Here we go! Let’s get down to the competitions. I hope that you guys are as excited by this as I am. These were tasted in an order only known to my wife as another bit of obfuscation to hide what was being tasted. So Round 1 of the 2024 BourbonGuy.com Brackets starts with Division 2’s Number 4 seed Old Tub taking on Number 1 seed Buffalo Trace.
Buffalo Trace is the flagship product of Sazerac’s Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, KY. It can be hard to find in this area, and I’ve heard tell of it costing in the $50 or more range from commenters in other states. When I happened across it at the Burnsville, MN Total Wine, it cost $27.99 for a 750 mL bottle or $1.87 per pour.
Their opponent recently replaced Jim Beam Bonded in the Jim Beam brand line-up. Old Tub is a bottled-in-bond, unfiltered bourbon that is named after the brand the the Beam family made before they started producing Jim Beam branded products. It was distilled in Clermont, KY at Jim Beam’s distillery DSP-KY-230. This bottle was purchased at France44 in Minneapolis, MN. It cost $21.99 for a 750 mL bottle or $1.47 per pour.
All of the competitions this year were tasted blind and we knew the winner of the competition prior to any reveal. Notes, thoughts, and conclusions were all from before we knew what was what. Needless to say, some of my conclusions were surprising to me. Tasting notes may be a little unusual since they were being tasted at the same time and could have influenced the perceptions of one another.
Whiskey A (Buffalo Trace)
Price Per Drink (50 mL): $1.87
Details: 45% ABV.
Nose: Vanilla sugar, cardamom, nutmeg, and oak.
Mouth: Nutmeg, mint, vanilla sugar, and a nice spicy tingle.
Finish: Medium in length and warmth. Nutmeg, cardamom, oak, and a slight mineral note.
Whiskey B (Old Tub Bottled-in-Bond)
Price Per Drink (50 mL): $1.47
Details: 50% ABV.
Nose: Cinnamon, caramel, oak.
Mouth: Spicy cinnamon, caramel, cedar, and dried grain.
Finish: Warm and on the longer side of medium.
Thoughts:
Pre-Reveal Thoughts: “B” hits hard at the start, is spicy, and continues strong into the finish. “A” starts soft and sweet but then blossoms into a nice spice as it transitions into the finish. Ultimately this was really close, but I think I enjoyed the journey that “A” took me on a little more.
Post-Reveal Thoughts: Honestly not surprised by the results of this one. While I tend to think of Buffalo Trace as severely overhyped, it is a very good bourbon. And while I like Old Tub, it is marketed toward the lower end of the Premium Bourbon market. After going back and reading the notes, you can really tell that these had influenced each other. I don’t know that I’ve ever described Old Tub as “spicy” in the past. but that is why we put the disclaimer up there. When you move back and forth from glass to glass to see which you like better, you are doing a different thing than the typical sensory evaluation that full tasting notes would require. It’s a more roughshod and sloppy tasting experience. That said, it does it’s job in telling us which one we liked better. And as I would have expected going into the competition, Buffalo Trace, the most expensive entry in the competition, beat out Old Tub, the least expensive in the bunch.
Winner: Buffalo Trace is advancing to round 2.
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