Woodford Reserve is a creditable bourbon found on most any liquor store shelf, but occasionally the Kentucky distiller turns out a small batch for its Master’s Collection, and sometimes they can knock your socks off. Well, it’s happened again.
Fresh from Woodford County is the 92-proof Master’s Collection Four Grain, which goes for about $90 a fifth at Binny’s and Sam’s Wines & Spirits. The bourbon was distilled in 1999.
We didn’t bother comparing it with anything; we just tasted it. And seven out of seven palates–including some of the Tribune’s most educated–wanted to get way past the flirting stage with this one.
Some comments: “nice and smooth,” “wow,” “no bitterness and no harsh aftertaste,” “works straight up as a sipping whiskey,” “very woody in the best possible way.”
For the record, the grains are corn, malted barley and both rye and wheat. Whisky Magazine touted “its chewy granola mouth feel, a lot of caramel from the wood, violets from the rye and something on top that tastes like chives.”
The one complaint among our tasters was that the bottle is nothing fancy. Guys who want a circus display on their bar will have to pick an artsy vodka bottle instead.
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