1.15 - E.H. Taylor Four Grain Bourbon 2018 & Michter's 10 Year Old Rye Whiskey 2018

In this episode of the Spirits Blind Tasting podcast I'm doing a blind tasting of the E.H. Taylor Four Grain Bourbon 2018 & Michter's 10 Year Old Rye Whiskey 2018. Feel free to follow along with a dram of any of these or any other spirit you enjoy as I try to uncover the aromas and flavors of these 2 spirits.

If you'd like to support this podcast and get access to the behind the scenes video recordings from this episode, please join me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/spiritspeople

My tasting notes from this episode can also be found below:

Spirit A - E.H. Taylor Four Grain Bourbon 2018 (50% ABV)

Appearance

• Clarity: Clear
• Intensity: Medium
• Color: Amber
• Suggested texture: Medium > high

Nose

• Condition: Clean
• Intensity: Medium > pronounced
• Aroma characteristics: Butterscotch, Ginger bread, vanilla cream, caramelized apple, all spice, cloves, dried apricots, dried orange peel, pecan nuts, toasted/dry oak
• Other notes: Has a dusty/dry sensation to it. Like a toasted oak/sun dried oak type sensation. Very little char sensation on the palate but there was the burnt sugar note.
• ABV: ~55%

Palate

• Sweetness: Dry
• Texture: Warming, mouth filling, Medium > high viscosity 
• Intensity: Pronounced
• Flavor characteristics: Oak, burnt toast, all spice, cloves, black pepper corn, licorice, leather, hints of vanilla and caramelized apples + some floral notes after water added
• Other notes: Lost a bit of the dried fruit notes, but gained the barrel aging notes much more clearly.
• Finish: Long and complex (Oak, cloves, licorice)
• ABV: ~55%

Conclusion

• Quality level: Outstanding
• Blind guess: Bourbon, ~10 years  

Spirit B - Michter's 10 Year Old Rye Whiskey 2018 (46.4% ABV)

Appearance

• Clarity: Clear
• Intensity: Medium
• Color: Amber
• Suggested texture: Medium > high

Nose

• Condition: Clean 
• Intensity: Medium
• Aroma characteristics: Oak, sweet corn, caramel, baked apples, pie crust, leather, ground cinnamon, crushed cloves, nail varnish
• Other notes: More oak, and has a sharp note at the end of the nosing like a high ethanol spike. Could mean a younger whiskey, but not sure.
• ABV: ~55%

Palate

• Sweetness: Dry
• Texture: Watery, low > medium viscosity
• Intensity: Medium
• Flavor characteristics: Oak, leather, cloves, black pepper corn, very little hint on those baked apples + sweetness grows with water
• Other notes: All the spice and burn sits on the tongue, doesn’t follow through. Feels like higher ABV but doesn’t carry the burn, just more tongue swelling.
• Finish: Medium with some complexity (Oak and black pepper corn)
• ABV: ~60%

Conclusion

• Quality level: Very good
• Blind guess: Bourbon, younger than spirit A

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to reach out to me at any time on Instagram @spiritspeople