Smooth Ambler Old Scout American Whiskey Review

I've covered Smooth Ambler quite a few times so I won't go into it again but my overall feeling about them is that they sourced some great whiskey and sold it at really good prices. The well on those great stocks seems to be running dry though as we've seen the discontinuation of nearly every MGP sourced product they've ever offered other than the occasional gift shop only release. Other than the pure MGP bourbons and ryes, there have been a couple of blended experiments, the latest of which we have here today. According to the label, this is a blend of whiskeys distilled in Indiana and Tennessee, one aged in fresh oak casks and the other in used, re-charred bourbon barrels. I'm assuming the Indiana component is a straight bourbon and Tennessee portion was the second use aging, particularly because a couple of years ago George Dickel's parent company Diageo was trying to change the TN laws around what could be considered Tennessee whiskey to include aging in used barrels. 

No Age Statement; 49.5% ABV; Batch No. 4; $35

Nose: Corn and rye spice. Typically on the nose rye spice comes through as menthol for me and that's the case here. There are hints of that familiar Dickel multivitamin mineral note. Smells like a blend of high rye bourbon, Dickel bourbon, and Mellow Corn. 

Taste: The initial palate entry is very sweet forward, like corn butterscotch pudding. The spice notes are toned back but come through with a little tingle in the finish along with some subtle Dickel vitamin notes. That's about all there is in the finish though as it's amazingly short - it fades so quickly I would have suspected this more for 80 proof than nearly 100 proof. There is a little smokey barrel char kind of like burnt marshmallows that lingers but that's all I am really getting. Overall the best way to describe it is mellow.

Thoughts: I haven't liked this since the day I opened it and that's the case again today. It's not really that it's horrible but it's more that it's light and odd. I'm not sure of the proportions on the blend here but it tasted heavily towards a whiskey that was aged in reused barrels - the oak flavors are rather muted and dull and the sweet notes are more mash forward than oak forward. I appreciate the experiment and luckily it didn't cost a lot but this is a swing and a miss for me.

Rating: D

Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating.