Smooth Ambler generated a lot of hype with their MGP sourced single barrel line, disappointed with their own distillate and recently released a new Old Scout Single Barrel Select, this time sourced from Dickel. I tend to like well aged Dickel well enough and loved the MGP Old Scout so I was cautiously optimistic for dram. Let’s see if it lives up to the name!

Smooth Ambler Old Scout Single Barrel Select

Age: 13 years

Abv: 99 proof

Color: A medium amber

Price: $64.99

Batch: 13601

Neat

Nose: Very sweet with chocolate milk powder, toasted marshmallow and vanilla notes.

Taste: More chocolate and marshmallow but with a little bit warm spice and oak.

Finish: Medium to long finish where chocolate fades to warm spice and oak.

On a rock

Nose: The chocolate and marshmallow motes are still there but subdued and I finally get some of that famous Dickel vitamin note

Taste: The ice really brings out the vitamin note though the mouthfeel was quite nice

Finish: Short and sweet with a bit of chocolate.

Conclusion

Taking this by itself it was quite good neat, especially the nose. It reminded me a lot of the Dickel sourced Barrell single barrels but a bit better though not as good as the Barrell Craft Spirits 15 year. I don’t usually get vitamin from most good Dickel but the ice brought that way out here which was disappointing.

On the other hand when I compared it too the MGP Old Scout Single Barrel the Select was left wanting. The mouthfeel and the finish were significantly better with the MGP juice.

Overall I enjoyed the bottle even if it didn’t live up to its namesake though I won’t be tracking down another bottle right now though I’d be interested in trying the next batch or a store pick.

1 Star - Good whiskey: I would choose to drink this over readily available whiskies

Scale

You can also follow me on Instagram(@atxbourbon) or reddit to keep up with these reviews and my other whiskey-centric adventures.

Caribou Crossing is credited as being the first Canadian Single barrel and has also been described as the bottle from Rock Hill Farms with the Blanton’s topper or simply as Canadian Blanton’s. I finally snagged a bottle to see if it loved up to the hype!

Caribou Crossing

Age: NAS

Abv: 80 proof

Color: A deep gold

Price: $47.99

Neat

Nose: Astringent nose with predominantly maple and ethanol notes.

Taste: Maple syrup, floral and oak notes with a better mouthfeel than I was expecting for an 80 proofer.

Finish: Medium length with a touch of warm spice then oak notes.

Conclusion

This one did not do it for me. It had those distinct ethanol and maple notes I get from most Canadian whiskies and did not remind me of Blanton’s at all. That said this was better than most Canadian’s I’ve had so if you like that style of whiskies this might be for you but it’s not for me. On the plus side I can cross another hard to find bottle off my hunting list and I was able to finish my pour with a little Coke Zero :)

0 Stars - Poor to Fine: I would not specifically choose to drink this

Scale

You can also follow me on Instagram(@atxbourbon) or reddit to keep up with these reviews and my other whiskey-centric adventures.

I recently had some friends from a local bourbon group tell me that Caribou Crossing was basically Canadian Blanton’s so I went and tracked some down and did a side by side taste off. Blanton’s is a NAS single barrel release from Buffalo Trace that comes in a fancy bottles and has garnered a lot of hype lately.

Blanton’s Single Barrel

Age: NAS

Abv: 93 proof

Color: A deep gold

Price: $61.99

Bottle: Warehouse H Rick #26 Barrel #1409 Bottle #278

Neat

Nose: Sweet honey, vanilla and warm spice notes.

Taste: Sweet honey again but with more spice than the nose, less vanilla and some citrus notes. Very easy to drink but with a decent mouthfeel for the proof.

Finish: Medium length and slightly dry with lingering spice and a little vanilla.

Stars: 1 - Good whiskey: I would choose to drink this over readily available whiskies

Conclusion

When you get past all the hype this is still a great bourbon and I’ll gladly pick it up at near retail whenever I can. It’s especially good as a step up from 80 proof entry level, for lack of a better phrase, bourbons. That said I really don’t think it’s worth the hunt especially when you can grab the more readily available, higher proof and similarly priced EHT Single Barrel.

Next time we’ll see how the Caribou stacks up!

Summer 2019 Update

Well EHT SiB is just as hard to find now and I’d recommend hunting Blanton’s over EHT SiB if you’re going to hunt one. Otherwise just grab the EHT Small Batch.

Today is the start of the last season of Game of Thrones and what better time than to post my review of Oban’s The Night’s Watch. Oban went very light on the details about this bottling but it ended up as one of the more hyped Game of Thrones bottles. I’m a fan of the Oban 14 and of another GoT bottling in the Lagavulin 9 year House Lannister and was very excited to see how this stacked up!

