Blanton’s is very special for several reasons. I love a whiskey with a cool story, some unique trait, or attached to a great personal memory, and Blanton’s Single Barrel Bourbon hits every mark for me in a lot of ways. This will be somewhat of a personal tale, so if you just want the tasting notes, I’ll highlight them beneath all my gushy expository. Gushy Expository. First of all, FINALLY. I have been looking for a bottle of Blanton’s for just about six months with serious interest, and mild interest even further back than that when I noticed John Wick having a glass of their coveted bourbon in the debut film. Now, I love John Wick more than I love some of my friends. It’s my favorite movie series of all time. Naturally, when I saw the funky looking bottle in (let’s be honest) a funky criminal underground based movie’s awesome titular character’s hands when he gets a moment to relax, I had to know what he was drinking and if it was real. Of course it is as it turns out, and of course I wanted some. I currently live in North Carolina. NC does not get a whole hell of a lot of Blanton’s on their shelves, and when the rare occurrence happens, it’s gone immediately. When I first started pursuing it, I had no idea how serious it was. The first time I walked in to my local store (a store unfortunately based on the ABC laws of VA), and asked if they had some, I was outright laughed at. I was probably walking around the store with the most bemused shuffling gait I probably ever had in my life at that point. Had I offended the guy? Was it actually not a real drink and I was the victim of the initiate’s sick joke? Perhaps the equivalent of “Muffler Bearings” or “Headlight Fluid” in the auto industry? No, I was just asking for something that is in such high demand, to the point where lines form outside of my local stores to pick it up before even the friggin’ employees themselves know it’s gonna be on the truck, that I had no business asking the employee in the middle of the week around cocktail hour. So there, befallen, befuddled and grim, I had my valiant quest. For myself, for my whiskey friends, for all John Wick loving wannabes, every time I went to a liquor store, regardless of state, I would inquire for this seemingly sacred liquid. I would endure the snickers and laughs and “Good Luck Bud”’s I would receive from the despondent shopkeeps. I even enlisted my coworkers, friends, and Father in my desperate search, saying, pleading, “If you find this before I do, buy it and I will pay you for it.” And in its beguiling intrigue, I would keep seeing it in my favorite series’. John Wick, Banshee, The Wire, It’s Always Sunny, on and on. This was the bourbon you pulled out. This WAS the answer to the question “Got Bourbon?” And nobody had it. And my first-world suffering was immeasurable. And then a light at the end of the tunnel….My Father, in his infinite humor, decided to text me a picture of a bottle he found at his local. An infuriating caption reading, “I spy with my little eye…” I then knew only spite. However, I gleaned from this that it did actually exist, it could be attained. I don’t believe in luck but I believe weird things happen. John Wick Chapter 3, (the running contender for Best Movie Of All Time, with the only competition being Chapters 1 and 2) was set to release. I and several friends were set to get together and do a big sushi dinner in Fredericksburg, VA, followed by the late showing of the aforementioned masterpiece. Coming in to town at around 8:30 pm the previous Thursday night, I decided to meet my friend at the liquor store I used to go in all the time when I lived there. I almost didn’t ask, almost beaten down with all of the denials and rejections, beleaguered and somewhat afraid…”Do ya’ll have any Blanton’s?” “of course, want one? We’ve got fifths and the new pints.” Ever had a Christmas morning when you were five? It was sort of (read: completely) like that. My friend and my girlfriend and I all just looked, slack jawed at each other…. The ABC Lady just looked at us, oddly if a bit reproachful saying “Are you guys alright?” “Listen,” I said “This just isn’t the way this happens. You’ve got to understand, we’ve been looking for this for around six months, and just off-handed you said yes to a question longing in my heart for quite some time…” She, I think, and probably correctly so I might add, thought I was outside of my mind holding my own “vacancy” sign just to the side. I was then gifted this bottle, as they aren’t friggin’ cheap, by just the best friend a bourbon guy could have as a belated birthday gift, and