Michter's US*1 American Whiskey

Sabor abourbonado pero se siente la cebada. Recomiendo!

Continuing to work through whiskies in my collection that I've yet to review. Also continuing with my Pantone color experimenting: this one is a clear version of Pantone 159 (https://www.pantone-colours.com), a touch more russet than others I've had recently. I haven't had this whiskey in a couple years, but I'd always recalled since my initial experience with it that it had an odd sweetness, almost like Sucralose. I'm getting that odd sweetness again, but Sucralose is perhaps not the best descriptor. If wax-bottle candy and Corn Pops had a love-child, the sweetness on the nose would be it. There's also some vanilla; not vanilla extract, but vanilla cake icing. There is a faint viscosity on the palate, and a lingering sweetness with that same vanilla icing. What this whiskey needs is another 15 or more proof points. This drinks like the Miller Lite of whiskey. It lacks substance. It's not flawed per se, or rough around the edges; but it lacks depth and complexity. There's a certain artificiality: with bourbon, you expect natural flavors, and a big Kentucky hug. Of course, this isn't bourbon, but whiskey, and perhaps it's the already-used barrels (rather than the new charred oak barrels that would give it a bourbon designation) that is its undoing. This isn't a sipper, and it's too blasé for cocktails. Interesting to experience, but not something I'd keep on hand. 2.75 on the Distiller scale. Batch # 17J1369. 83.4 proof. N.B.: All spirits tasted neat in a Glencairn glass.

I guess that you can approach this expression from two angles, either as a “bourbon” in essence, or as a “whiskey” as it is. For hardcore bourbon fans, it may fall short in character but, for others, it may be a great alternative or introduction to American whiskey. Either way, it is a good spirit, pleasant and easy to drink.