Western Reserve Small Batch Blended Bourbon

Surprisingly this isn't a bad try at bourbon for an "Ohio" distillery, the minimum 4 year age worked wonders with a smooth deliberate caramel sugar nose working with some spices almost yielding a Woodford like experience. Unfortunately the taste won't hold up to that standard but even so it doesn't come off as an immature and green product, more like one that just didn't get the extra year or two it needed to really stand out, (that being said, I've tried the 8 year and it really didn't seem to help). The chew and taste gives a tingling on the tongue and again mild spices with good bourbon sugar notes along with some dry nibs and tobacco hints, what comes in first and foremost however are the sweet bourbon notes. Nothing wrong with that, it follows through with the brown sugar notes intact tapering off very easy. I'm almost ready to bet this is sourced from our favorite outsourcer of bourbon, MGP. Perhaps this is a throwback attempt to the 86 proof wild turkey days, if so not a bad attempt. I like the bottle style as much as anything and would not mind dropping a few Hamilton's for one. The claim is 4 year blended with 14 year, (cont, sorry about that) if this one falls in the 20-30 range it should be a decent value bottle for most enthusiasts. As with most sourced products the real question is continuity of quality, the answer to that one remains to be seen. Cheers!

A nice fruity nose, with a nice rye tingle. Hints of caramel and apple on the tongu. The matureness of the 14 year whiskey that is part of the blend is smooth on the pallette, while the bold agressiveness of the 4 year leaves a strong tingle on the tongue with a hint of corn for the finish. All in all, a very good bourbon for the price.

One of my favorites