As Fall “Bourbon Christmas” soon approaches I am taking this time to clear out some bottles that have been hanging for too long. Today on the chopping block is a 2014 release from Smooth Ambler. Like most other startup distilleries, Smooth Ambler is following the popular strategy of selling sourced whiskey until their own product comes of age. Smooth Ambler is a bit ahead of the rest of the pack and hopefully will soon have some of their own Bourbon to release this year that is around the 6 year old mark. I’m looking forward to that but in the meantime we get fun things like this product.
Contradiction is a blend of 27% two year old wheated straight Bourbon and 73% nine year old high rye straight Bourbon. The two year wheater component is Smooth Ambler’s own product while the older Bourbon comes from MGP in Indiana. The net result is a product that is a blend of four different grains: corn, rye, wheat, and barley.
Batch 2; 50% ABV; $50
Nose: The nose is fruity sweet with a little bit of spice. You can smell that it has some youthful elements to it but it’s well masked by the older whiskey. The proof is inoffensive as it doesn’t smell very hot at all. I’m getting some of the classic sweet wheated flavors like cinnamon cake batter.
Taste: Medium amount of woodiness. A lot more spice than was present in the nose and a lot less of the sweet elements. I can taste the dill and mint rye spice notes that are common in MGP’s distilled rye. It finishes more on the spicy side but there is some young fruity sweetness and some older dark chocolate sweetness at the end as well.
Thoughts: Interesting stuff. You can really taste elements of an older and younger whiskey all at the same time which I think gives it some complexity. Things can be a bit jumbled at times though so this one loses points for balance as the two blends put it all over the place. All in all, I liked it and feel it was worth buying once.
Rating: B- / C+
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