Over the past few months, our friend, Tom Reinert, has given us a couple of bottles of Bourbon from the St. Augustine Distillery. He frequently travels to Florida and loves to stop at the distillery. The first bottle is a bottle he bottled himself at the distillery and the second bottle is a distillery exclusive bottling. Both are very good Bourbons. I am confused about the first bottle’s age. It states on the bottle that the whiskey is 16 months old, but it is also labeled as a straight Bourbon – it can’t be both, so I am going to assume that it is old glass that was used for Tom to bottle the whiskey and it is at least two years old. Tom wanted us to do a comparison of these whiskeys so Matt and I sat down and tasted them the other day and here are our tasting notes.
St. Augustine Cask Strength Bourbon
Proof: 108.5
Age: Sixteen Months?
Nose:
- Mike: Vanilla, pears, baking spices and oak wood.
- Matt: A floral note, with caramel, orange zest, coffee beans and oak wood.
Taste:
- Mike: Vanilla, pears, cinnamon and oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and caramel comes out and the spice becomes allspice. Tasted with a pecan and the spice becomes cinnamon and nutmeg and the oak becomes stronger.
- Matt: Caramel, orange zest, coffee beans and oak wood. The dried cranberry made the orange zest a bit more dominant in the flavor. The pecan brought out notes of peanuts.
Finish:
- Mike: Medium long with oak wood and cinnamon spice. The dried cranberry made the finish a bit sweeter with oak and allspice. The pecan made the finish long with lots of oak wood and cinnamon.
- Matt: Medium long with oak wood and roasted chestnuts. The dried cranberry brought out the orange zest in the finish. The pecan made the finish long with oak and coffee beans.
St. Augustine Distillery Exclusive 2024 Release
Proof: 110.8
Age: Six Years, 141 Days
Nose:
- Mike: Rich vanilla, pears, baking spices and oak wood.
- Matt: Caramel, cereal grains, dates and oak wood.
Taste:
- Mike: Vanilla, pears, allspice and oak wood. The dried cranberry enhanced the pear flavor and made the spice cinnamon. The pecan made the spice a black pepper and enhanced the oak wood.
- Matt: Caramel, stone fruit, cardamom, red pepper and oak wood. The dried cranberry made the fruit a red raspberry. The pecan brought out a note of peanuts.
Finish:
- Mike: Medium long with oak wood, allspice and lingering vanilla. The dried cranberry made the finish longer with oak and cinnamon. The pecan made the finish long and spicy with oak wood and black pepper.
- Matt: Medium long with oak wood and cardamom. The dried cranberry added red pepper spice to the finish. The pecan made the finish long with oak wood, red pepper and lingering caramel.
I would pair these Bourbons with a Rocky Patel Decade cigar. I think the vanilla and rich tobacco of the smoke would work well with the sweetness of the Bourbons.
Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller