Ancient Age Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Nozinan Mini and Sample Series - 49
0 382
Review by @Nozinan
- Nose~
- Taste~
- Finish~
- Balance~
- Overall82
Show rating data charts
Distribution of ratings for this:
- Brand: Ancient Age
- Type: American
- ABV: 40%
To acknowledge the US Independence day holiday I thought I would review some bourbons. Bourbons are going to be a little more expensive in the coming year thanks to our new trade war.
When I was in Maryland with @paddockjudge we came across three inexpensive bourbon bottles that were in the process of being opened and dumped. I can’t really say why. Well, I can, but I won’t. I managed to save a sample of each of them. The first one was Heaven Hill Old Style Bourbon. The second one was Ancient Age Kentucky Straight Bourbon.
This expression, poured into a Kentucky bourbon glass, is reviewed in my usual manner, allowing it to settle after which I take my nosing and tasting notes, followed by the addition of a few drops of water, waiting, then nosing and tasting.
Nose: 21/25
Spicy. I’m not an expert on mashbills but it seems to me that there might be a little more rye than the Heaven Hill. A bit of vanilla. A hint of cherry. Not much else. Water adds some richness to the nose. (21.5/25)
Taste: 20.5/25
I get a hit of cherry (as in Cott’s Black Cherry soda), some alcohol burn, and some vanilla and caramel. Not very exciting. The cherry is accentuated with the water, and tastes a little like twizzlers. (21/25)
Finish: 20/25
Unremarkable. Some oak.
Balance: 20/25
Underpowered, but balanced between the nose and the palate.
Score: Neat - 81.5/100 With Water: 82.5/100
With water this is a little nicer than the Heaven Hill. If there was nothing better and I wanted a drink in my hand I might have this if offered.
For fun, I put equal parts of the Heaven Hill, Ancient Age and Kentucky Gentleman into my MoM Couldn’t Finish sample bottle and let it marry for a little while. I believe the result is slightly greater than the sum of its parts.
The leftovers were dumped in the glass that had held my diet tonic water, soda, lemon and lime. Mixed with the spent lemon and lime, it’s quite tasty.
Find where to buy Ancient Age whisky
Standard 40% ABV Ancient Age bourbon is the member in lowest standing on the Buffalo Trace Distillery totem pole. The AA lines and AAA lines (Ancient Ancient Age) are all made with Buffalo Trace Mash Bill # 2, at about 15% rye content. This is average bourbon industry rye content, whereas BT Mash Bill # 1, used for standard Buffalo Trace bourbon, the Stagg bourbons, and others, is a low rye content mashbill containing about 8-10% rye. Standard Ancient Age is probably the only product made at Buffalo Trace which is pretty continuously available to buy off of a shelf in the US. Like all mass-market products, and especially lower shelf mass market products, it is very very batch variable. I wish I had been able to have tasted from this bottle of yours. I would have kept it if I had liked it. With standard AA, some batches are keepers for sippiing, others are not.