I get that the words “Old Crow” and “Reserve” don’t immediately make sense together.
Though it was first ever sour mash whiskey, dates back to the 1830s, and counts U.S. Grant among its famous drinkers, it’s still a budget brand, sold by the handle for $10 or less, a simply bourbon that gets the job done and leaves you money leftover for chips.
Aged three years, standard Old Crow can be charitably described as simple. Old Crow Reserve takes the decades-old formula and tweaks it: Add 6 to the proof (now 86 instead of 80), $2 to the price (now about $12), and one year to the aging (4 instead of 3). Result: A slightly different whiskey that nonetheless remains as easy as they come.
Old Crow Reserve, while a big step up from regular ‘Crow, is hardly anything you’ll be sipping straight after a big meal. Clearly a bourbon for the “and Coke” crowd, it’s distinctly caramel on the nose (to the point of tasting artificial), with a cinnamon kick on the body. Very sweet, it has a rough finish that reminds you of how little time this has spent in the barrel, and warns you how you’re likely to feel come the morning if you keep it up, smart guy.
C / $12 / oldcrowreserve.com
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Also, I’m pretty sure this is full of ground glass and rat poison. Pretty much the only way to describe the hangover involved.
Old Crow was a pretty good bourbon as recently as the 1970′s, but has suffered under the ownership of the Jim Beam folks. This is the first attention they’ve paid to it since they inherited the brand. Any attention at all is a step in the right direction.
It’s an improvement over the ‘Dead’Crow (White label 3 year Regular ). It’ll always be an INEXPENSIVE(Cheap) Bourbon for mixing with a cola. That being said..Where’s my 7-11 Ironman cup? Let’s get to it.