Oban Game of Thrones The Night’s Watch

Age: NAS

Abv: 86 proof

Color: A deep gold

Price: $61.99

Neat

Nose: Sweet with rich dark fruit and crisp citrus notes.

Taste: Strong dark cherry and warm spice notes with hints of oak and a surprisingly viscous mouthfeel given the proof.

Finish: Medium to long finish with sweet cherry and a bit of spice.

Conclusion

First off this is another great dram from Oban and the Game of Thrones series. This bottle was very sherry forward and lacked any of the smokey notes from the 14 year giving it quite a different profile than I’ve come to expect from Oban. That said, I do like sherried single malts so it’s no surprise this one was right up my alley. I’d happily buy another bottle at retail but that seems extremely unlikely at this point.

1 Star - Good whiskey: I would choose to drink this over readily available whiskies

Scale

You can also follow me on Instagram(@atxbourbon) or reddit to keep up with these reviews and my other whiskey-centric adventures.

I’d never heard of Wathen’s before my local shop got a barrel pick in. I was curious and looked into them a bit but pretty all we know about this bottle is what’s on the label. It’s Kentucky Straight Bourbon and it’s sourced from somewhere. The owner/picker described this one as ‘liquid candy’ so let’s see if it live up to that tag line.

Wathen’s Barrel Proof Oak Liquor Cabinet Pick

Age: NAS

Abv: 124.7 proof

Color: A medium amber gold

Price: $80

Barrel Number: 75 out of 75

Neat

Nose: Sweet and spicy with predominately cinnamon sugar notes and a touch of vanilla.

Taste: Very similar to the nose it’s all cinnamon sugar with a solid mouthfeel.

Finish: Very dry medium length finish with mostly cinnamon notes.

On a rock

Nose: The ice took the edge off off the cinnamon quite nicely and brought out more of the vanilla.

Taste: Very similar to the neat taste but again with less cinnamon and a bit of vanilla and caramel brought in.

Finish: Less dry but still very cinnamon forward and medium length.

Conclusion

Red Hots are a candy and this reminded me a lot of a liquid version of those so I’d definitely say it lived up to the tag line. It was very easy to drink especially given the proof. Unfortunately cinnamon isn’t my favorite note so this wasn’t the best fit for me especially given the price. That said if you like cinnamon candy and deceptively high proof bourbon this might be the bottle for you.

0 Stars - Poor to Fine: I would not specifically choose to drink this

Scale

You can also follow me on Instagram(@atxbourbon) or reddit to keep up with these reviews and my other whiskey-centric adventures.

Sagamore Spirits is a Maryland distillery who primarily sources from MGP and then dilutes with their own limestone filtered water. They have a couple different rye recipes and this pick is a combination of 90% of their high rye mashbill and 10% of their low rye mashbill.

Sagamore Spirits Rye Oak Liquor Cabinet and Austin Bourbon Hunters

Age: NAS

Abv: 95 proof

Color: A medium amber

Price: $43.99

Neat

Nose: Herbal and cherry notes dominate the nose

Taste: A strong rye spice note compliments the herbal and cherry notes from the nose. Solid mouthfeel for the proof.

Finish: A little short with warm rye spice and sweet herbs

On a rock

Nose: The cherry notes are faint but still there while the herbal notes continue to dominate.

Taste: Herbals with hints of cherry and warm rye spice.

Finish: Very similar to the neat finish. Maybe a touch shorter

Conclusion

A very nice take on MGP rye that is good both neat and on the rocks if a touch low in proof. It’s quite herbal without strong dill notes from some MGP distillate, has a nice fruity cherry note and strong but not overpowering rye spice. Not quite at the level of High West Rendezvous but pretty close and a good bit cheaper.

0 Stars - Poor to Fine: I would not specifically choose to drink this over other readily available options

This is the third and final 21 year old Speyside single malt in this series. We started with the Glenfarclas 21 followed up with the Glenfiddich 21 and are finishing it off with the Balvenie 21 Portwood. Let’s see how this stacks up against the Glenfarclas and the Glenfiddich.

Balvenie 21 Portwood

Age: 21 years

Abv: 86 proof

Color: A deep gold

Price: $199.99

Neat

Nose: Rich, sweet dark cherry and sherry notes dominate the nose.

Taste: Honey, dark cherry, cream and warm spice notes compliment a nice and viscous mouthfeel, especially for the proof.

Finish: Long and sweet with honey, hints of dark fruit and gentle spice notes.

