A very nicely balanced nose, with both tart and sweet notes in harmony. I could wish for some hint of rye spice and a more robust finish. Eagle Rare 10 is a very different animal than Buffalo Trace, despite being made at the same distillery from the same mash bill. While I would definitely drink this neat, with those orange and cherry notes it’s practically begging to be made into an Old Fashioned (no actual cherry and orange please, keep it subtle).
The aging-at-home industry appears to be picking up speed lately, with products such as Whisky Elements, Beyond Barrel Aging Masts, and even wooden bottles! They all promise more-or-less the same thing: Take under-matured or middling-quality whisky and quickly infuse them with a little extra oak flavor while also filtering out impurities and mellowing the spirit. As I discovered with my testing, the results are not so cut-and-dry.
This special release is a blend of grain from four distilleries of various ages, none of which are younger than 20, and all of which aged in ex-bourbon American oak casks. The result is bottled at 46% ABV with no added color and no chill filtration.
Black Bush is probably the most successful inexpensive blended whisky on the market that I’ve had, with the sole exception of Bank Note… If you haven’t settled on an Irish Whiskey for your “everyday” dram or cocktail cabinet yet, give this one a serious look.
Produced by Jim Beam at the Clermont distillery in Kentucky, the brand dates back to the early 1800s and was originally made in the Monongahela (Pennsylvania) style. Nowadays Old Overholt is 51% rye, just barely meeting the legal definition, with the remainder made up with corn and probably a little malted barley for enzymes. It’s aged for three years (fours years in the recent past) and bottled at 40% ABV.