liquid premonition to be shared between us for Mr Wick the following evening. I am beside myself with joy to offer this, my humble opinion of Blanton’s Single Barrel Bourbon, and some interesting things about the whiskey’s story, after a triumphant and extremely “lucky” acquisition. For those aged well in the Whiskey game, please note, this is, besides Blade and Bow, Glennfiddich 23 year, and Barrel Strength Knob Creek, the “Toppest” shelf I’ve yet achieved in my “longer than some, less than most” tenure of the hobby. Forgive the novice excitement. For the snobby Whiskey guys/gals, I personally believe (conveniently or otherwise) and much like the WhiskeyVault channel on youtube (linked below) “The best whiskey is the whiskey you like best, the way you like to drink it.” Blanton’s Description, Story, and Tasting Notes. Sporting a jockey topped cork, and even that with eight variants, the Blanton’s bottle is definitely recognizable to those in the whiskey world, and maybe an odd site for those outside it. Blanton’s, as we have come to know it, was the idea of one Master Distiller Elmer T. Lee, a World War II vet that came home to Kentucky after the war and tried to find work with the Buffalo Trace Distillery. Mr Lee was famously rejected for the job by a man named Colonel Albert Bacon Blanton, then President of the distillery, at first saying, “Son, we’re not hiring any hands today.” Luckily for all of us, he changed his mind a week later and Mr Lee started at the distillery. Elmer T. Lee rose up through the ranks fairly quickly, and the year before his retirement as Master Distiller, was tasked with creating a damn fine bourbon, and that’s what he did. He remembered Colonel Blanton from his earlier days at the distillery and a few peculiar things he would do during family visits and when meeting dignitaries; Colonel Blanton would pick his “Honey Barrels,” barrels hand picked from the center of Warehouse H (an interesting story in itself) because of the remarkably different tastes that would emerge from the bourbon in these barrels, bottling them one barrel at a time. Thus we have the concept of Single Barrel in its infancy, Colonel Blanton being the first known to do this. Mr Lee remembered this and eventually developed what we know today as Single Barrel Bourbon, of which, every bottle of Blanton’s is categorized. This was an odd concept back then, but now, just about every Whiskey and Bourbon distillery have one or more Single Barrel products. Blanton’s Bourbon is still exclusively aged in Warehouse H, a warehouse made of metal because of the ability to erect and use it sooner meeting the expected need for spirits shortly after Prohibition ended. It is the same warehouse that Colonel Blanton himself got his “Honey Barrels.” There are eight different Jockey-topped cork stoppers that represent every stage in the Derby Horse Race. And each, beginning with “B”, spell out “BLANTONS” with the final “S” marked on the victorious jockey and horse. Unfortunately, the Blanton’s Gold, Straight From The Barrel, and Special Reserve are not available in US markets, but the Original Single Barrel can, in fact, be found. And I’m glad I found it, finally. Blanton’s original Single Barrel Bourbon has a really unique taste to me. Smooth without a doubt, the creamy vanilla on the nose and palate is fantastic (I love vanilla) but the hints of citrus, pineapple, lime, and hints of bark on the nose are really excellently blended together. The harder smells to me are the clove and apple spice I smell after a swallow. I don’t plan on drinking mine often because I can’t guarantee when I’ll be able to find it again, or afford it even if I do (I’m broke most of the time), but it’s a friggin pleasure whenever I do. I’ve had several single barrels, not nearly as many as I’d like to try yet, but as of now, the only thing I can compare how much I like this to is Knob Creek’s single barrel. For me, in my still only slightly above novice level, Blanton’s along with Knob Creek have set the bar for my taste and surprising level of enjoyment with single barrels. Blanton’s Original Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey My Bottle: Bottle 210 of Barrel 219 Dumped on April 24, 2019 Stored In Warehouse H/Rick Number 21 46.5% Alc/Vol https://www.blantonsbourbon.com/ Please Drink Responsibly. Check out WhiskeyVault on Youtube! They're my favorite guys to watch drink the whiskey I'll never be able to try! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCElm866_W5r1eg8VjhFNARw Image Credit: www.totalwine.com
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