Tasting XIV

After the last two tasting, I'd exhausted my supply of exciting whiskey. So phoned it in. John? I guess he can blame Audra for sleep deprivation.

Attending: John, Ryan, Marya and Fuggles!

As usual, we did this as blind as possible. John and I brought four unknowns. Marya poured in another room. 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

• 1792 Bourbon (Bevmo 9 Year) [2] (R)
• Balcones Rumble (J)
• Barrell Bourbon (Batch 6) [3] (J)
• Corbin Cash Merced Rye Whiskey [4] (R)
• Elijah Craig Barrel Proof 138.8 [5] (R)
• Four Roses Single Barrel (K&L OESV 53% 9y10m) [6] (R)
• Hirsch Canadian Rye 20 Year (J)
• Widow Jane Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey [7] (J)

Pre-Taster

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

• Breeder's Choice Whiskey Anejo (J)

John recently went to South America and brought this back. Scotch-esque. Surprisingly decent.

• Seven Stills Fluxate Whiskey [8] (R)

You can really taste the cold coffee. It's little unbalanced, though: lots of nose and finish but not much in between.

Round One

Ryan Elijah Craig BP [5] Corbin Cash Rye [4] Widow Jane [7] Hirsch Rye

Marya Elijah Craig BP [5] Hirsch Rye Corbin Cash Rye [4] Widow Jane [7]

John Elijah Craig BP [5] Corbin Cash Rye [4] Hirsch Rye Widow Jane [7]

Elijah Craig BP [5] and Corbin Cash Rye [4] moved on.

At the time, we thought only one deserved to move on. The Hirsch was very light in color and pretty different, but 20 years? Why bother.

Round Two

Ryan Four Roses OESV [6] 1792 Bevmo [2] Balcones Rumble Barrell Bourbon [3]

Marya 1792 Bevmo [2] Balcones Rumble Four Roses OESV [6] Barrell Bourbon [3]

John Four Roses OESV [6] 1792 Bevmo [2] Barrell Bourbon [3] Balcones Rumble

Four Roses OESV [6] and 1792 Bevmo [2] moved on.

The Balcones Rumble is a honey, sugar fig liquor or something, but it actually tastes very Scotch-esque. We all thought it was going to have a high barley content. Barrell has that flavor I cannot stand! I'm still trying to figure out what it is. But it's immediate repulsion.

Winners' Round

Ryan Elijah Craig BP [5] Four Roses OESV [6] Corbin Cash Rye [4] 1792 Bevmo [2]

Marya Elijah Craig BP [5] Four Roses OESV [6] Corbin Cash Rye [4] 1792 Bevmo [2]

John Corbin Cash Rye [4] Four Roses OESV [6] Elijah Craig BP [5] 1792 Bevmo [2]

Usually, I write these same day, so things are fresh...all I can remember it was easy to pick the loser. Although we all thought it was the "sympathy" entry from round one...go figure.

The Winner

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof. OESV...you let me down!

Summary

The was a little bit of an underwelming tasting, probably because we had so much great stuff in our previous two. Maybe because John brought a few odd balls. Also, Marya was convinced one of the entries was numbing her lips. And, oh yeah, I swept John!

Oh, usually we put the whiskey in "place" order in our photos, but we messed up. First and second should be reversed.