Review #228: Blanton’s Straight From The Barrel (Reviewed side-by-side with Blanton’s Original)
Review #228: Blanton’s Straight From The Barrel (Reviewed side-by-side with Blanton’s Original)
AGE: NAS
PROOF: 127
COST: 140€ for 700mL bottle in
Germany (~$162)
In December
we took a trip to Germany to check out the Christmas markets. It was quite the
adventure in which we visited Christmas markets in 8 different cities across southeastern
Germany. While I was there, I was keeping an eye out for Maker’s Mark Cellar
Aged 2025 since I had seen the press release stating Germany by name as a market
it could be found in. My search led me into a store that had MMCA’25, but they also
had a butt load of Blanton’s SFTB (and by butt load, I mean like 6 cases – unheard
of in the US). To top it off, they had them for 140€ a bottle, which is
practically MSRP. While I’m not a Blanton’s fanboy by any means, I’ve seen
enough people say SFTB is significantly better than the standard 93 proof
variety. And since I’ve never had a SFTB, I figured what the hell, I’ll pick it
up as well.
Blanton’s
Original Single Barrel was the whiskey that I wrote my first r/bourbon review
for. I gave it a 6.3/10 at the time, and I think I’d still pretty well stand by
that rating (maybe slightly lower). Today, I would say Blanton’s is a solid
6/10, plus or mins 0.5 depending on the barrel. So, here we are 219 r/bourbon reviews
later, how does this SFTB bottle compare to Blanton’s Original? Let’s find out!
This is bottle
#80 from barrel #290 dumped on January 23, 2023. Aged in good ol’ warehouse H from
rick #33 (I’m still not certain that these rick numbers mean anything without a
floor associated with it). Coming in at 127 proof, this is pretty solidly in
the middle of the proof range for SFTB.
Reviewed
neat in a Glencairn. (NOTE: reviewed side by side with a regular 93 proof Blanton’s
for comparative sake)
APPEARANCE: To be expected, noticeably darker than original Blanton’s. It’s a warm
reddish mahogany color (1.6), fairly oily looking with slow, medium bodied legs.
Not gonna lie though, the regular Blanton’s appears to be more viscous on the
side of the glass. Maybe an artifact of the higher ABV.
NOSE: SFTB has a sweet fruity nose that is significantly more complex than Blanton’s
Original. I get notes of cherries, strawberries, black currant, and red grapes.
A Cow Tales candy note with a sugary sweet combination of caramel and vanilla
cream. Cinnamon and rye spice are always lingering in the background but remain
tame. A touch of cocoa powder and dried grains add an earthiness to the back
end of the nose. Despite being 127 proof, there is no proof heat. This is a
robust and complex nose compared to Blanton’s Original. (Blanton’s Original I
get a lot less fruit sweetness. Orange citrus stands out in the original that I
don’t get as much on the SFTB. It also has more vanilla. Caramel is certainly
present as well. There’s a more earthy profile to it as well. It seems as if
the dilution tamped down the fruity sweetness and let some of the earthier
flavors shine more.)
PALATE: A thin syrupy mouthfeel that rolls across the palate effortlessly. The fruity
sweetness from the nose carries over wonderfully! Caramelized, almost burnt,
brown sugar meets a rich, red berry compote. Notes of dark cherries, jammy strawberries,
and sticky dates blend together well and persist for quite a while. Loads of
rich vanillin. After a few seconds of swirling this around on my palate the
spice starts to settle in with toasted, spicy oak, black peppercorns, and ground
cinnamon. A damp, bitter tobacco note shows up late going into the finish.
Again, significantly more robust and complex than Blanton’s Original.
(Conversely, for Blanton’s Original the mouthfeel is significantly thinner,
almost like water in comparison really (this is somewhat unfair side-by-side as
it would probably feel a bit thicker if I were sipping it by itself). It has a
more bitter earthiness on the palate with dried rye grains and toasted (almost
burnt) vanilla beans. Sweetness is mostly from orange citrus, vanilla cream,
and a thin brown sugar simple syrup. All the fruity sweetness is basically
non-existent.)
FINISH: A long, sweet, hot finish. The proof heat finally shows up here in the
finish. A definite evaporative feeling of alcohol tingles the throat and cheeks
and is accompanied by a moderate hug for the first few sips. The fruity
sweetness persists though. Tart cherry and black currant followed by seasoned
oak and rye spice. The fruity notes die off and are replaced by caramelized
brown sugar. The seasoned oak persists and more spice grows with cinnamon,
black pepper, and…coriander? There’s another spice there that adds a sort of
refreshing brightness only briefly. I’m going with coriander, but a touch of
mint might be a good description too. There is a touch of orange zest that
persists for a while. As this comes to a close it’s really the spicy, seasoned
oak and caramelized brown sugar notes that outlast the rest. (As for the
Blanton’s Original, it’s a short, sweet finish. Simple syrup sweetness, a faint
sweet oak note, and nothing else really. Ironically, I got orange on the nose
and palate for the Blanton’s Original but not the SFTB, but here in the finish
I get the orange on finish of the SFTB but not the Blanton’s Original. Could be
SiB specific though.)
RATING: 8.1/10
OVERALL: Damn…this is what all Blanton’s should taste like. This was excellent!
The robust sweet red fruit showing up like it did was unexpected based on what Blanton’s
Original comes across as for me. This was almost more like Buffalo Trace mash
bill #1 for me (think of the red fruit notes more common in Buffalo Trace and Eagle
Rare). If you were to hand me two blinds, one of SFTB and one of Blanton’s
Original, and ask me if they are the same distillate, I don’t think I would be
able to say yes – they are that different to me. Knowing what they are, it’s
very easy to distinguish which is which though. Blanton’s SFTB is far superior
in every way to Blanton’s Original.
In my first ever r/bourbon review of Blanton’s
Original, I mentioned that I think Blanton’s best value proposition is being shared
with others. While Blanton’s Original isn’t anything to write home about flavor
wise, most people that are even whiskey adjacent have heard of Blanton’s. So, I
find having a bottle of Blanton’s around to share with those that aren’t necessarily
into whiskey like I am but want to try something out, reaching for the Blanton’s
to give them a dram make’s them feel special. It doesn’t hurt that it’s unoffensive
and easy to sip so even the most uninitiated to sipping neat whiskey aren’t
often offended by it. Considering Blanton’s Original still can’t be found for
less than $110 a bottle near me, acquiring this SFTB for $162 was totally worth
it. While that’s not necessarily something I’ll splurge on often, if I do see
SFTB for near MSRP, I will certainly be tempted to keep it on the bar as a staple
over Blanton’s Original. Granted, most whiskey novices may not like 125+ proof
whiskey as an intro to the category…so I may just have to find something else
for them and keep this one for me. 😉
1 | Disgusting | see my 1/10 ratings
2 | Poor | see my 2/10 ratings
3 | Bad | see my 3/10 ratings
4 | Sub-par | see my 4/10 ratings
5 | Good | see my 5/10 ratings
6 | Very Good | see my 6/10 ratings
7 | Great | see my 7/10 ratings
8 | Excellent | see my 8/10 ratings
9 | Incredible | see my 9/10 ratings
10 | Perfect | see my 10/10 ratings
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