Because sometimes you want to listen to Beethoven and others you want The Ramones. Because sometimes it’s The Beatles and others Kendrick Lamar. But then, there are those artists where, even though everyone you know might praise them, you yourself have a difficult time finding a way into. For me, I’m thinking My Bloody Valentine who might have rocked my world if I’d discovered Loveless when it came out in 1991, but because I didn’t hear them until a decade later when a host of musicians influenced by them made me wonder what all the fuss was about, they didn’t really do it for me. Legent is the whisky version of this for me. The marketing, I should note, is top-notch. To sell this whisky as east meets west, Fred Noe’s distilling skill meets the blending expertise of Shinji Fukuyo. The bottle looks amazing, its design, its logo. And seeing it in glossies in the back of Whisky Advocate in their bourbon happy hour feature had me saying, hmmm. Really, the reason I bought this (and maybe this is a bad reason to choose a whisky but I was curious enough) was that I needed to add an additional $35 to my order to get free shipping from FW&GS when I was buying Green Spot Chateau Montelena, and this was the best reviewed whisky available in that price range: marks near 90 from all the sites I read and a 3.8 community rating here at Distiller. I wouldn’t have been surprised if this was on par with the Montelena, though as of writing, I have no idea, since I haven’t opened the Green Spot yet. Being a Beam whisky, I was curious as to how this would taste next to another produced out of the same distillery, so on the night I opened this, I sipped it next to Old Tub. It was obvious that the flavor profiles were similar with the Beam recipe as a base, but the difference was the finish, the wine cask, the sherry, which added berries on the nose and palate. It’s good. A decent sipper, but my problem is one of expectations. I was simply anticipating…more? More what? I don’t know. It’s obviously better than Old Tub, don’t think me so pedestrian as to make the argument it’s not; if by better, what we mean is more complex, more interesting, more to talk about as you sip. But… Whereas a bourbon like Old Tub feels like an any old day whisky, like something you can drink and enjoy but not think too much about, this one feels like you're supposed to engage with it, intellectualize it, mull over its varied and sundry aromas and textures. It feels like an event whisky that’s simply not quiet exciting as an event. It feels like a whisky you should want to break out when you have friends over and encourage them to taste. “See what I found, it’s new, it’s east meets west, it’s Beam-Suntory, using all the resources at their disposal on both ends to marry east and west to create something unique.” But that’s feeding your guests a company line, designed to get us talking about it. Though I suppose it is unique. I can’t think of another bourbon I’ve had that tastes quite like this. But it’s just not enough. Like discovering My Bloody Valentine in 2004 instead of 1991. When the hype dies down, you’re left with a bunch of dissonant spacy guitar soundscapes and not much else. What I found most amusing about Legent is the disclaimers in the other reviews I read (not technically a bourbon; shouldn't be called one). It reminds me of people arguing over whether Silence of the Lambs is a thriller or a horror movie. Doesn’t really matter what you call it. At the end of the day, you have a pretty standard Beam bourbon that smells and tastes like cherries, berries and wine. Not bad. It's worth the price of admission, if only as a curiosity. But it isn't a well I feel the need to dip into again.