Straight Edge Bourbon

Nose: Caramelized brown sugar and vanilla, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove. Dark fruits. Sweet red apples with orange. Slight cream cheese cake frosting thing going on. Barley in the back - slightly toasty cereal grain character. Toasted sesame seeds. Palate: Smooth, undoubtedly 80 proof. Grain is much more up front - the barley is doing a dance. Honey, oak, tannin. Stone fruits. Luxardo cherries. Roasted peanuts/almonds. The slightest cave mustiness. Distant vegetal note. Other notes: This was the first bottle I bought without knowing anything other than what the label says. The nose offers up plenty to explore, and though the palate is relatively muted, the total experience is well worth the price of admission. My only real criticisms here are that the palate does not deliver what the nose suggests, and there's a lot of bass and midrange without much treble. As always, my rating is an attempt at being as objective as possible without my subjective biases swaying things too much in one way or another.

I put this one on my "buy" list well over a year ago, but I never saw it in a store and I didn't get around to an online order. In the meantime, I found the other Savage & Cooke offering, Slaughter House, on a shelf at one of my preferred liquor establishments, so I bought it. In short, I thought it was good but not great, so I bumped the Straight Edge from the buy list. It turns out that was a mistake. I recently had an excellent visit to The Copper Still in Manhattan, and they had Straight Edge. Still curious, I ordered a pour. My favorite bourbons are usually smooth, a bit sweet, with some vanilla/caramel and limited spice. Straight Edge squarely hits the mark. Unlike the Slaughter House, the wine barrel finish is almost imperceptible on the Straight Edge, and certainly doesn't cover up any of the lovely bourbon flavors. It's not complex, but that's part of the appeal for me. I suspect that most fans of wheated bourbon will like this, and I also agree with other commenters that it's a great option for people who are usually put off by the intensity of straight spirits.

750ml neat in a Glencairn at home. Nose is sweet, with toffee and caramel, brown sugar and stewed apples. Rich. Taste is somehow both deeper and brighter, with the toffee descending to tobacco and leather, while the apple is joined by honey and orange. Long finish maintains the richness and adds some spice notes. Very interesting, unlike any bourbon I have had. The Mercury Head barrels have really done some cool things to the whiskey. My buddy Matt the Lion was right, I quite like this. 8/7/19