Greetings folks, it looks like someone actually had the gall to send us something to review even after we laid out our terms. On the one hand it’s highly unlikely they were expecting or wanting a 6.5 level score as that’d be the death knell on most sites. As hopefully faithful readers of this site know though – that extra 1.5 from average was well fought and won.
It has been a lot longer than we thought since we reviewed a Bison Grass vodka. Bak’s was way so long ago back in 2011, a time before so many things went wrong. While that was creamy and mixed rather well, here we get less bison grass, and more – grass? Okay it’s not a perfect metaphor, but in short this has some earthy ‘ness’ to it, but that’s not really a good thing.
Here at the Lounge we always have a certain kind of sadness when we decide to buy something that’s a little more ‘top-shelf-y’ than our usual quest to find those spirits great for value. We know spending $50 or so might work out one way, but even then – at what cost. This is what makes seeing spirits like the below for under $30 seem so intriguing, and while overall it falters – there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Back in my day you only called yourself a bourbon if you came from the right county in Kentucky. It was like our own American champagne or cognac, and while biased – better than the both of those. In fairness there isn’t anything in Vermont aside from trees, and while their hicks might be different than southern hicks – they’re hicks all the same.
If you’ve ever been curious about ‘what if Jim Bean made a 50 dollar whiskey’? Look no further. Then turn back, and run. Run far away. This whiskey is meant for a whiskey sour as it’s got some teeth, but if you are looking for a sipping whiskey, something higher-tier maybe you add a bit of ice? NOPE.
With the recent success of Hanger 1 we figured it was time to try another under-used region of the world and see if their offering was up-to-snuff. What we found was good, but just not in the same batting range. Ravo has a lot about that’s good, but there’s no single element that makes it pop like Hanger 1’s mixability.
If we had a bank of mottos here at HBR one of them would be ‘what goes in the bottle is the most important part.’ This is because we were raised on the values of ‘it’s what’s inside that counts’. However it’s hard to knock a gin when the Gentlemanly look is taken to the extreme of giving a bottle a hat.
Milagro has long been a darling of the lounge as something never bought for the lounge. (We fill our decanter’s with 1800). However when that summer party happens, we get a bottle of Milagro because we want something better, and unlike many folks we know the truth regarding Patron. That being said we’ve still never formally reviewed the Reposado, so here we are many years later – finally rectifying that situation.
We bought this because Boston (among others like London, Glasgow, etc) is one of our favorite cities. It’s not a Los Angeles or an NYC, it’s a city with real people instead of those pretending to be. We were apprehensive though. Because there is this part of Boston that hinges too far upon Ireland – not that we shouldn’t celebrate it as we celebrate all history. We were worried this be subpar and try to feed upon that feeling to sell it to us. Sadly we report that we were right.
Because of this spirit we had to read the words ‘spanked’ sage leaves in a cocktail recipe – and by extension so have you now. That being done this vodka is a bit of an oddball. There’s an almost botanical smell, but a sweet sugar like aftertaste. However that combo of uniqueness does have a very nice side effect. Which is how this mixes – always bringing some A-Game to cocktails. Although not ones with ‘spanked’ sage as we’d never do that.
