Although I'm still getting over a gross respiratory thing (no, not COVID) and I don't yet totally trust my palate, for some reason I can smell and taste whiskey just fine. So we're going to do a short run of grain juice until, y'know, my throat is all cleared out.

Today's theme is single barrel bourbons - i.e. the stuff your older relatives walk right past on their way to check for Blanton's (because horsey and the John Wick movies). And just to narrow down the vast selection available, I've only picked from options bottled at 50% ABV. Stats:

- John J. Bowman Virginia Straight Bourbon, Single Barrel (A Smith Bowman Distillery, Fredericksburg; undisclosed high-corn mashbill; bottled approx. 2019; 50% ABV), 81+/100
- Four Roses Kentucky Straight Bourbon, Single Barrel (Lawrenceburg; warehouse TS, barrel 35-6B; OBSV recipe, 60% corn, 35% rye, 5% malt; bottled approx. 2020; 50% ABV), 85+/100
- Tom's Foolery Bonded Ohio Straight Bourbon (Burton; bottle 123 from barrel 284, aged 2/2014-6/2019; 54% corn, 23% rye, 23% malt or thereabouts; 50% ABV), 85+/100

(Lots of pluses in the scores, mainly because all of them did fun and interesting things with the addition of water.)

The Tom's Foolery BiB was one of the options I couldn't find for my pot-distilled bourbon throwdown awhile back ([ Ссылка ]) - I did manage a sample of their apple brandy, which I adored ([ Ссылка ]) - and I'm glad to finally try out their corn juice. As a fan of teas and grass candy in my whiskey I can report that hunting it down and paying a bit of a premium was totally worth it. The John J. Bowman - which might or might not be triple-distilled, you can never quite know what the Bowman folks are up to - isn't my favorite bourbon in the world, but it's also absolutely the closest thing to Blanton's (flavorwise) that I can remember trying in awhile... so if you want to decant the stuff into an old grenade bottle for visitors, I won't tell anyone. And the winner on value is easily the humble Four Roses, which is a terrific example of how to balance oaky confectionary deliciousness with rustic, earthy charm. Everyone spending too much money on sourced high-rye MGP, do take note.

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