Sam Houston 15 Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Nice ride, nice burn, cherry heavy flavor. Glad to try but wouldn’t spend the money

I’ve heard of the Sam Houston and didn’t hesitate when I saw the 15 on the shelf. I’ve had three small pours in a glencairn neat or with a drop of water. This is the CA batch 2 and was a complete delight Nose notes are heavy cherry and oak. The nose alone screams that this is a quality bourbon with a perfect proof and a lot of attention to detail. Does have a rich smell that smells softer than expected of 103proof - no alcohol burn in the nose, but a lot of very full and rich flavors. Taste - cherry and dark chocolate on sips 1,2,&3. Great taste and mouth feel with a lot going on, but… nothing that wild for bourbon. This tastes like an excellent bourbon with a lot of the expected notes hit and hit well. If I have one issue with the mouthfeel it’s that it doesn’t last as long as I would like. I love a whiskey that lingers and evolves in my mouth, this doesn’t do that. What’s there is great, but doesn’t last that long. The proof is once again perfect here… no need for ice or water - unless you want a drop to open things open, but I didn’t notice that much more when I did (got some more spice and initial alcohol on the nose and taste). Overall, it’s great. But damn difficult to find and hardly cheap when you do so. I paid 120 and am a-okay with that (hell if it were still available near me for that price I’d buy another bottle). To me, it was a bucket list bourbon as a native of Houston Texas and I’m happy to have tried it. It stood up to my expectations but didn’t blow me away either. If you see it for 120-150, I’d recommend it.

KY-1 How am I first? Anyway. Nose - classic barton's with apples, cinnamon, and some cherry. Nice sweetness that then leads into oak. Now I get some butter and some funked oak. What can I say it's classic sourced barton with a hint of savory elements, touch more oak, and everything I like about them. Taste - It opens soft and sweet. Fruity elements of apples, light spice comes in , and then oh goodness smoked oak. Such a nice wonderful smoked oak. Vanilla cream meets cherries meets caramel meets this butter scotch in the most creamy yummy form. This is possibly my new favorite barton blend/sourced deal. It's really good and at 150, I'm pretty dang happy. I say this fully thinking some old carter single barrels I loved weren't as good and I was happy spending more. God 3.5 people. This is an instant buy up to 200. It's a bit coyingly sweet up front but the finish saves that. It's not perfect and I can see a few bourbon drinkers passing, but this is awesome.