Blanton's Original Single Barrel

I just got done reviewing Benchmark Single Barrel Bourbon, which carries a community rating of 3.5 on Distiller. I made a point to say that community ratings are pretty decent at aggregating sentiment and offering a relatively accurate point of view, but they're using .25 to .50 off in any given direction, since people get hyperbolic both about the things they do like and the things they don't, which skews the rankings. Blanton's is one of those that people get overly excited about beyond measure. And for decent reason, it's a good pour. I had it first back in 2012 or so, and at that point, it was indeed the best bourbon I've ever tasted. I didn't realize at the time how difficult it was to come by because it was a birthday gift and also maybe because it wasn't quite as hard to get in 2012. I like the design, I kept the horse cork. Cut to 14 years later. Blanton's is allocated. Maybe I'm not being fair because I have a bias against allocated shit. That doesn't mean I don't buy it when I see it because, living in PA, state stores are not permitted to overcharge at secondary market prices, so I can get Eagle Rare for $35, Blanton's for $60, Weller for SRP. So I buy it because I know I'm getting good product at a decent price. At the same time, I can't help but wonder about $60 for Blanton's. I can get Larceny Barrel Proof for that price. I can get ECBP for a few dollars more (hey there, Clint Eastwood), and frankly, now that 14 years have passed, I've had better. But I was at the state store in April last year, saw they had Blanton's behind the counter, and since they let you buy two, I bought two. I love the copy on the box, "The finest bourbon in the world comes from a single barrel," and "And that is why Blanton's is to bourbon what the finest single malts are to scotch and the rarest cognacs are to brandy." Um, no, and no. I mean, maybe the finest bourbons do, in the end, come from single barrels, but I've had Knob Creek Single Barrels much better than Blanton's. And honestly, the scotch comparison, well, I do prefer me some Islay, any Islay (maybe not Laphroaig select, but anything else) to Blanton's. Yet, they get me with their allocation scheme. I still fall prey to them making it a rare bird. People love to think they're above marketing but they're not. You're not, I'm not. Even when we're aware of their tricks, there is something subconscious going on that's like a tractor beam. So, notes, right? It's fucking bourbon. I get tired of notes sometimes. There's lesser and greater levels of complexity, but bourbons are going to have vanilla, caramel and oak. That's all here. Having mentioned Benchmark, the notes here of the same flavors are better than they are with benchmark, stronger, more prominent. Blanton's has a creaminess on the nose akin to a root beer float. French vanilla ice cream, a bit of root beer tang. The plate is fruity with stone fruit notes, peach, nectarines, juciy summertime fruits, as well as those bourbon notes, vanilla and caramel. The finish is mellow with the fruit becoming more prominent than the vanilla and caramel, adding not a touch of spice, like so many finishes but of sweetness. I mean, I guess I'm getting cynical because so many companies know how to produce good interesting spirits that even if Blanton's was special once, it's not really so special now. Is it delicious? Certainly. It punches it's weight. Does it deserve a 4.25 community rating: I would say that's hyperbolic. People happy that when they get their hands on it, it is in fact really good. But there are better bourbons that are more widly available, and with the market expanding and expanding and expanding, you don't really have to pay that much to get stuff to equal this. Blanton's seems to persist on scarcity and a myth of its own making which you can read about on the back of the box. They've hypnotized us with their legacy to make us think they're something special. They may once have been, but now, not so much.

Perhaps the single case where a funky bottle is not just marketing shouting “pick me! Pick me!”, though it might have been back in the day. Aside from that, what more can the collective “we” say? It’s great; it’s overpriced; it’s unobtainable; it ain’t like it used to be; it ain’t so good. Me, I’m in the “great” camp. I’ll go a step further: as a quantitatively qualitative guy, I’m preoccupied with the fact that any spirit, any wine, or anything else for that matter is not a univariate entity with its own intrinsic characteristics alone, but is part of a larger system of inputs that affect it. Tonight we pair Blanton’s with coffee ice cream from Mr. Frosty’s, the local ice cream haunt. It’s said that coffee beans are a neutralizer when tasting wine, for example. In this case, it just tastes good, and I’ve already written three wine tasting notes, so I wanted ice cream. And Blanton’s. So here we go. It’s as if I’ve put on polarized glasses and I can see beneath the surface. And the sunglasses are brown lenses, which makes everything look technicolor. That’s what Mr. Frosty’s coffee ice cream does to Blanton’s. Like Emeril, it kicks it up a notch. There is more oak. More caramel. More chocolate-covered cherries. More pipe tobacco. More saddle leather. In a previous review I called Blanton’s the “Mercedes E-Class of bourbon”—not ostentatious or showy, but doing its job very well. Mr. Frosty’s coffee ice cream transforms the standard E-Class into the AMG E63. Bad-ass. These strange-bedfellow comparisons date back to a seminal moment in my whiskey history: that time when I experienced a true Eureka moment and found what a certain beer did to a certain Scotch whisky…but I’ll save that for a later review. As for Blanton’s, I’ve got plenty in inventory, and replenish if I see one at the right price. You cannot drink (and collect) bourbon without Blanton’s. An easy 4.5 on the Distiller scale.

SELECTED BY // Spec’s NEAT NOSE - Very pleasant nose. Quintessential bourbon. Vanilla, soft oak, honey, and caramel. PALATE - All notes from the nose carry over to the palate with a hint of orange. The mouthfeel is nice and oily. FINISH - The slightest hint of rye spice on the end with more fading notes from the palate. The finish is medium in length. BUY? If you’ve never had a bottle, then yes. It’s hard to say not pick one of these up even if you’ve had pours at bars. I do hate the price increase from $60 to $90-100. It’s honestly not worth anything north of $70 so $90 is really pushing it. BUY AGAIN? - I’d rather have Blanton’s Gold even though I don’t think that’s worth it at MSRP either. At the end of the day, this is really good bourbon that’s not worth the price tag Buffalo Trace has put on it now. Nonetheless, I may buy a bottle once a year but my days of hunting for this are far gone.

Was out of town recently and while hunting spotted a bottle at a below-market price ($75). Cheaper than by the pour at a local bar, by far. So I picked it up. What more is left to say? I did find the official Distiller review odd: how can a bourbon with the "complexity" that is noted only be an 89? I get caramel apple, pomander, vanilla, spearmint, licorice on the nose. Slightly viscous mouthfeel. 93 proof is well-integrated. Finish is medium-to-long with coffee and oak. Would I buy it again? Yes. Especially when out of town and I have no access to my inventory back home. 4.5 on the Distiller scale. Dump date 9-12-25. Bottle 53 of barrel 714, warehouse H, rick 55.

One of my favorites! Always tastes right for the moment. 6-8yr, 93 proof (would prefer higher proof, i have to find “straight from the barrel) NOSE: like a loaf of freshly baked sourdough wafting… vanilla ice cream TASTE: I always think of raisins and dried fruit when i think of Blanton’s… toffee chew… good balance of sweet and wood. 2-3 drops of water mute the sweetness but heighten the spice. The finish is like a hot tamale returning to give your tongue a gentle nibble of cinnamon. 3 toppers so far!

Dumped on 1/23/25 from barrel number 479, Warehouse H, Rick 70. The bottle is beautifully crafted and feels premium. The nose on this pour was slighly medicinal with notes of cherry and vanilla. The taste was initially rich and oaky with a burn that transitioned into a smooth finish. The aftertaste contained chocolate and spices reminiscent of a traditional Mexican “café de olla”.