Updated April 11, 2017: A Public Relations Manager who saw this review emailed me today to state that Trader Joe's Bourbon "is from Bardstown and is Barton juice," and she asked me to update this post accordingly. Thank you for answering the question about the source.
Tax day is around the corner again, so it’s back to the bottom shelf for me until I snap out of my annual funk, or until I realize that many bottom shelf whiskies are there for a reason.
Tax day is around the corner again, so it’s back to the bottom shelf for me until I snap out of my annual funk, or until I realize that many bottom shelf whiskies are there for a reason.
Bourbon:
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Trader Joe’s Kentucky Bourbon Straight Whiskey
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Distillery:
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The label claims that it was “Distilled by Bourbon Square
Distilling Company, Louisville, KY” but there is no such distillery in
Kentucky, let alone in Louisville.
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Age:
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NAS, so it should be at least four years old
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ABV:
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45% ABV (90 proof)
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Cost:
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$15.00
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Tasting Notes
Appearance:
Slightly on the brown side of standard amber.
Nose:
Grain, corn sweetness, some vanilla, a little pepper, only a
little rye grain, and not much oak.
Taste:
The taste is young-ish, with some standard caramel and other
standard Bourbony-flavors, but nothing much stands out. It was uninspiring neat, and an ice cube or
water muted whatever favorable flavors existed in the first place. I also tried it in Kentucky Mules, where the
ginger, mint, and lime took the lead and made Trader Joe’s Bourbon perfectly serviceable.
Finish:
Short and on the verge of bitter.
Bottom Line
First, for the source, a 2013
promotion on Trader Joe’s website states that its Bourbon is sourced from Bardstown,
Kentucky. A few reviews claim that
Trader Joe’s Bourbon is sourced from Barton, which would be consistent with the
company’s promotion, but inconsistent
with the label, which represents that it is “distilled by Bourbon Square
Distillers, Louisville, KY.” A third
option we could believe is the source filed with the Kentucky Secretary of
State, which shows that Bourbon Square Distillers is actually an assumed name
of Buffalo Trace, with Buffalo Trace’s address in Frankfort, Kentucky. Which is it, Bardstown, Louisville, or
Frankfort?
Sadly, this Bourbon wasn’t
good enough for me to care about the brand’s conflicting representations. If you want cheap Bourbon for a mixer and you
think that Trader Joe’s is a cool store, go for it. Otherwise, Trader Joe’s Bourbon is a hard
pass. You’re better off with Four Roses
Yellow Label, Wild Turkey 101, or Heaven Hill Bottled in Bond, just to name a
few.
Score on The
Sipp’n Corn Scale: 1.5
The Sipp’n Corn Scale:
1 – Swill. I might dump the bottle, but will probably
save it for my guests who mix with Coke.
2 – Hits the
minimum criteria, but given a choice, I’d rather have something else.
3 – Solid Bourbon
with only minor shortcomings. Glad to own
and enjoy.
4 – Excellent
Bourbon. Need to be hyper-critical to
find flaws. I’m lucky to have this.
5 – Bourbon
perfection. I’ll search high and low to
get another bottle of this.
nice post
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading!
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