Ranger Creek .36 Texas Straight Bourbon

I’ve seen this bottle before but never had the interest to try it. Always found it for $35-$40 and the size was only 375mL which is small for the price. Thankfully, I was gifted this bottle by a family member who knew I enjoyed bourbon. I poured some in a glencairn glass m, neat, and let it rest for 15min. The nose was quite interesting. Had notes of vanilla, musty oak, more must and dust (like an old forest) and kept continuing with oak. The nose was pretty good which got me excited. The palate is where everything went to a halt for me. It had a kick of cinnamon with oak and then went to a really, really odd taste. Think chemicals or plastic. It was the strangest palate I’ve had in a bourbon. The chemical presence was so strong that it took over the entire finish. The finish was even worse than the palate. It was chemicals, plastic, like old plastic toys, and a very bad lingering finish. Think of chewing a toy that was in the garage for quite some time. This might be my Least favorite bourbon. What’s disappointing is that the price is so high for a craft bourbon in a half size bottle. This isn’t worth it. Pass on this bottle and spend $35-$40 on a different bottle that is normal in size.

Very smooth, lots of chocolate comes through on this one. One of the best I’ve had at this price point

Nose: playdough, chocolate, leather, nutmeg, light spice. Taste: herbs and hot spices, cinnamon, cocoa, heated earthy finish. More: had this in a wide brimmed tumbler, and only 1oz so take my review with a helping of salt. It feels a bit on the young side but I am happy with the results even for the age. A few more years and this will be a fantastic pour, I have no doubt.

Visited the distillery in San Antonio. This bourbon has some promise, but there was a funky, beery quality to it that reminded me of dry breakfast cereal, and beyond that it was a one note bourbon. None of the usual caramel, brown sugar, cherry, or oak flavors. This one just came out as of 2019, so I’d be interested to see what another year or two in the barrel will do to this whisky, but for now it doesn’t do much for me.

Heavy pour with one ice cube. Sweet up front with cherries, vanilla, and candied pecans. Closes hot and a bit spicy with clove, pepper, and nutmeg. Very enjoyable, but probably could have used another rock.

A little too sweet for my taste