Rebel 100 Kentucky Straight Bourbon

I've been chasing after bourbons that can trace their roots to the products produced at the Stitzel-Weller distillery during the 20th century. I haven't heard great things about the 80-proof Rebel Bourbon. So, I decided to skip over that and try Lux Row's 100-proof selection. I poured approximately 0.5 fl.oz. into a shot glass and let it sit for about 15 minutes. I picked up fresh bread and caramel on the nose right away. Oak and ethanol followed with a hint of vanilla as well. This was my first foray into the world of triple digit proof whisk(e)y. On the palate, the additional proof, which I'm definitely not used to, hit me as I sipped this neat. Right away, I detected cinnamon, and there's some peanut hovering around there too that I occasionally tasted. The cinnamon didn't last long, and it gave way to caramel and a good amount of heat in a medium-length finish. I am biased towards Larceny Small Batch, but this is a very good #2 option of a wheater for me. Also, I like this a lot more than the main Maker's Mark offering.

Overall: Interesting offering. Certainly cant balk at the price. I drank a glass of Wilderness Trail wheated after this to center my review. It is a young tasting bourbon, but what it does offer is bright and exciting. I want to see LuxRow put out an older offering of Rebel to see what this mellows/tranforms in to. As of now Im happy to have this around as a cheap sipper when I just want to relax and not worry about what Im drinking. It is reminiscent of larceny but spice heavy, and not quite as desserty. Nose: Ethanol. Citrus zest, maraschino cherry, and cinnamon. Palate: First sips have hints of citrus at the front, lemon and orange come to mind. They quickly give way to a honey buns sprinkled with red hots. After some time chocolate presents itself more and more. Finish: Medium short: the honey and cinnamon give way to a clove like flavor. Pleasant, not overly long, but by no means abrupt.

Nose: The nose on this bourbon for me was very light and for that reason was hard to pinpoint what I was getting due to the lack of robust scents. The deeper I got into my glass, I did pick up a touch of corn and caramel. Also a had a bit of a scent of summer hay hauling from what I would suspect was the wheat. Expected a lot more for a 100 proof bourbon. Nose was slightly disappointing. Palate: Viscous mouthfeel, which was a plus for me. I catch that corn again with a kiss of vanilla and oak. On the back end it gets slightly peppery. Finish: Finish was short to medium in length and the corn appears again along with the wheat. Gets a little peppery and oakey on the backside. While the nose and palate are slightly underwhelming, for me, the finish helped make this bourbon enjoyable for me. For the price I would gladly keep this Lux Row product in my cabinet at all times.

TASTE: I got “dried grass”, some “ earthy” tastes, along with some spices of clove, cinnamon, vanilla and possibly some cardamom. The initial taste was spicier and more “hot” than subsequent tastes. In fact, letting it sit and “breathe” a bit opens it up to more smoothness and softer complexities of the bourbon. I like wheated bourbons in general and my favorite Wheated bourbon is Weller. Rebel 100 is spicier but very enjoyable and drinkable. Also since Rebel 100 is much more accessible AND affordable than Weller, I like it as a solid choice for an evening sipper by myself or as a confident pour for my friends, meaning, “no apologies” given for my pouring the Rebel 100 for them. The addition of Rebel 100 to your bourbon collection and available pours is well worth the addition; in my humble opinion. CHEERS!!!

Not sure what’s going on here, but I haven’t bought a bottle in a while and picked up a 1.5L the other night. Overwhelming peanut butter note. I’m talking Beam level Peanut note. I don’t think they’ve been up and running long enough (but I’m terrible with dates and years), but perhaps some of their own distillate is coming of age and being blended in? Whatever it is, I get none of the cherry and cinnamon and big oak that I used to. Huge downgrade and no longer recommended as one of my favorite sub-$20 bottles.

Blind taste - bought 50 mL at Total Wine in Grand Rapids with Kyle.: Lightly colored. Almost no nose/aroma. Taste takes a second to hit, then is full of corn with peppery spices. Floral and salty caramel. Upon reveal, the biscuit and peanutty notes are there along with a hint of wheated cinnamon and oaky cookie. But flavors are subtle.