Day 18 of DB's Bourbon Trail 2023 Advent Calendar - Smoke Wagon Small Batch

Cheers and welcome to our 4th Annual Advent Calendar! Throughout the next month, we will be going on a high-end bourbon journey together and reviewing 25 bourbons from award winning distilleries across America. Starting on December 1st and ending on December 25th - we will get to experience everything from small batches to single barrels that are jam packed with flavor. Please join us in toasting to another incredible year and getting to virtually share some of our favorite bottles from this past year with you!

**This review has been completed by using a Glencairn glass and neat if you want to compare the same tasting notes as DB’s Bourbon Trail. BUT - the best thing about it being YOUR bourbon is that you get to enjoy it that way YOU want to and prefer! As long as it brings us together and you are enjoying it - pour it over ice, add water, or add it to a cocktail! It’s all about what makes you happy and what you enjoy - don’t let others influence you differently!**

Enough of me rambling, let’s dive into what brought us here!

Day 18 of DB’s Bourbon Trail 2023 Advent Calendar

Smoke Wagon Small Batch Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Proof:

• 100 Proof (50%)

Distillery:

• Nevada H&C Distillery Co. (Las Vegas, NV)

• Distilled in Indiana

Message on the bottle:

"Our high rye content bourbon is aged in the heart of a century old brick warehouse. Barrels are hand selected to create a perfect blend that is smooth, delicate, and at the same time bold and intense. This unique complexity is achieved by combining multiple vintages of the same mashbill."

Price Point:

**At DB’s Bourbon Trail we utilize an app called BoozApp (not sponsored - we wish!) to ensure we are getting at least a fair price on our bourbon before purchasing. Nothing is worse than getting taken advantage of by a flipper playing the supply/demand game**

• Average MSRP:

  • $45.99

• Fair Price:

  • $69.65

• Shelf Price:

  • $65.98

• DB’s Bourbon Trail Instant Buy Price:

  • <$55.00

Review:

This small batch has only been around since 2016 and has already, won 4 gold medals at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

To dive into the label a little more - I went to their website.

Released in 2016, our goal was to create a unique great tasting high rye content bourbon. The problem is that rye ages much faster than corn. So while our younger vintages had a big rye spice flavor (which we love) the mouth feel was too thin and it lacked the sweet, delicate complexity of a well aged spirit.  Our older vintages had the  smoothness and sweet notes that can only be achieved  by moving in and out of #4 char and caramelized oak for many, many years, but the nice rye spice had been aged out! 

So what to do?

Find the perfect blend.

We combined the two. The younger vintages maintain the bold spiciness of the rye, cut down on the tannins and keep it fruit forward.  The older vintage brings in a creamy mouth feel with sweet aromas and taste notes that only appear over time from aging in a barrel. We hope you enjoy drinking it as much as we enjoy making it.

Masterly crafted for one of the best bourbons that you can find on the market for roughly $50 or so. Let's dive into the tasting notes!

Nose:

• A bold aroma of Dried Fruit, Caramel, and Oak

Palate:

• Caramel, Vanilla, Oak, Baking Spice

Finish:

• The perfect amount of sweetness paired with a warm spice that lingers and invites you back in for more! It has a perfect vanilla cream and caramel sweetness that is battling with cinnamon for this perfect finish.

Final Thoughts:

Smoke Wagon Small Batch is always in a constant battle with Buffalo Trace and Eagle Rare for my daily drinker. This bottle is proofed perfectly at 100 proof and gives a robust flavor of caramel, dried fruit, vanilla, oak and the perfect amount of baking spice. The sweetness is matched with an incredible spice that is so welcoming and keeps begging the drinker (me) to come back for more. Smoke Wagon continues to be one my favorites for multiple years running.

Cheers y’all!

Interesting in what else we might have cooking? Learn more here!

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