Legent Bourbon

Rating: 14/23 A while later, I tried this again to because I wasn't confident in my prior rating. I'm not going to do the full tasting notes this time because the flavors I detect match up with those I got last time. And I'm feeling lazy, I guess. Pulling my 14 and 15 bottles down, I compared this. I have no doubt that this is at least a little bit better than Wild Turkey 101. A lot better? Absolutely not. 1792 Single Barrel surpasses this, capping this at a 15. So it's solidly in the 14 to 15 range. I'm now going back and forth on this versus Elijah Craig Small Batch though. Elijah Craig is currently a 14 to 15 in my book and it seems to be about the same quality as this is. Which means I'm back to waffling on what to rate this. I think I'm going with a 14 right now.

Rating: 14/23 I'm just going through a bunch of bourbons that I'm not sure of the ratings on and giving them another shot in sort of a battle royale. This one is a bit of an oddball because of the cask finishing, but we'll see how it goes. N: The nose is unfortunately lighter than that of Henry McKenna 10, with some more mineral coming out. There's still a bit of wood though, including some cedar even. The spices include cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. There's definitely a mineral presence here and also a dash of cherry, and some meat suggesting youth. Not an excellent nose, but nothing to scoff at. The spices and herbal hints are interesting, but too subtle, particularly given the lightness and obvious youth of this whiskey. I'm surprised by how little cherry I smell. P: The palate immediately reminds me of Jeam beam with that signature minerality and peanut. There's kind of a blanket bitterness in here as well, with a little bit of a cola metallic flavor to it. Some bright cherry starts coming out and it brings some suggestions of other fruits, as well as some rich vanilla sweetness, but the whole thing is a bit muddled, unfortunately. I am getting more rich savoriness than I did in the past, but it doesn't totally redefine this. The palate is smooth though and the age is difficult to determine, so I suspect that it had done a good job of masking a substantial quantity of 4-ish year old bourbon. F: Fortunately, that toasty peanut really stays into the finish. The minerality fades, but the characteristic Beam tartness that accompanies it remains. The cola bitterness unfortunately remains as well, but it at least does help to fill out the flavor. At least the metallic element of it largely departs. I really want to love this, but every time I come back to it, it's too subtle with this big, flat cola bitterness. I can definitely sip it, but it isn't something that I feel compelled to keep stocked. $35 is the most I would pay for this and I really think that it is worth more like $30. At the same price point, Russell's Reserve 10 is without doubt a better bourbon. With all of the sweet fruit and the bitter cola backing, this makes me think of a drink that is aiming to appeal to kids because it is sweet and lacks refinement. Actually, it reminds me a lot of Jaegermeister in that regard. I might actually put this a little bit below Elijah Craig Small Batch. But that might mean that I underrated Elijah Craig. Right now, Elijah Craig is tasting like a solid 15 and could be a 16. There is no way that this is higher than a 15 and it could be a 14. I might come back around on this one, but right now, I'm a bit over that Beam flavor, so that could be influencing this unduly. If I end up back in the pro-Beam camp, that flavor could make this rebound. Right now though, my apathy toward it and the cola bitterness drags this down to a 14.

Rating: 15/23 This has some interesting finishing going on, which is what got my attention. It's also Beam whiskey combined with Japanese blending, which makes me nervous since the Jim Beam range has pretty subtle flavors already and Japanese blending seems to mute a lot of the characteristics as well. We'll see what the result is here. N: I get cola, a bit of cherry, some light toffee, a hint of peanut, some mineral, and a bit of woody spice. It's a fairly light nose for a bourbon and the amount of mineral and cola concern me since it leans more toward the metallic side of cola than the rich herbal side. P: The mouthfeel is disappointingly.a bit watery, but it isn't too bad. The cola is definitely there, as is the wood spice. It's a sweet bourbon, though not excessively so. The spice builds over the course of the palate. Toward the finish, a little bit of almond and peanut comes out, which I'd say is the high point. The beginning has more of the mineral and cherry mixed with dried dark fruit building out the cola flavor. There is some corn sweetness, but it doesn't really come out as caramel or toffee. I get more of a vanilla tone coming out with the corn, but not a ton of it. F: A bitterness from the cola kind of comes out and sticks there at the end, making the finish a bit underwhelming. Overall, there are some interesting things I like here that make this a unique bourbon, but all-told I can't say I'm a particular fan. It's a substantial step up over Jim Beam Black, but for the price I think I'd go with Russell's Reserve 10 instead. Eagle Rare kicks it to the curb, though I think it does outclass Elijah Craig Small Batch just a tad. I could see a 14 and at one point I thought it was a 17, but I think it's really in the 15 to 16 range. I'll go 15 for now, with it likely moving up to 16.

Lots of fruit on the nose and finish for me. In the palate it was good Jim Beam bourbon, with some heavier cooked sugars. I enjoyed this and appreciated how it would shift from nose, palate, to finish. If you like experiments or a little darker fruits with Bourbon, it is worth a try.

Vanilla & caramel notes. Slightly smoky. Sweet corn early