While we understand how integral horse racing is to the Kentucky area, and that by extension it’s not insane how many bourbons associate with that heritage. (Lord knows KY has some other stuff not to latch onto). Between other industries, Nascar, bluegrass, and more – you’d just sort of wish to get a bourbon that doesn’t have a stupid 4 legged creature.
(Still dodging hate from the comments while shouting back that horses suck)
Anyway, it’s time once again to open our wallets to a whiskey that we’ve never heard of and is usually unlikely that anyone else has unless they like to peruse a very small section of what’s often a unique spirits shop. As is customary however this whiskey fails because it lacks a selling point, and sells for far too high.
What they Say: “Bottle: From its humble beginnings in 1924 to its years in the limelight in the mid-20th Century, the name Calumet has resonated through the world of horse racing. This Bourbon lives up to the same standards. Enjoy.
Booklet: Bottled from hand-selected barrels, Calumet has a customary mash bill of corn, rye and malted barley that offers a sweet, flawless finish. Glowing with butterscotch and soft oak, Calumet’s harmonious perfection of wood and caramel is admirably balanced with complex flavors of light brown sugar and soft white pepper.
From its humble beginnings in 1924 to its years in the limelight in the mid-20th Century, the name Calumet has resonated through the world of horse racing. Now the greatest name in horse racing continues its winning legacy with Calumet Farm Bourbon Whiskey. A Winning Spirit!”
Taste: 5.0 – That’s a spicy tamale! Sorry but that overwhelms with power and pepper. You get a bit of wood smoke, but overall this is more a spiced bourbon. While unique and fine in it’s own right – it’s not exactly nice.
Aftertaste: 6.0 – That keeps going with the pepper and heat. It turns a bit softer and there’s a twang of sweetness, but mostly it just keeps hitting you like the initial taste.
Burn/Smooth: 4.0 – This is not a smooth experience. It’s not puckering of the mouth, or cringing of the face – but anything that makes your go hooooooogh isn’t ‘smooth’ As well that power and spice may linger but the heat doesn’t stay around as long.
Aroma: 6.0 – It’s a nice mix of sweetness and power, but there’s not enough wood to justify the above. A bit peppery and a bit sugary – sure, but where’s my harmonious blend of caramel and wood eh? It’s not a bad bourbon smell though, so there’s at least that.
Honesty: 5.0 – Ahh our old pals flawless and harmonious – the kings of bullshit. Add that to the phrase “Glowing with butterscotch and soft oak” and it’s well enough to just chuck this into a sperm bank for the amount of wankery. That is, however, a potentially optional booklet, and the design overall is actually quite solid so at best this just middles out.
Mixability: 6.33
W/ Rocks: 6.5 – Oh yes, that takes away juuuust enough of the power to make this enjoyable to sip. You don’t lose anything, and it doesn’t dramatically alter the whiskey. It does, however, make this a fine bourbon on the rocks.
Whiskey and Coke: 6.5 – You get some of the power with the coke, and it’s actually quite fine. Though this almost feels wrong to pour with soda given the price, and you’d likely be better off with other options.
Old Fashioned: 6.0 – Given the heat on this it felt right (and almost rye-like) that we were hoping an Old Fashioned could set this right. While nice it’s better on its own with just some ice as the other aspects of the fashioned take away from the whiskey proper.
Editor’s Note: We don’t typically do Mint Julep’s here, but for the record, it’s a nice clash because the power + spice is semi kept with the mint, but overall it wouldn’t drastically alter the scores.
Value: 2.0 – We paid slightly less, but only just. In short if this was half the price it is now, we’d still not be singing it’s praises. (Oh it’d be a good deal for a unique bourbon, but still). As such by being this expensive, by being in that high-end bourbon and scotch single malt territory – it fails to provide the value.
Google Shop Average: $48
Website: https://www.calumetbourbon.com/
Reviewer Scores:
BuffaloJern: 4.5
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Metric Score: 34.33/70 |+| Metric Average: 4.90 |+| Reviewer Average: 4.5
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Final Thoughts: Part of me feels a bit cruel to personally score this below average, especially when it’s easy to enjoy the power and spice (on rocks though). In the end, it’s really that price point. We’re not saying that your whiskey shouldn’t charge that much, but it should at least have a characteristic that makes it worth that much. Throwing some heat and pepper doesn’t do that, it needs to have something that makes you go ‘THIS”, and Calumet doesn’t have that.
