Lazy River Kentucky Straight Bourbon

I have a friend who has a wife, who is kind of famous (infamous?) for not following through on doing what she says she will. It's kind of a running gag that can end in anything from laughs to eye rolls and heavy sighs, or outright frustration and arguments. After sending her to Total Wine with a mission to bring back either Green Spot and Redbreast 12 (you never know which will be in stock these days....) we were shocked to find this as her haul. How did Lazy River Bourbon take the place of our beloved Green Spot or Redbreast 12?! (This is why you don't ask for help at Total Wine unless you know exactly what bottle you are looking for. Because if you agree to their help, they will direct you to some "Spirits Direct" drivel they claim is exactly like the thing you are asking for, except its almost guaranteed to be anything but and overpriced for what it is. The plus side of visiting Total Wine is that if you do find what you're looking for, it's usually a few dollars cheaper than anywhere else.) So, since Lazy River Bourbon is what we're stuck with, let's see how it fairs.... Well, some internet sleuthing reveals next to nothing about this bourbon. It's distilled in Kentucky, and bottled in Fairfield, CA at 45% ABV. Frank-Lin Distillers doesn't even list it on their product page - what gives? It used to be aged for 4 years but Distiller lists it as NAS so that doesn't give me a lot of hope. My friend's wife paid $30. Was it $30 too much? Nose: The ethanol burn is overpowering and overshadows the sweet corn and vanilla hiding underneath. I let this sit for awhile but its still sharp. The corn has transitioned into corn bread and cold, vanilla-infused marshmallows intended for making rice krispies treats except they sat too long. Little bit of muddled spice. Unlike the two Irish drams I mentioned previously, there's a lot of heat, little balance, and no fruitiness or other facet to be found. Palate: Thankfully not as much heat as I was fearing. Mouthfeel is a bit softer than I was expecting - low rye mash bill, and perhaps some wheat? I don't know of any distillers with wheat in their mash bills that would offload this though, so I'm going with low rye. It has a cheap, toffee sweetness (I'm calling it cheap because it doesn't have the rich, decadent, buttery sweetness I'd like to see in toffee). There's something off-putting in the midpalate that reminds me of really raw peanuts. Not the musty peanut shells I've tasted in Beam products, but something greener or under-ripe. There's a quick pulse of spice but it's not the duration or intensity I'd like to see, and an utter lack of fruitiness or other flavor profile . Simply put, this is sweet, vanilla heat with a bit of barrel and spice. Finish: Medium length, with lots of heat on the return. The sweetness lingers, along with woody astringency and some barrel char. Verdict: This is not terrible, and it certainly wasn't $30 burned, but to be honest, this is pretty lackluster bourbon. Excessive heat and devoid of complexity or character. I imagine this would be perfectly acceptable to sip in the summer time with an ice cube, but I don't think it would stand up to mixing and I'm bored with it neat. I'm glad it's 45% ABV, because any lower and you might not be able to tell what you're drinking. I'm torn between a 3.0 (it's pretty average, 75+) and 2.75 (it's also pretty boring,

Rating: 10/23 I've given this some time to breathe. N: Apples, light caramel, sweet cereal, sour mash, minerals, spices (cinnamon). It's an adequate nose, but it's boring. P: Sweet with somewhat light caramel with hints of butterscotch. Cinnamon, mineral, a bit of tartness, and faint cereal. There's really too much mineral though and it's too lightly flavored. There isn't anything that tastes bad in here though. F: The mineral comes out more here and the cinnamon burn lingers. Hints of caramel and cereal remain. Not actively bad, but certainly not very good. This is absolutely not a bad bourbon. There's nothing objectionable to it, but there isn't anything good either. It isn't interesting or rich or much of anything. Evan Williams White and Ezra Brooks are both richer and neither of those is what I would really consider a rich whiskey. Evan Williams White is also more complex and interesting. I personally also refer the more candy-like profile of Ancient Age, but I can totally understand anyone liking the profile that this has better. I think that the quality is pretty close to that of Early Times. Considering how this compares with those other bourbons, I think it has to be a 10 or 11. I'm going with 10, which is what I gave Early Times. There's just no way that this is worth $30.

Got a little suckered into this by the Total Wine rep who was clearly interested in clearing shelf space. Told it was Bardstown Bourbon product, the rye mashbill (not the whetaed Bottled-in-Bond that seems to drive the people crazy), but neither confirming nor having tried the Origin series, I can’t compare. I can say this is somewhat average, maybe even bland, to musty/funky, with a mild corn nose and finish that is best described as “non-existent-to-vanishing”. But it’s certainly good enough as a mixer, or a “I don’t wanna drink the good stuff tonight, but then this is here, too,” or a bourbon-on-ice if I’m with someone who just likes “a goddamn drink, I don’t give a rat’s ass, I don’t give a RAT’s ass!” It’s that kind of bottle. No regrets, outside of budgetary opprtunity cost, but it’s definitely not a repeat buy. Side bar: I otherwise like BBC fusion quite a bit.

Tried both neat and with a liiiitle bit of ice. I do not recommend the ice, it did not clarify flavors for the added dilution (not much od an explosions of flavour to begin with). Nose : apple, sweet, spicy. Palate : not much depth or evolution. Honey sweetness, a bit of oak, cinnamon spice, some of the rye flavours come through but not overpowering. Finish : low-medium length, cinnamon lingers, wood dryness. Overall : not bad, would not buy again though. Better choices are available at the price point.

Tasting neat. Nose is bright with light caramel, honey, light oak, some spice and ethanol. First taste is light and fairly bright. It builds on the nose of light sugars and honey, oak, vanilla, and alcohol with mild grass/hay, general baking spices, moderate tartness, that lasts through the finish along with some lightly roasted cocoa Overall fairly mild and much more complex after you let it breathe. Better as the glass/bottle empties

The nose starts out like Everclear and with sharp bright notes, but fades into more enjoyable evergreen, dusty corn, and brown sugar, cotton candy tastes. The palate matches the nose with it being bright, young, and sappy, then honey sweet. The finish is bitter and morphs into a sweetness. The motif of this whiskey is it starts bad then hides behind a sweet disguise. I don’t recommend it.