Brian’s Blade and Bow Bourbon Review:
reviewed 14-June-2022
National Bourbon Day!
BLADE AND BOW BOURBON REVIEW:
Blade and Bow smells of light fruit tree blossoms, freshly shucked sweet corn and faint a wheaty presence. Subtle fruit aromas of plum, banana and plucot nectar pass to the palate as do allspice, sugared cinnamon, old pepper, rye and sweets of vanilla, simple syrup, and buttery caramel. This bourbon is fresh and light with a nice finish of drying oak and toasted wood.
BLADE AND BOW BOURBON VITAL STATS:
Category: Infused/Special Finished Whiskey, Solera* Aged Bourbon
Region: Louisville, Kentucky
Distillery: DSP-KY-16, Stitzel-Weller Distilling Company (reopened in 2014) and other distilleries
Company: Diageo
Mash Bill: undetermined
Barrel Char: undisclosed
Barrel entry proof: undisclosed
Age: undisclosed
ABV: 45.5% (91 Proof)
Price: $59.99 (California, 2022)
Key#: 4
* Solera, or Solera Aging is a fractional aging and blending method. A young wine or spirit joins with older stock, often employing tiered barrel storage, allowing the liquids in each level to mingle, marry and age together.
As new product ages, some is transferred from top aging barrels to middle tiers and then after more aging, again until some of the top contents reaches the lowest barrel level. After more aging in the bottom level, a portion of the contents are removed for bottling. As barrels are never completely emptied, younger stock is always in contact with older whiskey.
Solera Aging provides consistency, while preserving and providing a small amount of original stock to the consumer. Solera Aging has been used by cognac, port, Madeira and sherry producers for nearly four and a half centuries. Other than Hillrock Estate Distillery, not many whiskey producers employ a Solera Aging System.
THE KEYS
Named after the two parts of a skeleton key, the blade shaft and the ornate bow, the Blade and Bow brand is a tribute to the five keys that once hung on the door of the Stitzel-Weller Distillery.
These keys represented the five steps of crafting bourbon—grains, yeast, fermentation, distillation and aging.
— Blade and Bow
Learn more at Blade and Bow Distillery.
ENJOYMENT METHOD FOR THE REVIEW:
Alternate pours, equaling about four ounces, were added into two Glencairns. My daughter and I enjoyed the bourbon neat for this review.
Check out her review for this bourbon here!
BLADE AND BOW BOURBON NOSE:
My first waft of Blade and Bow is familiar, like something I’ve had before. Yet, I cannot place it. I smell light fruit tree blossoms, freshly shucked sweet corn and a wheaty presence. There are subtle fruits here too … fresh apple, apricot, mellon, and faint banana but none really dominate my senses. The allspice, sugared cinnamon, and white pepper are all but concealed in sweet aromas of yellow cake, vanilla custard, simple syrup, and buttery caramel. This bourbon is fresh and light with only a light scent of new-cut oak.
BLADE AND BOW BOURBON PALATE:
The first sip of Blade and Bow is warm and soft with herbal notes of sweet corn and wheat. Further sipping brings soft plums, bananas and an intriguing plucot nectar blended together with allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, old pepper and rye. I taste light vanilla, simple syrup, buttery caramel and faint pecans along with dry oak, toasted wood, and char.
Balance, Body, Feel and Look:
Blade and Bow is gentle and well blended. In my mouth it is mellow, viscous and oily and each sip is easy to hold. Even after an aggressive Kentucky Chew all I get is a simple tickle at the back of the palate as the whiskey trickles down my throat. As the Glencairn is lowered, evenly spaced long clinging legs transport the liquid back to the tawny pool, leaving behind many clinging droplets in the inverted crown.
BLADE AND BOW BOURBON FINISH:
Blade and Bow has a warm medium finish filled with a potpourri of fruit tree blossoms. The mouth and throat feel as though I have just drank a wheater or four grain whiskey as I get mild sensations of apricot fruit leather, a bit of pepper and a little rye. There is a touch of simple syrup, some faint walnuts, and char as well. And as I down the last drops, the empty Glencairn smells herbal, with layers of drying oak and toasting wood.
MY RATING: 87/100
Will I buy this whiskey again? YES
Blade and Bow is a nice addition to our bar and I will keep my eyes open for another to add to the bunker.
Click to read Brian’s scoring process.
Click 87/100 to access other whiskies with this score.
WHISKEY TRAITS, FLAVOR NOTES AND PROFILE GRAPH:
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