Sam Houston 14 Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Batch KY-3, bottle 502 of 528 from a blend of 3 barrels. Age clocks in at a min of 14y and 4 months. Other tidbits are the use of #4 char on American white oak barrels and a mash bill of 74/18/8 suggesting Barton as the source. 49%abv and a light copper in the glass with slow tear drop legs. Oak soars from the glass with sweet notes of toffee and earthy over ripe banana up close. The latter rolls into a varnish like note with some leather as well. Faint baking spices and no nuttiness or ethanol that I can detect. Light bodied and spicier than the nose lets on! There’s a burst of nutmeg and allspice with a bit of brown sugar that transitions into over ripe banana, raisins and then a medium long leathery finish with bits of raisin and tobacco popping up for a minute or so. It drinks like an older bourbon and has heaps of earthy barrel derived notes that remind me of an over-aged EC SB but the funky over-ripe banana that screams Barton. It’s not as sweet as a 1792 full proof, and not as balanced as a result. It drinks at or slightly above its proof and is a pleasant sipping bourbon but fails to take me anywhere special. For the $100+ price tag it’s a good example of a well aged bourbon but doesn’t bring along many surprises.

Nose: caramel, tons of wood on the second go, lots of dark fruit on the last nosing Palate: incredibly smooth, tons of wood but not an excessive amount, the dark fruit in the nose takes a step back behind the woodyness. Really and truly amazing. Just off the top of my head it reminds me a lot of the Elijah Craig 23 year, somethin special for sure. Finish: the wood slowly dies out and the dark fruit comes back in the very end to let you know it never went anywhere. Overall: absolutely love this!! Man I wish I’d have gotten some of their younger expressions. Would/will get a backup.

Neat. Neck pour. I was disappointed with batch IL-01. It’s a fine background bourbon but when you sit with it and break it down, it just wasn’t worth the cost. So many people love it though, so I jumped on the chance to get a different batch. This is TX-03. I’m hoping this lives up to the hype. Nose is great on first impression. Dark, sweet oak. Cherry and vanilla. Fresh leather. Lots of cinnamon and baking spices. There is a disappointing amount of ethanol on this nose. For the proof and age I would not think that would be there. Could go away with time. Velvety mouth feel, milk chocolate sweetness up front. Oh yeah. Oh this is so much better than IL-01. Mmm that milk chocolate stays throughout the entire experience and lingers on the legs. Mid palate there is a hint of cherry and then there is some really nice butterscotch on the finish too. Ah I love this. I was expecting a let down off the inconsistent nose but I think that will subside with some air time. The flavors on the taste and finish are really good. Such a good milk chocolate. Smooth, velvety dessert. That batch on these really matter apparently. I had a feeling I just had a bad batch with so many hyping this bottle this year.

Neat. Opened almost 3 months. I have a Texas batch of this on the way to see if there is a big difference between batches. This updated review is for IL-01 I got from Chicago. Some people rave about this juice, some call it overhyped. I have a feeling it’s the different batches. Or maybe it needs to air out a bit. I was a bit underwhelmed in my first review. This is a delightful nose. Some great oak, tobacco, and fresh leather. Vanilla buttercream with cherries and strawberries. Nice honey covered crescent roll. I could hang with this nose for an hour happily. Velvety, oily mouth feel. Buttercream and cherry sweetness up front. Nice sweet oak, honey crescent. The finish is funky. It has a surprising sharpness mid palate and then turns to straight oak and overwhelmingly drying. Funky sharpness on the legs that hangs in the back of the throat. It’s a shame too because there are some great flavors on the verge of hitting right before it turns the wrong way. There is this tease of a caramel apple but the note gets too bright too quick. At 98 proof, sharp and harsh on the finish makes no sense to me. IL-01 just must not be a good batch. I’ll come back once I get the TX batch but this still feels overhyped to me.