: very light, but tasty. Guessing 100 proof Score:3.5/5

I’m reconfirming my four stars which is highly rated for me as I don’t rate many whiskeys this high. The fact that this is a $30 bottle makes me so happy it is in my estimation the best $30 and under which I would say now is budget level bottle on the market. When you pour it look at the color it is so dark. I know it’s non-age stated, but purportedly it’s around six years old to 7-ish and that chiseling method they use at Brown-Forman is definitely working on this bottle and not a gimmick if you’ve never been to Brown, foreman old Forrester’s tour, they do their own coopering and it’s a fun process to watch highly recommend if you go to Louisville on whiskey row. So much caramel, nice vanilla, and just a touch of spice to make an interesting on this hundred proof bourbon. This must be on your shelf and I see it sit on store shelves some people not picking it up and picking up basil Hayden instead that is sad. I’m not trying to be Judgey, but if the store employees would direct people towards this instead of some other product, I think it would be for the better. And frankly, the reviewer that gave it an 85 is way off base. I challenge anyone to put this in a blind with bottles up to 60 or $70 and I guarantee it will hold its own. One caveat. There is a lower proof version of this around mid 80s proof and it’s not near as good. It reminds me of old Forrester 86 when you get a ton of Vanilla And if that’s your thing, so be it but it’s much thinner and not spicy at all so I would steer clear and spend the extra seven or eight dollars for the hundred proof version. Kudos to Brown-Forman for putting out an excellent excellent bottle (Yes, I wrote excellent twice)