2 Stars - Very good whiskey: I would want to have a bottle

Conclusion

This was easily my favorite of the 3 and the only one I’d semi-regularly pick over it’s 17/18 year brethren which made me realize that I haven’t written about the younger Balvenie selections yet so I’ll have get on that. The Port influence was clear throughout and I’m a big fan of Ported whiskies so it was no surprise I loved this. It was primarily sweet and fruity with just enough spice to give it depth.

Apparently there is a duty free exclusive version of this that is NCF and 95.2 proof so I’ll be keeping an eye out for that on my next international trip!

There’s been a lot of hype around dusty Wild Turkey lately and I was curious to see if it was really that different from the new stuff and this Wild Turkey series seemed like the perfect time to do it so for the fifth and final entry I’m reviewing a sample of 1997 Wild Turkey 101 12 year “split label” I got from a local bourbon collector.

Wild Turkey 101 12 Year 1997

Age: 12 years

Abv: 101 proof

Color: A dark amber with a touch of red

Neat

Nose: Floral and maple notes are backed by old leather and rich tobacco.

Taste: More tobacco, maple and floral notes with new oak and warm spice notes as well.

Finish: Medium to long length with vanilla, tobacco and maple notes.

0 Stars - Fine: I would not specifically choose to drink this over other readily available options

Conclusion

First off this tasted completely different from any of the modern Turkeys I’ve had. I can understand how folks that learned to love these flavors are disappointed by the shift in flavor profile. That said I wasn’t a big fan. I don’t usually like maple, leather or tobacco notes in bourbon and this dram leaned in on all three of those. It had a shorter finish than the Decades and the Moonshine CGF pick and a lackluster mouthfeel. I preferred all of the modern expressions, even 101 and Kentucky Spirit, to this dram and given the crazy prices this commands I’ll never being getting a bottle. Still I wouldn’t say no if someone else was pouring :)

For review #101 and part four of the five part Wild Turkey series we are drinking Wild Turkey Master’s Keep Decades batch #2. This is a blend of 10 to 20 year old Wild Turkey.

Wild Turkey Master’s Keep Decades

Age: a blend of 10 to 20 year bourbons

Abv: 104 proof

Color: A dark amber

Price: $110 on sale usually $150

Neat

Nose: A excellent balance of vanilla, caramel and oak notes with a touch of spice.

Taste: Rich and sweet with cherry, caramel, vanilla notes alongside a touch of oak and spice alongside an excellent, viscous mouthfeel.

Finish: Medium length with cherry notes fading to warm spice and vanilla.

Conclusion

Somewhat unsurprisingly, given the ages of everything, this was the darkest of the bunch. It also had the best mouthfeel, was the sweetest and easiest to drink. This was a big step up from the 101, Rare Breed and Kentucky Spirit and was pretty close to the Moonshine Cheesy Gold Foil pick. The only thing holding this back was the shorter finish than the CGF. Somewhat interestingly both this and CGF got less oaky from nose to finish.

Overall I am a big fan of this dram and will be buying another bottle next time it is on sale.

Quality

8 - an excellent bottle I’ll buy from time to time

Value based on what I paid

Fair - Worth the money, happy with my purchase

You can also follow me on Instagram(@atxbourbon) or reddit to keep up with these reviews and my other whiskey-centric adventures.

Scale

This the third review in a five part verticalish series on Wild Turkey bourbon comparing 5 of their relatively recent releases and one dusty against each other and my favorite Wild Turkey juice of all time: Moonshine Grill’s Russell’s Reserve pick.

We’re moving up from Wild Turkey 101 and Rare Breed to Kentucky Spirit and using my other dog as the model this time.

Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit

Age: NAS

Abv: 101 proof

Color: A medium amber

Price: $53.99

Warehouse: G rick number 6

Barrel: #3268

Laser Code: LL\E1020002

Neat

Nose: Sweet and more delicate than I was expecting with floral honey and vanilla notes.

Taste: Again sweet and almost fruity with honey and vanilla notes throughout and a bit nuttiness at the end.

Finish: It leaves a lingering floral sweetness that is somewhat different for a whiskey finish.

Conclusion

This wasn’t my favorite. It was a very different taste profile compared to the 101 and Rare Breed which are more to my liking. That said it was very easy to drink for a 101 proofer with no harshness whatsoever and the honey and floral notes were nice. It was neck and neck between this and the 101 but in the end the 101 won by a nose. The Rare Breed and the Moonshine CGF handily beat this in the taste test. Overall it was a good bourbon and if you aren’t a big fan of Wild Turkey you might prefer this to their usual suspects.

Quality

6 - a good whiskey I’m still happy to drink

Value based on what I paid

Poor - Overpriced, not worth the money

You can also follow me on Instagram(@atxbourbon) or reddit to keep up with these reviews and my other whiskey-centric adventures.

Scale