Blanton's Straight From the Barrel

Blanton's Straight From the Barrel

I guess one of the advantages of living in Europe is having relatively easy access to this bottle. I mean, in my case I do have to travel to the UK to buy a bottle, but that’s something I was doing anyway. On to the tasting:

Source: Own bottle.
Barrel Info: Barrel #732. 129.8 proof/64.9%. Warehouse H rick 6.
Price: £72/$96 from Hedonism Wines
Setup: Blind in a trio tasting with Four Roses SiB & Four Roses PS OBSV (Loch & Key)
Drank: Neat, in a Glencairn. Rested 15 minutes.


Nose: Punchy notes of sour cherry and overripe mango, with some dusty, mint and acetone deepness behind. Mahogany furniture. Really enjoyable nose.
Palate: Full, thick mouthfeel leading with pungent acetone into balsamic then red wine vinegar. Damn.
Finish: Not a great deal of spice. Long finish of marmalade and flatbread.
Overall: Now we’re talking! Simultaneously punchy and dark, explodes on the palate and lasts forever. I’m pretty sure I know what this is, and it’s my benchmark for bourbons from those I have tasted so far.
Blind guess: Blanton’s SFTB

Rating (given blind): 4.5/5

Thoughts: Yeah, it was not super hard to guess what this was. Even against the two Four Roses SiB’s, it was no competition. This is one hell of a bourbon, and has to be my favourite of what I have tasted.