Cooper's remains one of the only major distilleries that governs their process from start to finish. The name comes from the profession of raising and creating their own barrels, and in that function, they serve other distilleries, providing thousands of barrels a year. Since 1945 they've been refining the coopering craft, passing the master craftsmanship that eventually lends whiskey half of its flavor and all of its color to the next generation of barrel raisers. Cooper's Craft Straight Bourbon Whiskey is a weird one. While sensible in price (I got it for less than 23 bucks in TN) it's intensely different flavors depend on how you take your drink. I always do a test in all these reviews room temp and neat, as well as with ice, and occasionally (if it's a liqueur type whiskey) from a chilled bottle. Cooper's surprised me in a couple ways. First, Cooper's is nice and easy, bottled at just over 41% alcohol, it's an easy sip, and lemme tell you about the damn honey. This stuff tastes like it should go with peanut butter out of the bottle, a nice and thick hit of fresh honey on the nose and in the taste that almost masks everything else. There's a nice vanilla in there, the caramel is arguable, and the walnut (which was sort of surprising) has hints that peak out too.
This is one of those that taste exactly like it smells, and that's not a bad thing. But there is a bad thing in my opinion. Tennessee is hot, and I figured this budget bourbon would be great with some ice and a cigar on a summer night recently (late June in TN is pretty balmy, not unlike Satan's ass), so I ventured outside with a cheap cigar and an iced glass of Coop. Man, did I find it repellent. The flavor was sour, almost like a flat soda with absolutely no carbonation that's sat in a car, slightly open, for a week. The stale sugary taste covered everything I wanted in a cold honey sip. While I will absolutely keep Cooper's on my shelf, as it's a real nice (and cheap!) sipper, I would be wary about anything to do with ice near it. Please drink responsibly. https://www.cooperscraft.com/ Image Credit: CaskCartel.com
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