Black Saddle Bourbon: Whisk(e)y Wednesday presented by Lock & Key

Black Saddle Bourbon

Sometimes a 90 proof bourbon is just want the doctor ordered. Fortunately, Lock & Key has quite a few of them. We recently tasted Black Saddle Bourbon ($12/pour at Lock & Key) out of California, though it almost certainly sourced from Kentucky, Indiana, or somewhere like that. In a rather interesting development, the bourbon actually scored a 77 from all four judges. It is the first time we we've seen that consistent of scoring and may very well be our last. The nose is light with sweet floral hints and faint whiffs of grass and hay. I caught a little bit of honey and yellow cake on the aroma as well. On the tongue the bourbon is puckering with herbal and oak flavors coming through under a light char. The whiskey is oily in a mouth-coating kind of way. It finishes boozy but not biting, lingering in a pleasant way on the back of the tongue with a hit of rye spice at the end. Overall the whiskey has its ups and downs and feels slightly confused as to where it wants to go. The balance could be better, but it is definitely drinkable.

Black Saddle Bourbon Whiskey
Average Score: 77.0

Whisk(e)y Wednesday is a blog post series on Bite and Booze sponsored by the Lock & Key Whiskey Bar. Lock & Key has one of Baton Rouge's best selections of bourbon, Scotch, Irish, and other whisk(e)ys available for on premise consumption. This WW feature was scored by Jay Ducote from Bite and Booze, Arthur Lauck from Lock & Key, Jeremy Spikes from Old Maul, and Natalie Parbhoo from International Wine and Spirits. Scores are marked for Nose, Taste, Finish, and Balance and Complexity using our own proprietary scoring system. Marks are then added and averaged, leaving us with a final score out of a 100 point scale. Our scale should be looked at on the full range of 0-100 rather than an academic range where 70 is passing and anything less is failing. A 50 should be considered a very mediocre whisk(e)y (though not undrinkable) while anything below 20 is absolute horse piss and anything above 80 is rather extraordinary and anything above 90 is world class.