Bourbon

Old Charter 8 Year Old Bourbon Review

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Time for a look into something quite affordable – Old Charter 8 year old bourbon.  My buddy Scott wants to see reviews of less expensive bourbon, or “bottom shelf bourbon” as he put it.   I guess he’s hoping I’ll rate these much lower than the expensive stuff.  Here’s the thing – being on the bottom shelf doesn’t automatically make it a bad bourbon.  I have a saying:  ” There’s no such thing as bad bourbon.”  There’s okay bourbon, and there’s bourbon that’ll knock your socks off.  I’m excluding blended whiskies – I’m specifically talking about straight bourbon whiskey.  This leads me to Old Charter 8 year old.  I’ve seen it on the bottom shelf most places I go, but I don’t think it belongs there.

Old Charter is put out by Buffalo Trace.  It uses the distillery’s Mashbill #1, the same one used for George Stagg, Eagle Rare and Buffalo Trace bourbons.  This one is 8 years old and 80 proof.  There used to be older variations of Old Charter, but now we’re down to this 8 year old.  Buffalo Trace also puts out a 101 proof.  Getting your hands on a bottle that says “Aged 8 Years” maybe be a little hard – the company has removed the age statement from the label and that version is hitting shelves. I’m not sure if they taste the same or not. I’ve only tasted the 8 year old version.

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I get some light caramel and oak, and a little bit of alcohol fumes.  There’s an overall lightness in the aroma.  Taste-wise, it’s pretty smooth and has a nice medium body at 80 proof.  There’s the standard bourbon caramel sweetness and very light oak.   Even a little depth with some butterscotch flavor, but nothing like its flavorful older brother Eagle Rare.  The finish is light and bittersweet.

Thus far, this is a really nice “smooth” sipping whiskey… definitely better than Gentleman Jack.  I find it pretty palatable.  Great for sipping neat or an ice cube.  I wouldn’t add water to it.  Personally I wouldn’t mix it in a cocktail either.  I prefer a little bit more “bite” in my cocktails, and I don’t think Old Charter can offer that.  I picked up a bottle of this for about $17.

7/10

Eagle Rare 17 Year Old Bourbon Whiskey (2014) Review

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Buffalo Trace releases two bourbons that carry the Eagle Rare name:  an almost readily available 10 year old version and this 17 year old entry in the Antique Collection.  Bourbon enthusiasts who prefer lower proof bourbon may reach for this before going for a much higher proof George Stagg or William Larue Weller.  Buffalo Trace provided a review sample.

This one’s really nice.  I get mostly caramel and oak, but not too much oak, when I smell this.  Taste-wise, I get some oak, some spices (cinnamon and a little nutmeg) and caramel.  It’s buttery:  not in the flavor, but the way it feels.  The finish is a little spicy, bittersweet, and a little dry (probably because of the oak).

I liked the 10 year old the last couple of times I drank it.  It’s great for the <$30 price tag.  Eagle Rare 17 year old is an outstanding boubon.  Elegant and refined, it keeps the oak in check.  Price-wise, this will set you back $80.  If you’re looking for an occasional special sipper, this one is worth checking out.

UPDATE:  According to Buffalo Trace’s fact sheets, this year’s Eagle Rare 17 year old bourbon is actually 19 years old.  There were only 26 barrels of this bourbon batched for this release, making Eagle Rare 17 along with Sazerac 18 the rarest of this year’s collection.

9/10

William Larue Weller Bourbon Whiskey (2014) Review

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William Larue Weller is the only wheated bourbon in the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection.  In essence, this is a barrel proof W. L. Weller 12 year old, which is not a bad thing.  I’m sure this release gets choice barrels from the W. L. Weller line of whiskies.  A wheated bourbon means wheat is used as the flavoring grain instead of the more common rye.  Maker’s Mark and the Van Winkle bourbons are all wheated bourbons.  Mr. Weller is credited with being the first distiller to use wheat instead of rye for bourbon back in the mid-1850s.

This year’s release of William Larue Weller is a hellish 140.2 proof.  That’s the highest proof this bourbon’s ever been.  It’s even higher than this year’s George T. Stagg… if only by a couple of proof points.  Buffalo Trace Distillery provided a review sample.

When I take a nice big whiff of this bourbon, I get lots of alcohol and caramel.  When I take a smaller whiffs, I get LOTS of caramel and toffee, as well as a little oak.  Tasting it there’s a lot of sweet caramel, baking spices like cinnamon and cloves, and toffee.  The finish is sweet and dry.  While the high proof does come into play in terms of spice and heat, I find it slightly more palatable to drink neat when compared to George T. Stagg.  Adding water to this calms down the heat and really brings out the sweetness.

Make no mistake, this is one delicious bourbon.  Being a member of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection means it’ll be very hard to find in stores.  If the planets align and you run across a bottle, pick it up for the $80 suggested retail price.

9/10