Review: Puncher’s Chance Bourbon
Puncher’s Chance is a Kentucky straight bourbon from Eugene, Oregon’s Wolf Spirit Distillery, best known here for its Blood x Sweat x Tears Vodka. It’s obviously a sourced product — from Kentucky, not MGP — and it’s bottled with no age statement, though I’ve read it’s a blend of whiskeys 4 to 6 years old.
That seems about right based on my tasting, which kicks off with a nose absolutely loaded with peanut and dark caramel notes. With some time and a splash of water, if you like, notes of red berries and lots of spice emerge, including some rye-driven thyme elements. The palate keeps the theme going: Bold red pepper, peanut shells, and plenty of spice attack the tongue. This whiskey is dripping in rye, sweet but often drowned out by herbal notes, sometimes verging on an acetone character. A dash of water is a good plan here, though the finish doesn’t go far afield, offering a reprise of peanuts, pepper, and herbs.
This bourbon is a solid value at 30 bucks a bottle, though its lack of depth and nuance make it best suited as a cocktail ingredient vs. a solo sipper.
90 proof.
B+ / $30 / puncherschancebourbon.com
Puncher's Chance Bourbon
$30
About Post Author
Take another try. Getting past a neck pou, and using a bit of water to open it up, this bourbon offers plenty of nuance with a pleasant amount of spice and burn, rather than an overkill of the same. Much feel and long finish makes one think that one is drinking a much more expensive offering. The long sweet finish makes this a great sipper that should not be spoiled with ice. It will not stay at its current price point once it becomes better known.