We have yet another guest taster. At this rate, anyone who has liked our Facebook page is eventually gone to be a taster. We welcome Kelsey to the tasting porch. Kelsey, by her own admission, likes almost everything alcohol related but is somewhat new to Bourbon.
Well today she gets to sample one of Talkingbourbon’s favorites, Weller’s Special Reserve. This is again a wheated Bourbon, just like our last post, Larceny. Special Reserve comes in a squat, rounded bottle with a screw top(boo). Is 90 proof, aged around 7 years and goes for under $20.00. Be warned, SP has become very hard to find, so hard that we call each other when we find it and usually by whatever stock the place has.
NOSE
Kelsey: As they said, I’m just getting into Bourbon and have never been part of a tasting where we write things down, but here goes. At first I just got alcohol on the nose, but with a little patience and prodding from Ron and Todd I was able to detect some tobacco, praline, caramel and a little anise.
Todd: For the record, while we did prod, we never say out loud what we are writing down. We wait until we are all done with each phase, then we talk about it. Having said that, I didn’t really get anything that Kelsey got. SP has a very good nutty nose of leather, citrus and grain.
Ron: I got the caramel and praline that Kelsey got, along with some oak and fruit. It has a nice sweet scent as well.
Kelsey: Thanks Ron.
TASTE
Kelsey: I could taste the praline and tobacco that I got on the nose as well as some oak and some spice.
Todd: Very smooth and sweet. Nice flavors of Butterscotch and citrus. An ice cube really added to the enjoyment.
Ron: I agree! Smooth and sweet. I tasted caramel, citrus, leather and praline .
FINISH
Kelsey: I felt that SP had a nice finish with hints of tobacco, and this sounds weird, medicine.
Todd: Medium to long finish that brought caramel, vanilla and a little mustiness.
Ron: No medicine taste here, did pick up a little tobacco on a nice smooth finish.
OVERALL
Kelsey: Yum!!
Todd: Yeah, really good juice, especially at that price. I like this better than Maker’s, less harsh.
Ron: If you can find it, buy it! Best daily Bourbon.
Nose 4.5 out of 5
Taste 9 out of 10
Finish 4.5 out of 10
Total 18 out of 20 Barrels
Remember we take price into consideration when rating, and for the price, this is our absolute favorite Bourbon under $20. It is smooth served neat or good with a cube or two. We like this so much that we debated about not reviewing it because it is so hard to find. We were thinking that such a positive review by us would make it even harder to find. We then came back to reality and realized that there are not that many people who read this blog.
Anyway, as mentioned above, if you come across some Weller’s Special Reserve, buy it! In fact, if you do find some, let us know on this blog or our FB page. On second thought, let us know by private message, no reason to tell everybody;)