Whisk(e)y Wednesday - 2020-12-30

Almost the New Years - Hump Day!!! and... Whiskey Wednesday. Today I'm doing a budget bourbon shootout - doing a blind tasting of Eagle Rare, Evan Williams Single Barrel, and Wild Turkey 101. I don't usually do blind tastings - normally I know what I'm trying, I have looked at reviews for some ideas of what to expect on the nose/palate - so today... it's going to be interesting.

I labelled the glasses on the bottom, and then after pouring I randomized the order (which is easier to do the older I get...) until I felt confident I had no idea which glass was where. 

Glass #1. On the nose I got sweet, flowery, vanilla, and some brown sugar. The taste I found a touch of spice, some burnt brown sugar, and a bit of mint. The finish was charred sugar and a bit of metallic shiny notes. With water the sweetness pops on the nose, more brown sugar, with burnt sugar and some oak on the taste. Rated 3.25 / 5.0 - seemed a little better with water.

Glass #2. On the nose my first thought is mustard, which is odd as it's not a note I think I've came across before... some grass and dill pickle as well. The taste is neutral - I kept going back trying to find something, but it just wasn't there. The finish is minty with some oak notes. With water it's a bit more traditional on the nose - I've lost the mustard and dill. More metallic on the finish and a bit sour on the taste. Rated 3.0 / 5.0 - I found it better neat.

Glass #3. On the nose, I found this floral, touch of cinnamon, and some licorice. The taste is spicy with a bit of metallic. The finish I am finding licorice and a minty finish. With water, I get more floral on the nose, more licorice and wood oak on the finish, along with a spicy taste. Rated 3.25 / 5.0. I could drink this either straight or with a dash of water.

#1 was Wild Turkey 101, 50.5% ABV, Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. I grew up thinking Wild Turkey was rotgut... but apparently not the case, as this edged out #3 for me as the best of the three. No age statement - which I think would be aged at least 3 years as this is a 'straight bourbon', though online I see comments that state it's 6 years old, so I'm not sure.

#2 was Evan Williams Single Barrel, 43.3% ABV, aged about 8 years (put in oak 2012, bottled 2020). This came in last place for me, but was still pretty good overall. I recall really liking this in the past, so maybe the current batch isn't as good as the old batches. 

#3 was Eagle Rare, Aged 10 Years, 45% ABV. It can sometimes be hard to find, but at around $30 it's certainly worth the price. While in the A/B comparison I felt the Wild Turkey was slightly better - they are really close.

This was a fun experiment - I'll need to do more blind tastings ... cheers!