Benchmark No. 8 Bourbon

Honey, maple sweetness on the nose which translates little to the pallet. Was still my favorite at a cheap bourbon blind taste test. Medium feel not too complex, finishes just the right amount of heat for my taste. Not complex but doesn’t pretend to be. This young bourbon will be good to keep stocked for campfire BS time.

Since I’ve picked up a few bottom feeders, I thought I’d pick up this Buffalo Trace family variant to see how it compares to the other bottom shelfers. I didn’t notice until I got home but it’s actually a Liter. I rarely see that size. As a reminder that my tasting notes on these a fairly subtle, but this is what I picked up. On the nose I get that Buffalo Trace dark fruit note along with some baking spices, vanilla and a hint of rye. The palate is light, which I would expect at 80 proof. I get a continuation of the nose with the sweet dark fruit dominating. The flavors in the finish are gone pretty quickly, with just a mouth tingly light burn that last for a little bit. Really not bad. I prefer this to some other bottom shelfers that I’ve tried recently including Old Charter 8, and Heaven Hill Old Style (white label)

Not complex and the finish is short but surprisingly tasty for the price.

Not spicy or complicated, but sweet and drinkable. It tastes very good, but it might not be what you want at that time