Always a good sign when the cost of the bourbon is under $10 and the website doesn’t actually exist on it’s own. (I’m only kidding Ezra Brooks you’re not that bad come back). For those of you gamers out there we release this ‘Ten High” bourbon at Noon (we always have) so this a perfect whiskey for Overwatch. Provided you give it to the other team to make them lose and so you don’t hear the coughing.
Editor’s Note: If you’ve been following and you’re wondering where our special Oban tasting is, our reviewers starting having babies and other events so we’ve postponed it for now.
This whiskey speaks to us in the way only a site devoted to honesty can appreciate. In that no one who has this or buys this thinks it’s for anything else then getting fucken drunk. Just pouring it into substandard coke or pepsi and making an evening where ‘Brad downed half a bottle and fought a lamppost – and won’. This has none of the pretense about, and while it’s overall still not good – we respect that.
What they Say: “Kentucky, USA – A quality sour mash whiskey that maintains a wealth of tradition and craftsmanship. Ten High is carefully distilled, and matured in white oak barrels, to create a smooth, distinctive bourbon.”
Taste: 5.0 – This doesn’t go taste nearly as bad as you’d expect, but sadly for the name it’s not earning a 10 in any category. It’s mostly lighter with a tiny bit of that overproof heat you’d expect. (This is not overproof)
Aftertaste: 3.5 – The twinge of awfulness here isn’t a punch to the face or gut, but it’s not good.
Burn/Smooth: 3.0 – We are a humble website, not professionals. Therefore in our amateur, but well-versed opinion: This is not smooth.
Aroma: 2.0 – That gives you a headache. It has all of the hallmarks of warm off-brand Jack Daniels brought to a party that you ultimately regretted going to. There’s no heat or overall smoke to make this pleasant, it’s just bad whiskey.
Honesty: 8.5 – The above text is for lack of a better word: Basic, and claims of being smooth have (as aforementioned) been proven false. That said we have to judge this as something McCree would down before shooting a bunch of folks. We also have to admire a whiskey that isn’t terrible outright but has a smell to ward off lesser beings.
Mixability: 5.0
W/ Rocks: 5.5 – It sweetens the whiskey, and makes it overall actually quite palpable. It’s not a ‘whiskey on the rocks’ kinda deal but if this is what you got at least throw some ice and wait so you can live.
Whiskey and Coke: 5.0 – That is so standard whiskey and coke it causes meta-physical pain.
Whiskey Sour: 4.5 – That’s not the worst Whiskey Sour, but it is subpar.
Value: 6.0 – If you are looking for average fucken cocktails at a price lower than the god damn number in the name – well that makes this a halfway decent value then.
Google Shop Average: $9
Website: http://www.sazerac.com
Reviewer Scores:
BuffaloJern: 4.5
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Metric Score: 33/70 |+| Metric Average: 4.71 |+| Reviewer Average: 4.5
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Final Thoughts: This actually wavered between a 4.5 and 5.0 reviewer score and in truth is closer to a 4.75 (we don’t break down that way though). All being said though this is a dirt-cheap but subpar for it bourbon. However there’s so many faults with it that giving it a 5 average pass would feel dishonest coming from us.
Ten High is my go to bourbon. I like the flavor either with water and ice or coke and Ice. You guys come down on it pretty hard. I drink Jack Daniels on occasion and Makers Mark at my brother in laws. I can honestly say i don’t enjoy them more than Ten High and they cost way more.
There is bad booze and I have tasted it. My rule is if you like it drink it. Don’t worry what your friends think. If they don’t like what you drink then they don’t have to drink it.
I’m with you. It’s not as hot as Jack Daniels, not as flavorful as Makers mark, but for the cost, it’s a great likker.
Bob it’s good to see people not rolling over on this snob evaluation of ten high. I’m drinking a pepsi and ten high now. Smooth great finish. Great high. There are those who are not trying to impress their friends and just like to relax with a nice whiskey that doesn’t break the bank. Ten high fits the bill.
Taste is a such personal matter. I am just back from a sit down with a pretentious friend who rambled for a good 40 minutes on why operatic music implies good taste and 1960’s country music stands for bad taste. I theorize that tastes in liquor are similar to those in music – personal. Ten High is my go to whiskey. I drink it with the juice of one ice cube and sometimes straight up. Nothing tastes better, to me. Extending this thing further, I have done blind side by sides with others and an amazing number of my guests have actually said they liked Ten High better than Beam, Jack Daniels and other popular brands. A couple even called me from the liquor store asking what brand it was later… Only to be severely discouraged by the price and comments from the clerk at the store.
To each his/her own. Remember, you can always pay more, but what are you buying…?
I haven’t tasted this in nearly thirty years. But I remember it being far better than expected, and just fine for a quotidian tipple. But, then, time and place defined my experience with this whiskey.
Ten High was the rail bourbon at the first bar I worked at; I drank it every night after closing that summer because I felt guilty about getting myself half in the bag using the establishment’s call liquor. Ten High and a decent beer, a hit or two of Jamaican, and Veedon Fleece on the stereo. Maybe a girl I met earlier than night knocking on the locked door, waving through the glass pane and asking to be let in.
I don’t remember having a single significant problem with Ten High…or anything else, really, for that matter.
Ha ha I also felt bad and never drank top brands even though been chummy with boss. Im glad to see a fellow honorable connoisseur. Brought back memories, Best!
