Few things in this world are as indulgent as a Bourbon tasting, so why not have "Round Four" in our bourbon tasteoffs... Note that these tastings try to target whiskies that sell for under $25 for 750 ml (Rare Breed is an obvious exception)
This time I included only bourbons that had ranked within the Top Three in prior recent tastings. I also added to this mix three new whiskies that had not previously been part of the tasting series.
Previous Top 3 winners were (several of these were multiple Top 3 finishers):
Buffalo Trace
Eagle Rare (10 Year old)
Maker's Mark
W.L. Weller 7 Year Old
Wild Turkey Rare Breed
Woodford Reserve
The 3 new whiskies this tasting were:
W.L. Weller (12 year old)
Old Weller Antique (107 Proof)
Virginia Gentleman Small Batch (the fox chase bottling)
All bourbons were tasted blind, multiple times, and the "less impressive" whiskies were slowly eliminated. Tasting results and rankings follow:
1st (tie): W.L. Weller 7 Year old special reserve
1st (tie): Old Weller Antique 107 proof
3rd: Eagle Rare 10 Year old
The above 3 whiskies were all considered "great" in the tasting. Nothing not to like and the final 1-2-3 ranking was very close.
4th: Virginia Gentleman. Excellent, delicious complex whiskey.
5th: Maker's Mark. Very impressive, as it has been in prior tastings
6th: Woodford Reserve. Made the first cut. Was clearly not scoring with the bourbons above when it was eliminated.
Eliminated in 2nd round, all 3 showing somewhat un-impressively this evening: Buffalo Trace, W.L. Weller 12 Year old, and Wild Turkey Rare Breed.
One of the interesting thing about these tastings is that different whiskies clearly show up more prominently on different nights. Could be how the palate is "set" that evening. The Top 5 of this tasting were all very impressive relative to the rest of the pack and the Top 3 were particularly delicious.
It's really an amazing show by Weller to capture BOTH 1st and 2nd in a 2-way blind-tasting tie here!
Here are links to the previous tastings:
Round One http://www.chowhound.com/topics/345859?query=bourbon
Round Two http://www.chowhound.com/topics/360029?query=bourbon
Round Three http://www.chowhound.com/topics/360037?query=bourbon