The Gifted Horse American Whiskey

I bought this bottle years ago--it was released in early 2016--and maybe there's a reason that I still have a quarter of it remaining (or maybe it's the fact that there's so much whiskey to taste). The Diageo marketing "story" is that this offering, part of its "Orphan Barrel" series, is the result of "a whopper of a mistake" on their part, which involved someone "emptying barrels of much-younger whiskey into a batch of beautiful 17-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey." Okay. The naive, overly-zealous whiskeyphile me had to buy it and see what this mistake was all about. I recalled it being good, but not great. So without further adieu... The color is a slightly darker version of the typical bourbon caramel/mahohany/russet. The nose is pleasant, and shows oranges, maraschino cherries, apple pie, crème brûlée, sandalwood, and vanilla. The palate turns these up a notch, and the finish opens up some drying leather and tobacco notes, with additional vanilla. There's also a faint butteriness on the back end that I've never experienced in a bourbon (or whiskey, as is the case here)--akin to the diacetyl that one sometimes finds in overoaked Cali Chardonnay. I like this. As before, good, but not great. Assuming the mashbill lineage to be correct, the bourbon does show characteristics of each component: dry leathery and tobacco notes from the 17-year-old whiskey; sweetness from the corn whiskey; and who knows what from the MGP. The whiskey is smooth, and the heat is not out-of-step with the 115 proof. 4.0 on the Distiller scale. I don't know what I paid for it years back, but I do recall (like the others in the Orphan Barrel series) that it wasn't cheap. Perhaps $100? A quick Internet search shows that it can be purchased today for $400-500, ostensibly because of the scarcity (there was only one release). I would certainly drink this again, but not at current prices. For those who insist on empirical analysis, find a friend! 115 proof. 39% 17-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey; 61% 4-year-old Corn Whiskey and Indiana Bourbon Whiskey (i.e., MGP). N.B.: All spirits tasted neat in a Glencairn glass.

Well, I paid just over $90 for this rare, "rescued" bourbon from Diageo so I feel like I should give it a proper review. The story behind this is quite the fable- after rescuing some 17-year old bourbon from a recently acquired rack house, the fine folks at Orphan Barrel accidentally dumped in some 4-year old corn whiskey into it and "ruined" the older stock. (39% 17yo and 61% 4yo). But, upon tasting it they realized they had created something much better. (This is the actual story printed on the bottle label). Rolls eyes... Anyway, a quick review as I've plowed through this bottle by using the majority of it as a mixer with Coke. I know, I know- who does that? Someone craving a B&C that couldn't get to the liquor store before it closed- that's who LOL. This comes in at 115 proof and is a dark, caramel color in the Glencairn. The nose is predominately corn with a bit of sweet caramel/toffee and the slightest hint of oak barrel. On the tongue, it's lots of corn and caramel apples. It's not complex at all and washes away with a blast of heat from the ABV. The burn lingers on for awhile as the oak barrel residue hangs around longer than I expected. That saves this from being a complete, one dimensional dud. As a mixer, it was merely an expensive way to drink through an overhyped bottle of rare bourbon. It did get the job done quite well, I might add, as I woke up this morning with what seemed like an entire bag of cotton balls stuffed into my mouth and my head pounding like my local, high school drum line was practicing just outside my bedroom window. Overall, avoid this $30 bourbon with a marketing hyped $60 markup. It's worth a $8-10 try at your local watering hole if you must try these Orphan Barrel offerings. Otherwise, there's a ton of better bourbon available at 1/3 the cost of this one. 3.25 stars. Cheers, my friends.

Taking a short break from the distillery tour to review an American whiskey. This blended whiskey from Orphan Barrel (Diageo) is bottled at 57.5% ABV and is most likely natural color of a dark copper and at this ABV I would think it is also non chill filtered. This sample was sent to me by Lee. This blend consists of 17 year old Bernheim bourbon (38.5%), 4 year old high rye bourbon from MGP (51%) and 4 year old corn whisky also from MGP (10.5%). The story, or tall tale as it would seem, is that the Bernheim was "accidentally" added to the blend. The nose is potent, plenty of alcohol. Ripe red apples, cinnamon and oak. Lots of corn. Vanilla, toffee and a little butterscotch. Some orange and a little rye spice. Milk chocolate and toasted nuts. The palate is powerful and peppery. Apples and oak, lots of both. Lots of corn too. Toffee and caramel. Not much more to it than that. Very little complexity. The power of the high ABV drowns out anything else that might be there. I added some water to see if anything else could be coaxed out. More apples on the nose and what seemed to be a bit of a rubber hose note. On the palate it just brought out more corn. Full bodied mouthfeel. Hot and spicy. The finish is long, spicy and full of oak and corn. Not a very impressive blend. Seems a bit too high on the corn. Way too overpriced for what you get at $90. Seems like a result of Diageo's typical over inflation of prices. While I am a bit disappointed, I'm still glad to have tried it. Variety is the spice of life after all, and the more variety the better. 3.25. Thanks again Lee. Cheers

Whiskey night October - enjoying an evening on the porch with a friend, a fire pit, a few blind tastings and a few new bottles. All samples from a Norlan glass. Tasting order: Murray Hill Club, Batch 7 The Gifted Horse, Orphan Barrel Larceny Barrel Proof, A120 Lux Row Double Barrel 12y Garrison Bro. Cowboy Bourbon, 2019 Blind tasting, was told ~115 proof and blend of corn whiskey and 17y KY straight bourbon. Color: Light amber, quick thin legs. Nose: I cannot believe the proof - there’s no singe and no hint of ethanol. Bubblegum, Dymatap, marshmallow cream. Body: Light, mouthwatering and does not coat but goes down clean and quick with no real heat or after burn. Palate: Unsurprisingly sweet with bubblegum, cough syrup, straw, a bit of spice to keep it balanced. No bitter or off flavors. Finish: Quick, clean, one trick pony. There’s no evolution of flavor to speak of (or at least that I can remember). Two things: I called this one out as an orphan barrel pretty quickly on the sourced high age, low proof bourbon alone. It reminds me of Barterhouse 20 but not as complex and really lacks in the oak department. Two, I believe the Bernheim source but get little to no MGP rye from this. Great to try! On to the next one...

Diageo isn't exactly doing their premium Orphan Barrel series any favors with releases like this. The story behind Gifted Horse -- and I stress the term story, because it's blatant marketing speak -- is that the distillery "accidentally" spilled some 17-year old Bernheim bourbon into a vatting of much younger, 4-year old bourbons, then realized that the resulting blend tasted amazing. Yeah, right. The company probably had some barrels of bourbon that got a little long in the tooth, and decided to even out the mix as much as they could with young, sweet juice before releasing it for a big price tag. Apple cider defines the profile of this whiskey, although it's a spiced, mulled cider. The problem with this expression is that the young whiskey gives it way too much heat at this high an ABV -- I see this as something that would have been better below 50%. As it is, it's rough and burns on the way down. Not easy to drink, and not much complexity to justify fighting through that heat. For $100, I'll pass easily.

Marketing BS. This is the last Orphan Barrel I purchase. Why you ask? Because it sucked and because they hyped up Forged Oak as a 15 year old bourbon that I must buy. When it's gone it's gone. Guess what a year and a half later I still see it popping up. Orphan Barrel isn't rare or allocated. It's Diageo bullshitting. Do yourself a favor and track down some VOB BIB. It's $15 tops and better than any of the marketing BS that Orphan Barrel has to offer. I heard the next Orphan Barrel to follow up Gifted Horse is Unicorn Tears and guess what??? It's made with real unicorn tears. Piss off Diageo.