Learned preferences on bourbon selection.

Who I am is a simple man that bought a few bourbons to try. That has turned into a passion, now maybe approaching obsession. I have purchased and now tasted more than 160 bourbons. So what follows is an opinion of what i have experienced. So please take this as a statement to learn as i learn about how to get the most out a great tradition of bourbon tastings.

Now to me, Kentucky aged bourbon seems more flavorable. The assumed result of the barrel experiencing weather fluctuation, making Tennesee, Indiana, and Lower Ohio the next choices for good bourbon. But i have sampled good bourbons from other states, but to me it seems that weather patterns and dates need to line up for best taste.

Taste is important, but so is smell, apparance, but i also love a good presentation. Bourbon smells can be very complicated. Since smell is the first of our senses to develop, it can tremendoulously enhance the bourbon experience. I love the various methods for trying new bourbons, new bottles and new glasses.  If you use the full nose enhale, you can get great initial smells, come back to this method a few times in your tasting. The breath out breath in method can get you more smells as your breath breaks the surface of the bourbon to release aromas. The swirl and sniff method accomplishes even more aromas. For new bourbons i will apply the clap and double clap method with a single drop of bourbon in my hand. This can lead to discoveries of the essence of that bourbon. What ever methods you choose, please note the visual quality of your bourbon.

First time i tried a real bourbon, i was immediately struck by the beauty of the color and hue of the liquid. It was a dark amber that contained consistency as i held it to the light to examine. As i rolled it in my glass i then discovered how it coated the glass and how it slowly flowed back into the bourbon or came together forming beads that either stayed on the glass or flowed back down to join the bourbon. Since then i always note the visual properties of the bourbons I taste. I have seen blondes, ambers to red, chestnut to a liquid brown. Some good, some great but always entertaining.

Nothing to me is as enjoyable as the bottle of a bourbon, the cork and the label. The glass bottles seem almost as unique as any glass art you can find. I find that each bourbon i encounter is magically transformed into a special more uplifting quality than the comment “what so special about bourbon? Its just another alcohol!” No. Its much much more, starting with the bottle. There are so many unique shapes and colors and textures. Just the collecting of these bottles would spur on an obsessive hobby. There is some craftsmanship that goes into these bottles. I for one am impressed.

So you have the bottle presenting the bourbon. The color and hue making the liquid desirable. The smells and aromas teasing you about the treat that is coming from the glass. So just a breif visit, into your glass, whichever you choose. I prefer a glencairn glass, pronounce Glen Karen. But a small whiskey snifter is just as capable. For those who do not prefer straight or neat there are a variety if glasses that will render you with pure happiness. If you may want some ice or water, a good rock crystal or stemless wine chalis is great. For that old fashion, never get less than a cooper mug.

If you do decide on water, please never more than a dram. If you like it iced, get an ice ball. They last long and give your bourbon a smoothing flavor. The water should even out the alcohol but bring out those great flavors.

Speaking in flavors, if you are tasting a bourbon, it is not to be shot like vodka or tequila, to quickly get your alcohol level so high that the world and your head are fighting for the control to be in a spinning contest. Its meant to be sipped and savoured. Most first sips are an introduction to the bourbon and since most bourons are 40% alcohol to 62 5%. You usually get what is refered to as the bite or pepper of the bourbon. The next few sips open up a variety of flavors. Like the sweet corn mash, the charred oak, a caramel, sweet honey, crisp wheat, soothing rye, brave barley and so many more. Your experience is almost complete for that first tasting.

This is where i usual experience more of the available aromas. I have smelled in the bourbons items such as apricot, oranges, plums and raisins. Spices cine wafting up such as cinnamon, vanilla, honey. You can get the senses if the corn, the rye, barley, and wheat. Then there are the aromas of the oak barrel wood. I bought a smell kit to help me identify those great scents, i am glad i did. This brings me to the finish.

Some bourbons finish well, some finish great, others are but not quite up to the hype. I like a bourbon you can remember. The memory makes me come back time and time again. Do you recall the tastes, the smells, the look, the bottle and label? Does it give you pleasure to recall that first tasting? That’s is when i re-pull that bottle out and start my follow up tasting.

Thank you for listening, hope to relate more findings soon.

By R.Pesta Novice Bourbon Enthusiast.