What a beautiful label!
Woodford Reserve Kentucky Derby 146 / 45.2% / $40 USD
Tasted neat
This Woodford Reserve was bottled in 2020 for the 146th Kentucky Derby, but as Covid happened, it did not take place on May 2nd and so the label printing is slightly incorrect with regards to that date. That year, the Derby took place on September 5, 2020, in Louisville, Kentucky.
This is a Kentucky straight bourbon whisky, with an unknown mashbill (probably similar to the standard 72% corn, 18% rye, 10% malted barley?), aged in new charred American oak. It features a watercolour painting by former Atlanta Braves baseball player Richard Sullivan of horses on the track at Churchill Downs.
- Color: mahogany (1.6)
- Nose: cherry wood, cough syrup, black licorice, pine gum, spice, and oak
- Taste: very woody; chewy oak, pine gum, some BBQ smoke, a little spice; bubblegum, and mint
- Finish: long and sticky, quite sweet, christmas cake
Although I am fairly inexperienced with bourbons, this feels like a standard proper bourbon, with the differentiating weight being on more aggressively wood maturation and oakiness. It has a heavier feel that is enjoyable neat, but less so in some cocktails where you may want a less muddled effect.
Rating: 5/10
