Review #: 257
Description: Blanton’s Straight From The Barrel
Spirit: Bourbon
Background: Similar to Blanton’s Gold, Blanton’s Straight From the Barrel previously was only available outside of the United States, but as of 2020, Buffalo Trace has begun to release bottles yearly. As the name suggests, this is different from the regular single barrel and Gold bottlings as it is bottled at cask strength. It is still single barrel so proof will vary from barrel to barrel. This one comes from the 2020 release and clocks in at 127.6 proof.
Distillery – Buffalo Trace
Bottler – Buffalo Trace
Brand – Blanton’s
Selection – N/A
ABV – 63.8%
Age – NAS
Nose – Lots more fruit: plum, green apple, banana, pear, there’s some musty leather and hay (thought not bad), some youthful wood
Taste – Lot’s of sweet caramel and vanilla, green apple, guava, honey, ginger syrup
Finish – Spice and heat ramp up: rye spice, allspice, ginger, a little bit of menthol and then some cooked apples and grape jelly, oak is pretty pronounced in almost a youthful way but holds back from being a negative. After the heat fades, some tropical fruit notes come in with some banana and papaya that are really interesting and refreshing.
Score: 7
Would I buy a bottle? I think I would
Thoughts: My first impressions were that this was definitely better than the gold, but the high proof definitely hits harder with plenty of notes. This is a bit of a departure from my thoughts on the standard bottle, that I feel is more nuanced and better balanced. The SFTB though remains pretty well balanced and while the oak shows the youth, the more time I spent with it the more tropical fruit notes come in that really grab my interest. It also drinks pretty well on point with the proof. I like it and it’s interesting enough where I would say at MSRP of $150, I think I wouldn’t regret it. As always though, it will never be worth secondary pricing