I get it. It’s cheap and has a plastic screw off cap. It doesn’t pack alot of flavor but the flavor it does have is completely agreeable. It does pack some tasty heat after the fact but it never burns. I find absolutely nothing harsh in it what so ever. Is it the best? No. Is it completely decent whiskey costing a fraction of the price for other stuff? Yep. Not a damn thing wrong with this whiskey and not a damn thing not to like about it. Throw in a $10.00 price point and it’s exceptional.
Well we just finished off a bottle that has been open 20 years and it was awesome! Smooth as silk and warms our old bones
There are two versions of Ten High available – Ten High Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey with natural flavors and Ten High a blend. Apparently one is straight bourbon and the other is 51% bourbon, 49% neutral brain spirits. Not sure why but availability depends state by state.
ten high is one of the best bourbons on the market today if you have not tried it it is a must…
How can I order Ten High bourbon on line
Whisky auctioneer has a bottle in this months auction. Came onto this website to find out something about a bourbon I’d never heard of
I have been drinking 10 high for years. On the rocks, with ice and coke and ice with water and with egg nog. Also tried Jim Beam, Jack Daniels, Old Crow and a few Rums. I like the taste and 10 High is the only one that doesn’t give me a problem the next morning. In my opinion it is the only whisky I like. Wish I could find the formula.
The old man got this every Christmas from his cheapass boss. Wound up spiking the egg nog for decades
When they sold the house and moved, there were six untouched bottles in the back of the likker cabinet. That said, Pops was a beer man, not into spirits.
Bottom line: a red cup special. No tumbler need apply.
Grandpa drank Ten High by the gallon. I grew up on it. Sadly, grandpa smoked cigarettes, drank whiskey, and ate bacon and eggs every day, so he died when he was only 96. I can only imagine how long he would have lived had he not had such bad habits. I guess he would still be alive (121).
But all kidding aside, I don’t enjoy ten high. I wish I did. But I have the most wonderful memories of sipping it with him!
Just saw it for the first time the other day and thought I’d give it a try. Bourbon has been my drink for 46 years and I’ve tried just about everything. I’m not a snob, and while there’s some awful stuff out there, I don’t find the high priced ‘craft’ stuff that’s now flooding the market to be worth it. I really like 10 High, I’ll be buying it again. It’s one of the best for the price.
I picked up a handle for $14 today. You’d be hard pressed to beat that value for anything remotely palatable. 😂
My dad was a bourbon drinker and introduced me to it. I went to a website that listed the “Top Ten Bourbons You Must Taste Before You Die” Over the course of a couple of years, I bought every brand that was on the list. My dad’s favorite turned out to be Maker’s Mark, which obviously was not the most expensive on the list. One of the more expensive one’s that my dad tried and did not care for was Hudson Baby Bourbon Whiskey.
I had an idea, why not buy the least expensive bourbon I could find and see what happens? Enter Ten High. To my amazement, I was extremely pleased and have been drinking it ever since. In fact, when the Hudson Baby Bourbon bottle was empty I poured the Ten High into it and offered the fake Hudson Baby Bourbon to mix a drink for my best friend who normally mixes only Canadian Club Small Batch Whiskey with ginger ale. One sip of the concoction, and he was sold. “How can you beat this for the money?.” He has been drinking it ever since.
I’d never brag about drinking this, but its a far sight more palatable than some of the stuff some craft distilleries are putting out. I’m a little alarmed by the “whiskey with other natural flavors” because whiskey shouldn’t need flavors…that’s like putting a wedge of fruit in your beer. But in that same way you can drink a bucket of Crown Royal in a sitting this is quite drinkable. Sure it’s schwag but at $13 a handle I had my standards appropriately lowered. I’ll still default to Evan Williams as my go-to whiskey…however I won’t be burying this on the back of my bar either.
Interesting review and interesting comments.
I had my first Ten High maybe 40 years ago. Yeah, I’m that old and more. I wasn’t too fussy then. It seemed okay.
I’ve seldom tasted it since. Many of the low end bourbons from back than are either no longer called bourbon or have been greatly…let’s say…adjusted.
Ten High falls into the latter category. I bought a bottle a few days ago just for the hell of it. It’s definitely weird but not awful. The label says “with natural flavors.” The most prominent is vanilla. If a vanilla “note” in your bourbon…okay a vanilla sonata, is a yucky concept, keep away from Ten High.
I took a neat taste. Had a couple of rocks drinks. Could be worse. I think it might do a good Manhattan or good sour. I know that it would work really well in a Flywheel cocktail. That’s my own invention and involves Licor 43 which already has some vanilla among its 43. I won’t buy more just for that, though.
Found a couple of bottles up here in NY. Bought one, Drank it. Liked it. Bought some more. Drank some more, etc. The only negative I see is the price. When I go to check out, I feel like the cheapest, most unsophisticated, guy in the store. They should charge more. And, yes, I serve it straight-up to guests. No complaints yet. If I get any, I’ll try a taste test to see if I’m harboring any whiskey snobs or, worse, reviewers. Screw ’em.
I’ll be upfront: I like Ten High. That said, it’s a spirit that reminds me that I’m doing harm to my body when I drink it. That said, I’m also a man who likes being choked and punished. For any man or woman who enjoys punishment, this is a solid choice.