A Triple Test | Of Boor-bon

Time To Burst That Bourbon Bubble

Let’s get this out the way first. I say the word boor-bon, not burr-ban. Always have, always will. Those little rectangular slivers of layered chocolate joy is what I think of, when someone says “Bourbon”. Bourbon biscuits are my go-to biscuit. I’ll take them over any other, including a dark chocolate Hob-Nob, and if ever there was a scale of packet demolishing biscuits, the Hob-Nob is already skimming the top. Not me, no Sir. I will demolish a packet of bourbons quicker than it takes to say “Hob-Nob”.

Before I tripped head-first into the rabbit hole of Scotch whisky, the concept of bourbon appealed more to me, just because I expected it to form a liquid version of my favourite biscuit. Chocolatey and moreish, yes please! (Funny coincidence, just this week I had an email saying that there’s now literally a Bourbon Bourbon available to buy, but after my Gospel transgression, I think I’ll pass, for now) Yet since enjoying Scotch whisky I have, until now, never tried a bourbon. Not even in a sauce!

I am privileged enough to find myself standing, loitering more like, on the periphery of the Dramface team. It’s a fragile place for me to exist, for fear of it disappearing. But here I am - a few thousand words later and able to enjoy the goings on around Dramface HQ before the public gets to see them, and I’ve managed to contribute a few little things myself. When I submitted the review for the Gospel Straight Rye, Wally demanded that I send him a sample. In return, he offered anything I wanted. Faced with the prospect of the vast wall of treats at Wally’s disposal (if he asks nicely), I found myself longing to try American stuff, and so posed the question - any decent bourbon’s kicking about? A few days later, three samples arrived from Wally - a “proper rye” (I’ll need a moment’s courage to open that one, but I have total confidence in Wally’s word), and two bourbon samples: an Evan Williams Kentucky Straight Bourbon, and an Elmer T. Lee Kentucky Straight, Single Cask bourbon. At the same time as the Wally sample swapping, I was trading samples with Dramfacer Hamish too. He sent me a big bag of beautiful samples, of which one was Michter’s Small Batch American Whiskey. As a quick but important aside - turns out that the Michter’s, due to a stipulation of American law for Bourbon production, doesn’t qualify as being a Bourbon. Only when fresh oak casks are used can it be called Bourbon, and the MIchter’s uses “whisky-soaked American white oak” second-use barrels. As a layperson, this little detail was lost on me - I thought all American whiskey was called Bourbon. Anyway, with these three samples before me, I thought the time was right to pop the bourbon bubble and see what it’s all about.

Googling the Elmer T. Lee, for it’s the first in the glass tonight, I see that it’s very much discontinued, and very much highly priced. I can buy it right now, but it’s priced at £350, and whilst that’s just one shop with stock, it’s the only shop in the UK with stock that I can find. A review I’ve uncovered has it priced at $40, at 2021 prices. So this is what could be considered an “entry level” bourbon, despite it being discontinued and worth loads more on the flipper’s market. The Evan Williams is next, with a more accessible price of £53-ish and available at a few places online. The Michter’s is the most widely available, including on Amazon, for £49-£59. So, much of a muchness for all three whiskies in terms of where they sit in the open market.

It’s time to get nosing and tasting these golden beauties!

Review

Elmer T Lee Kentucky Straight Bourbon Single Cask, 45% ABV
Now sold out

Nose

Amaretto biscuits. Sweet, sugary almonds. Chocolatey, cinder toffee - a really enticing nose.

Palate

Cherry, more cherry. Red tarty fruits are abundant. Treacle toffee. Cinder toffee enrobed with tart chocolate. Dark sugar, muscovado - creme brulee topper. Wendy house in direct sunlight. Rubber plimsoll. There's almost a brandy snap feel to this - sugary with a tart edge.

Score: 5/10

Review

Evan Williams Kentucky Straight Bourbon, 43.3% ABV
£53 widely available

Nose

Big digestive biscuits. Bourbon biscuits to boot! Fresher than the Elmet T. Lee. Polished bookcases with old books in them. Grassy football field. Sweet barbeque sauce. Rubbery. Matchy. Citrussy.

Palate

Very middling on the palate - smooth, unassuming, sweet and tasty. Sugary. Banoffee pie. Caramel but not extending to burnt sugar. Very restrained. A minerality appears at the death. The finish is quite short. There’s a tea note as it fades.

Score: 5/10

Review

Michter’s Small Batch Unblended American Whiskey, 47.1% ABV
£53 widely available

Nose

Vanilla biscuits. Alcohol permanent marker. Peppery note in the bottle.

Palate

Vanilla in spades. Creme Brulee. Liquid sugar. Could drink this all day long. Amaretto almond nutty. Werther’s originals. Butterscotch. Really tasty stuff! The finish is short, swift and bloody delicious

Score: 6/10

The Dregs

If I’d tried any of these three drams when I was grimacing through my Dad’s whisky in my 20s, I reckon I would have been into whisky long before now. These whiskies are incredibly easy to drink, each one packed full of the exact thing I was looking for when I peered down at the sloshing, viscous amber liquid in my Dad’s whisky bottles. Oodles of sweet, fruity notes. Potent biscuity bases with caramelised sugary tops. The Michter’s in particular is just flat-out butterscotch juice. There’s an amaretto/almond note to all the drams and the Elmer features a very tasty brandy snap, bittery thread running through it, which is just great. 

I guess I can appreciate these things now that I have a palate weathered from drinking a lot of Scotch whisky, and I wonder if I would have found it as sweet or as moreish if I didn’t have a palate at this not-undeveloped stage. They might have still repulsed me, I’ll never know, but I did pass the Glencairn to my wife, who happened to be walking by, and asked her to have a go at the Michter’s. She sniffed the glass and the eyebrows went up. She’s not a whisky drinker at all, despite having a bottle of Dewars 12 sitting after our Scotch Whisky Experience (it was the one that spoke to her). Yet with the Michter’s she was immediately enticed. A sip later and she was cooing - this was delicious, she said, and reminded her of a whisky liqueur like Glayva, but nowhere near as sweet…but still absolutely wonderful. Has a viscosity and coating mouthfeel that made the taste last and last. A glowing endorsement, therefore, from Mrs. Crystal.

As such, I think that’s the take-away here; bourbon - and American whiskey - is a fantastic way to get into the whisky sphere. I really enjoyed my three samples and can see why bourbon is so popular in the States. It’s very easy to drink, has all the right flavour notes you expect from a dark amber coloured liquid, all singing in unison and, the Elmer T. Lee apart, sit fairly decently in the affordability spectrum. My entire concept of American whiskey is now cast in a new light, and I see why things like Monkey Shoulder, Maker’s Mark, Knob Creek and suchlike are always on the shelves in supermarkets - they’re very easy to sip, affordable whiskies. I don’t think I’ll suddenly convert to bourbons, because Scotch whisky delivers so much more in the smell and taste experience, and you’ve got the huge heritage to pick from with all the nuances of cask selections, age statements and barrel sizing to carve your own path of discovery. The whiskies I tried tonight are great, but they remained singular in flavour throughout the duration of drinking - there’s no development. Whiskies to drink whilst standing in your garden, perhaps?

My thanks to both Wally and Hamish for allowing me to pop the American whiskey bubble. It was a really surprising, highly enjoyable experience. 

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. DC

Other opinions on this:

It’s Bourbon Night (Elmer T.Lee)

Ralfy (Elmer T. Lee)

Got a link to a reliable review? Tell us.