Old Tub Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Nose is painful. Tasting made me cough and uncontrollably yell "dang!" Poured it out.

Neat. Neck pour. Expectations are low for this $20 release. Expecting it to be somewhere between a Jim Beam and Old Grand Dad. Nose is definitely signature Beam with those peanut shells. Very buttery, but I wouldn’t say peanut butter. The butter is in addition to the peanut shells. Hint of strawberry taffy, thats interesting. Decent sweet oak and hint of leather. This is surprisingly well rounded, crisp and approachable. OGD can be hot on approach but this comes off as 90 proof at most. Fabulous mouth feel, rich and oily. Surprising blast of flavors too. Tons and tons of cinnamon sweetness. Even a hint of cherry up front too. Transitions into signature Beam. Peanuts and vanilla. Cinnamon coming back on the medium legs. Even getting this latent cherry again. Black pepper and spice emerging on subsequent sips in addition to the notes above. Geez and that cinnamon, it’s a cinnamon bomb. Well damn, this is pretty darn good. I think I like this better than OGD bonded. I would call this the best sub-$30 Beam product. If you are hesitating on this one and you like Beam products, do yourself the favor and grab it. Not as a special release, but as the best $20 you will be able to get in 2020. With Early Times on the out, I think this takes the budget crown while it’s on the shelves.

Nose has peanuts, vanilla, and alcohol. Barrel oak and creamy peanuttiness on the front tongue then creamy vanilla mid with late sugar and spice. Dry mouth finish. Very beam like notes. Gets better with each sip. Not bad at all for the price. Will have to get a backup for sure.

I was familiar with the distillery-only release of this bottle, but I never had the chance to visit. So when I heard there was going to be a limited nationwide release of this in a 750ml bottle, I was pretty excited. Let’s se how it turned out! This one is sweet and oaky at first nosing. There’s a sweet dried fruit note, along with pear juice, sweet corn, vanilla, some classic Jim Beam nuttiness, some light wood notes (but still prominent, if that makes sense), light spices (nutmeg) and some nice caramel. Pretty old school bourbon notes, kind of reminds me of what a hybrid Jimi Beam/Heaven Hill product would smell like. I would also guess that this one is on the younger side. Probably close to the 4 year mark, a minimum for bottled-in-bond. The palate has a slight oiliness and is sweet with some definite woody characteristics. Including, dare I say, some light card board. But it’s not a turnoff, oddly enough. That cardboard note quickly develops into the classic Jim Beam nutty note. There is also some rye spice, vanilla and a little bit of caramel. The finish is on the shorter side of long with the sides and front of the tongue tingling quite a bit for 100 proof. Light cardboard, a nuttiness, corn, a little spice and a some barrel char hang on to finish it out. This is a decent bourbon. But for $23, this makes even little better. Unfortunately this is a “limited” release and was told by a shop owner that this is a one-time deal. I guess we’ll see.

Old Tub BIB NOSE: Give this one some time. At first it is all Stinging Heat that rises from your glencairn. After that you get Raw Peanuts, Brown Sugar, a Citrus that starts out as Orange but transitions to Lemony, and a lot of Dry Dusty Corn. With time the Raw Peanut becomes more akin to Peanut Brittle. NEAT: Thin Mouthfeel. Peanut Heavy and Spicy Heat. There is a Dry Sweetness here with Vanilla, Honey and Oak. Spicy Finish with Cinnamon & Honey Roasted Peanuts coating the palate. Medium length KY Hug. The coating layering aftertaste is the best part of the experience for me. It's simple but quite pleasing. While I was expecting the lack of filtering to impact the mouthfeel, maybe this coating aftertaste is where it has an effect? SPLASH: Really Amps up the citrus on the nose. Palate loses some heat and gains a Vanilla Coke note. Combined with the Beam Peanut it becomes reminiscent of a "Chaingang Coke" where you dump your pack of peanuts directly into the glass bottle. You also start to get a little hint of chocolate on the finish. VERDICT: While this did have some positives, chief among them the wonderful building/coating aftertaste and the mid-$20's pricetag, it fell flat for me on a couple fronts. #1) This feels like an afterthought. It's like they were sitting around and someone said "Hey! Why don't we skip the filtering on a couple batches of Beam Bonded, throw it in those leftover OGD BIB bottles and call it Old Tub?" They could've given this a bottle with a more antique feel similar to the version sold at the distillery. Maybe played with entry proof or something. It just seems rushed and doesn't "honor" the history of the name IMHO. #2) I was a little disappointed in the lack of mouthfeel. I was hoping a non-filtered would have a little more character. Overall, though I did ding it a quarter point for the reasons mentioned, this is a solid but not spectacular bourbon that left a little on the table. I do think that I liked it better than the standard Beam BIB and it would be an interesting Side by Side to experience the difference the Chill Filtering makes.

Caramel and oak notes

It’s a young Knob Creek. Solid.