Early in my bourbon journey SAOS went from being a shelfie NDP bottle to very sought after in what seemed like no time. While I was able to grab a 10 year single barrel bourbon at retail before things got too crazy the rye eluded me. I eventually ended up getting one and had high hopes.
Smooth Ambler Old Scout 7 Year Rye 2015
Age: 7 years
Proof: 99 proof
Batch No: 63
Neat
Nose: Sweet and herbaceous with vanilla frosting, dill, mint and spice notes. No proof sting
Taste: Spicier than the nose but with the same vanilla and herbal notes behind the rye and baking spices. Good mouthfeel for the proof and great proof integration.
Finish: Long and lingering with fading vanilla and oak then herbs and spices that stay in the back of your throat.
Conclusion
Well that was good but it wasn’t some legendary bottle from yesteryear that blows away modern MGP releases. I don’t think it’s worth tracking down one of these older 7 year, 99 proof SAOS ryes with the increasing availability of 6-8 year MGP ryes from places like Nashville Barrel Company, Proof and Wood, Barrell and Nulu. For example it’s taken me a lot longer to get through this bottle than some of the 7 year NBC picks.
TL;DR: Good whiskey, especially for the age and proof, not worth the hype
1 Star - Good whiskey: I would choose to drink this over readily available whiskies
Scale
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