Tonight we finish Round 1 of the 2020 BourbonGuy.com Bottom Shelf Brackets. Tonight’s competition is between Division 2 Number 2 seed Old Forester 100 proof and Number 3 seed Buffalo Trace. By a strange coincidence, this is a repeat matchup of last year. In that competition, Old Forester won. Let’s see if my taste buds (and the producers) are at all consistent from year to year.
So here we go. First up: the Pride of Louisville, the first Bottled Bourbon, let’s welcome to the stage: Old Forester 100 proof!
And their opponent is the Pride of Frankfort. The bourbon that’s so good they decided to name the distillery after it: Buffalo Trace!
We strive to have a clean competition so these were tasted blind in the following order. Tasting notes are from before the reveal and may be a little unusual since they were being tasted at the same time and may influence one another.
Whiskey 1 (Buffalo Trace)
Purchase Info: $24.99 for a 750 mL bottle, Total Wine, Burnsville, MN
Details: 45% ABV.
Nose: Dried mint leaves, vanilla sugar, cinnamon.
Mouth: Vanilla sugar, caramel, cinnamon, oak.
Finish: Medium length. Mint, cinnamon, oak.
Whiskey 2 (Old Forester 100 proof)
Purchase Info: $24.99 for a 750 mL bottle, Total Wine, Burnsville, MN
Details: 50% ABV.
Nose: Bubble gum, almond, citrus peel.
Mouth: Almond, cinnamon, clove, hint of orange.
Finish: Longer side of medium. Almond, cinnamon.
Pre-reveal Thoughts: Whiskey number one is sweeter and a bit of a cinnamon bomb. Whiskey number two is super enjoyable in a holistic way. The "heat" or "burn" is better which adds to the enjoyment of the product. Which ultimately is what decided this one. I like the flavor of whiskey one better and if it had the heat of whiskey two, it would be the clear winner. But it doesn't and this is close enough that I am weighting overall experience higher than just flavor. So whiskey two is the winner here.
Post-Reveal Thoughts: In another case of proof making the difference in a head to head matchup Old Forester 100 proof advances to Round 2, just like last year. Buffalo Trace put up a good fight in this one, but the Old Forester brought the heat and that made the experience more enjoyable.
Make your guesses and check back next time to see who comes out on top.
Did you enjoy this post? If so, maybe you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee in return. Go to ko-fi.com/bourbonguy to support. And thank you, BourbonGuy.com is solely supported via your generosity.
Of course, if you want to support BourbonGuy.com and get a little something back in return, you can always head over to BourbonGuyGifts.com and purchase some merch. I’ve made tasting journals, stickers, pins, and more.