Hancocks Presidents Reserve Single Barrel Bourbon Whiskey Review
What'due south the dumbest matter in whiskey?
Unfortunately, in that location'south no shortage of fully justified responses to this question. This hobby, passion – any you desire to telephone call information technology – information technology brings out breathtakingly idiotic behavior in otherwise reasonable people. Folks who are regularly entrusted with child supervision, the care of domestic animals, and/or the operation of heavy machinery are all of a sudden found acting like nitwits when bourbon enters the motion picture.
I'm not fifty-fifty referring to the lapses of practiced sense that come with overconsumption. No, the missteps I'1000 referring to here are presumably made when sober; they're unforced errors of the virtually egregious diverseness. We've covered a few of them hither: chasing down limited editions of dubious quality, shelling out a premium for repackaged whiskey from an bearding source, or overpaying for low-spec whiskey because of a tenuous celebrity endorsement.
These are all moronic behaviors, but I could hands attribute them to not-malevolent causes like naivete or gullibility or curiosity left unchecked. There's a worse category of misbehavior, though, in which the con becomes the mark and is left holding the bag. Information technology'south a practical awarding of the "greater fool" theory: overpaying for a whiskey because the whiskey is superficially like some other whiskey that other people are overpaying for, with the implied endgame of selling those benighted souls the substitute whiskey for a markup on the markup paid to acquire information technology.
Whether this mendacity is stupidity squared, stupidity on stilts, or deserves some other alliterative appellation, I'll leave to your discerning judgment, dear reader. In the concurrently, I'll be reviewing two whiskeys that provoke reactions which, at first glance, seem to fit this clarification to a "T."
We've talked before virtually the Buffalo Trace "halo event," whereby everyday whiskeys presume the status of collectibles because of real or imagined similarities to the unobtainable allocated whiskeys in that distillery'due south portfolio. "Can't become Pappy? Purchase up all the Weller. Missed out on the Antique Collection? Clean your local store out of Hawkeye Rare." (I am phrasing it this mode as an indication of the mindset rather than every bit an exhortation to exercise these things. Do not do these things. That would exist cretinous.)
The whiskeys nosotros'll be considering today are both distilled by Buffalo Trace from their college rye mash bill (reputed to exist between 12% and xv% rye). Those of you with superior memories will remember that this is the aforementioned mash nib from which Elmer T. Lee and Blanton's bourbons originate. Yes, that Blanton'southward: the ane that is supposed to retail for $65 only for which sellers are asking (and taters are paying) $200. Like Blanton's and "ETL," these are both "single butt" expressions.
You'll exist unsurprised to learn that these bourbons – which, based on their technical specifications alone, should not engender whatsoever irrational exuberance – accept quickly followed their allocated brethren in condign deficient and marked up, when they practice appear "in the wild." I started clicking through the Instagram channels that monitor egregious bourbon pricing and plant some extraordinarily silly numbers slapped on these bottles, which I volition reference later.
To chemical compound the weirdness, these expressions don't take pages on the Buffalo Trace distillery website. Rather, their online home is a shadow site called "Great Bourbon," ostensibly owned by the "American Bourbon Clan." Yet, clicking the "View Great Bourbons" button leads us to a folio displaying 48 bourbons… all distilled by Buffalo Trace or other Sazerac distilleries. Clicking the "Terms of Utilise" page reveals that "This website… is provided past Sazerac Company, Inc."
To clear upwards matters, I got in contact with Amy Preske, PR manager for Buffalo Trace. My many questions (and Amy's answers) can be constitute peppered throughout these reviews. To start:
Malt: I noticed that neither of these brands are featured on the Buffalo Trace website. Whatever reason?
Amy: No particular reason. These are very small brands.
Let us, and then, consider these "very minor brands." Beginning nosotros have Rock Hill Farms, which originated in 1985, post-obit on from the successful launch of the Blanton's make the prior twelvemonth. "Named for the rich farmland forth the Kentucky River," per the Swell Bourbon site, This make (as well as Hancock'south President's Reserve) was sold to the Historic period International company, itself bought by Takara Shuzo of Japan, which retains ownership of the brands (confirmed by Amy) and has a contract-distilling-and-domestic-distribution arrangement with Buffalo Trace.
Malt: The label says this is a "single butt;" are these barrels as well picked from a single warehouse, in the fashion of Blanton's?
Amy: No, these barrels are aged in a variety of warehouses at Buffalo Trace Distillery.
