Woodford Reserve: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Yes, This is another "Not Beer" post but after reading about it on Distilled Reflections I had to pick it up. I actually got the bottle for Christmas and I had no idea it was going to be there. I love that people actually get me things they know I like. Hell, my sister sent me a few bottles of beer from back home. That was pretty damn awesome.



This Bourbon was pretty damn good. It was my first time having this one and it will not be my last. I have no idea how many batches they have produced so far but I am assuming this bottle is fairly new. Batch 652... though, I really have no way of telling. I will have to compare it to whatever batch number I get the next time I pick up a bottle. Very soon. For those who don't know, this is how the different categories of Whiskey are broken down via Copy & Paste from Wiki.

Bourbon whiskey, which is made from mash that consists of at least 51% corn (maize).
Corn whiskey, which is made from mash that consists of at least 80% corn.
Malt whiskey, which is made from mash that consists of at least 51% malted barley.
Rye whiskey, which is made from mash that consists of at least 51% rye.
Rye malt whiskey, which is made from mash that consists of at least 51% malted rye.
Wheat whiskey, which is made from mash that consists of at least 51% wheat.

Now I am not sure exactly what a Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey is but that is how this bottle is labeled and it clocks in at 45.2% alcohol. This is a straight sipper. One meant to be enjoyed, not just shot. I am kind of interested in making a Manhattan with it. They have a few recipes on their website. I thought they had some recipes from a contest they were holding featuring different bartenders around the country but I cannot find that link. Oh well.

On the nose I picked up some spice and vanilla. It was nice buy you got a little fire up in there, too. I let an under-appreciating buddy have some with me and he pointed out that it, "Smells really strong.", whatever that means hah! I wonder if liquor has a term for it but I in beer you are looking for lacing in your glass and in wine you are looking for the legs in the glass. This Bourbon had something similar to legs going on for sure. You would take a sip and just watch the way it creeps back down into the glass. I should look into that. Is it a sign of body? Hmm...

I picked up on quite a bit of honey and I would say that vanilla character in the nose comes through in the glass as well. A bit of a nice spice and fire on the back end as it goes down. I rolled it around my tongue for quite sometime before I did give it that swallow. It is a very smooth drinking Bourbon. I loved a lot about this one. I hope to be able to get more out of it once I try other Bourbons and find the little nuances that exist in those. I'd love to try a Rye Whiskey. I love using Rye in Homebrew, so I am sure it would be good in this situation.

Cheers!