Savage & Cooke Digits Bourbon Whiskey

VITALS:

- $70

- 92 Proof

- 5 years

- California

I've grown a bit weary of celebrity whiskeys. It seems as though every time I turn around, there's another one being release, whether it's from Terry Bradshaw, Peyton Manning, Drake or Bob Dylan, and even John Wayne. But, the '90's Chicago Bulls fan in my was nonetheless excited to see Scottie Pippen with his own brand.  Working with Savage & Cooke out in California, Digits was released, a five year old California Bourbon.

I'm not sure if I would have gotten around to purchasing a bottle or not. I'd like to think that I would have. But, thanks to a very generous friend, I never had to get to that point. Also a big '90's Bulls fan, he made it a point to make an hour-plus drive to see Scottie in person and get not just one bottle signed, but two, with me being the lucky beneficiary of that second bottle! So, not only do I get the keepsake of the signed bottle, but I got to try the whiskey itself as well!

When I took my first whiff off the glass, I struggled to find the aroma. It was fairly soft, but what I did get was fairly corn centric. I got kind of that cornmeal and certainly a cornbread note. It also had some caramel sweetness to it. There was a bit of a fruit note, like plum, but with a touch of sourness.

While I found the nose to be somewhat soft, a lot of what I was getting there carried over to the flavor. My first two notes were plum and caramel corn. It sounds like a weird combination, and it kind of was. The caramel provided some sweetness to counter the light sour but sweet note of the plum. That was all underscored by the grain-forward note I was getting, a popcorn-like note.

On the finish some cinnamon spice came through. The corn note lingered, but I also got a certain peanut quality, and even an almond note. It was perhaps that almond note that gave off a cinnamon liqueur note at times. 

On the last few pours, the cinnamon seemed to come forward more, but that corn grain note never went away. Oddly enough, it developed what was almost a garlic note towards the last few pours, and I had a hard time getting past that. It wasn't terrible tasting or anything, but rather was just a bit weird.

In the end this probably wasn't for me. I do love that this bottle was gifted to me, and that I've got an empty bottle signed by Scottie Pippen as a keepsake. But the flavor, while never bad, was just a bit odd. The flavors just didn't seem to work cohesively with one another, resulting in some weird combinations.

Grade: C+

Sonoma Distilling Co. Oak + Swine Single Barrel Reserve Straight Rye Whiskey

VITALS:

- $55

- 118 Proof

- 4 Years

- Barrel No. 17-0858

- California

I've been a member of a Facebook whiskey club called the Fox Valley Whiskey Society since its inception a couple years ago. Its founder, Michael Verive, has been incredibly diligent in putting together events for members, and more recently he has been tirelessly arranging for private barrels for the group.

For this particular bottling, he worked with a local barbecue joint, Oak + Swine in Batavia, Illinois to pick a single barrel, cask strength rye whiskey from Sonoma Distilling Co.  It's a four year rye whiskey distilled by Sonoma Distilling, and its the first Sonoma single barrel picked in Illinois. Of course, when the opportunity to get my hands on one of these came around, I had to grab a couple. I just couldn't pass up a cask strength single barrel rye at a reasonable price.

The nose was very pungent, the kind where you can smell the whiskey from across the table when you first open it. I got rich and spicy notes of pine and plum. It also had some darker fruit notes as well, like fig and raisin. Those notes were accompanied by a rich molasses sweetness.  I've now used the word "rich" twice to describe it, but that's kind of a theme here, as this smelled very rich. That was tempered a bit by the significant cinnamon spice I got on the nose as well.

The flavor really hit the pine note, however. Up front  I was inundated with pine and resin notes. It almost had a "dank" quality to it. That pine note was accompanied by a heavy hit of cinnamon which bit the tongue right up front and stuck around well through the finish. It was the pine and cinnamon combination that really defined this rye, that and the fact that it was incredibly punchy. It seemed to smack you in the face with flavor.

In addition to the pine and cinnamon, though, I got a nice layer of unsweetened vanilla that seemed to underscore everything else. It also had a slight cornbread note to it, which I found interesting as there was no corn in this. The mashbill was 80% rye and 20% malted rye, which explains the bold and punchy rye spices and flavors, but not the sweet cornbread note I got.

This rye had a great viscous quality to it, really coating the mouth and lending to a very long finish. Of course I got the spicy cinnamon that just never seemed to go away, but along with that I got a vanilla and molasses combination that really provided some sweetness to counter some of the rich but not-so-sweet flavors. The finish was probably my favorite part of the experience.

For their first pick, the guys at Oak + Swine selected a really damn good barrel, one that is absolutely full of punchy flavor. There's nothing subtle about this whiskey, and that's what I love most in a rye. Give me that bold spicy rye over the softer, more wheat or corn forward ryes any day.

Grade: B+

Jesse James American Outlaw Bourbon Whiskey

VITALS:
- $17
- 80 Proof
- 3 Years Old

With a gimmicky name like Jesse James, and the fact that it resided on the bottom shelf at a low price point, I really didn't expect a whole lot from this bourbon. That's not to mention that it's only a three year old bourbon (though, kudos to Jesse James for at least having an age statement!).

The bourbon is from Mira Lima, California. Or, at least, it's bottled by Jesse James Distilling Co. in Mira Lima, California. I don't know where the bourbon itself comes from. In the end, it probably doesn't matter all that much.

The nose is almost all molasses. It smells like a very sweet bourbon, with some hints of leather to bring that sweetness back to earth just a little bit. The nose, sweet as it was, was weak in general. At only 80 proof, I guess I couldn't expect a whole lot, but I really had to work to discern anything from this nose.

The bourbon is watery and thin, with legs as long as Cotton Hill's. This is a characteristic that is common among lower shelf bourbons, and this was not unexpected.

The flavor is not strong either. My overall impression is that this is unimpressive and weak, from nose to finish. Up front, though, what flavor is there is good. I got a nice blend of vanilla with a sweet peanut flavor to it. Interestingly, I got a light wood tone underscoring everything else, as though this bourbon were older than it actually is.

It's a thin and watery bourbon, and for that reason alone I'd prefer this as a mixer as opposed to a sipper. On its own it was simple and thin, and on the finish it had a very weird, astringent aftertaste. I've heard people describe their bourbon as tasting like band-aids, and this is the first time that I've ever gotten that from a bourbon. The finish was, quite simply, bad. A bourbon with a great finish makes me want to go right back to the bottle for another pour. This one just had me looking for something else.

I even tried it as a mixer with some ginger ale, and I just couldn't find a way to enjoy it. Even as a bottom shelf bourbon, this one falls well short of being a decent bourbon.

Grade: D