Sunday Evening Review

With this bourbon craze that we are all a part of (and perpetuating also) there is the good, the bad and the ugly. One of the good things that has come out of this is how many different brands and craft distillers that have sprung up all thinking they can make it better or blend it better. If you believe the variety is the spice of life it has never been spicier in the life of a whiskey drinker than it is right now. Today I review a bottle that was suggested by a member and also found for me. Kentucky Ace Kentucky Straight Bourbon that is a barrel pick of the famous Bardstown liquor store Toddy’s. Let’s get to it.

Make sure you put in the comments any bottles that you would like me to review.

NAME – Kentucky Ace Kentucky Straight Bourbon (Selected by World Famous Toddy’s Liquors)

PROOF – 125.79

AGE – 6 years

COLOR – new copper penny (1.5 auburn, polished mahogany on the Whiskey Magazine Color Chart)

NOSE – Amber honey, honeysuckle, orange creamsicle, newly tanned leather. When I set it down and came back and nosed it all of sudden got chocolate covered cherries. Definite ethanol burn on the nose also.

TASTE – Very creamy mouthfeel is noticed right away. Very rich caramel, vanilla cream, dark chocolate that transitions into sweeter mild chocolate as it journeys down the palate, toasted pecan, sweet oak, tobacco and leather.

FINISH – I would call this finish long. The pecan, tobacco, leather and barrel spice linger until the end.

REVIEW – This is a very good pour and has a great creaminess that really heightens the experience. The only draw back is the ethanol burn on the nose but the rest of the experience is really top notch. Pay a little with the ethanol on the nose to get all the flavor and finish you want is worth the price.

FINAL COMMENTS – I haven’t run into many bottles that give you so much information, but all the information is a riddle. Kentucky Ace is owned by Wish Key Whiskey Company which I could find nothing on it online. Says it is bottled by Hartfield & Co DSP KY -20019 Paris, Kentucky. Hartfield is a distillery since 2014 but is says specifically bottled and not distilled so my guess is that they rolled the barrels in and they put it in the glass. Then it says Distilled, Aged and Bottled In Kentucky which opens it up to be a combination of anything in Kentucky. If anyone knows anything about it, would love to know.

On the back of the bottle it says:

One hundred years ago, Kentucky was acclaimed as a winning brand of bourbon. We came across its distinctive label in our research into the history of distilling in the Commonwealth in the ears before prohibition decimated a thriving industry. Now the Wish Key Whiskey Company has decided to bring back this classic label by putting it in front of some of our finest reserve stocks of Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. We think restoring a piece of history in time for these new Roaring Twenties tastes pretty sweet and we hope you will too.

Here’s to the tide of history, may she ever roll on and come round full circle.