We really have to ask the makers of this – where do you get off? Sorry but time and time again we get a unique bourbon, one that isn’t awful, but is still littered with faults – and yet they charge WAY too much. We’re sympathetic (a little) to smaller distilleries, or small batches, hell even single malts – but this just a blended bourbon charging way above its paygrade.
It’s not a stellar mixer, and hell it burns like any other old 90 proof whiskey – so what gives? It’s not aged some crazy amount, and the only special thing they say is it uses a fuckton of barley. Really it’s best parts are just the mingling of sweet and rye, but by no means is it worthy of pretending to be like other more lucrative whiskies.
What they Say: “ At Old Elk Distillery, we craft a remarkably smooth and innovative spirit that transcends tradition. With four decades of experience, few have influenced American Bourbon more than Old Elk’s master distiller, Greg Matze. Guided by this skill, Old Elk’s bourbon uses four times more malted barley than conventional recipes, creating a rich, smooth flavor, in harmony with caramel cues evoked by charred barrels, and spicy notes of rye. Old Elk blended straight bourbon whiskey is aged a minimum of four years.”
Taste: 6.5 – You get a nice bourbon mash flavor with that aforementioned caramel. and it’s great.
Aftertaste: 5.0 – However you fail to get something smokey, or woody, etc and instead get a minor continuation with some ruined flavor via burn. It really is just the taste with more fire and sugar.
Burn/Smooth: 3.5 – Given the look and price you’d expect this to at least be smooth – it’s not. It does not for a second let you forget it’s a nearly 90 proof whiskey.
Aroma: 7.0 – That certainly smells more like a regular rye compared to a bourbon. It is nice though.
Honesty: 3.0 – That’s some primo 100% wank. ‘Cues evoked’ is of particular ire to us. The look is nice, but even the faux log style cap draws blood in dislike for what this should be.
Mixability: 5.0
W/ Rocks: 4.0 – It certainly changes the whiskey, but it becomes an onslaught of power and burn. It really isn’t improved here, just condensed.
Whiskey and Coke: 6.0 – You still get that spicy rye, but the coke does little to overwhelm this whiskey in the way you wish it would. It still carries that same rye power and burn that it has neat.
Value: 2.0 – No way. Sorry but while this isn’t bad, it’s nowhere near fifty dollars good. This is yet again another smaller batch whiskey charging a premium price in error.
Google Shop Average: $49
Website: https://www.oldelk.com/
Reviewer Scores:
BuffaloJern: 4.0
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Metric Score: 32/70 |+| Metric Average: 4.57 |+| Reviewer Average: 4.0
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Final Thoughts: Even the name Old Elk w/o any context behind it sounds like some dumb jackass marketing thing because it knows other ‘high-brow’ whiskies and shit would have a name and look like this. We buy at random – but for all of you we urge you – don’t get this.
