Whisky Connosr
Menu
Shop Join

Alltech Town Branch Bourbon

New Lexington Kentucky Distillery

0 680

@VictorReview by @Victor

23rd Jun 2015

0

  • Nose
    ~
  • Taste
    ~
  • Finish
    ~
  • Balance
    ~
  • Overall
    80

Show rating data charts

Distribution of ratings for this: user

  • Brand: Alltech
  • ABV: 40%

Alltech Lexington Brewing and Distilling company was the first new distillery in Lexington, Kentucky in 100 years. Town Branch Bourbon was launched in 2012. The whiskey is 4 years old. The reviewed bottle is newly opened

Strength: the flavours are adequate in strength, but 40% abv does no favours to bourbon. Overall the strength of the wood flavours are much stronger than those of the grains. Score: 21/25 points

Quality: the wood is too tannic here, and shows very little sweetness. The grains are understated to the point of being hard to detect, and are not particularly attractive. The distillate itself tastes and smells much younger than its actual 4 years of age. Score: 18/25 points

Variety: there is enough variety to the flavours. The flavours are just not very good. Score: 20/25 points

Harmony: mediocre quality flavours cannot give an outstanding harmony, when taken together. Score: 19/25 points

Comment: I think that it is important to remember that a young distillery may up its game with experience

It is also worth observing that I am a reviewer who is not sympathetic to heavily tannic wood, particularly in a relatively young whiskey. By my own standards I am being very generous in scoring this bourbon at 78 points. It is amazing to me that this whiskey has won a number of awards at spirits competitions. I can only attribute that to reviewers who are not as sensitive as I am to those young whiskeys which happen to have inferior wood influence

6 comments

@PMessinger
PMessinger commented

I was given a bottle of this same brand and tried it. The friend who gave this to me thought of me and brought it home from a business trip and wanted to know what I thought of it. He is the captain of our artillery unit you met in Gettysburg Pa. I liked it and thanked him for his consideration. I was not brave enough to review it for this site. Thanks for your review and bravery I can be such a chicken sometimes.(:

8 years ago 0

@Victor
Victor commented

@PMessinger, I miss your Civil War re-enactment group. 30 artillery pieces being towed on SUVs etc for 600 miles each way from Michigan. Such a hoot! Glad I caught you at the sesquicentennial of the Battle of Gettysburg.

The reviewed bottle was given to me as a gift from a friend also. I did think twice about reviewing it for this reason, but concluded that 1) the friend who gave it to me was unlikely to read this review, and that 2) I was still on the hook later to tell him what I thought of the whiskey, when asked. I guess I will say that it is "ok, drinkable, but not one of the best ones".

When I try some new product like this one I always wonder what the distiller her/himself thinks of it. The pressures must be great to make some money, even if the batches are not that great. What would disturb me is that someone would drink from this bottle and think that this is great bourbon. This bottle is not great bourbon. But it can get better if someone at the distillery knows what he/she is doing. Age is not the issue. There are some excellent bourbons at four years old. There is a guy 5 miles from where I live, @TwinValley, who makes great whiskey less than a year old. The issues of Alltech Town Branch Bourbon are other than age. Cooperage for sure, and maybe distillation technique also.

8 years ago 0

@paddockjudge
paddockjudge commented

@PMessinger, thank you, kind words. Michigan - are you located UP, Plains Region, or LP near IN and OH?

8 years ago 0

@paddockjudge
paddockjudge commented

@PMessinger, There must be a powerful temptation to make a Binny's excursion given your location.

8 years ago 0

@Victor
Victor commented

Three months open bottle follow up:

The grains are expressing themselves more and better now, which is very welcome. There is much increased spiciness, both from the wood and from the rye grain. There is still too much char and tannin, but the experience is a better one now and renders this bottle far more drinkable, 97 days later. Both nose and taste are noticeably better now.

Re-review at 3 months:

Sequential: Nose-Taste-Finish-Balance = 22-20-19-19, Total 80 points

Non-sequential: Strength-Quality-Variety-Harmony = 22-19-20-19, Total 80 points

I am raising the review score to 80 points. This bourbon has earned it.

You might ask, just a 2 point revision equals a MUCH more enjoyable experience? Yes, because, as reported in the initial review, I was initially being quite generous in scoring this whiskey at 78 points. The revised 80 point score is a strict scoring. Up until today I was thinking strongly about to whom I could give this bottle away. Now this is a bourbon I can actually enjoy drinking.

This is one more example of just how much the extent of air exposure can change the experience of a whiskey.

8 years ago 0

You must be signed-in to comment here

Sign in