Review: Weller Special Reserve Bourbon

Color (5%):  medium copper. Quite a bit of thinning at the edges. Faint green notes through the yellows and browns. 4/5

Nose (10%): Beautiful nutty caramel. Toffee honey, all the sugars. Light oak. Easily manageable alcohol burn. Nice and soft. 8/10

Palate (20%): The sweetness persists. Honey, caramel, vanilla. There's a light hint of dark fruit coming in over the oak. It's not overly complex, but this is easy drinking whiskey. The wheat keeps this fairly neutral and easygoing.  17/20

Finish (10%): Very mild on the finish. Spice is almost nonexistent. The sweetness stays throughout this experience, and the oak lingers when the other flavors fade. Easy drinking and pleasant, not overly nuanced, but so easy to drink. 8/10

Overall Impression and Harmony (30%): This belongs on everyone's shelf. Any friend who comes over who has ever enjoyed a whiskey will be happy with this whiskey. It's an easy sipper; even when neat, there's no aggression or fire. This would be tasty and served neat, in spirit-forward cocktails, or drinks like sours. I like this in a julep. Nowhere near the complexity of some whiskeys I've had, but this has zero flaws. 27/30

Retry on Ice (25%): Ice brings out the hidden spices and the oak. It makes it a bit more robust. The dilution may open up the oils. There are few changes, and no explosive innovations happen, but this stays good.  23/25

Total Ranking: 87% Legendary, Amazing, Great, Good, Fair, Average, Tolerable, Swill

Estimated Fair Price: $40

Actual Price: $25

Conclusion: Buy this whenever you can. In my market, it's relatively cheap. The first time I tried this whiskey, the bottle disappeared over a weekend between my wife and me. A few others in the wheated bourbon category compare to this whiskey, but they are a fair bit more expensive.  This is allocated, of course, but it's one of the few I happen to hunt. I try others, but I keep coming back to this gem. When this isn't around, a few others serve this role, with Maker's Mark as a prime example. For the money, in my market, especially with a 1.75L costing less than $40 this is a great deal. That's basically the same price as Wild Turkey, and this is such an easy sipper and a treat for guests. On the secondary market, I do see this for over $60; don't buy that or pay any obscene restaurant prices for a pour. If you can get it close to MSRP, buy it. 

Fact Sheet:

Distillery: Buffalo Trace

ABV: 45%

Review: Johnnie Blonde

Color (5%):  Very light, faint gold, no brown whatsoever. Faint greenish young hay hues. 3/5

Nose (10%): Lots of sweetness and fruitiness. Raspberries, crisp red apples, sweet corn/caramel corn. There is a bit of a young alcohol note, a bit sharp. 7/10

Palate (20%): Not as much red fruit on the palate as on the nose. There's more crispness of apple and pear. There's a faint, bready caramel pastry note coming through. Kind of crackery, bready overall, with some notes of red fruit. 16/20

Finish (10%): A soft finish. The wheated nature comes through here, making it fairly easy to session. Apple and pear carry through that malic acid is prevalent, which is rare in Scottish whiskey. Alcohol burn lingers longer than the flavor. Reminds me of a young bourbon, and I don't care for either. 5/10

Overall Impression and Harmony (30%): This is a little rough. There's a note of cardboard and cheap chewy crackers. There is some nice fruitiness, which might shine with some ice and soda water, but neat, this isn't exemplary. It's an experiment at best, and I don't mind a fruity scotch when talking about a port or sherry finish. But this is young and underdeveloped. I'm curious about mixing it, but this does not hold up in the neat scotch market.  18/30

Retry on Ice (25%): The alcohol burn is still here. The raw, crisp apple shifts into a bit more softened baked apple. A bit more citrus character comes in. improved certainly. This is not a sipping scotch, but it could be mixed up in a way that does it justice. On its own, with assistance and supplement, this is better.   20/25

Total Ranking: 87% Legendary, Amazing, Great, Good, Fair, Average, Tolerable, Swill

Estimated Fair Price: $40

Actual Price: $25

Conclusion: The name Johnnie Blonde makes some sense here. It matches the hue of the whiskey and how unaged this "scotch" is. Making a budget scotch is tricky, and this tries to reinvent the notion of what scotch can be with the incorporation of wheat and that extra fruit character. This is not a well scotch. It's fine. It's not great, even for the money. 

