Three Chord Whiskey Drummer 15 Year Old Bourbon
Three Chord Bourbon, out of Chelsea, MI, is a relatively new entrant to the whiskey scene. Despite their youth, their whiskies - sourced “from the top distilleries in Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina and Indiana for use in blends, single-source bottlings, and special releases” according to their website - have been racking up awards from Whisky Advocate and accolades from bourbon and rye drinkers alike.
Whiskey Drummer, Three Chord’s 15-year-old bourbon released in 2020, is more specific in its specs: all 15-year-old Kentucky straight bourbon. Record scratch. I’m sorry - another 15-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon from an undisclosed distillery released in 2020? And at $190 MSRP no less? Ugh. But, I gave it a fair shot, and it held up well, earning a 7.2 (on the good side of great).
If you’re into bourbon, you no doubt saw the proliferation of “toted” bourbon in 2020, especially this 15-year-old. Speculation ran from Barton to Beam as to where it was all being sourced from, and I don’t have the palate to pick out what’s likely an off-profile product to begin with (if it were on-profile, there’s no way a major distillery would sell off huge totes of solid 15-year-old bourbon in today’s market). I’ll leave it to others to speculate, though my guess goes in the Beam column.
This is where I start having issues:
“Three Chord states that they are first and foremost blenders. However, they recently came across a small lot of barrels and felt they should enter the bourbon community in their original form.”
SMH. This is marketing speak for “we had 10-15 barrels [estimated based on ~2,500 bottles produced] and knew it was more valuable as a Kentucky straight bourbon than in a blend”. Three Chord is first and foremost a celebrity whiskey brand, the brainchild of guitarist Neil Giraldo and distiller/blender Ari Sussman.
As many celebrity whiskey brands do, they source product and put it out under their own name. No issue there with me. But don’t play this tote up as some big deal when in reality it’s just something they didn’t want to blend. The marketing is on point, and the squared-off bottle with a faux-torn-edge label is attractive as hell. Of the brands that bought those 15-year-old totes, Three Chord did some of the best design work.
TL;DR? I’m not sure how I feel on this. It’s clearly an off-profile product that some distillery didn’t want, and the mashbill percentages being 0.5%-1% off from some of the bigger names in Kentucky whiskey certainly point to a long-term experiment that just didn’t go as planned. Tasted blind, it was a good-to-great bourbon. At $190? No. Fantastic marketing and design ups the ante a bit, too. Maybe I like this and don’t want to admit it. I’ll leave it as an open question, and I’ll leave the bottle on the shelf.
Just kidding - a shelf? they’re all on secondary.
Three Chord Whiskey Drummer 15 Year Old Bourbon: Specs
Classification: Bourbon
Origin: Undisclosed
Mashbill: 78.5% Corn, 12.5% Rye, 9% Malted Barley
Proof: 117.9 (58.95% ABV)
Age: 15 Years Old
Location: Chelsea, Michigan
Three Chord Whiskey Drummer 15 Year Old Bourbon Price: $190
Three Chord Whiskey Drummer 15 Year Old Bourbon Review: Tasting Notes
Eye: Maple syrup. Thin, bleeding rims and quick legs.
Nose: Oaky caramel. Tight nose at first, though a pleasant proof heat comes through. Grape, even cognac-like scents start to open. The oak is there but it’s not dominant.
Palate: Tingly - oak-forward, still cognac-y flavored with creamy and peppery oak notes, on the edge of woody without going over. Mouthfeel is creamy and medium-bodied, oak spice without the astringency. The vinous flavors really start to power through, mostly fresh and a little artificial.
Finish: Takes the grape more towards artificial, short-to-medium length, while the oak remains controlled.
Overall: I thought the oak was going to be dominant, but it ended up creamy and coating. The cognac notes are delicious, and this is great. Beat my expectations for sure.
Final Rating: 7.2
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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