Chef Ouita’s Tasting Notes
We ask that you do not read unless you have tasted through the game already! Our minds are very susceptible and we want to give you all a chance to taste without influence. Here are my notes but yours might be different — and that’s okay! In fact, that’s the point of our tasting kit. Different bourbons will present with different flavors, depending on their mash bills, char levels, age in the barrel and alcohol level. Enjoy your bourbon exploration!
Rye Crisp
We lead off with rye, which helps counter bourbon’s natural sweetness and points up notes of warm spices, a mysterious touch of floral, and the scent of earth and wood. You might get a hint of pineapple or apple as well.
Toasted Hazelnut
The toasted hazelnuts contain tannic acid, which teases the oak flavor even further out, recalling the oak barrels used to age bourbon.
Candied Orange Peel
The concentrated citrus oils in our candied orange peel will reflect bourbon’s citrus notes. You might get a whiff of lemon, orange, or even peach.
Dried Tart Cherries
Dried cherries and other dried fruits tease out bourbon’s fruit flavors and start to point up its floral flavors, too. These are both a result of the particular yeast strains and fermentation process of each bourbon.
Dark Chocolate Medallions
With chocolate, we move on from fruits and florals to spices. Bourbon gets its spice notes from the mash bill, fermentation process, and barrel-aging. Dark chocolate in particular will elicit notes of cocoa, coffee, clove, and tobacco leaf.
Dried Banana
We promise we haven’t gone bananas! Different bourbons have different banana notes — from waxy green to banana bread-ripeness. These flavors are found in an acetate ester called isomayl acetate, which arises during primary fermentation as yeast converts sugar into alcohol; and they’re affected by lots of factors: like length of fermentation, barrel characteristics, blending technique, etc.
Sorghum Sucker
Sorghum pushes bourbon’s finish almost to infinity, which is why we often stir our bourbon with a sorghum sucker. Sorghum pulls out all the sweet smells and flavors in a pour of bourbon. You’ll notice hints of grassiness, smoke, caramel and honey. This finish is where the grains in the mash bill really shine.