Tastings #11 and #12: Bourbon Blind Date

​I got asked today if I was on a Tinder date with my whiskey. I probably was staring with desire at my bourbon on the bar, so the question is understandable. Best Tinder date ever, I would say. Swipe right.
 
I was with a couple of bourbons I hadn’t met before – Henry Du Yore’s out of Oregon (I can’t help it being drawn to Oregon!) and Bib and Tucker, which is suspiciously “bottled by” 35 Maple Street in Bardstown, Kentucky, and doesn’t specify where it is distilled. Wonder where it really came from. But if I was on a Tinder date with my whiskey, how much would I care? I might think I have more in common with the one from Oregon, but if it’s just to spend an hour together, does it matter where my Bardstown whiskey is really from if I’m having fun?
 
I digress. 

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​Henry Du Yore’s
What I knew: 91.3 proof, older than 4 years, but no age statement, out of Sheridan, Oregon
What I discovered: Notes of cherries, real ones—not the maraschino kind, the kind you would actually find in Oregon. And oranges, which you would not find in Oregon. This was spicy with a sweet smell and well rounded flavor. Then I had the third sip and it gave me a shot of that wood taste. Which made me think of woods and my grandparents’ backyard in Portland. So I would say this whiskey goes with Pendleton wool flannel shirts and whittling in a beer garden.
 
As compared to:
 
Bib and Tucker
What I knew: 6 years old, 92 proof
What I discovered: This one had more of a charred, meaty taste, like a perfect BBQ whiskey – BBQ in a barn to be more specific. It was well balanced for a bourbon – my tongue kind of hovered somewhere between sweet and spicy and wood and is just left with the general impression of “ahhh” (sigh). After a while this one went a little nutty (I wrote down chestnuts) but don’t we all.
 
So would I take either one on a second date? Sure.

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