Malt: What distinguishes Rock Hill Farms from other Buffalo Trace expressions with this mash beak?
Amy: Age, proof and taste.
Rock Hill Farms comes to us at 100 proof (50% ABV). SRP for this is $l; the first bottle of Rock Colina Farms I saw on Instagram had a $400 price tag, to give you some indication of the goofiness afoot here. Fortunately, I was spared the demand to act the fool by Mike, who generously donated both these samples.
Rock Hill Farms – Review
Color: Medium-gold.
On the nose: The dominant annotation is the intense odour of butterscotch. This has some woody accents, the sweetly rubbery scent of pink pencil eraser, and some mucilaginous banana taffy at the margin, simply no amount of attentive sniffing is able to get me past that overarching scent. I want to reach just by it to get to the fruit that I sense is underneath, but I tin can't. Information technology's bang-up, except in that it crowds out most everything else in the fashion of aromatic nuance.
In the mouth: That butterscotch note carries through at the fore, suddenly turning to a tart and sweet flare-up of lemon-flavored difficult candy equally the whiskey greets the natural language. This knits together nicely at the center of the mouth, with rich, sour, sweet, and stony notes intertwining. Just when I wish this would exist more persistent, the whiskey slips quietly away, leaving a faint aftertaste (once again, that irrepressible butterscotch) and a radiant warmth, indicative of the relatively higher bottling strength.
Conclusions
This was one-note throughout, bar an elusive moment of balance in the oral fissure. That instant was appealing but also frustrating, as it hinted at the potential that this bourbon fails to deliver. I'm scoring this below boilerplate, non based on any conspicuous flaws, but rather to reverberate the relative simplicity of this compared with the many comparably priced options available.
Score: 4/ten
Next comes Hancock'due south President'due south Reserve. The Great Bourbon page for this expression informs u.s. that "In 1775, the Leestown settlement was established forth the banks of the Kentucky River past Willis and Hancock Lee. Before long this became a well-known shipping port for tobacco, hemp and whiskey. The Unmarried Barrel Bourbon Whiskey pays tribute to the pioneering spirit of Hancock Lee."
Setting bated that cursory history lesson, there's very little information most this brand, similar to Rock Hill Farms. Some other peculiarity is the bottling strength of 88.9 proof (44.45%). Dorsum to Amy:
Malt: The characterization says this is also a "single butt;" are these barrels besides picked from a single warehouse?
Amy: No, these barrels are aged in a variety of warehouses at Buffalo Trace Distillery.
Malt: I noticed the unique proof on this of 88.9. Is there a story behind this or some reason for this number especially?
Amy: Unknown.
The simply other information I have for you is that this was also released in 1985. SRP is also $50, though cost tags bearing an amount triple that number accept been spotted around boondocks.
Hancock's President's Reserve – Review
Color: A more pale golden maize color.
On the nose: Altogether fresher, this presents ample floral and fruity notes: ripe honeydew melon, a spring bouquet, and confectioners sugar. I too sense a bit of lime and peppermint, albeit coming across faintly. There'south a slightly woodsy accent of pine copse, but overall this is all treble and no bass. There's not much on the darker and richer end of the spectrum here, which would have been a welcome counterpoint to the overwhelmingly cheery disposition of this one.
In the oral cavity: Noticeably lower in strength than its predecessor, this starts with a gentle and subdued sweetness. There's a chip of rounding out as this approaches the center of the oral cavity, where a woody richness (echoing the dominant notation of the Rock Hill Farms) begins to bloom. The faintly sweet season of bubblegum emerges as this progresses toward the stop. At that place's a faintly lingering heat here, but otherwise this fades relatively apace.
Conclusions
Like the Rock Hill Farms, this doesn't have any off-notes on which to fixate. Rather, information technology'due south stuck in a relatively narrow range of the potential aroma and flavor spectrum. What'southward in that location is dainty, simply (once once again) this falls short of justifying its price tag, peculiarly considering the other bottles readily bachelor on the store shelf for $fifty. Consistent with the prior whiskey, I am shaving a point off of average.
Score: 4/10
I'd recall I'd rather have Elmer T. Lee (at the roughly $40 SRP) than either of these. Each has loftier points only is ultimately incomplete, reflected in scores a notch beneath average for both of these. They slightly underperform for SRP; paying a multiple (or many multiples) of that price? Well, that's just… you lot know.
Source: https://malt-review.com/2021/03/01/rock-hill-farms-and-hancocks-presidents-reserve/