Dusty Sampler #1....Dixie style

One of the fun byproducts of being part of a bourbon group is the degree of sharing that happens on a regular basis.  A common activity among the group is tastings, sometimes blind tastings as is the case with the current one I'm doing now.

Many of us in the group still dusty hunt so there's lots of out of production bourbon sitting in bunkers all across the US of A.  A buddy of mine down in North Carolina ponied up 10 samples of bourbon for a group of us to try blind.  These are all dusty examples with the first sample tasted and rated last weekend.

Eagle Rare 10 year 101 is one those iconic whiskey's that is considered good to great by most bourbon enthusiasts.  I blogged about ER101 a number of years back stating how much I liked this expression.  So, when I poured the sample, again not knowing at the time what is was, here were my comments.

"The nose is spicy as is the entry. Mouthfeel is moderate; not thin but not coating either. Entry has some spice kick, oak with an undertone of sweetness that is quickly overtaken by some heat and spice. Finish is medium in length with some bitter chocolate popping up toward the end. Rated 83"


At the time I posted my rating, my feedback was accurate.  The only problem is I should have waited about an hour because my review would have changed if I had done that.  I still had a healthy pour in the glass and so I slowly sipped over the course of time and after about 45 minutes I noticed the heat and spice begin to balance out and a caramel sweetness moving toward the front.  At about an hour the bourbon had changed noticeably and I was surprised that it happened that fast.  I made a rookie mistake in my haste to get my review in and since I have 9 more samples to work through I won't do that again.  So, as a reminder more to myself than anyone reading about this, air, water, ice can change the profile of whiskey and in some cases dramatically.

If you're in a rush, have a Bud Light....otherwise, pour a nice bourbon from you bunker and enjoy over time.