Review #: 272
Description: Old Bardstown Bottled-In-Bond
Spirit: Bourbon
Background: Coming from Willett Distillery, this is their own distillate, aged at least 4 years and bottled at 50%. This was either exclusive to KY or limited distribution outside of it when I bought it, but it only is about $20 so worth a gamble, right?
Distillery – Willett
Bottler – Willett
Brand – Old Bardstown
Selection – N/A
ABV – 50%
Age – NAS
Nose – Some young oak but TONS of cherry, pear, sweet corn, some vanilla cake
Taste – Sweet vanilla, almond, cherry, caramel, brown sugar, pecans
Finish – Things take a turn for the worse, cherries become sour, oak gets very ashy, almost diesel like with bitter grains
Score: 3
Would I buy a bottle? No
Thoughts: oof. The nose on this was promising, and the taste was nice, though kind of thin for being 50%. The finish really exposed the youth and made it really hard to have a positive experience. Hopefully they can continue to improve, but the rest of this bottle will be used for cocktails or simple mixing, and even then I won’t miss it.