Old Carter Kentucky Straight Whiskey Batch 1 (2020 Release)

Delicious oaky funky nutty

Stright Kentucky Whiskey Batch 2 65.5% 131 proof

Rating: 17/23 It's always fun to try the inaugural batch of a line from a producer. I've enjoyed Old Carter in the past, too, so I doubt that this will disappoint. N: OK, wow. I get a lot of alcohol here, but it's that youthful, kind of sour alcohol, not the mellower variety I get out of older spirits, though it isn't quite meaty. I makes me think of a bourbon around 5 years of age. Digging past it, I start to get some grain. It's dry corn and rye, with a hint of tart cherry. I'm getting real Wild Turkey Rare Breed 116.8 vibes from this. Perhaps some very faint licorice. Not a ton of wood happening here. After a good 10 minutes or so in the glass, that youthful alcohol dissipated and I can now smell some musty wood and spices that make me think more of a 10 year old bourbon. There's a bit of sweet vanilla as well and some minerality that only weakens the nose a tad. Also, some peanut shells. I am getting some of the corn, but it's dry rather than creamy or sweet. Actually, it might be a tad creamy, but still not sweet. P: I get that big alcohol blast with sort of caramel mixed with tart cherries. Vanilla. Pepper, cinnamon, some bitter herbal notes. Not quite licorice. Some minerality. It reminds me a lot of Booker's crossed with Wild Turkey Rare Breed 116.8, though the Wild Turkey is a bit lighter with more nuance, but also more of an alcohol bite. Letting it sit for 15 minutes, it's much more wood and spice than the palate led me to believe initially. It's more balanced and mature tasting. A bit of peanut shell and some clean yet slightly full minerality that doesn't seem to add or detract from the flavor. Cinnamon, black pepper, clove. Midway between the fresh pour and the 15 minute mark, it lightens while maintaining peppery heat and tart cherry, making it sort of so much more like the Wild Turkey Rare Breed that it overshoots the Wild Turkey profile, becoming lighter and spicier and having more cherry. F: Quite numbing. There's a lot of clove. The syrupy tart cherry with some caramel lingers, along with some woody spices and faint minerality. Long into the finish, it turns pretty much just woody and numbing, reducing to clove. - Conclusion - I find that this is about in the ballpark of a fresh bottle of Wild Turkey Rare Breed 116.8 (18/23), but it consistently struggles to surpass the Wild Turkey. There is a lot I like here, but it does come across as a not super old (7 years perhaps?) with too much minerality, making it kind of light. The complexity and balance are solid, but nothing is really making this stand out as a special dram. I think that the best I can give this is an 18 to put it on the same level as the Wild Turkey Rare Breed. Honestly though, I'm kind of thinking now that the Wild Turkey is the better dram. Not by a lot, but definitely by a little. George Dickel Bottled In Bond (1st release) (16/23) is pretty close to this in terms of fullness and richness. This one has a bit more going on, but the Dickel burns a bit less (though it's also much lower proof). I'm inclined to put this above the Dickel, though not by a lot. Uncle Nearest 1856 (15/23) is also not that far from this in quality (once the Uncle Nearest has had quite a lot of air), but it's definitely not on the same level. I can see anything in the 16 to 18 range for this. I think I need to go with a 17. This is very good, but definitely not my favorite Old Carter release. I'm curious as to what about it makes it "whiskey" rather than "bourbon". I'd thought it might be obviously different from bourbon, but I'm really not getting that. A big thanks as always to @pkingmartin for the Old Carter sample!

The nose starts with a sweetness that reminds me of opening a fresh bag of marshmallows then rich caramel followed with chocolate covered candied nuts (leaning towards peanut brittle) then fruits of caramelized banana, cherries jubilee, apple pie filling and orange zest before old leather and polished mahogany finishing with spearmint, light barrel spices of cloves, ginger, red hots candy and a high ethanol burn. The taste starts with a full mouthfeel leading with a big Kentucky hug of rich caramel then comes dark chocolate covered candied nuts leading to fruits of banana pudding, cherry cough syrup, apple streusel, and orange zest that veers towards a medium drying tannic spice before fading to spearmint then barrel spices of ginger, cloves, old leather and ashy oak with high ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with salted roasted peanut shells, spearmint, ashy oak, old leather, banana pudding, orange zest, apple streusel, and dark chocolate covered toasted marshmallow. This is a big and bold whiskey that brings in a balanced nose of those traditional bourbon flavors of chocolate, nuts, citrus, leather and oak with some earthy spices that carries over to the palate but has an off-putting medium tannic spice mid-palate that throws off the balance before fading to earthy spices and a medium finish with those traditional flavors coming back for one last encore before this whiskey performance ends. Old Carter sources very solid to absolutely outstanding bourbon, but their bourbons often, but not always, tend to lean towards a bitter note on the mid-palate that might work for some, but always throws it off for me. At $200+ dollars and what seems like a cult-like status now, I’d drink the batches and single barrels at a bar to ensure you like it before diving into a full bottle purchase.

Super orange nose. Pine Sol / orange oil palate. Neck pour so revisiting in 1 month.

A little hot but water opens it up nicely.

round and soft with a back spice note. Cooked apricot and cream soda. Long drawn out finish with creamy sweet cinnamon

I'm back and bringing yet another Old Carter review. For those out of the loop the Old Carter line is whiskey that's been blended by a couple in I believe the Louisville area who have a back ground from blending wine. They generally are sourcing MGP and they pay absolute top dollars to get any barrel they want. They however dabble in just about everything from rye to bourbon to american to now....a Kentucky Straight Whiskey. So we know this one isn't MGP. I've not yet been able to figure out the source but when (not if) I figure it out I'll let you know. Nose - The nose is very floral, almost like going into a bed bath and beyond. I am picking up some distinct almost orange cleanser. Oak here is very much on the pine spectrum giving me a youthful note and this being NAS, I suppose it might just be that. As it warms I get a VERY distinct spice that I KNOW I've gotten on beers in the past, but for the life of me I can't place. It had me in the Juniper or Hibiscus...kinda spices added to a belgium white ale or something along those lines. And more of that rich orange cleaner note. Taste - That orange cleaner explodes on the front of the tongue. It's rich and citrus as really know other whisky has ever done. Once I swallow there's a wave of alcohol oak and floral spice. One hell of a big bold and crazy unique ride. Water brings out more oak and tames some of the drying effects of the high proof but not all. I'm not sure orange cleaner has ever been used as a favorable whisky note, I know it sounds awful to me, but I'm rather enjoying this. It's about as big a kick in the mouth from alcohol and spice as I've had. It's also just down right enjoyable. I have no idea what the Carters did here, but I'm in for a 2.75, very good whisky, but not getting into anything that's a real stand out. I wouldn't say it's a good value at 180 bucks, but it's so unique and different that I think it just might be worth a one time buy to share with friends and explore a different flavor profile than we're used to. I look forward to coming back to this bottle a few years down the road and seeing how it has changed and I look forward to seeing batch 2 to see how weird they go.