~$30- Purchased at Chattanooga Wine & Spirits
Background
I bought the bottle because I could not recall ever having done so before. I’ve had the spirits on several occasions. But if I had known it was “The World’s Finest Bourbon” I probably would have purchased Woodford Reserve earlier in life! Okay, so that’s just what the headline says on the front page of the company’s website. If you want to sell a product, you really need to believe in that product…but calling it the “world’s finest” might just be enough hyperbole to make even a completely gullible person roll their eyes.
According to the story on their website, they started making Bourbon Whiskey on the site of the Woodford Reserve Distillery in 1812. They use a mash bill of 72% corn, 18% rye, and 10% malted barley, combine that with the limestone-filtered water from under their property, take a longer-than-normal time for the fermentation process (which they say yields a deeper character and more complex range of flavors), distill in both pot and column stills (“carefully” mixed together, of course), and mature the Bourbon in barrels they make in their own cooperage. In a day when it’s not unusual for a company to simply buy whiskey off the shelf of a massive distillery, slap a label on it, and write a great story to sell it, Woodford Reserve does seem to have a mostly vertically integrated operation.
Standard Woodford Reserve is bottled at 90.4 proof. The brand has been in operation since 1996 and it is considered a “small batch Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey” with each bottle bearing a unique batch and bottle number. The Brandis owned by Brown-Forman, who also own Early Times, Old Forester, Jack Daniel’s, and Canadian Mist, among other brands. It has won 13 gold medals at various competitions. I bought my bottle at Chattanooga Wine & Spirits. It is labeled as batch 5465, bottle 1911. To find out more about this spirit, visit their website.
Prelight
The Woodford Reserve was a medium-dark amber color in the glass. Bringing the glass to my nose, I got plenty of vanilla right away, along with lesser notes of oak, honey, and floral bouquet. It almost had a warm smell to it, which doesn’t really make sense…how does something smell warm?…but that’s what it was.
I took a sip and held it at the front of my mouth, where I got a really nice light floral honey and vanilla note. As I pushed it backwards I got more oak and alcohol vapor and rye spicy burn. I was finding it definitely a nice, slightly spicy dram…if perhaps not the “world’s finest bourbon.”
I did decide to pair it with a cigar from the world’s finest cigar company. I thought a Davidoff Special 53 would be a good accompaniment to this sweet and slightly spicy bourbon.
The cigar occupied more of the “savory” space, so the Woodford gave a very welcome sweeter counterpoint. A friend of mine opined not long ago that Woodford Reserve was a good “beginner bourbon,” but I’m going to disagree…it’s an excellent drink for any bourbon enthusiast no matter their experience level. It may not be the world’s finest, but it is pretty good for $30 when the bourbon market seems to have gone insane with inflated prices for bottles that should normally cost $20.
