Woodford Reserve
Alright…let’s get this out of the way right up front: I don’t like most Woodford Reserve products. It’s not that I think their bourbon or rye is bad - it just doesn’t agree with my palate. I think of it like Cilantro, how some people taste…well, cilantro…and some people taste soap. Doesn’t mean the cilantro isn’t cilantro and doesn’t mean it’s bad, different people just taste differently. That being said, I really do try to keep an open mind when I try a new Woodford product. Most of the time it does fit within my previous experience, but occasionally there’s one that breaks the mold.
Woodford Reserve is overseen by Master Distiller Chris Morris and Master Taster Jackie Zykan. Both also oversee the Old Forester brand, but let’s be clear - they’re not the same. Woodford’s defining feature is the use of triple pot still distillation, classic in Irish whiskey but almost unheard of elsewhere, including in the US. Woodford Reserve barrels are accordingly stenciled with three pot stills.
The pot still whiskey produced at the Woodford Reserve Distillery at Versailles (pronounced Ver-Sales) is, according to Morris, too strong to use on its own, so it’s “batched” with whiskey produced at the Brown-Forman plant in Louisville (also where they produce Old Forester using the same mashbill, although Morris insists that every ounce produced for each brand is distinctly handled and not mixed).
As I said, I don’t have any issues with Woodford - I don’t expect to like everything I try. But that wouldn’t make for an interesting write-up, would it? So, I’m going to take them to task for one thing and one thing only: the claim that Woodford Reserve contains - or generates, whatever - over 200 detectable flavors. Look…maybe it does. I’m not a master taster, just an experienced one. But saying something is “comprised of” hundreds of flavor notes is hyperbolic at best. Even if true, I don’t know if anyone could actually pull all 200 flavors out. Even Chris and Jackie, with what I recognize as exceptional palates, will at some point start to imagine flavors simply by thinking that there are 200 to identify. It’s not a knock, it’s psychology. If you tell someone there are 10 words to find in a puzzle but there are only 9, they will drive themselves nuts trying to find that tenth word. It’s also kind of misleading - again, even if true - because at the end of the day Woodford Reserve is a $30 bottle. I’ve tried this at least three or four times and I’ve tasted the same things every time. If there are 200, fine, there are 200. The 20 or so I’m getting aren’t for me.
I have heard the grounds are stunningly beautiful, though, so I’ll still be making a visit when I can.
Woodford Reserve: Specs
Classification: Bourbon
Origin: Woodford Reserve Distillery
Mashbill: 72% Corn, 18% Rye, 10% Barley.
Proof: 90.4 (45.2% ABV)
Age: NAS
Location: Kentucky
Woodford Reserve Price: $30
Woodford Reserve Review: Tasting Notes
Eye: Amber. Thin rim and slow legs.
Nose: Herbal and minty, wood-forward. Creme brulee-d vanilla. Smells complex with sherry-like dark fruit notes in the back.
Palate: Sweet and fruity with a front-of-mouth burn. Cherry cough syrup starts on the back palate and quickly moves forward. Drying oak, too, but that cherry cough syrup becomes dominating. Mouthfeel is moderate at first and thins quickly.
Finish: Long-lasting, but cherry-forward.
Overall: Reminds me of Old Forester 86º or 1910…cherry heavy to the breaking point. The nose is intriguing - if the palate and finish matched half of the nose’s promise this would be a go-to. I’ll keep trying, but this kind of confirms that Woodford Reserve isn’t my favorite distillery.
Final Rating: 4.7
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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