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Thursday, March 19, 2020

Spirits of the Apocalypse The Walking Dead Kentucky Straight Bourbon

VITALS:
- $10 (Regularly $40)
- 94 Proof
- NAS
- Kentucky

I can't tell you how many times I looked at this bottle on the shelves, chuckled at the idea that someone even bothered producing a "The Walking Dead" bourbon, and moved on to other bottles on the shelf. I wasn't about to spend $40 on a gimmick whiskey with so many better options out there, particularly for that price.

However, while on a wine run for my wife, while doing my typical perusal of the same bourbon aisle I peruse all the time, I was drawn not to the bottle, but to the label right underneath it -- "Sale: $9.99"!!!  Whether or not this bottle was worth the price at $40 is certainly debatable, but at $10, what did I possibly have to lose?

As the Coronavirus pandemic grew, and as I found myself spending every minute of my day at home (not to mention having no need to wake up to an alarm), it only seemed appropriate that I go back to this bottle, otherwise sitting in my closet, and toast the nationwide shutdown.  But that's enough preambling.  How good can The Walking Dead bourbon really be?

Though I anticipated that this would be a young whiskey, I felt that wood notes were prevalent on the nose. It smelled like a barrel, but it also had a peanut note to it as well. Though it didn't come across quite as sweet, that peanut butter mixed with an amaretto note as well.

The flavor was like-wise surprisingly woody, which came with a bit of bitterness that seemed to stick around from start to finish. I also got a distinct burnt orange flavor that paired with a burnt sugar sweetness. This bourbon seemed to get more char character than most in that respect.  It wasn't bad, just the character of the bourbon.

The amaretto notes that I got on the nose and enjoyed were present on the palate as well, though not as much as I had hoped. I also didn't get the peanut flavor that I got from the nose. However, there was a strong cherry note on the finish, particularly in earlier pours. In later pours, that cherry note seemed to become more and more prevalent, and not just noticeable on the finish.

Additionally, another flavor seemed to develop in later pours, and it took me a bit to attach a descriptor to it. But, when I finally made the connection, I couldn't get past the flavor of wet leaves in the Fall.  I know, it's weird, and I don't recall ever actually eating wet leaves in the fall, but that was the kind of earthy and damp flavor that I was noticing.

At $40, I'm not a buyer of this whiskey. At $10, however, I am. It did not come across as young, as I had feared. Sure, it had some odd notes, but for the price, this was pretty good (albeit a low bar at the price point).

Grade: C+

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