Tasting XII

Attending: John, Ryan, Marya and Fuggles!

As usual, we did this as blind as possible. John and I brought four unknowns. Marya poured. Then I mixed them up. Then for no really good reason, we put them in smell order. We didn't know what anything was until it was all over.

The Lineup

• BTAC Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Straight Rye Whiskey Barrel Proof (R)
• Four Roses Single Barrel Private Selection - OBSQ - Barrel House (10y8m, 120proof) (R)
• High West Rendezvous Rye Boulevardier Barrel (Binny's) (R)
• Hooker's House Straight Rye Whiskey - Zinfandel Barrel (J)
• Jefferson's Straight Rye Whiskey (J)
• Taos Lightning Ceran St. Vrain's Single Barrel Straight Rye Whiskey (J)
• Van Winkle Special Reserve Lot "B" Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (R)
• Whistle Pig The Boss Hog Single Barrel Rye 2014 (J)

Pre-Taster

We always have a known "starter" whiskey to open up the palate. John usually brings it.

• 40 Creek Confederation Oak Reserve Canadian Whisky (R)

What is Canadian Whisky? I guess it's boringly polite.

• Wayward Single Malt Whiskey (J)

I don't like malt whiskey. But I guess it does show promise for a 6 month old "barley" whiskey...

Round One

Ryan Whistle Pig Boss Hog 4 Roses - OBSQ Van Winkle 12 Jefferson's Rye 10

Marya Van Winkle 12 Whistle Pig Boss Hog Jefferson's Rye 10 4 Roses - OBSQ

John Whistle Pig Boss Hog Jefferson's Rye 10 4 Roses - OBSQ Van Winkle 12

Whistle Pig Boss Hog and Van Winkle 12 and 4 Roses - OBSQ and Jefferson's Rye 10 moved on.

At the time, we found it hard to rank this round. Everything was good. So, after the next round we decided to have the whole round move on.

Round Two

Ryan Rendezvous Boulevardier Taos Ceran Rye Handy Hooker's House Rye

Marya Rendezvous Boulevardier Taos Ceran Rye Hooker's House Rye Handy

John Rendezvous Boulevardier Hooker's House Rye Taos Ceran Rye Handy

Rendezvous Boulevardier moved on.

This round was disappointing. Only one deserved to move on. The others were pretty unloved. So, we decided to bring the whole first round to the final round. The beauty of blind tasting? A "rare" whiskey was trounced and left behind.

Winners' Round

Ryan Rendezvous Boulevardier 4 Roses - OBSQ Whistle Pig Boss Hog Van Winkle 12 Jefferson's Rye 10

Marya Van Winkle 12 Jefferson's Rye 10 Whistle Pig Boss Hog 4 Roses - OBSQ Rendezvous Boulevardier

John Rendezvous Boulevardier Whistle Pig Boss Hog Jefferson's Rye 10 Van Winkle 12 4 Roses - OBSQ

We knew this round was going to be hard. The first round was all winners and we added the one from the second round. For the second tasting in a row, we saved the food for after this round. Everything was so close, it's hard to say wethered it helped. But I think it might have.

The Winner

I think the winner was...John! I got to surprise him with some rare stuff I lucked out in finding. Plus, he's had some obsession with the Four Roses ---Q mashbill. Then we had just been talking about boulevardier at work. Also, it was a "theme!"

Summary

So after the final round, we reveal what we were drinking from the worst of the early rounds, to the winner of the final round. The look on John's face when the first revealed, last place bourbon was Handy! He was totally shocked that I had a bottle. Didn't phase him that he described it as "musty nose and flavor is meh." Marya was like "get this bottle out of my house!" Anyway, I traded him for the Boss Hog. We're all happy.