Colonel Lee Kentucky Straight Bourbon: MINI

Nose: The nose on this is super light and just barely smells like whiskey. Palate: The first sip starts out with your standard bourbon tastes (caramel and vanilla), but like the nose, it is on the light side. It has a little bit of heat, but nothing too excessive. The mouthfeel is decent but slightly watery. The finish provides a nice, classic bourbon warming. On later sips, I picked up rye spiciness, some oak, some earthy notes, along with “classic bourbon” flavors. There’s nothing terribly unique about this bourbon, but it is an easy drinker. Comments: While there isn’t much to warrant rushing out to get this one, it is perfectly serviceable as an average drinker. At a meager .99 cents, this mini is certainly worth a taste. Total Wine sells a 1.75l bottle for $17.99. I’m not sure I’d spring for that. The label on this indicates it is from the Barton Distilling Company in Louisville, KY and that it is aged 36 months. (Barton is owned by Sazerac.) I think this is a good example of how a Kentucky bourbon that is aged 3 years is usually better than most craft distillery bourbons of the same age. Biased? Yeah, maybe……but given a choice, I’ll almost always choose a KY bourbon. This is 80 proof (and it won’t surprise you that it is). Overall…..place it right in the middle of the “Meh” category.