Old Whiskey River Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Nose: This has a light scent with some herbs, mint, menthol and a bit of fruity sweetness. Palate: The mouthfeel on this is light and on the watery side. The first sip was bland and rather nondescript. The heat is a little bit harsh but it is short and primarily limited to the rather short finish. Later sips have an overall profile that seems oaky/earthy/musty but without any particular flavor taking center stage. I think there is some rye in the mashbill but, the rye spiciness I’m picking up on shows up at the same time as the heat, which overpowers it. There is an aftertaste that is woody/earthy that may also have some hints of rye….but it really is hard to pick out. Comment: There was exactly enough left in this bottle to have one tasting. I will not be replacing this bottle….not because it is bad, but because there is nothing that stands out about it and nothing that shouts “buy me instead of the other options out there”. The is 86 proof and, I’m sad to report, it it BOTTLED in Bardstown. Now, that doesn’t mean it is DISTILLED in Bardstown, but I suspect it is probably sourced locally. It is a 6 year old and supposedly is named after the Willie Nelson song, Whiskey River and was produced with his help. I was a bit confused about the history on this one. Apparently, Heaven Hill owned this brand name at one time but the bottle I have states it is bottled by the Old Whiskey River Distilling Co. The label also looks slightly different than the Heaven Hill label. The website listed on the bottle, oldwhiskeyriver.com, now takes you to a pool maintenance website. So….I don’t know what’s going on here. I suspect that you can’t buy this anymore. I only found a few sites selling it but they all appeared to be secondary market sales sites. It appears that is WAS in the $30 range when it was for sale. But, the bottom line is, you aren’t missing out on anything by not being able to get this.