James Ownby Reserve Tennessee Straight Bourbon

This is a wonderful creamy caramel/vanilla bomb!!! Probably and silky throughout the whole sip and taste. Notes of vanilla and caramel (even a vanilla cake), coupled with cinnamon spice & nutmeg. Reminds me of a wonderful piece of warm pumpkin pie spice cake!! Obviously, for my aforementioned description, it is smooth and silky from start to finish. The taste does leave me with a comfortably warm finish on the middle of my tongue and drifting towards the top of my throat. However, it is way overbearing, intrusive, or distasteful. Has a Kentucky bourbon guy, this is an incredible nugget in worthy of pursuing in order to enjoy for sips to come! To me, this is what charcoal mellowing should do to a bourbon/whiskey.

Gave this a shot… because why not. I’ve had plenty of blue flame and the blackberry and peaches in the past… so this has to be about as good as those right? Wrong, it’s substantially better. This is a surprisingly pleasant bourbon. Sooo much burnt sugar, caramel, rich fun sweetness with a lasting candied sugar finish. This bourbon follows the Lincoln county process (Like JD, and a few other knockoffs), but still comes out to an impressive 94 proof. Like I said, very sweet yet well refined bourbon that actually stands pretty well from a distillery known for clear cheap party juice. Glad I got to try this.

NOSE Caramel, oak, herbal notes and baking spice with a bit of vanilla, copper and dried fruit. Smells quite nice. It isn’t heavy or deep, but all out pleasant. PALATE Caramel, watery wood (chewed up toothpick), dried corn, herbal, baking spice and bits of citrus peels, copper and dried fruit. Not nearly as good as the aroma, but still fairly tasty despite coming through a bit raw and “toothpicky”. FINISH Medium -> Dried corn, vanilla, wood and a bit of spice and minerality.

This Tennessee Straight Bourbon bottled by Gatlinburg’s Ole Smoky Distillery is named for James Ownby, the fifth-generation great-grandfather of Ole Smoky founder Joe Baker. The nose has notes of honey, brown sugar, oak, cocoa, tobacco, and hints of apples and peaches. The taste starts out light and sweet, followed by a spicy bite of clove and cinnamon with honey, vanilla, and baking chocolate underneath. The finish is long and dry with a lingering spiciness

As a Tennessee whiskey it isn't bad, but it says bourbon on the label, and that is how it's being judged. It's sweet, tastes of vanilla and burnt sugar, not very complex. That burnt sugar really hangs on at the end, but at 90 proof it doesn't burn like i thought it would, probably due to the charcoal filtering. It's better than Jack Daniels, but falls on it's face against entry level bourbon

Wow this is as smooth as a slip n slide on an August day. Great brown sugar and vanilla flavor. A little bite on the end to let you know it's above proff. But damn I'm liking this, but as always don't listen to my review or any others, try it for yourself and you be the judge. Cheers