Welcome to the AmericanWhiskey Magazine tasting pages. We guide you through a plethora of whiskeys so you are equipped to make your next purchase, whether something new or an old favorite. Whiskeys are tasted blind, with only proof and style information given to the experts. In this edition, Peggy Noe Stevens and Susan Reigler give their palates a workout.
Peggy Noe Stevens
Peggy Noe Stevens became the world's first female master Bourbon taster and can trace her lineage back to some of the great Bourbon making families in Kentucky. In 2011, she created the Bourbon Women Association.
Susan Reigler
Susan Reigler is the author of several Bourbon books, including Kentucky Bourbon Country: The Essential Travel Guide, and is a former restaurant critic and beverage columnist for the Louisville Courier-Journal. She is the immediate past president of the Bourbon Women Association.
THE PROCESS
• All samples are blind tasted, with proof and style the only information disclosed.
• Samples are tasted individually over a two week period.
• Tasters are provided tasting and scoring guidelines for consistency.
• The top scorer is awarded Editor’s Choice.
• Scores of 17+ qualify for the recommended whiskey award.
Bespoken Spirits Rye
BESPOKEN SPIRITS
Peggy
Nose: Deep brown sugar and Bing cherries. A bready cereal tone and granola mix. Some cassis layers of raisin. Touches of licorice and rich maple.
Palate: Oak rises on the first sip and butter pecan accompanies. The anise flavors continue but are captured once again by the sugary flavors.
Finish: A clever sweetness for the age, yet the finish is a bit cloying and needs to relax.
Comments: This youngster would be quite stealthy in a Sazerac.
7.1
Proof: 100
ABV: 50%
Style: Rye
State: Indiana
Price: $$$
Susan
Nose: Very grassy, like freshly cut rye. Spices tantalize. A little fruit – ripe apple, perhaps – but the herbal notes rule.
Palate: Bitter, almost sour. Lots of grass and a lot of wood. Tastes very, very young, though the color is a deep copper, almost red.
Finish: Warm, with oak and some spice staying at the back of the throat, with a little fruit, too.
Comments: Certainly displays a good deal of rye character, but it drinks very, very young. What would it be after some more time aging?
6.8
Breckenridge Buddy Pass Imperial Stout Cask
BRECKENRIDGE DISTILLERY
Peggy
Nose: Candy corn and peanut brittle, honeysuckle and vanilla bean. Oak with white pepper and apricot.
Palate: Herbal sage and caramel with
