Blanton’s Straight From The Barrel is exactly what its name indicates – cask strength Blantons, which is already a single cask. It’s the higher end offering of Blantons that Buffalo Trace (Sazerac) ships overseas or sequesters in airport duty-free shops. How’s that for a nice how-do-you-do? I’m glad I got to try it, but it irks me a bit when I see a release that would do amazing in the home market available anywhere but here.
In Blanton’s Words: Blanton’s Straight From The Barrel
“Not only one of the world’s best bourbons, Blanton’s Straight from the Barrel is one of the world’s best whiskeys. Created for connoisseurs familiar with cask strength whiskeys, this enormous taste profile reaches depths of flavor found only in the rarest of spirits. The high alcohol by volume is intense and powerful yet inviting. The complexity of rye, caramel, oak, honey and vanilla coat your palate followed by a legendary finish. Straight from the barrel is best served neat or with a splash of water. Un-filtered, un-cut, unbelievable.”
No use boo-hooing about it, the Travel Retail world is insanely profitable for companies and creates a demand within a demand for these exclusive releases so it’s not going anywhere. On to the Blanton’s Straight From The Barrel review
Blanton’s Straight From The Barrel Info
Region: Kentucky, USA
Distiller: Buffalo Trace
Mashbill: Mash #2 (Higher rye 12-15%) Corn, Rye, Malted Barley
Cask: New Charred Oak
Age: (8/31/15)
ABV: 64.6%
Cask Strength | Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color
Warehouse: H
Rick: 39
Barrel: 76
Price: $100 (Duty Free / International)
Blanton’s Straight From The Barrel Review
EYE
Caramel
NOSE
Herbal, oak, hazelnuts, char, baking spice and bits of vanilla and caramel. It may not be insanely complex, but it carries a nice weight.
PALATE
Dark fruit, caramel, hazelnuts, char, baking spice, vanilla and a bit of brown sugar and citrus peels. More interesting than the nose and also feels heavy.
FINISH
Long oaky fade of dark fruit, char, spice and dark sweets.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Nice balance, full body and a heavy syrupy feel.
OVERALL
Blanton’s Straight From The Barrel is exactly what you’d want and expect from a cask strength Blanton’s. The aroma and palate are heavy and satisfying, but the way this particular bottle came together felt a tad dull. Even with water it didn’t open much beyond a bit more vanilla showing up so it kept from becoming the kind of dynamic whisky I’d had in other barrels. Which is the gamble of single barrels.
That all said this Blanton’s Straight From The Barrel was still a great bourbon and one I’d happily sip on any night, though is this particular barrel worth the $100+ in duty-free? I don’t think so. I’ve had some other casks that were good, but I’d still have a hard time spending that kind of money on them. Maybe that’s why they do them as duty-free, they can charge more than people in the states would be willing to pay if it was on the shelf.
SCORE: 87-89/100 (B+, consumed at a tasting)
Blanton's Straight From The Barrel Review - Score Breakdown
Summary
This particular Blanton’s Straight From The Barrel cask is good, button particularly special.
Overall
- Nose - 89
- Palate - 88
- Finish - 87
- Balance, Body & Feel - 88
SFTB??
Straight From The Barrel :)
I love how people believe they know so much about spirits and are often incorrect. Many brands are owned by some larger umbrella company but produced separately from their other products. Often, the owners serve merely as brand owners and distributors but may have little to nothing to do with the manufacturing process. Food for thought.
Blanton’s and Ancient Age are not the same juice… not by a long shot.
Hi Happy Gilmore,
LOve the snarky comment that isn’t backed by any actual facts. Always productive. Blanton’s and Ancient Age are EXACTLY the same juice. Both are made from Buffalo Trace’s Mashbill #2, by Buffalo Trace, at the Buffalo Trace distillery and aged in Buffalo Trace rickhouses… so tell me Happy… how aren’t they the same at a base level? Magic of your ill-informed opinion? Because that doesn’t count.
Cheers!
First, my comment wasn’t snarky at all. It seems like you think I was referring to you in my comment but I was not. I was referring to other peoples comments. Honestly, I have no idea where ancient age comes from or what Mash bill is used to make it. Truth be told, I have never had it. But I do know Blanton’s only comes from one building… I was introduced to Blanton’s original and liked it very much. I have had just about every Blanton’s expression there is and I like it so I buy it. I have several bottles of original, gold and SFTB. In fact, I enjoy SFTB just as much as the BTAC line and Pappy 15 but for a fraction of the cost. I do not mind that I have to go to Europe or Japan to get it. I have no problem paying $100 or 125 or 150 for a quality bottle compared to easily spending $800 for a comparable bourbon or scotch (I don’t care much for Scotch). But, every man is different. Drink what you like and buy what you can afford. I buy Blanton’s and prefer to eat wagyu steaks and Maine lobster but if a quarter pounder and Filet-O-fish is more your speed… that’s cool too brother!
Jokes aside, Even if the mash bills are exactly the same, I highly doubt ancient age is “the same juice” in much the same way Buffalo Trace isn’t the same as SFTB or the same way Opus Overture isn’t quite Opus One or Caymus Cabernet isn’t quite the same as their private select or Moët Brut isn’t Dom Perignon. I’m sure you get the point. Buffalo Trace is a favorite of mine too but, at a minimum, with Blanton’s we are talking about barrels specifically selected to represent a brand and/or line within the brand that are likely aged for a longer period and in a different warehouse. The higher proof alone would warrant at least a slightly higher price.
Now, what I said about some distilleries making booze under brands they do not own… that is a fact. If you tell me there is juice out there just as good as SFTB for $10… I’d say you’re crazy but I’d certainly try it and I am certainly secure enough to admit when I am wrong but I highly doubt I am incorrect on this. The idea that you suggest is one that can ruin a brand were it true.
