Smooth Ambler Old Scout 10, Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Batch No. 32, b.3/26/2015, Bottled by James, 50% abv.

Smooth ambler is a craft distillery founded in West Virginia in 2009 that not only makes their own distillate, but also sources for their products. The Old Scout line is sourced from MGP in Indiana; actually many bottles in the bourbon industry are sourced from MGP, but Smooth Ambler doesn't hide it. It would be hard too given this was a 10 year bourbon. This Old Scout 10 has a mash bill of 75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malted barley. Was all the rage when it first came out.

Nose: unsalted boiled peanuts, after awhile I get crushed prunes, some light black cherries, sour worchester sauce, with time it runs away from the peanut foundation to a more light, yet full-flavored sherry type.

Palate: the unsalted boiled peanut foundation is still there, initial and mid palate has a feint background of sourness, tobacco, develops more towards peanut husk, sour wood, back palate has the same. Gets a little dry with time. Hard to differentiate the phases, if they exist at all.

Finish: is short, still unsalted boiled peanuts and peanut husks.

Not sure why people online kept saying SAOS10 was so good, it's pretty one-dimensional and doesn't do the peanut-oriented flavor as well as others. Can't trust the majority opinion... it's not a bad bourbon, very different from overly sweetened entry level bourbons, but it doesn't seem to offer much in terms of a tasting experience overall. Above average, but not by much. Or maybe I'm not ready for this genre of whiskey? Hopefully the other SAOS are better.

Grade: C

Whiskyanalysis.com, 8.37 ± 0.56 on 4 reviews
Whisky bible, Jim Murray, 95.5 points

Image courtesy of Eric Yee.

Eric Yee

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