Single Barrel Bourbon
50% ABV
$50 (but potentially tough to find)
Color:
Light, golden with a tangerine tinge.
Smell:
Sweet, caramel corn. It's not a gigantic or overpowering nose, but it's lovely. This isn't one of those bourbons where I pick up a ton of oak, vanilla, or spices. Rather, it hits me with pretty straightforward sweetness: caramel, brown sugar, honey - those types of notes.
Taste:
Really, really nice. Definitely a smooth entry on the tongue with the sweet notes from the nose showing up, but it's got more than just sweetness - the first thing I can think of is "dusty corn," which I realize may sound far-fetched. Picture eating candy corn in an old quiet library, with the smell of old dusty volumes in the background - something like that. The finish has a pleasant but smooth blast of heat, and the aftertaste (which is surprisingly long) brings some oak along with that dustiness.Overall:
I love it. This is delicious bourbon, and I think it's a great example of light/fresh bourbon that lets the corn and sweetness shine without any super overpowering oak influence - just a hint of really well-integrated spiciness/dustiness. If you're new to the category or want to introduce a friend to great smooth bourbon, this would be perfect. I think it's worth every penny of $50, but you may have a tough time locating a bottle. I picked mine up on the back part of a shelf in a Dupont Circle liquor store, and it had clearly been sitting there for a while. I haven't seen it since, but your luck may vary depending on where you live.
What others have said (keep in mind it's a single barrel expression, so taste will vary):
Bill at Modern Thirst rates it 90/100, and prefers it to Blanton's (the bourbons share the same Buffalo Trace mash bill), calling it "a very similar bourbon done just a touch better…like a more refined big brother."
Jason Pyle at Sour Mash Manifesto rates RH Farms 9.0/10 (Outstanding/Superb) and notes:
"Overall: Rock Hill Farm is a tremendous bourbon that really doesn’t get its due. It has depth and layers of flavor that Blanton’s didn’t quite measure up to. More than anything I enjoyed the balance of grain and fruit that shines through."
Mike Flaminio at Whiskey Lately comes down pretty hard on Rock Hill Farms, noting the following flavors:
"Atomic fireballs, cinnamon. Cherries. Burnt sugar, toffee. Hot alcohol, solvents, acrid. Corn sweetness. Oak and medium astringency. Some water cools down the burn, but doesn’t seem to help other flavors. Acrid alcohols seem to still linger in the finish."
Hopefully he just got a bad bottle, but interesting to see the variation possible in single barrel whiskies, even from someplace as good as Buffalo Trace!
