Sam Houston 14 Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon

To change things up, @Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington sent me a series of samples that have either shapes or some code on them to prevent me from being able to know what they are until after I’ve tasted them. Will I mistake a rye for bourbon or completely miss a finish, who knows, but I’m dying to find out so let’s continue this blind challenge with the vial that has a diamond on it. The nose starts off with cherry coke and light banana followed by fruits of caramel apple pie and orange peel that transition to earthy dark chocolate, spearmint, peppermint, cloves, light leather and dusty oak with medium ethanol burn. The taste starts with a thin-medium mouthfeel starting with cherry coke and mashed ripe banana followed by fruits of caramel apple pie and orange peel that transitions to a mild spice that fades to spearmint, peppermint, cloves, leather and dusty oak with medium ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with flat cherry coke, mashed ripe banana, Granny Smith apple peel, light vanilla, spearmint, peppermint, cloves, leather, and medium tannic oak. This seems like an older bourbon that brings in those traditional flavors with some cola notes along with dusty oak that has a thinner mouthfeel than the nose suggests keeping the same flavors as the nose that starts fruity with cola notes before a mild spice in the middle that fades to those dusty notes before finishing medium length with cola, citrus, banana, spices and a bit more tannic oak than I’d like. An enjoyable pour, but it seems muted instead of bringing in those big bold in your face bourbon notes and isn’t as well balanced as I’d like which gravitates almost towards overly bitter notes on the taste and finish. So what is this diamond whiskey…… Sam Houston 14 year.

N: floral, cola P: Wood, baking spices F: dark fruit, chocolate

Rating: 19/23 N: Rich, woody, herbal. Maybe a little floral apple or something, but also some char or creosote. I'm not getting a ton of complexity here, but it's rich and appealing for sure. P: Rich, bold, tons of charred oak leading into some really nice herbal flavor. Vanilla, licorice, dill, some mint (peppermint and spearmint), and occasional faint apple. It makes me think of creosote and leather a bit. There are some mineral notes from time to time, but the wood keeps them from making this taste watered down in any way, even though there isn't much spice here (though maybe some clove and a dash of ginger) to crank up the heat. F: A little numbing. I continue to get the wood with the less sweet herbal character. The vanilla is fainter, but the licorice is a little more noticeable. The apple still faintly makes it through on occasion. The dill and mint are definitely both still there for sure. - Conclusion - This is a really nice rye. It's woodier but less complex than Russell's Reserve Single Barrel Rye. The Russell's Reserve has more mineral and floral flavors for sure, along with a dash more dill possibly. This is great and it's a tough call between the two. I wish I had more of that Dad's Had Single Barrel Cask Strength to try side by side with this because both seem like woody monsters. I expect that Dad's Hat is higher proof, but less mellowed and mature. The two of them seem locked in conflict for the title of best rye I've tried. Kings County Empire Rye - stylistically the closest other rye I have to them and one that I greatly enjoy - has nothing on either of them. Belle Meade Cask Strength Reserve - a bourbon with substantial aged rye character showing through - seems close to this in quality. The Belle Meade is more complex, but also tastes a bit younger. This is just show of great rye maturation. I really like the Creosote and leather here though. It makes me think of Joseph Magnus, though the character is actually more pronounced here. I would give the nod to Joseph Magnus, but they're both great. I think what all of this means is that this is in the 18 to 21 range. Most likely, I'll go with a 19 or 20. The long finish on my last sip impressed me enough to almost push this over the line to a 20. I'm open to going up to a 20 on a subsequent tasting, but for now I'm sticking with a 19. Still, this is probably the best rye I've ever tasted, narrowly beating out the sample of Dad's Hat Single Barrel Cask Strength that I tried recently. This is sample A in an unlabeled set of 4. There are about 15 different bourbons and ryes that this could be. OK, so this is obviously a rye. There aren't many options that this could be in terms of ryes - it's literally Remus Repeal, Willett 7, or Willett 80th Anniversary. What strikes me about this is that it's clearly spent quite some time in a barrel and has a bold flavor. Willett 4 didn't seem that bold to me and Remus is known essentially as MGP that's been in the barrel for a long time, so I'm betting Remus. Which batch? I'm not sure. If I had to guess, I would either go with batch 1 because the Distiller rating has it down as the smokiest Remus Repeal or with batch 4 because the Distiller rating describes it as emphasizing richness and vanilla. - The Reveal - Well, you know what they say about assuming. It turns out that this isn't a rye at all! It's Sam Houston 14. I'm really shocked by that. I knew to expect Sam Houston to be bold with smoke, wood, and spice, but I tried this side-by-side with several ryes and it tasted just as much like rye as the ryest 100% rye of them. Belle Meade, which normally has as strong rye character, tasted far more like a bourbon in comparison. I didn't think that I would be likely to guess any of these bottles right, but I'm shocked that I mistook an 18% rye bourbon for a 95% rye rye. This bottle was a humbling and fascinating experience. Thanks @Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington for letting me try this.