Blanton's Gold Edition

[opelfruit]

After Delivery-gate recently at my house with my Blanton's it occurred to me that I've not put anything here about them in the past. It's a bit light on content is this section so thought I'd fill it out.


First the basics;

It's export only, so sorry America but one of your best bourbons aint available for you. Lucky us in Europe.

All Blanton's are single barrels, they all come from the "middle-cut" which is the mid way place in the rickhouse, it's the Goldilocks location for bourbon - not to hot, not to cold, just right. This means the ageing isn't extreme like, say, your Stagg's which are vatted from bottles at the top of the warehouse and the temperature is the highest. They are all hand bottled, hand labelled etc.

They also all come from warehouse H, which is supposed to be one of the best warehouses owned by Buffalo Trace. This is a steam heated warehouse so it maintains a pretty high temperature throughout winter so it's gives a good and consistent ageing.


The range of Blanton's isn't massive, they basically bottle the same juice but at different strengths and call them different things. Gold is their flagship (and probably the best), the only higher proofs are the "straight from the barrel" series.


Age: 8 years, ish, give or take.
Colour: Amber with gold highlights. Not as dark as a lot of bourbons (that's the middle-cut for you). Natural colour as with all straight bourbons.
Strength: 51.5% abv/103 US proof
Filtered: Yes, unfortunately.
Mashbill: BT's number 2 bill, high rye. This whisky contains a bill of corn, rye and malted barely only.


All taken without water.

Smells fantastic. One of the best smelling whiskies I've had. The rye is all over it, fragrant and floral, spicy. Leads on to sweetness later on from the corn and some fruit, mainly dried. Not much alcohol burn considering it's strength, it's very well mannered. Slight mustiness and some sawn wood, not much.

Very interesting.

Medium weight. Some variation in bottles, some of them I've had were richer. Enters very smoothly but with some time in the mouth the alcohol kicks in, still very well mannered. Big spice hit and crystal sharp rye at first (it's the big flavour grain so expected). Once the spice calms down you're left with the rest of the goodness; fruits, not dried this time but fresh stone fruit. Apricot jam, really zingy. Sweetness then from the corn.

Lip-smacking. Complex.

Finishes well, no bitterness really just a bit of tanic from the oak. The sweetness carries on and it moves from zingy to creamy. Butter, cream, caramel and vanilla. Tastes like I've just had the best fudge in the world. Medium to long. This barrel I have finishes long, which is great. The glass is lasting a long time, which makes me happy.

Ready for another go round! Oh yeah.


In my view this is *probably* the best bourbon in the world, if not then certainly one of the top 5. The "straigth from the barrels" are great and try to take it toe to toe with the BT Antique collection, like the Stagg's. They are too much though really, the flavour works best at this lower strength of 51.5% abv. Nothing can take a Stagg at barrel proof, so it's pretty pointless contest.

So, again, sorry America but you have to miss out on this one. It's also hard to get in the UK as most places always sell out. Whenever I see one on sale I grab it and will continue to do so for as long as they make them.

.............incidentally, I know a lot of people on here don't rate bourbon but this for me is better than most bottles of Scotch, certainly for the price......and most I say, not all


_________________
"Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whisky is barely enough."

[Quaich1]

Excellent review Opelfruit.

I just checked the LCBO here in Ontario and they have 3 Blanton's expressions::

Blanton's Original Bourbon
LCBO# 255349 | 750 mL bottle
Blanton's Original Bourbon
$65.00
USA Sazerac Company, Inc.

Blanton's Single Barrel Special Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon
VINTAGES# 558320 | 750 mL bottle
Blanton's Single Barrel Special Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon
$79.95
USA Sazerac Company, Inc.


Blanton's Gold Edition Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon
VINTAGES# 595603 | 750 mL bottle
Blanton's Gold Edition Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon
$100.95
USA Sazerac Company, Inc.


How's the Blanton's Original Bourbon? The other 2 are limited in availability while the former is very available.
_________________
"Always carry a large flagon of whisky in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake."
W.C. Fields (1880-1946)

[opelfruit]

The "Original" is very good, I've only had it once as my intro to Blanton's and I remember thinking it was a "wow" whisky at the time. This was early on in my bourbon journey though. They are essentially the same stuff just at different strengths, maybe the Gold's are the best pick from the best location, the cream of the cream if you will, I dunno.

Blanton's is stunning if you like bourbon and especially if you like high-rye. For me the Original just isn't quite good as the Gold. All the stuff you get extra from the Gold (better nose, more intense flavour and a miles longer finish) are the things that are missing from the Original......so I'd always buy the Gold. The UK price isn't too different between them either, so the Gold wins.


The prices for you are interesting though, the "Special Reserve" is kind their entry level one and mainly produced for countries that had high tax for high proof booze. I wouldn't really bother with it as it's not in the same league as the other 2, but it's strange as I would have put that as the cheapest.


If you like bourbon and you want to try Blanton's (if you like bourbon you *need* to try Blanton's!) then for those prices the Original is the best bet.
_________________
"Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whisky is barely enough."

[Quaich1]

[opelfruit]

That closure is the one that broke with my online order, they are a little flimsy. My new order came today, same barrel as the first just a different bottle number, never had 2 from the same barrel before so should be interesting. New bottle had a split in the wax closure and a slight (very slight) leak again, but it was still in situ and not loose like the last one. Guess it's the way the delivery man threw it through my door like it was a rugby ball.....


I'd be interested to see your thoughts on the Original as it's been a few years since I've had it. Hopefully you enjoy it....I hate recommending stuff as I always feel responsible if someone doesn't like the dram!!



Nice touch about the Blantons range is that on the rear leg of the horse at the bottom of the stopper there is a letter. They are all different (well, not all) and spell out B-L-A-N-T-O-N-S if you have the right letters
_________________
"Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whisky is barely enough."

[Quaich1]