Tastings

Welcome to the American Whiskey Magazine tasting pages. We guide you through a plethora of whiskeys so you are equipped to make your next purchase, whether something new or an old favorite. Whiskeys are tasted blind, with only proof and style information given to the experts. In this edition, Peggy Noe Stevens and Susan Reigler give their palates a workout.

Peggy Noe Stevens

Peggy Noe Stevens became the world's first female master Bourbon taster and can trace her lineage back to some of the great Bourbon making families in Kentucky. In 2011, she created the Bourbon Women Association.

Susan Reigler

Susan Reigler is the author of several Bourbon books, including Kentucky Bourbon Country: The Essential Travel Guide, and is a former restaurant critic and beverage columnist for the Louisville Courier-Journal. She is the immediate past president of the Bourbon Women Association.

291 American Whiskey

COLORADO 291

Peggy

Nose: Granola rolled in honey. Grits and oatmeal with a sweet twist of candied dates and corn pudding. Some hay aromas and oak.

Palate: Almost buttery and sweetness of cane sugar. Yeasty with sliced almonds and herbaceous with basil and fennel.

Finish: Easy going and playful with the herbs and sweet gestures of flavors appearing.

Comment: Would welcome this with a ginger ale to make a delicious highball.

7.3

Proof: 90

ABV: 45%

Style: American Whiskey

State: CO

Price: $$$

Susan

Nose: Corn husk, oak, and cellulose. The herbal notes soften, and a little apple peel and red currant appear.

Palate: Grain headlines at the beginning, but more ripened with the oak and some light spice.

Finish: Oak, oak, oak. The wood dominates and barely misses being bitter at the end, veering into pepper instead.

Comment: A couple of drops of water sweetens this considerably, so apply, since the whiskey instantly becomes more interesting with more fruit and less oak.

6.8

Boone's Homegrown Bourbon

BOONE COUNTY DISTILLING CO.

Peggy

Nose: Simple syrup and honeycomb. Faint pear and golden raisin. Young wood and some grassy notes.

Palate: Honey heats up with some white pepper and hot cayenne. Soft vanilla. A bit yeasty with alcohol prevailing.

Finish: A bit astringent and rather light in the depth of character.

Comment: For those who enjoy light honey and some vanilla.

6.9

Proof: 117

ABV: 58.5%

Style: Bourbon

State: SC

Price: $$

Susan

Nose: Very gentle considering the proof. Sweet with light brown sugar, Bing cherries, and a