Bourbon Whiskey

Whisky #59: Eagle Rare Single Barrel 10 Year Old Bourbon Whiskey

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IMG_2649Eagle Rare Single Barrel 10 Year Old Bourbon Whiskey. Frankfort, Kentucky, USA. ABV: 45.00%. Tasted at Bobeche, $13.

Colour: Lustrous copper.

Nose: Grassy.

Palate: Sweet burnt orange, like when you squirt the oil from the orange peel into your Cosmopolitan and ignite it on the way through. Also a bit nutty (much like most girls I know who drink Cosmopolitans).

Finish: Again quite long, sweet…almost chewy. Makes you want to lick your lips to decipher the other flavours kicking about.

Comments: Definitely not as smooth as the Willett I just tasted, but still very tasty and complex; definitely a lot more bourbon-like.

Whisky #58: Willett Pot Still Reserve Bourbon Whiskey

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IMG_2647Willett Pot Still Reserve Bourbon Whiskey. Bardstown, Kentucky, USA. ABV: 47.00%. Tasted at Bobeche, $0 – courtesy of Joe the manager.

Colour: Burnt gold, like a creme brûlée.

Nose: A bit of oak, bit of sweetness (no doubt from the creme brûlée). Can smell a touch of coconut, not sure if that was because I was primed to look for it based on Joe’s comment about the nose.

Palate: A beautiful warm sweetness and spice. Not overly bourbon-like, very soft & smooth.

Finish: Quite a long finish, seems to gradually dissipate first from the back of the palate towards the front of the tongue. Fades to some soft liquorice flavours.

Comments: Definitely not your typical bourbon. If I’d been blindfolded and not told it was a bourbon, I probably would’ve picked it as a scotch whisky of some description (but with quite an unusual finish). Maybe says more about my unsophisticated palate than the whiskey. Fortunately my grammar is a little more sophisticated in being able to correctly use both “whisky” and “whiskey” in the same paragraph.

Hopefully my palate develops throughout the year so I can describe more than just the appropriate spelling of whisky/whiskey depending on which country it’s from.  I can’t imagine grammatical pontification is going to make for a very entertaining whisky (or should that be whiskey?) blog…

Whiskies #27-30: All American “State of the Union” Tasting

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Righto listen up y’all…thought I’d do something a little different to mix it up a bit.  As today President Obama was giving his ‘State of the Union’ address, I thought that was the perfect segue into an all American ‘State of the Union’ whiskey tasting.  All were tasted in one evening at Varnish on King, Perth’s very own American whiskey bar.

IMG_2583Whisky #27: High West Double Rye Whiskey. Park City, Utah, United States. ABV: 46.00%. Tasted at Varnish on King, $14.50.

Colour: Deep caramel

Nose: Vanilla & soft aniseed.

Palate: Liquorice & soft spice.

Finish: Soft mellow warmth.

Comments: My first American whiskEy for the project.

Varnish’s “Rye Not” flight – $20.  Only small (~20mL) serves in this flight, so a little difficult to get a full appreciation of each drop.  Only made a few observations for each.

IMG_2585Whisky #28: Bulleit Bourbon Whiskey. Kentucky, United States. ABV: 40.00%.

Nose: Very light, cereal scents. 

Finish: Has quite a fiery finish, not a very refined drop.

Comments: Not a huge fan, but it’s ok.

IMG_2584Whiskey #29: Wild Turkey 81 Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon. Kentucky, United States. ABV: 40.5%.

Colour: 50 shades of amber. Or as we’re tasting American whiskey, should that be 50 states of amber?

Nose: Smells like a musty pool hall.

Finish: Short and thin finish.

IMG_2582Whiskey #30: Rittenhouse 100 Proof Straight Rye Whiskey.  Kentucky, United States. ABV: 50.00%.

Colour: Deep browny bronze colour.

Palate: Aniseedy or absinthe flavours, coupled with sweet spice.

Comments: Definitely my favourite of the four American whiskies this evening.  

Overall comments: I’ve never really been into American whiskey very much.  Maybe as a result of having one too many largish nights on Jack Daniels in my younger days.  The Bulleit was just too harsh to drink straight, not that enjoyable at all.  The Turkey was a bit better, but still lacked a bit of depth and complexity for my liking.  The Rittenhouse however was great, I’d definitely like to try it again (larger serving next time!) to explore it in a bit more detail.  Could it be that it’s the most whisky-like whiskEy?  Overall though, they all displayed aniseed or absinthe-like flavours to a varying extents, which is certainly a little different to anything I’ve had so far.