Tasting: Rowan’s Creek Bourbon batch 13-19

Dram data:
Distillery: undisclosed, made for Kentucky Bourbon Distillers
Bottler: Original Bottling
Distilled: –
Bottled: 2013 / batch 13-19
Age: NAS
Limitation: –
Casks: Fresh barrels
Alcohol: 50,05%
uncoloured by law
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
Colour: amber
The nose suggests a high-corn mashbill, lots of typical sweet corn notes dominate the nose, paired with loads of vanilla, roasted caramel, baked apples, sweet + sour cherries and assorted spices. A harmonic mixture between the spirit character, the sweet, the sour and the spicy notes, even though it’s not too complex. No acetone note, thank god. The palate has an initial alcoholic burn, which quickly fades to reveal loads of vanilla and caramel, typical sweet corn distillate character, loads of spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, aniseed, cloves), as well as a slight ginger bitterness. Fruits? Well, maybe some baked apples in the background. With water: A tad more mellow with restrained spices and more sweet notes (stewed fruits). The medium long finish is initially dominated by spicy, almost herbal notes (the charred oak is strong in this one), before mellowing down and getting sweeter with caramel and vanilla.

Verdict:
I can’t believe it took me so long to write my first bourbon review. Well, actually I didn’t want to rush things and wanted to get some experience with the category. This Rowan’s Creek “small batch” (no indication on the bottle as to what exactly that means…) straight kentucky bourbon whiskey features a nice balance between the spirit and the different oak notes (sweet, spicy, herbal and sour) and even though it could use a bit more complexity it’s a quaffable and  enjoyable dram. As far as bourbons go, it’s also a bit on the pricy side at about 50€.

Score: 84/100
(Nose: 85 Palate: 85 Finish: 83)