Oregon Spirit Straight American Bourbon

Oak dried fruit, sweet, good charred burn

Notes of toffee vanilla. Smooth start good taste slight sweet easy finish.

Plastic

Wood and pine on the nose. Oak wood, vanilla, carmel and burned grain. Light body and color. A little rye spice and ethanol on finish, not all pleasant.

Oregon Spirit Straight American Bourbon is produced in Bend, Oregon by Oregon Spirit Distillers, a proud "grain to glass" craft operation that opened up in 2009. They source their grains locally and mash, ferment, distill, and age on-site in charred, new American oak barrels. I previously reviewed Oregon Spirit Wheat Whiskey - I ran into these guys while traveling through the Northwest over the holidays. Mash Bill: Undisclosed, but described as a four-grain bourbon with "100% locally sourced” corn, wheat, malt barley, and rye Age: 4 years ABV: 47% Price: $36.99 Nose: I am little surprised it took me this long to place the nose but when sampling spirits, setting is everything. Now that I’ve identified it, it’s unmistakable – this smells strongly of earth and juniper. If I didn’t know any better, I would suspect I might be smelling an aged gin. Skimming through other reviews, I see this bourbon described in polarizing ways – I suspect that the gin-like nose on this dram is unexpected and offputting to many. It’s woody, creamy, earthy, and strongly evergreen with the juniper. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever smelled in bourbon before. Palate: Sweet and silkily bodied. I know “smooth” as a descriptor is the bane of the whisky drinker’s world, but this is smooth, consistent, and lacks the waxing and waning of flavors many spirits have. Creamy juniper with some vaguely sweet corn and floral notes. No heat, no surprises. Finish: Softly sweet and junipery. Very mild oak char. Verdict: My goodness, how do I rate this? As an aged gin, it would probably stack up very well. I almost find that a laughable prospect considering no botanicals have been macerating in this. It’s just 4 grains, yeast, local water, and charred wood. As a classic bourbon, it is less successful in that role. Since I’ve tried their wheat whiskey and got notes of anise, fennel, and some earthy funk, I’m going to guess the juniper note is coming their local rye but I have no way of corroborating that since I haven’t tried their rye. In any case, as a very odd yet drinkable bourbon, I have to give it…. 2.75 ~ 74 ~ Below Average Now to find some gin-centric cocktails for this guy… 😜