Fact Sheet:

ABV: 40%

Review: Ron del Barrilito 2 star

Color (5%): Light to medium body, with lots of thinning at the edges. Nice golden amber hue. There are darker aged rums, but this is on the younger side in used wood. 5/5

Nose (10%): Lovely heather honey and leather notes hit me first. Dried fruits like apricots come out. Dark orange and purple colors. Woody nuttiness comes through, almonds. A bit of funk carries through. Alcohol isn't that hot, but it is certainly there. A bit of acetone sharpness. I'm not looking forward to trying this neat, but I'll stay open-minded. 8/10

Palate (20%): I expected it to be worse. There's a nice tobacco note. Caramel sweetness makes you think that sugars are added after distillation, but the brand claims that is false. Caramelized walnuts, cedar wood, roasted coconut, and peppery spice. It's a bananas foster profile. Pair it with some French toast, maybe some salted caramel. 17/20

Finish (10%): It's a pretty hot burn. That banana funk does stick around. Lots of funky esters and alcohol burn. 6/10

Overall Impression and Harmony (30%): This is a decent daiquiri rum. I wouldn't put this in the sippable aged rums. At a stretch, maybe with ice, but not neat. I see the cocktail application, but there are aged rums out there that fit the neat, sippable bill for me, and this is not one of them. It has a home in the mixing rums family on a tiki bar shelf, but I wouldn't use this for rum and cokes or straight sipping. Let this guy sit on the shelf unless you're an aspiring bartender who wants to learn about tiki. 21/30

Retry on Ice (25%): Those funky notes pop out much more. Some of that caramel sweetness comes out. The oak and nuttiness fall away. It does get easier to sip.   22/25

Total Ranking: 79% Legendary, Amazing, Great, Good, Fair, Average, Tolerable, Swill

Estimated Fair Price: $24

Actual Price: $30

Conclusion:  This rum is fine. It's that nice funky banana gold rum that works well in cocktails. This is not a sipping rum, but it's easy to see beverage applications. Tiki cocktails could use this, and dessert old-fashioned cocktails with this in a split base. It'll probably take me a while to kill this bottle unless I'm intentionally depleting it. I might use it in a punch, but when I get home from work, I rarely want to put in the effort to make a complex cocktail. It'll be perfectly good for your cocktail needs but it needs other flavors to bring out the harmonies. 

Fact Sheet:

Distillery Location: Puerto Rico
Aged 3 to 5 years in white oak barrels that were previously used for aging Oloroso sherry
It's been made since 1804 by the oldest rum manufacturer in Puerto Rico
ABV: 43%

Review: Ron Zacapa Centenario 23 Solera Rum

Color (5%):  Very deep dark amber. Dark caramel. thinning to hay yellow at the edges. 3/5

Nose (10%): Nice brown sugary molasses sweetness. Nice purple dried fruits come through from those PX sherry casks, raisins, dates, and prunes. Faint spices come through, nutmeg and allspice. Mild oak comes through.  8/10

Palate (20%): Lots of sweetness, very sugary for an aged rum. I don't mean sugar flavor, I mean this is not dry, it is sweet. Artificial additives are allowed in rums and I suspect this is the case here. It's a dark caramel treacle sweetness. The fruit is less dried and more ripe or fermented. Notes of banana peel, powdered cocoa mix, walnut, dried orange peel, and bergamot. Not very much oak character. This is certainly used wood and it's not giving much fresh oak flavor. That bourbon doesn't present forward much at all. Fake caramel flavor and vanilla come through but toasted oak does not. 14/20

Finish (10%): Lots of nuts and dried fruit. Lingering molasses. The booziness does linger in the throat for quite a while. It's not overly harsh it just sticks around for ages. 8/10

Overall Impression and Harmony (30%): This is a pretty complex rum. Waves of flavors come and go washing over you. This is a bit sweet for my own taste. I could see it mixing incredibly well in daiquiris and tiki drinks. This is okay to sip neat but it is just too sweet for a typical whiskey drinker like me. I can't give it full marks but it is pretty good. I prefer unadulterated rums typically. 25/30

Retry on Ice (25%): That fake brown sugar flavor comes out even more over ice. Arguably worse than neat. I could see this rum in spirit-forward cocktails as a part of a split base with cognac or whiskey. That with some bitters could be nice. But when I don't like the sweetness and then the sweetness gets stronger. I feel like I'm going to get a headache from this. 17/25

Total Ranking: 75% Legendary, Amazing, Great, Good, Fair, Average, Tolerable, Swill

Estimated Fair Price: $38

Actual Price: $45

Conclusion:  Unfortunately this rum has been sweetened and has a misleading age statement. This is a solera-style aged rum so there is a tiny bit of 23-year-old aged rum in the bottle but it's not all 23 years old. Most of this rum is about 6 years old from what I gather, which is fine. Rum doesn't have the same legal restrictions on age statements as scotch so they are often misleading. If you do your research on the product or innately know what solera means you might not be fooled but when someone sees the number 23 on a bottle they get excited, especially when it's reasonably priced. This is a solid C. It's not impressive or top-tier in the rum world but it's not a failure. 

