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Monday, April 3, 2017

Smooth Ambler Old Scout American Whiskey

VITALS:
- $35
- 99 Proof
- NAS
- Batch No. 6

Smooth Ambler out of West Virginia has been producing some quality rye and bourbon for quite some time now. Their rye, store picks and single barrel bourbons are pretty well sought after, because, quite frankly, they're good whiskeys! Whenever Smooth Ambler announces a new product, I am therefore intrigued, and their release of an American Whiskey was no different.

The nose is predominantly cereal notes, with hints of vanilla and the soft scents of sweet tobacco leaf. It reminded me of a more grain-forward Irish whiskey in this sense, like Green Spot only with corn flakes added in.

On the palate, the whiskey immediately strikes me as being sweet. This was a bit unexpected. I was immediately hit with brown sugar and orange peel to give it just a bit of bitterness to counterbalance the sweet brown sugar. The cereal notes from the nose are there as well, though more subtle than what I expected. My initial impressions from my first pour were that it's an okay whiskey, but that it feels like after time it could really open up and that the cereal and vanilla notes might eventually take over.

As I made my way through this bottle, other notes came to the front that I hadn't noticed at first. A certain cocoa flavor made its way in, and, mixed with the cereal and brown sugar flavors, reminded me of chocolate covered graham crackers (a seriously underrated dessert/cookie in my book). It also seemed to take on a creamy nougat flavor, making this more like a dessert whiskey. While it didn't have that over-sweet, sugariness that some whiskeys have, it was nonetheless more sweet than I'd prefer, and it seemed to get more sugary as time went on.

Overall, I like that Smooth Ambler is releasing new products such as this as well as their wheat whiskey. They continue to make quality products, and this is no exception. Although I didn't find this whiskey to be great, it is nonetheless very good, and I'd recommend to anyone that they give it a try. At the very least, it seems to be well-priced and you won't be stuck with the buyer's remorse of overpaying for a bottle you don't really enjoy.

Grade: B-

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