Review #27 Blanton's Original Single Barrel: Bourbon

Score: 8.7 / 10

Distillery: Buffalo Trace

Type: Higher Rye Kentucky Straight

Likely the most popular bourbon on Buffalo Traces higher rye content Mash Bill #2 comes the Original Blanton's. I've heard many people also consider it one of the best whiskey brands. The only Blanton's (currently) sold in the US, but can also be found in other countries. Most people know that the toppers of these bottles can be assembled to spell Blanton:s (not a typo on the colon Did someone get fired over that? Obviously not because they still print it that way). You can also get a normal N. These lined up in order show the stages of a horses gallup crossing the KY Derby finish line. It is common to find stores giving away store picks. Most of them I have had were very good. This one in particular is much sweeter than usual. At least too sweet for me. While looking at the topper, it makes me feel like a racehorse licking a sugar cube.

The important take-away from all] this is that Blanton's is a single barrel bourbon. It doesn't matter if it is a store pick or the original, these vary from barrel to barrel quite easily. Still one of my favorite bourbons to drink and collect. Below is the review for the store pick, but I'll leave out the over emphasized sweetness that I haven't had from other barrels so far to even it out for your common experience.

We also dove most of the Blanton's all in one shot on episode 7 of our whiskey podcast Po It Up here. We hope you enjoy this as much as we did.

Whiskey Review:

Nose: Caramel hits the nose up front, light coffee, brown sugar, vanilla, milled corn, with a small hint of rye spice

Palate: Oily palette lingers on the tongue and dances around, caramel, burnt sugar, vanilla, oak

Finish: A little longer than medium. Sugary, oil fades to caramel and vanilla. Very distinct despite some of the more common bourbon notes here.

Score: 8.7

Scale:

S+ Sensational - The Pinnacle (9.5+)

A - AXEceptional (astounding) (9-9.5)

B - bravo (step aBove average) (8-8.9)

C - competent (7-7.9)

D - disappointing (6-6.9)

F - flush it down the toilet (fail) (5.9 below)

Notes: Availability? Rare. This is possible to find on shelves occasionally, but unless you have a very good lead, I wouldn't recommend venturing out. Asking for Blanton's is going to annoy a lot of liquor store employees.