Received for Review: Bulleit 10 Bourbon

This is an older version of the standard Bulleit, which the internet tells me is aged for 4-6 years and is actually made by Four Roses.  The standard Bulleit is one of my favorite $20ish bourbons.  It has a high rye mash bill, which gives it some bite.  Side by side, the standard is quite tame.  The 10 year has it's bite in the fore, with a really pleasant finish.  The standard is sort of the opposite.  Nice sweet flavor at first with a kick in the teeth finish.  The 10 year retails for around $45.

So...

• Is it better?  Yes.  I like it a lot.
• It costs twice as much, is it twice as good?  No, but it is in the ballpark.
• Is it worth $45?  The times they are a changing.  I've paid more for much worse, and the craft distillery revolution has certainly muddled things when it comes to determining what something should cost.  I am officially waffling on this question.  I didn't pay for it.

Colonel E.H. Taylor Barrel Proof

My original review of Colonel Taylor's Single Barrel was someone tepid.  It really started to grow on me as I experimented with adding water and it has become one of my favorite whiskeys.  It will come as no surprise that I recommend diluting the 134.5 proof version by about 2/3 whiskey to 1/3 water.

If you do taste it neat, it is good, but then your tongue starts to sizzle and your epiglottis threatens to have a warp core breach.  When that happens, you have to separate the saucer section and in the end Captain Kirk dies a lame death.  Add some water.

Adding some water brings out the spices you would expect from this high rye content bourbon.  The sweet vanilla honey bourbon notes are there in the finish.

$70.  Highly recommended.

Smooth Ambler Old Scout

This is a bourbon from the Smooth Ambler Distillery in West-By-God.  Except, it is not from West-By-God.  It is from Indiana.  It is a sourced whiskey, hence "scout".  We all know the scout's motto: be prepared, with a 99 proof bourbon.

That is all fine and dandy, but the important question is does it taste good?  The important answer is yes.  It is spicy and somewhat rye forward.  Nice minty notes, especially if you dilute it with a splash of water.

W.H. Harrison Whiskey

Indiana has made a habit of sending their best to Columbus.  See Oden, Gregg, Connely, Michael Jr, Thomas, Deshawn... I could go on all day.

Now they have sent us their bourbon.  This bourbon is named after William Henry Harrison, who also started his career in Indiana, before seeing the light and moving to Ohio.  He was elected the 9th President of the USA and promptly died of pneumonia 32 days after taking the office.

I've looked at some of the bourbon message boards, and there is a bit of a kerfuffle about whether or not they are distilling it in Indiana, or just bottling it there.  I personally could care less.

This is a very corn forward bourbon.  There is a bit of orange, vanilla and cinnamon.  Not extremely complex, but satisfying.

I will give them credit.  If we zoom in on the label, we can see that one noxious Indiana ingredient has not infected this product.  100% Tom Crean Free.  Which also means that it is Harbaugh free, once removed.