Meeting Results – Personal Favorites – April 1, 2023
The April meeting of the Proof & Bond Society focused on the hard-to-find favorites of two of our members. Below we have a summary of the results of those tastings and the cumulative average scores of all of our members.
Garrison Brothers Small Bath Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Proof:
94 Proof | 47% ABV
Age:
3 Years
Distillery:
presenter:
Seth Pearson
Reception:
This white corn whiskey is sweet and strong, coming on strong on the tongue and continuing down into the belly, which it warms ably. The sweetness and the strength drew comparisons to sour gummy candies and caramel. Some people tried to add a few drops of water, but those that did found that the flavor was no aided by the dilution. Indeed most people said that they wouldn’t even want this spirit in a cocktail. The general agreement was that the cut on this spirit was immaculate and that the flavor was complex enough to stand up to neat drinking.
Final Rating: 4
Proof:
103 Proof | 51.5% ABV
Age:
4 years
Distillery:
Presenter:
Stephan Robinson
Reception:
This spirit was the exact opposite of the Garrison Brothers above. Whereas that bottle was a simple straight bourbon from a single barrel, this bad boy uses four barrels. The whiskey is aged first in a charred oak barrel, then finished in vermouth, bitters, and cherry brandy barrels so that the final product has the flavor, or at the least the essence, of a manhattan cocktail. What surprised us was how well the experiment worked. There were some mild comparisons to cough syrup and the taste of cherry was sometimes slightly overwhelming, but with a few drops of water these complaints disappeared. The overall flavor was much more nuanced and subtle that anticipated, and this bottle actually made an excellent compliment to the night’s other offering.
Final Rating: 3.8/4*
*Two members’ ratings went up with the addition of two drops of water.