A. Smith Bowman Gingerbread Release #2

Abraham Bowman - the namesake of the A. Smith Bowman Distillery, was the Commander of the 8th Virginia Regiment in the American Revolution. His brothers - Isaac and John J. Bowman - have their own namesake lines from the Distillery, today led by Master Distiller Brian Prewitt.

The Abraham Bowman line is the Distillery’s experimental sandbox - releases have included hazmat-level proof bombs (the most recent one), to twice-finished, high rye, vanilla-infused, coffee, cider, port, and other finishes, to an earlier release of the Gingerbread Cocoa finish from 2016. I’ve only tasted two releases, so I can’t make a determination about much, but I’ll say this: this isn’t an experimental line that 1) is afraid to experiment and 2) goes for less than $800-$1000 on secondary.

This release took Bowman’s bourbon, aged it seven years, and then transferred it to freshly emptied Hardywood Brewery Gingerbread Stout barrels for an additional three years! That’s an insane amount of time to finish something. Most finishes are around 6 months to a year, with the exceptions being immediately notable: the Thomas S. Moore series was 2-2.5 years for each finish, for example.

I’m an IPA man when beers come around - more bitter, more better. Citrusy? Tropical? Love it. Piney? In the right doses, love that too. Stouts are brand new territory for me, and the few I’ve had are usually too heavy. I like my beer to be refreshing and light. Thanks to some friends, I’ve been introduced to dessert stouts and porters that get brewed with literal Oreos, cookies of all flavors and nations, peanut butter, Butterfingers, all things I find delicious, but God help me if I can finish one over a few hours. My favorite? The Goose Island Barrel Aged finished in Larceny barrels - pure apple pie with cinnamon ice cream. MMMMM.

I digress. Well, not really. I also love gingerbread and all things ginger. Tea, candied, fresh, baked, love it. This particular finishing was a gingerbread stout, so I didn’t initially want to try it, but then I tried those other dessert stouts and thought I’d give it a try.

Unfortunately - for me - it was aged wayyyyyy too long in those stout barrels. I haven’t tried the stout itself, so I don’t know how that tastes. This was so heavily influenced by the barrel it was hard to find the bourbon underneath. I enjoy Bowman bourbon - I have a bottle of Bowman Brothers on hand and like a John J. Bowman single barrel from time to time - so I know this is simply down to a finish I didn’t particularly enjoy. If people are paying $1000 for bottles of it, someone must like it. More power to them.

Now to hunt for that 144+ proof…

A. Smith Bowman Gingerbread Release #2 Bourbon: Specs

Classification: Bourbon

Origin: A. Smith Bowman Distillery

Mashbill: Undisclosed

Proof: 110 (55% ABV)

Age: 10 Years Old

Location: Fredericksburg, VA

A. Smith Bowman Gingerbread Release #2 Bourbon Price: $69.99 (but good luck!)

Official Website and Press Release

A. Smith Bowman Gingerbread Release #2 Bourbon Review: Tasting Notes

Eye: Hazy fossilized amber. Moderate bleeding rims and medium droplet legs.

Nose: Funky - the gingerbread is very muted while the stout is front and center. Maybe some cocoa in the rear bleachers. Nose is much more muted than I expected.

Palate: Some gingerbread spices with just a bit of actual gingerbread. Front of tongue spice, tons of stout influence. Flat out not what I expected. Some breadiness develops, with Dutch cocoa powder in the back palate. Mouthfeel is thin, a little acidic, and yeasty.

Finish: Bracing yet virtually flavorless, like a coating on the palate that has no flavor once it’s dried.

Overall: Underwhelming….I know I had certain expectations of this, but wow was I off. The stout is completely overpowering, there’s little gingerbread to be found, and the small bit of cocoa that comes through isn’t enough to cover up the sourness from stout and oak mixed for three years.

Final Rating: 4.2

10 | Insurpassable | Nothing Else Comes Close (Blanton’s Straight from the Barrel)

9 | Incredible | Extraordinary (GTS, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof B518 and B520)

8 | Excellent | Exceptional (12+YO MGP Bourbon, Highland Park Single Barrels)

7 | Great | Well above average (Blanton’s Original, Old Weller Antique, Booker’s)

6 | Very Good | Better than average (Four Roses Small Batch Select, Knob Creek 14+ YO Picks)

5 | Good | Good, solid, ordinary (Elijah Craig Small Batch, Buffalo Trace, Old Grand-Dad Bottled-in-Bond)

4 | Sub-par | Many things I’d rather have (A.D. Laws Four Grain, Compass Box “Oak Cross”)

3 | Bad | Flawed (Iron Smoke Bourbon, Balcones)

2 | Poor | Forced myself to drink it (Buckshee Bourbon and Rye)

1 | Disgusting | Drain pour (Virginia Distilling Co. Cider Cask)

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