Kentucky Archives - Page 2 of 2

Whisky #120 – Evan Williams Single Barrel 2003

June 26, 2014 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Evan Williams Single Barrel 2003. Kentucky, United States. ABV: 43.3%. Tasted at Bobeche, $15.

Colour: Burnt copper.

Nose: Light rye scents; a medicinal faint feint. Faint feint – does that mean I’m smelling double or just talking gibberish? Probably the latter.

Palate: Some more subdued aniseed flavours than other bourbons I’ve had so far, but still plenty of mixed spice & heat dancing around the mouth.

Finish: Quite a peppery finish for a bourbon whiskey, but has a touch of lingering sweetness and a hint of liquorice.

Comments: Not as much sweetness as I was expecting. Good to taste a bourbon that is trying to be a little different, it doesn’t seem to want to conform to the rules about what a traditional bourbon has to be. Not saying it’s totally different from other bourbons, it’s just pushing the boundaries a touch. Not bad.

Whisky #90 – Woodford Reserve Bourbon Whiskey, Distillers Edition, Batch 27

June 9, 2014 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Woodford Reserve Bourbon Whiskey, Distillers Edition, Batch 27. Kentucky, United States. ABV: 45.20%. Tasted at The Sentinel.

Colour: In this light, it’s harder to pick than a…ok it’s a deep caramel.

Nose: A medley of aromas, like walking through the perfume section of a department store with a freshly varnished floor.

Palate: Slight grainy nutty taste akin to having just eaten a handful of trail mix.

Finish: A bit more heat lingering than the Basil Hayden’s we just tasted. Medium length, dry finish.

Comments: Overall it’s quite decent. Woodford Reserve really is a reliable decent bourbon whiskey that you can safely order and drink neat, plus it’s available at most good bars, even those that don’t have an extensive whisk(e)y selection.

Whisky #89 – Basil Haydens Bourbon Whiskey

June 9, 2014 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Basil Haydens Bourbon Whiskey. Kentucky, United States. ABV: 40.00%. Tasted at The Sentinel.

Colour: Deep copper.

Nose: Rye, plenty of it. Now that I’ve read it’s a combo of rye & corn based spirits, you can definitely smell the corn.

Palate: Rye comes through more; oily mouthfeel, quite creamy.

Finish: Subtle oak, medium length.

Comments: Much smoother and creamier than a lot of other American whiskies I’ve tried, would like to give this one another try as there’s something a little different (in a good way!) about this one that I’d like to explore in more detail.

Whisky #76 – Blanton’s Gold Edition Bourbon Whiskey

June 3, 2014 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Blanton’s Gold Edition Bourbon Whiskey. Frankfort, Kentucky, United States. ABV: 51.50%. Tasted at Whisky Live 2014.

Sampled: Blanton’s Special Reserve, Blanton’s Original Private Reserve, Blanton’s Gold Edition & Blanton’s Single Barrel No. 136.

The first two (Special Reserve and Original Private Reserve) were actually quite similar, not too much of a difference. The Original Private Reserve was possibly a little bit smoother, but Gold Edition was definitely the pick of this bunch. Lots of oak, vanilla and sweetness. More like a Scotch whisky than a bourbon. Maybe that’s why I liked it the best? In fact the further I worked my way up the range, the closer their qualities started to resemble Scotch whisky rather than bourbons.

Finally, I had the Single Barrel No. 136, which was bottled at a cask strength of 66.6%. I didn’t enjoy it as much, thought there was a bit too much heat. It just seemed a bit too over the top; too strong, intense, too much alcohol heat and spice to really enjoy the flavours.

Whisky #75 – Bernheim Original Wheat Whiskey

June 3, 2014 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Bernheim Original Wheat Whiskey. Bardstown, Kentucky, United States. ABV: 45.00%. Tasted at Whisky Live 2014.

Bernheim…a straight wheat whiskey – I’ve never had one of those before. I like the nose, and the finish. But the nose is definitely very distinct. Quite a smooth, yet short palate. The palate actually is probably the most underwhelming part to it – it’s certainly not a bad drop though. The finish has some aniseed sort of flavours to it. Grainy, malty, slightly sweet aftertaste but also some of those aniseed flavours to finish as well.

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

March 17, 2014 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Eagle 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

March 17, 2014 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

Willett 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

February 24, 2014 by Whisky a Day Leave a Comment

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.

Whisky #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.

Whisky #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.

Whiskey #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.

Whiskey #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.