Review by: zSolaris

American Whisky Review #46: Ancient Ancient Age 10 Star

This review was done blind, sample bottle was simply labelled as a “Peel to Reveal”

Distillery: Buffalo Trace

Region: Kentucky

Price: Courtesy of /u/TwiddleDD

ABV: 45.0%

Age: NAS

Color: 1.1, Burnished.

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Nose: (according to the wife) Pears and caramel dominate the nose. There’s a little bit of plum wine (매실주/maesil-ju) as well.

Palate: Rather silky mouthfeel. It’s pretty sweet as well with a lot of the plum wine as well as some plum extract. There’s a bit of grain sweetness along with some sugar as well. Nice and delightful.

Finish: Medium in length. Bit more grain as well as some more sugar.

Guess: I’m thinking it’s a young, teenage Highland. This tasted a lot like Glenmorangie for me, fairly straight forward with a bit of fruit and sweetness.

Conclusion: Boy was I off the mark with that Glenmorangie guess; this had nothing that tipped me off to being a bourbon! The color is light enough to be a Scotch, it smells and tastes like a Scotch. It doesn’t even have any of that “bourbon” flavor that is present in just about every bourbon to a certain extend. I’ll have to keep an eye out for more of this as I definitely enjoyed this.

Final Score: 77.

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Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
• 50-59: Save it for mixing.
• 0-49: Blech.