Smooth Ambler Old Scout Single Barrel Cask Strength Bourbon

Earlier this year, around February or March, the local FW&GS got in their store picks for Smooth Ambler Old Scout Cask Strength Bourbon and Cask Strength Rye. It's odd that I've ended up getting the bourbon first, since rye is more my speed, but the rye is only available as an online order where you need $99 to get free shipping while the bourbon is available in stores for $50. I picked this up about two weeks ago while coming home from the memorial service for a couple of friends' seventeen year old son who'd passed unexpectedly on April 1st, and yes, after the service I needed a fucking drink (remember, I don't just see my notes here as tastings so much as a whisky diary, and as a whisky diary, I should note that...well, I needed a drink. I won't linger on the event that prompted it beyond that). Shifting gears to the whisky itself, this is a really odd dram. I thought that when I opened and tasted it, and I still think it now. I actually want to put this in my decanter to see how it opens up, but my decanter is currently occupied. Did I say this was an odd whisky? Usually, when you start a review by saying, "This isn't bad, but..." what you mean is that it's bad. So I can't open with that. This is odd. It's got a spice profile that's closer to a rye but there's also that bourbon sweetness mixed in, it's just in the minority of the flavors. Its rather yeasty and spicy. In fact, given that it's a FW&GS pick for Pennsylvania, the combination of spicy and yeasty reminds me of a soft pretzel with spicy mustard, which is weird. I've only really noticed the spicy mustard and yeasty profile in one other bourbon, which is the Russell's Reserve 10 Year, but it's not prominent in that so much as underlying. Here it's the main event. It's what this whisky is all about, so when I speak of sweetness, well, there's also maybe a yeasty powdered sugar thing that is akin to funnel cake. It's 60.8% alcohol, which is my math isn't off is 121.6 proof, so it's strong, and it's a 7 year age statement store pick. So I was excited, but I recoiled at the first taste before I settled into what it's doing, I'm not going to lie. It's got a long finish and the best part is probably how creamy the mouthfeel is. Is it worth $50? Certainly. Although given that Larceny BP is still $50 in my neck of the woods, I'd probably have maximized my cash if I'd gone with that. But that's also online only, and I was passing a store I don't often stop at have access to on the way home from the memorial, and this was the most unique option on the shelf at this price. So I went with it. And I don't regret it, but it's an oddball offshoot. I'm always interested in store picks and they're always unique so unless they're awful, you haven't really misspent. Eh, anyway, I usually purchase a bottle a week and this week I picked up the Lagavulin 11 Guinness Edition, which I'm looking forward to. As for bourbon, my wife is in Nashville this week, and I asked her to see if she could get me the Dickel BiB or Chattanooga Cabernet Cask, so I should have some fun things to write about soon. However, if you know of any shit I should ask her to get while she's down there that you can't get anywhere else that's flying under the radar, let me know....

Bull City Bourbon Club pick - "When the Leche Breaks" Barrel No. 35890 Age: 6 years and 3 months 58.2% abv; 116.4 proof Open 6 weeks Nose - Brown sugar, caramel, toasted vanilla, hot cinnamon bun, allspice, black pepper, sweet oak tannins, medicinal cherry, burnt orange peel, and light ethanol. Palate - Crème brulee, caramel hard candy, cherry cough drops, toasted marshmallow, Honey Nut Cheerios, and wet barley. Finish is medium with sweet and dry oak, light orange peel, black pepper, light caramel, light dill, and light ethanol. Old Scout has similar flavors to other sourced MGP high rye bourbons like Penelope, Pinhook, and Old Soul, but clearly offers the best value for the money. While those other bourbons are all around $60 for similar age and proof, Old Scout continues to offer cask strength picks for $35 in NC. For most people that is a steal in today's market. Personally I'm not that into it. They all taste like grainy caramel with hints of citrus, but are not in the same league as Smoke Wagon or other premium MGP products. I'll still buy picks when available because they are incredible values and at the worst are excellent mixers due to the proof and high rye content. But, if you are looking for MGP bourbon or high rye bourbon you can do better

Barrel pick by Spec's (Houston, TX) Barrel No. 27964 Age 5 years 57.1 % abv, 114.2 proof Open 4 weeks Nose - Soft caramel candy, Frosted Flakes, cinnamon, brown sugar, orange-flavored chocolate, medium oak and ethanol. Palate - Caramel, brown sugar, grain, and heavy rye spice up front. Finish is medium-long and hot, with building oak, rye spice, and ethanol with hints of caramel and orange rind. I always seem to miss these picks in NC, so my friend picked up one in Texas during the holidays. This is a solid bourbon, but in this price range I think Belle Meade is the better sourced MGP high rye bourbon. There are some sharp, younger notes here that are rounded out in the two Belle Meade lines I've had. At almost the same proof and mashbill I think you could save $20 and be more satisfied with OGD 114 as well. Definitely not a bad effort by any stretch, but in the $50's you could get better MGP stuff and better high rye/high proof bourbons from other distilleries.

Neat. Neck pour. Party Source 5 year at 57%. Deep caramel, almost to the point of a salted caramel flan. Very rich. Gram cracker crust. Slight green tea note. Hint of cherry and cream. That salted caramel really dominates and it’s an impressive note. Mouth feel is medium with a syrupy granular texture. Brown sugar and burnt caramel gives way to an even stronger salted caramel punch, gram cracker, hint of toffee. The cherries come back on the legs. First impression, this is the best young MGP I have. That rich, vibrant, layered caramel experience isn’t one I recall from other MGP. There is a hint of the youngness on the nose but no where else. I’d have to blind this against Mic Drop 3.0 or a Traverse City pick to be sure, but I think this is the best sub-six year MGP I have had. There was a Backbone 5 year GGG pick that I loved but I don’t think it had flavors this vibrant even at 137 proof. Nice work on this pick Party Source!

Luckie Champagne barrel pick: 7 years, 114 proof, MGP sourced. This bottle has a stark difference based on glass. In a glencairn glass the nose is fruity notes, almost brandy like grape, with weak oak, vanilla, and caramel. The palate. The palate starts as hot, brandy grape and fades to light oak and caramel. The light oak and caramel remains on the finish. When I've had this before in a rocking glass, the brandy/grape notes are gone and the oak, caramel, and vanilla are stronger with bits of maple also present. To my tastes, the rocker glass was better than the glencairn pour. Not sure I'd pay retail for it, but at the clearance price I paid it's worth it.

An intense (Cask Strength Single Barrel Tasting Sample) by John Little for the Smooth Ambler Distillery in Maxwellton, West Virginia made with the original mash bill of 60% corn, 36% rye & 4% malted barley, which makes it a "high rye" Bourbon. It is then aged for 5 years in new Charred American Oak Barrels. This same recipe was named World's best single barrel in 2016. It has a rich birth with notes of buttered corn, honey, oak & spices; while a bold life adds notes of tobacco, almonds, nutmeg & rye spice; that led to a long & mouth tingling death with notes of spice cake. January 2020 / August 2022