Fact Sheet:

Company: Diageo

Distillery Location: Guatemala

Aged in American Whiskey and various sherry casks

ABV: 40%

Review: Smoke Wagon Malted Straight Rye Whiskey (Batch no. 11G)

Color (5%): Medium thinning. Hay and faint copper. 4/5

Nose (10%): That does have that beautiful single malt nose that I missed from Red Brick. Awesome chocolatey notes over the freshly cooked barley. A bit of pepperiness from the rye comes around, but it's mainly chocolate-forward, which I love. The alcohol doesn't burn as much as expected from something so high-proof. There is a nice creaminess through it. 9/10

Palate (20%): Wow, that is a lot of chocolate and overproof. There are better ideas for the day's first sip, but I'll adjust. Nice light caramel sweetness. There is a great creamy body. This is well-refined. The barley is definitely taking over from the rye side of this. I wouldn't guess this was a rye if I tasted this blind. But I love American single malts. 18/20

Finish (10%): That burn hits you first and last, but in the middle, there is a sweet, creamy milk chocolate. I want to pair this with a salty dessert. That would really make this shine. There's a slight undertone of spice of cinnamon and pepper. Medium long duration. Nice and clean relative to the heat. 8/10

Overall Impression and Harmony (30%): This is quality stuff. It's been very well distilled. There's a great flavor coming from quality grains. I'm not getting a ton of aged character, but it obviously hung out in some wood with a decent char level but reasonable. They didn't overage it, and it's young enough. They landed in the sweet spot. This works great as an end-of-the-night slow sipper with some salted caramel chocolates on the side. I will be drinking this again. I promise you that. 27/30

Retry on Ice (25%): Ice really mutes the nose. The chocolate fades away, and some peppered honey pops out. The rye starts showing its face once those roasted flavors shrink. A lovely creamy finish is still mixed with soft milk chocolate, but that roasted bitter cocoa is gone. I want to try this on a big rock and watch it transform as I go. 23/25

Total Ranking: 89% Legendary, Amazing, Great, Good, Fair, Average, Tolerable, Swill

Estimated Fair Price: $74

Actual Price: $79

Conclusion: That 51:49 ratio confuses me. What's so important about being classified as a rye when you barely qualify. I can see a few rye elements coming through this whiskey, but it tastes like a single malt. It's quality stuff, misnamed. If you love porters, you will love this whiskey, so long as you can handle the strong stuff. I'm going to keep this bottle and share it with close friends. This is a special occasion sipper for me, and it likely merits discussion among enthusiasts. It's way better than the Uncut the Younger and arguably one of my favorite whiskeys I've tried so far this year. Definitely buy yourself a pour, or if you trust me, just grab a bottle. 

Fact Sheet:

51% Rye, 49% Barley

Distillery Location: Las Vegas, Nevada H&C Distilling Co

Bottled May 18, 2023

ABV: 57.92%

Review: Smoke Wagon Bottled in Bond Straight Rye Whiskey

Color (5%): Light amber and hay hues. Very low thinning at the edges. 4/5

Nose (10%): There's a nice rye spice and a big vanilla sweetness. That corn comes through in this rye. There's a bit of oak and cinnamon. Some orange peel comes in after some time. Nice and candy-like. Compared to the last few smoke wagons I've tried, the alcohol burn is all tolerable. 8/10

Palate (20%): The corn sweetness pops straight in there, a nice soft caramel. After all, corn is basically half the mashbill. I've tried the Small Batch, the standard Straight Bourbon, and the Uncut The Younger; this is the first rye in my portfolio. It's okay for a bonded rye. That menthol note pops in after a few sips but is less intense than other recent samples. The botanical notes are there but are milder: mint, pine, and green tea. Spice and oak are present but not dominant, with some faint cinnamon and allspice. 17/20

Finish (10%): The finish is smooth. There's minimal alcohol burn for the proof. There's a nice cake frosting sweetness. Medium duration. A bit of cinnamon hangs around. 7/10

