Blanton's: Whisk(e)y Wednesday presented by Lock & Key

Blanton's Bourbon

Whisk(e)y Wednesday gets back to reviews this week with Blanton's Bourbon. The original single barrel bourbon from the Buffalo Trace distillery in Frankfurt, Kentucky certainly fared well in our taste test.

Before I get to the notes, I have a couple housekeeping items. First, we'll be going to the Buffalo Trace distillery in July! If you'd like to join the trip to Bourbon Country, please sign up for more information on Roux Wine Tours or join us at Lock & Key on Wednesday, January 28th!

Second, after several years of using the same scoring metrics for Whisk(e)y Wednesday, we've tweaked our system a little it. We've added a "Bang for your Buck" component to our scoring. This is measured by weighing the quality of whiskey to the value at which one can typically acquire said whiskey at Lock & Key or when purchasing a bottle at a retailer like Calandro's Supermarket. Generally speaking this category awards whiskeys for providing high quality for a great price... though points aren't taken away for providing amazing quality at a high price, if that makes sense.

Blanton's Bourbon ($14 at Lock & Key) begins with a light nose. It is a bit muted and subtle, and definitely clean. Aromas of oak and cream come with a hard whiff. Butterscotch and cream candy are present on the taste with wood joining the party too. Some spiced nuts and creamy cheese tickle the tongue on the way down. The bourbon finishes clean and smooth yet also rich and complex. A long warmth follows the whiskey all the way down with no sharp edges to be found. Blanton's is a spectacular sipping whiskey and can be easily enjoyed neat or on the rocks. It might perhaps be a tad overpriced for the lack of punch that it presents, so the bang for the buck score got dinged a bit. Still, it is clean from start to finish and balanced throughout, so by all means worth of a taste or bottle purchase. Plus, you can save the horses on the caps and collect them to spell out BLANTONS!

Blanton's Bourbon
Average Score: 75.33

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, and Jeremy Spikes. Using our own proprietary scoring system, whiskeys are marked for Nose, Taste, Finish, Balance and Complexity, and "Bang for the Buck" which should encompass the whiskey's overall value. 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, you'd let somebody buy you one) while anything below 20 is absolute horse piss, anything above 80 is rather extraordinary, and anything above 90 is world class.