Review: Blue Note Wheated Bourbon
Review: Blue Note Wheated Bourbon
Memphis-based Blue Note recently added a small batch wheated bourbon to their growing lineup of contract-distilled whiskeys, all of which age in a uniquely humid Tennessee climate near the intersection of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers. The mashbill of 70% corn, 21% soft winter wheat, and 9% malted barley will be familiar to fans of Green River Wheated Bourbon, whose parent distillery, Green River Distilling Co., is reportedly the source producer for this latest Blue Note offering. With that in mind, let’s see what a different proof and aging environment has done for this wheater.
Blue Note Wheated Bourbon Review
It takes a little time to bloom, but with patience the nose delivers a soft, honeyed bouquet of orange blossom, warm sourdough bread, light brown sugar, and peaches dusted with cinnamon. It’s all a bit restrained, less fruity than Green River’s own standard wheater but less wood-driven and overly spiced than their Full Proof expression. With a little more time to open, the brown sugar takes on a pleasantly buttery caramel quality.
The palate is more immediately engaging, delivering sweet top notes of butterscotch, caramel apple, and perfectly cooked peach cobbler. That bakery note, buttery and golden brown, gets a bit bigger on the midpalate, energized by notes of black pepper and clove chewing gum that accentuates an easy, simmering warmth. The finish pulls everything together with a bright, sweet crescendo of candied orange peel, apple hand pies, peach rings candy, and cinnamon syrup. It’s impressively approachable if a bit shy initially. You wouldn’t know it to nose this whiskey, or perhaps even after the first sip, but there’s quite a lot of depth here.
101 proof.
A- / $45 [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT]
Blue Note Wheated Bourbon
USD45
