Cabin Still Bourbon

I was reading on the web about the Old Cabin Still bourbon that was made by the Stitzel-Weller distillery. Norton Simon messed up a huge amount of their own whiskey and ended up purchasing Stitzel-Weller in 1972 due the the decline in whiskey sales and people wanting other types of drink. They slowly dumped this bad whiskey into the bottom line brand Old Cabin Still. This was the end for Old Cabin Still. Heaven Hill purchased this brand in 1993 but they do not even list it on their website or promote it in any way. I saw a bottle of this and just had to give it a try for 10 bucks. From what I read it used to be a wheated bourbon but now is a regular bourbon at 80 proof, probably the regular Heaven Hill house mashbill. It is fully matured for thirty-six months (that is what is says on the bottle). I am surprised how decent it really is. Yeah I know it is a very bottom shelf but it actually has some good flavor.

I came into this one with low expectations. Putting my olfactory senses to the test, I got caramel and vanilla on the nose. This was a little sour on the palate--perhaps yeast-like, young, and watered down. The finish was very quick. I've been buying a handful of products that can trace their roots back to the Stitzel-Weller distillery during its glory days of producing several wheated bourbons. While Cabin Still fits the bill on that account, it's my understanding that this is no longer a wheater. As other reviewers have pointed out, it's also no longer a straight bourbon. Cabin Still does not rank amongst my favorite whiskeys, but it's not bad. This is certainly good enough for me to use as a weekday pour. There's nothing wrong with it per se. It's just not very exciting.

Nose - Faint cherry cough syrup, wet cardboard, vanilla cherry diet coke in that there's this artificial sweetness smell to it. Taste - Hits the tongue with a bitter oak, cinnamon spice. Very thin mouthfeel. Hint of bitterness like over roasted honey peanuts with the skin on in that it's kind of sweet, but a little bitter from burnt sugar. A little tannic like you've bit into a peach/nectarine pit by accident, but has more of a dark pit fruit taste like a underripe cherry or plum. Finish - There's a lingering short bitterness that fades into a cinnamon spice. You then get this sort of unpleasant damp cardboard/wood taste with a dry bitterness. 60/100

Watch the label. Cabin Still is no longer a Straight Bourbon Whiskey, aged 36 months. It has been, for a while now, a Bourbon Whiskey with Natural Flavors added. No age date, and in this case that doesn't mean 4 years. If you liked the original Cabin Still and you happen to find an "old" bottle lurking in some store, better buy it!

Paint thinner and corn on the nose. Fairly sweet with an odd mixture of spice notes. Harsh finish. At best would merit half a star. I do not recommend this whiskey.

Mild aroma, medium sweet taste, relatively smooth. Nothing to write home about but decent enough to sip on when your budget is tight.