Buffalo Trace Bedrock Liquors Single Barrel Select Kentucky Straight Bourbon

VITALS:

- $25 (Presumably)

- 90 Proof

- NAS

- Kentucky

I've always made it a point with my blog to only review a product after I've finished the bottle. The point of that is to give a bottle a fair shake, rather than simply review a single pour that will be influenced by so many other factors, including what I ate that day or where I was when I had the drink. So, in full disclosure here, this review is not based off the entire bottle, but that being said, I certainly had more than a few pours out of this bottle!

A couple weeks ago I had some guys at my house to hang out in my backyard, drink some whiskey and beer, and eat some barbecue. One of the guys happens to be quite the whiskey guy himself, and he brought this bottle over, along with a great story about how he got it. I'm not going to relate the story here, as it's not my story to tell, but it involved the owner of Bedrock Liquors playfully telling my buddy what he could do to himself when he learned my buddy had just been picking a barrel of Blanton's at Buffalo Trace. After all was said and done that day, this bottle was left behind for me to finish, and finish it I did!

The nose smelled like what I've come to expect from Buffalo Trace. It was full of caramel and brown sugar right up front. I also got a whiff of waffles with maple syrup -- certainly along those same sweet and rich lines. In fact, on the last couple pours, it even took on a bit of vanilla and the smell reminded me of Cowtails, those caramel rope-like candies with vanilla cream in the middle. 

The flavor, quite frankly, very much matched suit. I got a rich, dark caramel, almost with a touch of burnt sugar, as well as a healthy dose of brown sugar. There was a light cinnamon, like a sweeter cinnamon, but not really enough to offer much spice.

On the last few pours I started noticing some different things. I got a white chocolate note, as well as hints of orange here and there. I also noticed kind of a puffed pastry or fried dough type note, like funnel cakes you get at a carnival, with the powdered sugar and everything. 

All in all, this was a sweeter, more dessert-like bourbon, and if that's your bag, you'd love this. I was missing some spice to give it a bit more character or complexity. It was a bit one-dimensional, but at least that dimension was very tasty. I'm not sure which Bedrock Liquors my buddy went into (they've got locations in Lafayette, IN and Dayton, IN), but if I find myself swinging by, perhaps on my way to or from Louisville, I'd certainly be willing to try other picks from their stores.

Grade: B