Up today is a somewhat hard to find drink, Elmer T Lee, Single Barrel, Sour Mash, Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. Named for the distiller who started at Stagg Distillery and retired as ambassador and Master Distiller for Buffalo Trace.
Elmer T Lee is bottled at 90 proof, sells for around $40 and comes in a sharp looking, kind of squat corked bottle with pinched sides. It also has a picture of Mr. Lee on the inside of the back of the bottle, so you see the photo when looking at the front of the bottle. There is no age statement on the bottle, but with a little searching we determined it to be around 12 years old.
NOSE
Ron: Very good with almost all my favorites including caramel, toffee, vanilla, tobacco and oak. Also got a little bit of red fruit.
Todd: Great nose of caramel, grain, cedar and old leather upfront. This was followed by a musty humidor aroma.
TASTE
Ron: Smooth neat but better with half a cube. I tasted the caramel, toffee, vanilla and oak that I got on the nose. Also detected a slight taste of pear. Very nice.
Todd: I agree with the smoothness, but I felt that I had to reach on a lot of the flavors. I tasted a little bit of caramel, praline, toffee, vanilla and citrus.
FINISH
Ron: Nice medium-long with a touch of leather.
Todd: Medium-long with a bit of mustiness.
OVERALL
Ron: A very good Bourbon with a slightly better nose than taste. The pioneer Master Distiller Elmer T lee should be proud.
Todd: Even though none of the taste jumped out at me, I still loved drinking this Bourbon.
Nose 4.5 out of 5
Taste 8.75 out of 10
Finish 4.25 out of 5
Total 17.5 out of 20 Barrels
Elmer T Lee has long been a favorite of ours and this tasting didn’t disappoint. Be warned, this is a hard to find bottle, but if you come across one that is close to the price we sited, buy it. Shame on you if you don’t because this Bourbon is worth it.