Review 105: Parker's Heritage Collection

Review 105

11/3/12

Parker’s Heritage Collection Bourbon: 65.8% abv

Is it a cask strength bourbon? Yes, yes it is. This tips the scale as our highest abv review to date, at about 66%. The difference between this and 151 rum is that you can actually do something with this, even at such a high alcohol content. So what are we really comparing this bad boy against? Well, if you were looking for other cask strength bourbons, we would first point you to Booker’s. So how does this compare to Booker’s? And how is it as a single whiskey. 

On the nose, you get some classic bourbon notes, with a large burn to it. The caramel, large oakiness, vanilla, and spiciness is all there. It can be said though, that a strong impression of alcohol is in the nose. Just plain alcohol. After a substantial amount of water, it stops melting your face off, and gives you some more complex, enjoyable notes of hazelnut, powdered sugar, wheat, rye, toffee, chocolate, and light chocolate. With any cask strength whiskeys, we always obligate ourselves to try them before adding water, so as you know the spirit in its natural state. 

The arrival is pretty simple, but gives off the standards notes of caramel, vanilla, and molasses. After adding water, this bourbon really changes. On the arrival anyway, you can start to experience some peppery notes and cinnamon. Impressions of the body include wheat, rye, caramel, vanilla, ginger, and molasses. To really get a good impression of this whiskey, water is almost entirely a necessity. You simply won’t get the complexities without it. In the finish, there is a nice variety of flavors, including wheat, semi-sweet chocolate, raspberry, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, molasses, black pepper, oak, and large grain flavors. It’s a pretty powerful whiskey, even with several teaspoons of water to it. 

To conclude about this Parker’s, we’d like to just say a few things. This bourbon is a pretty penny, so do your research before buying it. It also isn’t for everybody. We got the impression that it was trying to be a rye whiskey with all of the spiciness, but it is certainly good. It presents some unique flavors that you wouldn’t always expect from your bourbon, and it tastes pure and like any quality whiskey would. There’s a lot of technical jargon on this bourbon that I don’t care to get into. So how does it compare to Booker’s? To be honest, it really doesn’t. It just doesn’t hold the complexity, and for the price you would hope it did. All the same, it’s a wonderful spirit, and we enjoyed trying it. As a quick note, you might notice this review was done “on location”. It should also be mentioned that we did not buy the Parker’s, so to the person who did buy it, we thank you and love you as a friend and a mentor. Cheers.

Score: 9.0/10

Review 97: Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select

Review 97

9/3/12

Woodford Reserve Distiller’s Select: 45.2% abv

Woodford Reserve is quite a distillery. This is our first WR review, so let’s talk about them for a second. Located in Kentucky, Woodford comes with one buzz word that has been quite extra buzzy lately. Lincoln Henderson is the man responsible for many things in the world of bourbon. Mr. Henderson, being in the Bourbon Hall of Fame, which apparently exists (I guess), is in the news today because he, at the age of 72, helped his son found a new Bourbon, called Angle’s Envy, from Louisville Distilling Company. But before all this buzz, he helped build up Woodford Reserve, one of the most successful distilleries in Kentucky. 

So what cool facts do we know about Woodford? None, but Wikipedia probably knows one or two. Hold on...okay. So Woodford Reserve is the oldest of the 9 bourbon distilleries in operation in Kentucky. That’s sort of interesting, right? Okay. We have more WR reviews coming up, so I will hold our other riveting facts for later. About this one? It’s good. Sorry, I blew it. I knew you were looking forward to the anticipation. How about why it’s good? 

Well, starting on the nose, we get some good sweet flavors that we love in our bourbons, and much sweeter and friendly than Jim Beam. Molasses, caramel, sugarcane, and honey all keep the sweetness going, but we won’t keep it boring! Interestingly, we get some creamy notes, butter, oak and nut, although we weren’t sure what kind. Also, an interesting thing we noted was peach. Dunno where that comes from. In any case, we enjoyed the smell and it left curiosity and excitement to the taste. On the arrival when you first taste this bourbon, you will be greeted by sweetness and saltiness, slight orange and vanilla, some raspberry and vanilla. The arrival is wonderfully full and complex, something we generally don’t experience. 

The body of the flavor contains intense oak, mild but pleasant salt, butter, molasses and caramel, with graininess to boot. The graininess includes wheat and corn, with some yeast. The whole package is finished off with some honey and cream. After water, the saltiness backs off a bit, which says if you don’t like the salt, add water. It doesn’t kill the flavor with it’s higher alcohol content. The finish is very similar to the taste, with saltiness, molasses, vanilla, wheat and cinnamon. The fruitiness in the smell comes back in the finish, with some orange cherry, and a unique note of mint and rye. And of course, in the notes, we see notes that make no sense. 

Sorry. In general, this is a fantastic statement of bourbon, and for the sweeter and saltier statements of bourbon, this will do you well, but be warned it is a powerful flavor. Highly recommended and worth the price. 

Score: 9.0/10