Cream of Kentucky 13 Year

Nose: super light and fruity. Very easy going nose. Palate: hot instantly! As the spice lingers some fruit comes through then some oak. Still very light flavors though. Finish: spice still lingering. Almost rye-like but sweet instead. Bit of oak but not much

Per the man himself: “I like something with a mellow mouth feel and a long and very smooth finish. The bourbon we eventually found for Cream of Kentucky met our goals, and also had a nice creamy mouthfeel with gentle fruitiness a hit caramel and vanilla, plus some soft woody characters.” The color is a darker orange-amber. Unlike some bottles, when I pop the cork on this when there are no sawdust or funky aromas. The nose is immediately rich with fruity flavors of orange zest, cherry and clove. The oak is there too, but it’s a little deeper in the glass. It sounds cliché, but the oak aroma just resembles something a bit older and more mature. There’s also an unmistakable whiff of vanilla. I can convince myself there’s some crisp, sun-dried tobacco as well but nothing that comes across as leather or bitter. Another odd thing, my dog wants a piece of this. She’s a 10 year old lab and could care less about bourbon but there’s something she’s apparently picking up as well. Mellow, sweet in entry with a kick of wood and smoke by mid palate and then a building but gentle heat with lingering vanilla, brown sugar sun-dried tobacco and baking spices. It’s not as viscous or oily as I’d like but certainly not thin. This is approachable, mature, balanced and hits all the right notes. The age shows mid-palate through the finish. In ways it reminds me of GTS dialed down to a 7-8 but without the leathery and mineral notes. It’s just so well balanced... and the finish for me is remarkable without being an overzealous gobstopper like ECBP. I’m out $140 and am going back to buy another one if I can find it. Here’s to you Mr. Rutledge. The lesson seems to be never retire if you’re good at what you do.

Cream of kentucky is one of these never ending older kentucky bourbons that seems to be coming out lately. It's proofed well enough. I don't know much about where it was sourced from. I do know it's got a good age statement and so far the releases have been good but not exciting. Nose - generic and classic bourbon. Vanilla, caramel, corn, very light oak to the point I could have forgotten about it. There's a nice amount of nutty oak elements but the balance here and the focus is really on that "classic" vanilla, caramel, and corn. Taste - The name cream of kentucky makes it impossible for me to not think cream when I drink this. It's creamy vanilla with a lightly spiced oak. The real showcase here is a very nice sweet opening that's not over the top. The finish is starting to show that 13 year old bourbon, and while this might be the lightest oaked 13 year ever, it's still there. Overall this is a pretty well made bourbon, it's full of flavor but nothing jumps out, it's creamy and thick without being 60%. Should you run out and buy this? I dunno about that. It doesn't really blow your mind in any way. It's just really balanced and well made bourbon. I'm at a 2.5 here. A part of me wants to go 3.0 just because I think this is in a way a perfect bourbon, but I need something a bit more to go there. 130 bucks is also an odd and difficult price. It's not EXPENSIVE, but I don't know a single bourbon lover who doesn't see 130 as really expensive...and yet I see weller's going for 200+ and by that this is a value. If you like the idea of a creamy mouth feel with vanilla and mellow bourbon opening with a nice oak spice at the end. Well then this is your bottle. For whatever it is worth, I bought 2 bottles so I was pretty pleased with it and I'll be happy to have this one down the line.

At $160 I really don't want to like it, but I can't help myself. It is very good and has all the flavors I love about Bourbon. But it's $160 :(

CoK has been pretty polarizing in online groups. A lot of complaints about the price. After all, it's just sourced bourbon from Barton 1792 (supposedly). Setting aside the price discussion, actual reviews of the whiskey itself seem to have been getting better with each batch/release. So I decided to give batch 4 a try. Nose - It's a pretty traditional bourbon nose - antique oak leads along with caramel, vanilla, cinnamon and clove. Also some orange peel, and freeze dried apples. There's some ethanol at first - the nose is a bit hotter than expected for 102 proof, so letting it breath for a while is recommended.  Palate - pleasant mouthfeel, really coats the palate. Dark brown sugar leads along with earthy oak, vanilla, baked apples and baking spices. The finish lingers, with a really nice sweet note along with oak and spice. There's a warm Kentucky hug, but it's not at all harsh or hot. All in all, a pretty traditional bourbon profile, but very well executed. I like how the sweet note stays with the oak all the way through the finish, which is quite long for 102 proof. At this age it's not unusual for the oak to start taking over and drying things out, but that doesn't happen here. I think the proof is also about right; this is a really balanced whiskey, and the flavors are concentrated enough that I'm not sure cask strength would add much other than more heat. It may be Barton juice, but it's better than anything I've had with 1792 on the label, so I have to give Rutledge some credit for the blending here. Yes, it's more expensive expensive than I'd like, but they seemed to have priced it about right for the current market. It doesn't immediately fly off the shelves around here, but it does sell without sitting for months/years the way the Whistlepig Boss Hog or Kentucky Owl does.