Bourbon Tasting Results... 9 prior "winners" taste

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Bourbon Tasting Results... 9 prior "winners" taste

Unread postby ChicagoMike » Fri Feb 23, 2007 7:12 pm

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
Last edited by ChicagoMike on Mon Feb 26, 2007 3:56 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Unread postby ChicagoMike » Fri Feb 23, 2007 7:19 pm

If you have any favorite whiskies that are in the $25 and under category that were not mentioned in any of the tastings above, I'd appreciate the recommendations!
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Unread postby bourbonv » Fri Feb 23, 2007 7:23 pm

For me taste is always subject to the time at which I am tasting, unless there is some other factor such as mustiness or chemical taste like lighter fluid. A good bourbon for a cold night alone might be totally off on a warm night with some friends. Bourbon is too complex to always have the same favorite every night and that is one reason I enjoy it so much.
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Unread postby Brewer » Sat Feb 24, 2007 12:54 pm

Chicago Mike, (not to be confused with all of the other Mike's here)

You don't mention if others were involved in this tasting, and I'm wondering if these are your individual results or the results from a group of people. Also, you note that there were multiple tastings. Were these done over numerous days, or all in one evening?
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Unread postby LogicalFrank » Sat Feb 24, 2007 3:24 pm

Curious to see more on how the tasting was done myself. However, I am inclined to like it simply because I happen to have all of the top three on hand right now and that makes me pleased w/ my own good taste in whiskey. :P

ChicagoMike--Was the Eagle Rare 10 Year one of the special bottlings for Sam's or Binny's? I rather enjoyed the Sam's bottling but have yet to try the Binny's. I've also been quite pleased w/ the Sazerac Six Year and Weller Reserve bottlings at Binny's though and will not hesitate to buy more of their Buffalo Trace whiskeys that are sold like that.
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Unread postby ChicagoMike » Sat Feb 24, 2007 11:16 pm

Brewer wrote:Chicago Mike, (not to be confused with all of the other Mike's here)

You don't mention if others were involved in this tasting, and I'm wondering if these are your individual results or the results from a group of people. Also, you note that there were multiple tastings. Were these done over numerous days, or all in one evening?


The first two rounds had 3 tasters, the last two were just by myself.

The 4 rounds were done over a period of about 2 months
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Unread postby ChicagoMike » Sat Feb 24, 2007 11:18 pm

LogicalFrank wrote:Curious to see more on how the tasting was done myself. However, I am inclined to like it simply because I happen to have all of the top three on hand right now and that makes me pleased w/ my own good taste in whiskey. :P

ChicagoMike--Was the Eagle Rare 10 Year one of the special bottlings for Sam's or Binny's? I rather enjoyed the Sam's bottling but have yet to try the Binny's. I've also been quite pleased w/ the Sazerac Six Year and Weller Reserve bottlings at Binny's though and will not hesitate to buy more of their Buffalo Trace whiskeys that are sold like that.


Now that you mention it, the Elmer T. Lee, Buffalo Trace, AND Eagle Rare 10 yr all say "selected from a special barrel for Binny's"...

.... is there a great variance in flavor in these single-store bottlings ??
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Unread postby mldavis2 » Sun Feb 25, 2007 2:56 pm

Very interesting results, especially the "elimination" system of coming up with the top entries.

Having been indoctrinated on single malt scotch, I can vouch for the fascinating change in whisky (or whiskey) over time. As a chemist, I was a bit skeptical that chemical changes could take place in a glass by adding a few drops of water to alcohol that was already cut with water for bottling. But it does happen.

The custom of adding a few drops of water to bourbon does not seem to be as common as with single malt scotch. I suspect that the water causes differing rates of evaporation of the various esters, phenols and other chemicals that provide the taste and aromas (hydrogen bonding, etc.). I taste single malts in a large brandy snifter which provides maximum surface area for evaporation and focuses the aroma very tightly at the rim of the glass. This reduces the rate of evaporation, which in turn lengthens the time span over which these aromas evaporate and hence change.

As a new bourbon fan, I am eager to apply my single malt techniques to some fine old rare bourbons. Thanks for the tasting notes!
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Unread postby gillmang » Sun Feb 25, 2007 3:40 pm

Recently I bought some Weller 107 Proof in Louisville (the bottle was new and the word "Antique" was not on it, but it had a statement of 7 years of age). I said on another board and maybe here this was one of the best whiskeys I ever had. Not therefore surprised to see its high finish and ditto for Weller Special Reserve which is the same whiskey let down to 90 proof. Weller 107 proof has a subtle flowery taste against a moderate oak/char background, the balance is nigh perfect. The taste of flowers (I get roses) are congeners derived from the grains that have not been "aged out" by very prolonged maturation. Yet there is no harshness or raw unmatured notes despite the moderate age and formidable proof. There were many excellent whiskeys in this tasting but the fine showing by (essentially) the same two whiskeys does not surprise me.

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Unread postby LogicalFrank » Sun Feb 25, 2007 11:48 pm

ChicagoMike wrote:.... is there a great variance in flavor in these single-store bottlings ??


Depends who you ask... To me their is certainly a variance but it doesn't seem huge by any means. Or, anyway, I'm finding if I like one, I like them all but a little more or a little less depending. The way it is done is there's a certain character the distillery is going for for each of its brand names and they blend barrels to fit that character and try to be as consistent as possible. What happens w/ these single barrel versions is they find a single barrel that fits the character they are going for pretty closely w/o blending. Then they let the various stores come in and chose their favorite barrels. So when you buy, say, the Binny's bottling of Weller's Reserve, you are getting something that the folks at Weller (well--Buffalo Trace) think tastes enough like Weller's Reserve to be labeled as such but you get the version of it that the people at Binny's thought was superior. How much you like it depends on how much you agree w/ their tastes.
Last edited by LogicalFrank on Mon Feb 26, 2007 11:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Unread postby mldavis2 » Mon Feb 26, 2007 9:16 am

Can't speak to bourbon yet, but with single malt scotch, there is a "house" style that blenders attempt to maintain. They do this by picking various barrels, of course, but there are many barrels that either aren't needed, or are not quite the right flavor/nose. These are either bottled as single cask bottlings by the distillery, or are sold to independent bottlers like Cadenhead, Signatory, etc. Independent bottles are interesting, and not always like the distillery profile, though most are in the ballpark. Some are just plain ordinary, but on occasion you do get a winner. I suspect that distilleries keep the best barrels for themselves. That's a good reason to rely on reviews.

I don't know how prevalent this practice is in bourbon, but it makes scotch buying very interesting. I'm seeing fewer independent bottlings of bourbon than of scotch.
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