I used to keep a lot of small sample bottles of whiskey. Until one day, I didn’t. I stopped mostly because the overwhelming urge to never finish a bottle had worn off. I’d finish the bottle without remembering to put aside a sample of it. I summed up my reasoning for initially keeping samples pretty nicely back in 2017 so I’m just going to let Past Me do some of the work for a moment.
There was a time, not so long ago in the grand scheme of things, that I fell victim to a touch of hoarding. Whiskey hoarding to be exact. I had the urge to make sure I never finished a bottle. I had some vague thought that I might never have that whiskey again. And if I never actually finished the bottle, I could still have it anytime I wanted.
Yes, I imagined the nostalgia I would have in the future for the time I was currently living in. If that is confusing for you, try living it. As part of my need to deal with my, then undiagnosed, anxiety disorder I decided that I was worrying too much about what was still in the bottles. And so I came up with the plan to set aside two sample bottles from each bottle of whiskey I opened. I told myself it was for the blog. It was for posterity. It was long term research to see if things changed over time. But I was really trying to put off that future regret and nostalgia.
Now back in 2017, I realized that this wasn’t something I needed to do any longer. So, I decided to split my samples between those that I was going to drink immediately and those that I might have a use for in the future. I wasn’t exactly sure what use that might be, but I figured that was a problem for Future Me to deal with.
Now, these samples were sitting pretty high up and pretty far back in the old whiskey closet. To be honest I’d forgotten about them until I started pulling out the old bottles of Four Roses Limited Small Batch. As I pulled the five or six boxes of bottles out, I came to a conclusion.
I didn’t need these anymore.
And as I looked through the bottles, I had a thought. Seeing as it is Bourbon Heritage Month, I might as well start drinking some “heritage” bourbon. Well, if you can call samples from 2011-2017 “heritage,” that is. And what is more fun than drinking a sample of bourbon? That’s right. Not knowing ahead of time what bourbon it is or if it is any good or not.
I mean, I had things mostly set up for a lot of fun blind tastings, anyway. I had limited editions sitting next to bottom-shelf turds. I had ryes, bourbons, and Irish whiskey all mingled together. I had craft distiller experiments sitting next to brands almost as old as bourbon itself. All sitting in identical bottles. And all I needed to do was put a little piece of tape over the label to completely obscure what I was pouring into my glass.
So I did. And then I thought that since it is Bourbon Heritage month, maybe you guys would like to come along for the ride with us.
Blind Whiskey Sample #1:
Nose: Mint, garden greens, caramel.
Mouth: Cinnamon, caramel, mint, snap peas.
Finish: Short and mercifully so. Cinnamon, oak, and more snap peas.
Thoughts: Not exactly sure why I decided that I needed to save a sample from every bottle back then... but I did and you get to enjoy my discomfort. Yeah, this one is not good. Snap peas are not a note I look for in bourbon. This one would have been better off being used for flavored whiskey.
Reveal: Old Crow Reserve.
Blind Whiskey Sample #2:
Nose: Cinnamon, cola, oak.
Mouth: Oak, cinnamon, cedar, cola, ginger, mint.
Finish: On the longer side of medium. Lingering notes of cedar, ginger, mint, and after everything else fades, coffee.
Thoughts: This is really good. I'm digging it. A very nice rye whiskey. Kinda wishing I could go back in time to snag another of whatever this is. Who knows, maybe it's still for sale.
Reveal: Col. E. H. Taylor Bottled in Bond Rye
Blind Whiskey Sample #3:
Nose: Peanut butter, clove, caramel.
Mouth: Follows the nose. Sweet. Peanut butter, caramel, and cinnamon.
Finish: Short side of medium. More peanut butter, cinnamon, butterscotch, and a touch of dried grain.
Thoughts: This really reminds me of peanut-brittle. It's very sweet. Almost too sweet. Very candy-like. Dessert in a glass. I'm very interested to see what this is because I can't quite place it.
Reveal: JW Dant Bottled in Bond.
Blind Whiskey Sample #4
Nose: Cedar, mint, cherry pipe tobacco.
Mouth: Follows the nose with cedar, mint, cherry pipe tobacco and cinnamon.
Finish: Medium to short. Cinnamon, mint, tobacco.
Thoughts: I'm going to guess this is a fine example of a producer who bought some 95% rye from MGP and dumped it in a bottle. Of course, since I am a big fan of MGP rye, I only ever minded that if said producer lied about it. And since this is from back when folks were doing that, I'm guessing I was irritated by this one. In any case, I like this one a lot.
Reveal: James E. Pepper 1776 Rye, 6 year old.
Blind Whiskey Sample #5
Nose: Ripe fruits, baking spice, bubblegum.
Mouth: Thin mouthfeel. Strong ripe fruit notes. Cinnamon.
Finish: Medium length and warm. Cherry (almost like cherry cough syrup), cinnamon.
Thoughts: This is either a Brandy or a bourbon that was barrel finished. If it is a brandy, cool. Tastes like brandy. If barrel-finished they overshot the mark because the finish took over. If it isn't either, then hell, I don't know. I do know I don't think I care for this one.
Reveal: New Holland Beer Barrel Bourbon.
Well, there you have it. The first set of blind tastings. I’m sure that there will be more in the future because I had a lot of fun with this. I really enjoyed the two ryes and the Dant. I bought Beer Barrel Bourbon exactly once, and now I think I remember why. And I have two questions on the Old Crow Reserve: why did I feel like I needed to save this? And why did I feel the need to save it a second time? Not to worry though…this time it got dumped out after tasting notes were finished.
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