If you really know spirits, you should know the mash is just the first of several components that affects the end product. Sure we pay a bit more for the name and the pretty bottle with Blanton’s but I could care less about that… the first time I had Blanton’s I had know idea what it was but it was delicious and smooth. Ultimately, barrel selection; new versus used barrels; time in the barrel; whom is selecting the barrels; the ABV going into the barrel; ABV coming out…these are just a few factors that affect the quality of the finished product. Even just a few drops of water can change a lot. Same mash is not tantamount to the same end results. Cheers!
Here’s an interesting read:
http://flightclubict.com/2017/06/21/buffalo-trace-mash-bill-2-ancient-age-ancient-ancient-age-reviews/
Hi Hippy,
If you didn’t mean any snark, then my apologies. 99% of comments people post here are directed at me so when I read “I love how people believe they know so much about spirits and are often incorrect.” it came off as a snarky personal attack.
You’re totally right about brands making different products and it’s often all from the same base mashbill. Jim Beam is another godo example of this where Jim Beam White, Black, Bonded, Knob Creek, Baker’s and Booker’s are all the same whiskey. The only difference between then is how long they’re aged and what parts of the warehouses they come from.
Same with everything that uses the same MAsh 2 at Buffalo Trace. It’s the same “juice”, it just comes from different warehouses, or just different parts of the warehouses, and are often different ages. It’s all the same whiskey, just barrels are chosen to be blended in a way that creates a different profile.
Cheers!
Dear Josh Peters,
I feel like you may be assuming far too much about mash bill #2 or any other mash for that matter. It seems like you may be assuming that because a spirit is produced from a particular mash bill that they are the same. But the mash only tells you the percentages of each ingredient in a very general way. The is no indication of when, where, from whom those ingredients are sourced. Those factors make a huge different in the end product for example the corn: is it white corn; yellow corn; blue corn; sweet corn? Where is it sourced for each expression? How about the other grains? Are those all the same?
I could tell you the correct proportions of ingredients for my lobster bisque recipe but if I don’t tell you where I source those ingredients and exactly how it is prepared, I am confident the end result would significantly differ.
Have you spoken to these manufacturers to confirm what you are saying? I emailed the CEO of Blanton’s yesterday… he seems very nice and open and he might provide this information if you have not verified any of your claims. Until those and other nuance like barrel sourcing and variation in wood quality and char are addressed… my argument stands “not the same juice”.
At the end of the day, even if you are correct and it is all sourced from one place, respectively, the different ages and ABV still equates to a different experience and different production cost and variation in price. Honestly, I’m not sure what exactly you are implying about products that, potentially, have an identical mash… but again if you know a high end whiskey the is identical to something cheaper… share the wealth Bro!
Cheers!
Yes, I have talked to the distilleries and toured many of them. And yes the mashbill makes it exactly the same base whiskey. The difference in the end product is in warehouse placement and aging. That’s how they get the different flavors and profiles.
They run massive batches of their sourced grains (none of the big guys use blue corn) and distill it and then put it into their barrels and then the barrels just fill in the spots that are empty in the warehouses. They don’t shut down the distillery and say “Today we’re making Ancient Age” or “Today we’re making Blanton’s”. Or if it’s Jim Beam “today is Jim Beam white, tomorrow is black” and so on.
They run the stills, fill the barrels and they go into the warehouses.
It’s all the same type of grains, often from big producers they have long-standing contracts with, and all goes into barrels, again coming from large producers they have long standing contracts with, and then it goes into the wareshouses. Once they’re ready to make the whiskeys they pull from specific warehouses, use barrels of specific ages, etc. to create different flavors.
A bottle of Ancient Age that came off the still in the same run as a bottle of Blanton’s will taste different because the Blantons is older than the Ancient Age, comes from the center racks of the warehouse where it gets even maturation, it’s a single barrel and not a blend of hundreds of barrels and is a higher proof.
At the core, the thing that makes it a bourbon, they are the same. The exact same thing goes for Jim Beam White, Black, Bonded, SiB, Knob Creek, Baker’s and Booker’s. The only differneces between those products are the age, their placement in the warehouse and their ABV. Each one of those make a huge difference. That’s why they taste different. Same base “juice”, different end product.
Cheers
Brenda got PWNd
You DO know that this is exactly the same whiskey as Canadian Mist, don’t you? But collecting screw tops is not as prestigious as different letter’d corks. Sure, a real glass bottle makes a better presentation than a plastic one, but the libations inside are exactly identical except for where they have vast differences. – If I’m not mistaken…
You DO know that your comment makes no sense right? Can’t tell if that was a joke or you just really have no idea what you’re talking about… honestly, I don’t know what you’re saying.
While Buffalo Trace manufacture Blantons, isn’t the Blanton’s brand owned by Ancient Age International (which, for example, explains why Blantons isn’t distributed in the U.K. by HiSpirits who are responsible for distributing all Buffalo Trace products in the U.K.)? I think it’s that unusual split relationship that explains why Blantons is sent to export markets rather than it being a case of Buffalo Trace cashing in …
Looks like you’re right. On Blanton’s page it says it’s owned by “Age International, Inc”. That all makes sense now. I’ve always thought it was a BT owned product. Very cool. Cheers!
You DO know that this is nothing more exalted than Ancient Age — $10.99 for a 750 at Total Wine, albeit without the fancy pewter horsie — randomly chosen from the rickhouse? Don’t you?
You DO know that this is cask strength, older and a single barrel making it a vastly different product than the younger mass batched 40% Ancient Age right? Don’t you?