Ancient Ancient Age 10 Star
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
45% ABV
about $20, but not readily available
Color: golden. For some reason, in the bottle it looks really ruddy/orange, but it pours just regular golden.
Smell: a little bit of heat, but overall pretty mild and approachable. This tends toward the "spicy" (cinnamon, oak) rather than "sweet" (caramel, vanilla) for me, but there is definitely a dusty corn smell that doesn't neatly fit in.
Taste: big sweetness upfront, with dusty corn as the predominant flavor. Little bit of oak kick on the transition/swallow, but the finish brings back the dusty corn again as the major "leave behind" flavor (short/medium finish).Overall: meh. I mean, it's a relatively good cheap bourbon, but it's nothing to write home about. I had heard that AA 10 year was a really good "stealth" bourbon, so I got really excited when I saw this on the bottom shelf of a liquor store. However, as you can see, this is the "10 Star" version (I'm assuming they dropped the age statement). The pros: no glaring faults, decent dusty corn sweetness and flavor, cheap. The cons: not very complex, pretty one-dimensional, short-finishing. So yeah, pick it up as a mixer or a cheap sipper, but don't expect anything jaw-dropping.
