Buffalo Trace Bruno's Liquors Single Barrel Select Kentucky Straight Bourbon

VITALS:
- $25
- 90 Proof
- NAS
- Kentucky

Not too long ago while in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, on a recommendation I found in a bourbon Facebook group, I made my way to Bruno's Liquors. As I walked in the door, I was immediately met with a display of their private selections, a 1792 Full Proof, which I've previously reviewed here, and this Buffalo Trace. Although my wife was with me and I promised I'd grab just one bottle, I still managed to walk out with both.

I've said it before and I'll say it again -- whenever I see one of these Buffalo Trace private picks, I'm grabbing it. For the price, it's almost always very good whiskey.  I have yet to be disappointed, and there is zero risk of any buyer's remorse. These are an easy sell to me.

The nose was rich and flavorful. I immediately got notes of cinnamon and dark cherry, a great combination that resulted in sweet and rich notes. I also got a strong brown sugar note, that reminded me of chocolate chip cookies, but without the chocolate chips. Just brown sugar and butter. The nose on this was great!

The flavor was all traditional bourbon notes. A nice caramel and brown sugar flavor dominated the profile. This bourbon was definitely on the sweeter side, and while I tend to like my whiskey to be a bit spicier, this was nonetheless done really well, and for those who like those sweeter bourbons, I could see them loving this.

It also had this sugar cookie note, which I only mention due to the fact that I got the chocolate chip-less chocolate chip cookie note on the nose. The baked goods note is strong throughout, just with slightly different flavors from the nose to the palate.

Other flavors came through as well, most notably a cooked peach and cinnamon note, that fell somewhere in between sweet and savory. It was almost like a side dish that could also have served as a dessert.

Of course, having opened this bottle just before Halloween, I consumed a glass or two while at the same time raiding my kids' trick-or-treating hauls. I noticed that, after enjoying a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup or four, the chocolate peanut butter notes in my mouth, when mixed with this bourbon, gave it a strong but sweet anise note. I typically don't like anise, but this was more of a candied anise note that I really enjoyed.  As expected, this was a solid pour with great flavor, and I will be stopping at Bruno's each and every time I'm in Lake Geneva.

Grade: B+

1792 Full Proof Bruno's Liquors Single Barrel Select Kentucky Straight Bourbon

VITALS:
- $45
- 125 Proof
- NAS
- Kentucky

I recently took a trip to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin with my wife, just an evening with just the two of us. Beforehand, however, I just happened to see some Facebook recommendations for good bourbon stores and restaurants in Lake Geneva, and one of the recommendations was Bruno's Liquors.

So, romance be damned, I made it a point to get over to Bruno's to see what they had to offer. For the most part, their whiskey selection was pretty decent, though it was a lot of stuff that I can find on the shelves by me. However, right up front they showcased two store picks they had recently gotten in--a Buffalo Trace single barrel and this one. Of course I grabbed them both, much to the chagrin of my wife.

I've been a big fan of pretty much every bottle of 1792 Full Proof I've picked up to date, so I cracked into this one first. Upon opening the bottle, I was immediately hit with strong scents of brown sugar and orange peel. It almost had an Old Fashioned smell to it. It also had a nice cinnamon spice on the nose that tickled just a bit, and some wood tones carried through as well. This was all seemingly layered over a subtle but ever-present caramel note.

The flavor was a bit different from the nose. Rather than getting that brown sugar and orange peel up front, the cinnamon was probably the most forward flavor, along with a distinct chocolate flavor. I've encountered this combination before, and while I do love finding both flavors in my whiskeys, together they tend to make a bit of an odd combination.

However, there was a lot more going on with this as well. I got a distinct candied cherry note, not the cough syrup kind of flavor, but also not the fresh cherry flavor. Perhaps more along the lines of a maraschino cherry flavor.

There was a bit of an oak flavor which, along with the heat from the high ABV, added a touch of harshness to this bourbon. I found that it had this sort of weird tongue-numbing quality, something that I've found before in foods where too much liquid smoke was used. I realize that's probably not very relatable to anyone reading this, but that's where my mind when as I was tasting this.

There was also this anise or licorice flavor to it, which, along with the wood notes, left a bit of an odd flavor behind after each sip. The orange peel bitterness seemed to linger for a bit, and between all that and that weird numbing quality, I had a hard time enjoying the finish.

And yet, on the last few pours, the sweet brown sugar and pleasant cinnamon spice was all I really noticed, with the bitterness and weird numbing thing having gone by the wayside.  I really wish the rest of the bottle were like those last two or three pours, because I found them to be asbolutely delicious.  This was a bit of a schizophrenic bottle, so I'm finding it hard to attribute a grade to it, because different pours could have been anything from a C- to an A, so I've got to park this one somewhere right in the middle.  Now to open that Buffalo Trace!

Grade: B