We’re type of doing issues backwards right here, as in 2022 we reviewed San Antonio-based Samuel Maverick’s Barrel Proof Bourbon — and solely now are we stepping again to the tamer launch, Samuel Maverick Personal Reserve. At a mere 90 proof, the whiskey is a giant step down from the 114 proof of the Barrel Proof — although solely seven barrels of this 4 12 months outdated whiskey (pot-distilled from a mash of 72% Texas-grown corn, 18% rye, and 10% malted barley) had been produced.
And away we go…
It might be a quieter launch, however there’s no mistaking this can be a Texas bourbon from the get-go, to the purpose the place I simply realized I made the very same remark final time round. Large notes of fresh-cut wooden, drying tobacco, cracked leather-based, and mesquite all fill the nostrils just about instantly upon cracking the bottle. One takes a whiff and makes fast plans to go fetch the saddle from the barn and rally the posse to search out some horse thieves.
However I digress.
The frontier character — which is totally on show within the Barrel Proof expression — retains a tumblin’ on like a tumblin’ tumbleweed right here, beginning with the lumberyard however tempering it with daring notes of butterscotch, then vanilla. That overblown wooden character turns into extra dominant because the end builds, because the whiskey simply can’t stand as much as what the barrel has finished right here. Some stone fruit notes very late within the recreation do what they will to maintain the wooden in test, however that’s a Quixotic endeavor. The mild dusting of char coating the again of the throat is unmistakable and unavoidable, and 100% Texas.
I’m simply glad it’s solely 45% abv as an alternative of 57%…
90 proof. Reviewed: Batch #19-37.
B / $75 / maverickwhiskey.com
Samuel Maverick Personal Reserve Bourbon
$75
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