Overall Impression and Harmony (30%): I'd like more oak here. This one's a bit young. Also, it's 2% away from not being rye whiskey at all. This would be called the sweetest and easiest if this was in a flight of rye whiskeys. It could be a stepping stone for someone to go from bourbon into the world of rye, but there are better examples of a typical rye. It's fine. I'm sure people will like it, but it has only one aspect that will make it anyone's favorite. If offered, I'll happily drink it, but I would pick something else if I want a rye whiskey. 22/30

Retry on Ice (25%): The sweetness from that corn really comes through when chilled down. A bit more allspice comes in. The mint gets milder but lingers a bit longer on the finish. Nothing elevated, but only a little was lost. 21/25

Total Ranking: 79% Legendary, Amazing, Great, Good, Fair, Average, Tolerable, Swill

Estimated Fair Price: $44

Actual Price: $65

Conclusion: Why pick this mash bill? 51% to 49%. There are many ways to stack flavors and layer in complexity and depth. Aging in Nevada heat is a new and experimental science, but this great distillery needs to do something to push the boundaries or excel at a price point that makes you wish they had dialed this in more. This whiskey is fine, but for $65, $70, even $80 in some markets, no. Smoke Wagon dipped its toe in the rye market, but they were not swimming with the champs here. I hope that they dial in a quality product, but this mash bill will never be the favorite of a rye lover, and at this price point, it won't be someone's new exploration at the bar, which brings in a new regular consumer. If you are offered this, try it. I don't need to spend the total price for a bottle or a glass. My favorite ryes are the ones that have been around for nearly a century or more, like Sazerac, or the ones that follow those roots but add a fun twist, like the Dad's Hat Port Finish. For the money, get something famous for their rye. 

Fact Sheet:

51% Rye, 49% Corn, maybe 51% Rye, 45% Corn, 4% Barley. There is an issue with labeling specific batches.

Distillery Location: Las Vegas, Nevada H&C Distilling Co

Aged at least 4 years

ABV: 50%

Review: El Dorado 3 Year Old

Color (5%):  Totally clear, minimal legs. All color has been filtered away. I don't penalize for that when that is the intention, though 5/5

Nose (10%): Nice creamy coconut and vanilla. Dried fruits and cocoa. It's a nice, nuanced "white" rum. There's an aged character, but it's been muted to add complexity compared to unaged white rums. 9/10

Palate (20%): Oh, that is interesting when served neat. Banana peel and candy sugar notes. White to light brown sugars. A bit of menthol comes through. It's a light-bodied rum in terms of alcohol burn. There's a bit of viscosity, but it's neither syrupy nor oily. Baked Girl Scout coconut cookies come in. It stays dry and fruity. It would go great in rummy cocktails: mojitos and the like. 18/20

Finish (10%): Very smooth. Very quick finish. Very little alcohol sharpness. This is crazy clean for what is intended to be used as a white rum for mixing purposes. The filtration does the job very well to keep it approachable. 9/10

Overall Impression and Harmony (30%): This is a complex "white" rum. Rum terminology regarding age statements, color, production region, spelling, and other variables must be clearer. This is an aged rum, but it's been filtered and thus has a clear hue, which could confuse some people. That said, compared to other white rums, this is a banger. Sipping a white rum neat is uncommon, but this isn't a struggle, and you can see how well it would work in cocktails. Mojitos would pop, as would daiquiris. I don't know how this would stand out in a complex tiki cocktail with other punchy flavors, but this can certainly shine, given the chance. 27/30

Retry on Ice (25%): That body still punches. This nuance will not fade in cocktails. Again, who sips white rum straight? But this is plenty good, with lots of complexity. Menthol pops out a bit more, and so does coconut. That herbaceous quality pops in a big way. The sugars were never that prominent, but they don't fade away or become overbearing.   22/25

Total Ranking: 90% Legendary, Amazing, Great, Good, Fair, Average, Tolerable, Swill

Estimated Fair Price: $32

Actual Price: $18

Conclusion:  In my market, a 750 of Bacardi Superior costs about $15, with a 1.75 going for about $22. There's never an occasion to save that 3 dollars for that sacrifice of quality. If you are making jungle juice for a frat party. But even in a rum and coke, spend 3 bucks on this every time. I can't name a better white rum I've ever had, and this price point is more than reasonable. Buy it. That's it, buy it. 

Fact Sheet:

Distillery Location: Guyana

ABV: 40%