This is my official deep dive into Jefferson’s. Feel free to skip ahead to the tasting, because there are going to be a bunch of these cheesy intros, all copy/paste. ~~~~~~~~~~ Concept: I walk into a liquor store and see like a billion different Jefferson’s bottles, yet my knowledge of them is minimal. My perception is that I typically don’t care for their stuff, but somehow, before choosing to start this experiment, I already had six different Jefferson’s on my shelf. How did they invade my house? ~~~~~~~~~~ Methodology: Step 1: Jefferson’s Very Small Batch. Patient 0. Where it all started? Never had it, so a damn good place to start. This one was bought specifically for this experiment. Step 2: Jefferson’s VSB vs Jefferson’s Reserve (Very Old Very Small Batch). I already had this one. How did this get in my house? Step 3: Jefferson’s VSB vs Jefferson’s Ocean. Is it a gimmick? Again, how did this get in my house? Step 4: Jefferson’s Ocean standard vs Jefferson’s Ocean wheated mash bill. Repeat house question. Step 5: Finished Jefferson’s. I got rum, Sauternes, and Prichard Hill. Let’s do this. Step 6: Blind taste test with all 7. Hell, throw in Chef’s Collaboration. (Seriously, how?) So there’s 8. Can I pick them out based on steps 1-5? Are there any standout Jefferson’s expressions, or is it all marketing? The stakes are so low, the tension is palpable. ~~~~~~~~~~ Disclaimer: Starting this, I don’t much care for Jefferson’s in general. There’s this weird gummy-bear-ness that I can’t shake. Hoping to find my Jefferson’s product by the time this is over. ~~~~~~~~~~ Finished Jefferson’s , aka “Step 5” I’ve had and reviewed all these separately, so this is less of a tasting note and more of a value/quality comparison tasting for the Old Rum Cask Finish, the Prichard Hill Cabernet Cask Finish, and the Sauternes Cask Finish. For the rum finish: This was pretty low on my list when compared to other rum finishes, but here amongst its brothers, this bourbon stands tall. It’s my favorite of these three, and it’s not close. Comparing it to Blood Oath pact 5 and Borough (two truly unfair fights IMO) made me under-appreciate the things this whiskey does well. My prior rating of this guy was too low, so I’m fixing that here. This truly is a solid expression, and Jefferson’s did well. I will try to keep one of these around, provided it’s available at retail. Tasting notes: Nose has lemon, brine, salt, and faint jelly. Body expands on that jelly adding in sweet cherries. Finish has cinnamon, salt, pepper, and more brine. For the Prichard Hill: I don’t care for this one as much as I did before. I remember getting “almond extract fatigue” from tasting so many damn Cabernet finished whiskeys, and in that context, this was less offensive than some. Now, compared to other finishes, it’s subpar and substantially less enjoyable than the rum finish. It’s funny how relativistic your palate can be. When this bottle dies, I don’t think I will replace it. For the Sauternes finish: From my barrel finish experiment, I learned that Sauternes can be done exceedingly well (OMFG Boone County) and exceedingly poorly (Hillrock). This is somewhere in the middle. By itself, it’s interesting as a slow sipper. But if you go back and forth between this and anything less sickeningly sweet, this genuinely can make your mouth turn. This is tough to drink at times, and even tougher to find value in at its retail price point. Based on my Sauternes finish experiences, I can’t say that these negatives are unique to Jefferson’s, but they are present here. I will not buy this again, and I would politely turn down a free sip from a friend, unless there was nothing else available. ~~~~~~~~~~ One of my burning questions at the start of this was: “how did these end up on my shelf?” For these three, the answer is easy. I did a barrel-finished bracket a while back, and Jefferson’s conveniently managed to fill out a few brackets. And these three aren’t even the full list that are currently sitting at my liquor store. There’s another one, French Oak Cask Finish, that didn’t make the bracket. Regrettably unavailable to me was the Groth Cask Finish, which I’ve heard is amazing. Point is: Jefferson’s is in the conversation for most distinct entries into the barrel finished space, and their availability is remarkable. If your willing to pay up (comparatively speaking) you can find these little bastards everywhere. Overall, I’m impressed with Jefferson’s in this barrel finished space. They’re not the best; my current vote there is Bardstown. They’re not the biggest bang for your buck; I’d put Borough, Isaac Bowman, and Angel’s Envy all above Jefferson’s there. But Jefferson’s has its feelers out there in a bunch of different finishing styles, and I can already tell they’re going to get a few winners overall during their experimentation, this rum finish being one of them.