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.

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