Single Barrel Bourbon Whiskey
46.5% ABV
$45-50
(dumped 9/29/14 from barrel 903, stored in warehouse 14, rick 31)
Color:
Gold
Smell:
Damn, this smells good. I get a lot of corn sweetness and caramel notes, but not a lot of oakiness. I guess there's something a bit spicy to it, but mostly sweet and seductive. In a word, it smells fresh.
Taste:
Really nice initial front-of-the-mouth sweetness. Again, corn and caramelshining through for me. As I hold it in my mouth and let some air in (by making ridiculous wine taster slurping sounds), I notice an oaky spiciness starting to coat my tongue and the roof of my mouth. This transitions to the back of my throat upon swallowing.
Finish:
Nice brief burn upon swallowing, but the cracked corn/honey aroma quickly comes rushing back into my mouth/nose. No huge lingering flavors past this initial rush...it all dissipates pretty quickly. That said, it leaves me thirsty for more!
Overall:
This is really nice whiskey. I'd imagine that Blanton's varies somewhat from barrel to barrel, but they seem to be aiming at a very approachable, sweeter bourbon style. It's a little one-dimensional with the sweet corn nose and palate with just a little spice on the finish, but it's a very approachable bourbon and a fine choice to introduce someone to the category. This isn't "ponder the universe" whiskey, but it's delicious and I highly recommend it.
What others have said (note this will vary barrel to barrel):
Josh Peters at The Whiskey Jug rates it 89/100, picking up spice, caramel, maraschino, cinnamon, and vanilla on the nose, tastes of caramel, spice, citrus, cinnamon, vanilla, and oak, with a short finish of corn, caramel, malt, and wood.
Mike Flaminio at Whiskey Lately provides some interesting background on Blanton's and ultimately rates is 3.5/5.0 and "excellent." Fruit jumped out to him on the nose, with mild char flavors, caramel, vanilla, light toffee, and other things coming through in the mouth.
Jason Pyle at Sour Mash Manifesto rated it 8.7/10 (very good/excellent), noting that it is "a wonderful expression of a rye recipe bourbon full of grain and barrel aromas and flavors."
