from Bar Staple
• Company: Kentucky Senator Spirits • Distillery: Undisclosed KY. Distillery
• Type: Kentucky Straight • Proof: 107 • Age: 6 Years
• Mash Bill: 75% Corn | 21% Rye | 4% Malted Barley
• NOSE
Out of the gate on the nose; we got this Floral/Honeysuckle vibe. A slight sweetness that was truly inviting. We also got a light sugar-coated/slight honey Fig/Date hint going on that was hard to pin-point, but it was surely there. And last, but not least…there was a hit of Graham Cracker; very light, but very intriguing.
Our only set-back was it was the lightness of the nose. It was like a faint whisper in the wind. But — it does make you want to dive in for more.
• Score: 19/25
• PALATE
The palate hits like power punch of sweet!
Up front we get this Super Sweet Oak and a Honeysuckle; almost to the sweetness of a Honey Dew Melon. We were into this from the start!
Then came a blast or rather an explosion of heat that covered your mouth like a Red-Hot. But it left just as fast as it came in; so no lingering residual heat.
What lingered was the Dark Sugars — which was truly one of our big likes.
The palate did not disappoint!
• FINISH
The finish was probably one of the best, from the nose and palate; long and featuring your ‘common’ bourbon notes — the caramels, deep, dark brown sugars and so on.
One thing that caught us by surprise was; there was a hint of an Andy’s Mint on the end (that mint that ‘Olive Garden’ gives out with your bill). That mint tingle; which was very good…but totally not expected. Who wouldn’t love that!?
• Score: 24/25
• VALUE
Now here is where we were trying to figure out a best number. This bottle comes in at $115; or at least what we got it for. We feel that is a little too much for our notes we came up with. We feel that this bottle should be somewhere in the ball park of $75/$85 — we just want to be honest and sincere on this.
• Score: 6/10
• FINAL NOTES
With all of our notes in; we asked one another…’was this a purchase we shouldn’t have made’. By far it is not a bad purchase. We would not tell anyone not to buy it. If you see it; snag it…it’s a low run anyways (something like 1200 bottles).
But…is it knocking it out of the park for that money — NO. But…is it a good bourbon — YES!
Now the final question — ‘Is it Bar Staple worthy’?! We feel it is, but I don’t know if we’ll be on the search for No.3…
Till next pour — Cheers!!