“Whiskey Credit Score.” It’s a concept a buddy and I came up with to describe what you’d be willing to drop on a new bottle you knew nothing about, purely based on the distillery. For example, for me Kentucky Owl has a very low WCS. Maybe $40. This is why I will likely never own another KO. Four Roses has a very high WCS. I didn’t blink when given the opportunity to buy two SBLE at just under $200 each. Similarly, Buffalo Trace has a very high Whiskey Credit Score with me. I’m a little concerned that it’s a blank check. If I was in their gift shop and they showed me a bottle of EH Taylor that was swallowed by a dog and then vomited back into a tank, calling it Lassie Finished... well I might have to take out a second mortgage. So there’s the scene. Enter Benchmark, stage bottom shelf. Out of thin air, one day my local liquor store had 5 new Buffalo Trace products on display that I had never seen. Thankfully, they were all under $20... because again, those bastards own my wallet. The question wasn’t which one, it was: “Would I be able to look my grandchildren in the eyes one day if I didn’t grab all five and power walk to the counter?” So here’s the Benchmarks: Benchmark 8 (80 proof) Benchmark Top Floor (86 proof) Benchmark Small Batch (90 proof) Benchmark Single Barrel (95 proof) Benchmark Bonded (100 proof) Benchmark Full Proof (125 proof) These are all made using Buffalo Trace mashbill #1, which is BT’s low-rye mashbill. People that are smarter than me think it’s about 10% rye, 5% malted barley, and 85% corn. They think this, but I don’t think anyone outside of BT actually knows. I wanted to do a true mashbill #1 round robin, so I threw in: Buffalo Trace (90 proof) EH Taylor Small Batch (100 proof) Eagle Rare (90 proof) Stagg Jr. Batch 13 (132.3 proof) 10 mashbill #1 bourbons. 45 blind taste tests in glencairns. Only one can be the best. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Let’s start with last place. This little guy literally lost every match he was in. Somebody has to lose. Nose is cane sugar, vanilla, fresh flowers, peanuts, hint of melon. Body is lemon, caramel, peanuts. Mostly peanuts. Finish is cinnamon and licorice. I like this whiskey. This tastes a lot like what I think an Irish whiskey would taste like if you finished it in virgin oak barrels. It’s superb for under $20, and would beat most other bottom shelfers (not named Benchmark) in my book. But it’s more expensive than Top Shelf (which is better) and only marginally cheaper than Single Barrel (which is truly special.) So we have an under $20, readily available bourbon that I like... and I can’t think of a justification to ever buy this whiskey again. This confuses me. WTF are you doing to me right now BT. That doesn’t make any sense. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I have a few more Benchmarks, so if you want to play along next time, feel free to skip the intro. However, I did have trouble deciding which vomiting vertebrate to use, so I may have some fresh material next time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fun new discovery about mashbill #1: Within the Benchmark product line, the tasting difference going up or down one proofage level is mostly white noise.