Bourbon Taste Test
Date Tested: May 28th, 2023
Competitors: Heaven’s Door, Angels’ Envy, Woodford Reserve, Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, Legent, Michter’s, Bulleit, Widow Jane, Willet, Old Forester, Wild Turkey 101 (For exact bourbon’s, please reference the picture)
Test Description: Blind test, set up by third party – Unmarked containers each pre-filled. We did do one bourbon at a time, returning to one if desired at the end.
| Rating | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Legent | Good flavor, no alcohol burn |
| 3 | Michter's | Burns - very big alcohol taste, hard to taste any flavor beyond that |
| 5 | Widow Jane | Good flavor, strong alcohol but not overpowering |
| 3.5 | Heaven's Door | Smells like rubbing alcohol, tastes better than previous (Widow Jane) but too much alcohol taste, might be better watered down |
| 4.5 | Bulleit | Strong alcohol again, cinnamon taste, overall very drinkable. Kinda "spicy" due to cinnamon probably |
| 4 | Angel's Envy | Strong char flavor, not the best bourbon flavor - kinda fruity |
| 5 | Wild Turkey 101 | Sweet, smooth, pretty "noprmal". Good bourbon flavor and not too much alcohol taste |
| 4 | Jim Beam | Strong alcohol taste, tastes perfume-y. Fine |
| 5 | Maker's Mark | Tastes like dirt but in a good way. Very good char flavor. Smooth |
| 6 | Old Forester | Tastes like a barrel. Like wood - not char - wood. Smooth |
| 5 | Woodford Reserve | Not as smooth as above (Old Forester), but good flavor and easy sip |
| 3 | Willet Pot Still | Very strong, not a good taste or flavor at all, tastes very cheap |
My rating system is a bit odd (1-7), please forgive that. Also, I hope my ratings don’t offend any sensibilities. I am a novice in the world of bourbon and wanted to be honest with myself. The test was completely blind, so the ratings are as truthful as I could make them. Water and a little break between each tasting. Attached are my ratings, but others participated as well.
As an Ohio River Valley denizen and grandson of my late grandmother, Bourbon runs in my veins. It’s simply what people drink around here if they want a straight liquor. I’ve been around it my entire life, and I was shocked to learn it wasn’t a staple the world over. However, it is an acquired taste. It can be “harsh” or “too strong.” And all bourbons are not made equal. So, as many of these tests start, I wanted to find one I could be happy keeping around knowing it is the best I could find.
The results really speak for themselves, but this is my first “alcoholic” test and I learned a lot and received some harsh but fair criticism that I will discuss at the end.
Also, the rating scale on this is not my normal 1-10. It’s my proprietary scale that I have adopted, as I believe it is a more natural and humanistic scale. It is as follows:
| 1 | Undrinkable |
| 2 | Bad and needs to be heavily mixed |
| 3 | Not That Good |
| 4 | Fine, wouldn't buy again |
| 5 | Good, would buy if decent price |
| 6 | Pretty good, would keep in stock |
| 7 | Amazing, Delicious |
Some test takeaways: The Willet Pot Still was unanimously voted the worst and Woodford Reserve voted the best on average. The Willet surprised me as they brand themselves as a premium product (as is evident in their loooooong necked bottle), and I suppose I fell for that. The most controversial was Legent, which I rated as my highest, but others rated as their lowest. It’s also controversial online, where the fusion of Kentucky Bourbon and Japanese whiskey really rubs many as unnecessary. Maker’s also scored very well, making my grandmother proud, and Heaven’s Door scored poorly despite being one of the most expensive. Speaking of, the prices on display on the table range from $80 (Widow Jane) to $20 (Jim Beam) for a handle. And honestly, those prices did not correlate nearly at all with scores. However, maybe that speaks to the reviewer’s novice palette.
While not the highest scoring, I believe Wild Turkey 101, Woodford Reserve, and Maker’s Mark will be the three mid-teir bourbon bottles I keep at a home bar. They have the best combination of group score, price, availability, and quite honestly, nostalgia.
Some things that could have been done better: They were all drank straight up from glasses. But the alcohol content varies pretty heavily among the lineup, so I’m afraid that might have skewed some results due to high proof competitors suffering from an “alcohol-y” taste that may have done much better with some added water. Also, “proper” glasses were not used. Mine were all drank from pint glasses. Does this make a big difference? I doubt it, but I think it’s worth pointing out.
A response to criticism: I posted this on a bourbon forum and got a lot of pushback, some helpful, some not so much. The not so-much: “I can’t believe you didn’t like X!” “How could you rate X higher than Y?!” I don’t think this criticism needs to be dissected. The helpful: some pointed out the very first grade nature of my notes. “Good,” “Bad, “Strong,” “Good Taste.” In the words of one critic, these do not inspire anyone to purchase these products. Nor do they add any real value beyond the surface level. Tasting notes, and multi syllabic adjectives would go a long way to elevating my tests to a much higher level. Moving forward, I will try to work on that.
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