Bowman Brothers Small Batch Bourbon

My rating in the bourbon world as a -whole- for this would be closer to 3.25 or so. My rating of 4.0 here reflects how I feel about it given its pricepoint and availability to me. How to review such a bourbon? It's simple. It's straightforward. It doesn't really do anything that'll raise the eyebrows of those that constantly have high age barrel strength yadda-yaddas and whatnots. But where this shines is its real -balance-. There's reward here for those that try to dissect something lower proof and search for those notes. They're in there. This tiptoes a fine line between sweet, apple, brown sugar, etc. with a little side dish of some rye spice flavors in the cinnamon-esque world. This is nice. If you like what Buffalo Trace bourbon does, if you like what Blanton's bourbon does, give this a run. Hell, if you have both of those, blind sample this with them. I bet you'll surprise yourself. Anyway it's good, pick one up.

This is a really nice little bourbon. I’m usually drawn to the more aggressive and extreme flavors but this is great in the opposite direction. Its really nice to drink a standard bourbon without any unusual flourished executed so well. This would be a great way to get a non-bourbon drinker into the spirit. It’s not weak by any means either. Not many spirits I’ve had manage to be this inoffensive and still have distinct personality. Spicy and sweet in all the right ways. Add a little in to your apple pie before you bake it.

A- light gold N- sweet vanilla, delicate oak, licorice. P- sweet oak that lingers, fades into vanilla, cherry laffy taffy, super sweet tobacco, 2 flavor profiles that are A+ combination. M- medium body, nice lingering flavor coats the mouth. Its not super complex but the front lingers and the end fades in nicely and both are fantastic. O- overall maybe the best for the money bourbon I've had. Was expecting Buffalo Trace kind of vibes. This in my opinion is way better. Should be a 40-45 dollar bottle. What a treat.

It'd delicate, likely thanks to the third distillation. It has a fun story and really rates high for me. It won't blow you away with flavor, but rather pleasantly surprises you with subtlety. It's a Buffalo Trace cousin, and really performs well at a great $35 price point. I'd put it up against Eagle Rare 10yr or Elmer T. Lee any day in a blind tasting, and it would probably win half the time. If you dislike Irish Whiskey, some of the notes might put you off.

Nose: tobacco, mint, leather, caramel Palate: sweet corn, vanilla, honey drizzled on bread Finish: more sweet corn, honey, mint Value: A, This isn’t the most complex bourbon and is probably the lowest quality I would consider drinking straight. The mouthfeel is a bit thin but it has a pleasant hefty nose of leather and tobacco and the finish is short and quite sweet. It’s not complex at all but with such a low price tag in VA it’s easily worth the money.

The nose is sweet. Apple. Sugar. Vanilla. The palate contains heavier caramel notes and dark caramel. It starts with that fruit and vanilla before going into that caramel and the arrival of that spice note. Sort of a medium mouthfeel. The flavor notes are what you would expect going into a standard bourbon. It does everything right. The increased rye in the mashbill gives it a nice edge of spice, specifically on the finish.