Rack: U3624.09
Score Card
Shelf: Top Shelf
Price Range: $55 to $80
Proof: 94 proof
Age: 12 year
Mash Bill: Unknown
Color: Reddish amber
Nose: Leather, black pepper, citrus notes, hints of vanilla, and aged oak
Taste: Leather and strong oak notes heat up quickly with spicy rye and black pepper.
Value: Overpriced
Score: 85
Cut to The Chase: Expected more from a 12 year
Price Range: $55 to $80
Proof: 94 proof
Age: 12 year
Mash Bill: Unknown
Color: Reddish amber
Nose: Leather, black pepper, citrus notes, hints of vanilla, and aged oak
Taste: Leather and strong oak notes heat up quickly with spicy rye and black pepper.
Value: Overpriced
Score: 85
Cut to The Chase: Expected more from a 12 year
Bourbon Notes
Calumet Farms does not distill their own bourbon and sources their barrels from unknown distilleries. Not sure why they keep it a mystery. Personally, I'd like to know who is distilling and aging this whiskey. I've passed up Calumet Farms previously because it seem a lot to pay for a fancy bottle, but the 12 year old label caught my eye. This bourbon is a mix of a small batch of 19 barrels selected from the center cut racks. The label states it's from a "single rack," which I believe means they pull from barrels in a single location and a single rack in the rickhouse. That's intriguing.
Because of the age, I was expected a bit softer bourbon, more mature bourbon, so it's taken me a bit to getting used to the strong oak and rough edges of this 12 year. I have to admit I'm a bit disappointed as I don't feel the barrel age as much as I expected. I can find this kind of bite and rough edges in a much younger bourbon for half the price. It is also difficult not knowing the distillery and the mash bill.
This is a bourbon that is more charcoal and woody than the more current profiles of Buffalo Trace and Four Roses. Much closer to Heaven Hill than it is to the sweeter more corny bourbons. But I like Heaven Hill, Elijah Craig, and Henry McKenna. I like bourbons with bite, high rye and the edginess of oak like Old Grandad Bottled-In-Bond, but I expected to appreciate the aging a bit more. I paid a premium for a 12 year whiskey and I don't feel I really got what I expected. I like Calumet Farms 12 year, but don't love it. At $65 a bottle there are a lot of great bourbons out there and if I'm going to pay for a 12 year, I'd like to really taste the aging. If you like oak, rye, and notes of leather and pepper, this may be a bourbon for you.
Reviewed by: Jack Epps, Jr.
Send comments to: BourbonNotes@gmail.com
Because of the age, I was expected a bit softer bourbon, more mature bourbon, so it's taken me a bit to getting used to the strong oak and rough edges of this 12 year. I have to admit I'm a bit disappointed as I don't feel the barrel age as much as I expected. I can find this kind of bite and rough edges in a much younger bourbon for half the price. It is also difficult not knowing the distillery and the mash bill.
This is a bourbon that is more charcoal and woody than the more current profiles of Buffalo Trace and Four Roses. Much closer to Heaven Hill than it is to the sweeter more corny bourbons. But I like Heaven Hill, Elijah Craig, and Henry McKenna. I like bourbons with bite, high rye and the edginess of oak like Old Grandad Bottled-In-Bond, but I expected to appreciate the aging a bit more. I paid a premium for a 12 year whiskey and I don't feel I really got what I expected. I like Calumet Farms 12 year, but don't love it. At $65 a bottle there are a lot of great bourbons out there and if I'm going to pay for a 12 year, I'd like to really taste the aging. If you like oak, rye, and notes of leather and pepper, this may be a bourbon for you.
Reviewed by: Jack Epps, Jr.
Send comments to: BourbonNotes@gmail.com