When I heard of the Thomas S. Moore Bourbon releases I was excited to find them knowing their origin prior to cask aging was 1792. The Bourbon used for the three variants was 5 to 6 years old and then finished in the Cabernet Sauvignon, Port, and Chardonnay casks. With a price point of $69.95 it was a bit of a stretch to purchase all three bottles so when reviews emerged suggesting a pass on the Chardonnay cask I took that as a sign to skip it. I was able to get the other two bottles and as both leave it building if the Chardonnay is the weakest expression of the three, skipping it was a wise decision. Anyway, let’s take a closer look at the other two bottles.
Cabernet Sauvignon Casks
The Cabernet Sauvignon bottle is 95.3 proof. The aroma is reminiscent of Cabernet Sauvignon enhanced Bourbon, but lacks depth and complexity. There is a slight fusel alcohol component which wafts unpleasantly. The background Bourbon notes are brown sugar and pepper with hints of oak. The flavor is extremely restrained with slight Cabernet Sauvignon wine character, low brown sugar, low black peppery, and a smidge of oak thrown in for good measure. The finish is the best part with lingering brown sugar and wine long and pleasantly into the aftertaste. The sweetness in the finish is well balanced and where this bottle truly shines out of the darkness.
Port Casks
The Port bottle has the highest alcohol content and rings in at 98.9 proof. The Port aroma is much more pleasant than the CS. Once again however a slight fusel alcohol note fills the nasal passages with an unpleasant character. The Bourbon is masked by the Port in this bottle and that is not necessarily a bad thing. What is a bad thing is a vegetal note which while very low is off-putting and present. Otherwise the notable aromatic notes which are worth mentioning are oak and black pepper. The flavor is balanced and tasty, but still not as complex as it should be for a bottle with this price point. It’s mostly Port with slight oak, brown sugar, and pepper. The finish is very pleasant, and similar to the CS bottle with the exception of Port presence. In case you cannot tell, this was my preferred bottle of the two. The Bourbon was noticeable darker and with a ruby hue in the glass. Of course it still wasn’t mind blowing.
While the bottle appearance is eye catching, the slender base is a terrible idea. I first noticed the poor functional design of the bottle when placing in the vehicle. Its near impossible for the bottle to stay vertical on anything but a perfectly horizontal surface. Also the bottle is extra tall. In my bar it was almost impossible to pull out the bottle without contacting the glassware hanging above the bottles. I can imagine someone with shelves might have a difficult time storing the bottle on their shelves. In case you are wondering how tall these bottles actually are, they stand 13 inches tall.
In the end when you consider it all these bottles need to gather dust on the store shelves until they land in the bargain bin. Their flavor and complexity is not interesting enough to command a 70 bean price point. Couple that to a lousy, but eye-catching, bottle at 40 bucks these would be fantastic, even at 50 bucks they would be good or better, but at 70 they are a hard pass. Skip them as a fad. I know if they roll out more I will not be the guinea pig and I may not pick up another even if all the reviews talk about how it blows their socks off. Sorry guys, these aren’t all that and a bag of chips and IMHO aren’t worth the price of admission.
Bangers and Mash 