Mashbill – Blend of two sourced bourbons:
(1) 72% of a 9-10 year old that is 75% corn, 13% rye, and 12% Malted Barley;
(2) 28% of a 14 year old that is 78% Corn, 13% Rye, and 9% Malted Barley.

Age – Blend (see above), at least 9 years old.

Finish – Each aged individually for an additional 3.5 months in new toasted oak barrels prior to blending.

Other – Bottle #73

Proof – 119.4

Price Paid – $199.99 (plus tax)

Color – Dark amber and with terrific legs on the glass. 

Aroma – The nose is very inviting. There is a pleasant sweetness of rich caramel, vanilla cream, honey, and a hint of cotton candy. Then the barrel characteristics appear with oak, grain, and a light smoke.

Tasted Neat – There is a lot going on with this bourbon. Coffee flavor awakens your senses. Next is the sweetness of caramel, dark fruit, with honey. There is also roasted peanuts and thoughts of cinnamon toast followed by oak and leather. Wow! Really terrific.

Finish – The finish is long with cinnamon, honey, caramel, a slight oak, and nuttiness along with leather and white pepper. The finish persists in an amazingly pleasant way.

Tasted with dried cranberry – Wayne and I differed on our experience with the dried cranberry. He felt the spice really picked up while I felt it smoothed a bit and the leather was present. We agreed that it was less sweet, the coffee notes faded, and the finish was quite shortened.

Tasted with a pecan – The coffee notes returned and it also had dark chocolate, cinnamon, and wood flavors. The finish was medium in length, not as pronounced as when drinking it neat.

Tasted with dark chocolate – A lot of woodiness with white pepper on the palate. The finish is somewhat muted but still present.

Tasted with a few drops of water – Steve Nally mentioned in a video that he suggests drinking this on ice. We decided to add a few drops of water to see if there was a notable shift. The water opened up the nose and the aromas were quite pronounced; however, the flavors were not as prominent as when we originally tasted it neat. Not bad, but we definitely preferred it neat overall.

Discussion and Final Notes

Cheers,
Rebecca & Wayne

Photos by Rebecca Herman McBrayer

Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Spirit Requirements

Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey: Such whiskeys have all the requirements of bourbon: Made in the U.S, distilled at <= 160 proof, barreled at <= 125 proof, aged in new, charred oak containers, bottled at >= 80 proof. Straight bourbon means it is aged at least 2 years (and must have an age statement if less than 4). In addition, to be Kentucky Straight Bourbon, it has the additional requirement that it must be produced and aged at least 1 year in the state of Kentucky.

For additional information on bourbon requirements, please read this post – Bourbon Whiskey.

NOTE: The bourbon in this review was purchased by us. We were not compensated by the spirit producers for this review. This is simply our opinion based on what we tasted on this day. Please drink responsibly.