Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit Single Barrel

The Raleigh Bourbon & Banter group picked a barrel of Wild Turkey Kentuck Spirit Single Barrel through a local ABC Board. It was the standard price point of $60 for the 101 proof Bourbon. The pick was bottled on 04/22/19 from barrel no. 0199 stored in warehouse F on rick no. 24. The barrel yielded 186 bottles and the mash bill was 75% corn, 13% rye, and 12% barley. I’m not sure most would realize this was a Wild Turkey product if they had it. It began with an initial brown sugar, cinnamon, and leather presence with hints of oak. The flavor was sweet enough to mask the alcohol until the warming post consumption. The brown sugar sweetness came with leather, oak, a hint of rye, cinnamon, and black pepper for good measure. It was highly drinkable which made me wonder if it had enough complexity or not. The more I tried it, the more I liked it and thought it was a great pick for the group. Unfortunately it is gone baby gone so the chance of finding a bottle is none. I will however put Kentucky Spirit on my shopping list assuming each single barrel produced would be just as tasty. If you see a bottle and it is within your budget, do not hesitate to give it a whirl.

Rittenhouse Rye Bottled-In-Bond

Due to seeing Rittenhouse Rye Bottled-In-Bond utilized in many bars as a house rye I snagged a bottle to give it a whirl. The bottle typically retails for $25 at NCABC, but I think I picked mine up a few bucks cheaper. After loving Old Overholt Bonded, I figured Rittenhouse would be outstanding. The first night I tried it I found it overly sweet. On another night it presented as slightly spicy, but missing complexity. After the first two innocent encounters I decided to do a little soul searching with the rest of the bottle.  The rye aroma and flavor is notable, but not complex. Alcohol is really only had a role in the post consumption warming. The sweetness I perceived at a high level with the first drink from the bottle, was actually a little more restrained. Still Rittenhouse was sweet malt in the aroma and flavor and presented with a candy character. The bottom line is if I had to choose between Old Overholt and Rittenhouse I would choose Old Overholt. Both are tasty Bottled-In-Bond ryes, but Rittenhouse is a bit too sweet and lacks complexity. Give both a try and make up your own mind.

Sensei Whiskey

I happened upon Sensei Whiskey at Costco  liquor store and with a $25 price point figured why not. The 40% ABV Whiskey was a bit of a mystery with little information available. It’s a blend of five different Whiskeys including American, Scotch, Irish, Canadian, and Japanese. One would think with an everything but the kitchen sink Whiskey the flavor would be perfection, unfortunately this one is a bit too sweet. The flavors are cherry, vanilla, and sugar with hints of leather and cinnamon spice. The alcohol was restrained and only came forward in the warming post consumption. If you like a sweet Whiskey or need something for mixing this might be worthwhile, but neat in the glass this is a pass for me especially seeing the price point for this is often $10-15 higher than I paid. Try it if you must, otherwise leave it on the shelf for someone else.