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A. Smith Bowman Abraham Bowman, 8 Year, Port Finish

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie+Happy

0 291

nReview by @numen

6th Dec 2012

0

A. Smith Bowman Abraham Bowman, 8 Year, Port Finish
  • Nose
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  • Taste
    ~
  • Finish
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  • Balance
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  • Overall
    91

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Distribution of ratings for this: user

  • Brand: A. Smith Bowman
  • ABV: 50%

4-30-04/09-06-12

This bottle's got an interesting story to it (courtesy of shakestir.com) www.shakestir.com/community/id/4 ... ed-bourbon "The barrel this bourbon was aged in has some unusual history to it – it aged bourbon for four years at A. Smith Bowman, then was emptied, shipped to a winery in Potomac Point, Virginia, filled with port, aged for two years, emptied again, then sent back to Bowman where it was filled in January this year with a seven-year-old bourbon before being dumped again and bottled in September."

I'm interested in Abraham Bowman, and I want to like it. My first exposure was a sample generously given to me of a barrel-proof rye whiskey that was epic. EPIC. I then had a few other Abraham Bowman (and other distillery) expressions, and they were good, but hadn't left me inspired like that first Rye. Well, Jay Erisman sent out an email earlier this week about a new AB, a port-finished AB. I'd heard that it was coming this fall when I visited the distillery, but I'd forgotten about it a bit, and I was less keen after trying the 147.5 proof bourbon and wasn't sure what to expect from a wine finished bourbon. All the same, Jay vouched for it, and that was enough.

Nose: This is interesting! Red berries, jam, soft and sweet wood. Cinnamon. It's not quite Christmas, but it's close. Raspberry liqueur and syrup. Strawberry-rhubarb pie (there is nothing in that that I don't love). Coconut, rum soaked fruit cake with candied cherries. The fruitiest bourbon that I've ever had. Saw dust, polished leather, and minor cocoa+tobacco. For all the fruit and sherry-like flavors, this had a more distinctly bourbon background; you wouldn't confuse it with a sherry bomb scotch.

Palate: Medium-body on entry, and rather silky. Quick burst of fruit - raspberry jam, cherries, and strawberries. The base is on bourbon spice, and then more on general bourbon, cigars, and cedar/sandal-wood. There's a punchy (note: my handwriting was terrible) bitterness mid-palate, but it's pretty balanced.

Finish: Still some fruit (red berries, of course) with a smart amount of wood, and a very good cigar wrapper. Figs, dates, and dried cherries and cranberries. Still some bourbon spice and depth. Easily my favorite Abraham Bowman. A- (91 or 92)

If you like Sherried whiskies, you'll probably really like this. It's not sherried like a Macallan, which quickly yields to the oxidative notes and copper-caramel, this stays with the fruit, which integrates very well with the bourbon, and keeps the finish going for a very, very long time. I'm sad to see that this sold out from TPS already; I'd get another bottle. Maybe a local store has it... Kudos to Truman Cox! I haven't had a bourbon like this before, but I'm definitely going to have more

2 comments

@Victor
Victor commented

@numen, thanks for a very nice review and descriptive history. I am curious and eager to try this one.

12 years ago 0

numen commented

@Victor, thanks much! I'm really looking forward to getting your take on this and a few other odds and ends, including the 4R LE SB that I cracked open (and loved).

12 years ago 0