Rating System

How do we keep tabs on our bourbon?

Price: How much did this bourbon cost? Most of our Bourbons are purchased at a Virginia ABC store.

Type: Bourbon is at least 51% corn.  We may add pages to discuss other whiskeys like those that are Rye or Wheat based, etc…

Smell/Nose: We went simple on this:

• Pleasant
• Neutral
• Unpleasant

Alcohol Burn: This is the “fire” that the drinker experiences. Whether you feel this in your gut or your mouth, you know what it feels like. This rating is based on a scale of A, B, C, D or E.

Taste: As we have tried different Bourbons we found that they are either spicy, leathery, earthy, or they are sweet, caramel flavored and vanilla flavored. Most Bourbons fall on a scale between these 2 distinct flavor categories. We have designed a scale from -10 to +10 where -10 represents a very earthy, leathery, spicy flavor, and +10 is a caramel, vanilla candy sweet. So a bourbon that is a “0″ would be both sweet and spicy and earthy, but not particularly more of one or the other. Whereas a bourbon with a “7″ score would be very sweet and have little earth or spice.

Overall: This is our overall score ranging from 0 to 100 based on our overall rating of the drink. Since we both favor sweet Bourbons (+3 to +7 on the taste scale) we attempt to be objective with this rating. This is a rating of nose, start, burn, finish, depth and overall character of the whiskey. Please keep in mind that this score can be re-adjusted as we grade more drinks and review old scores. As we start tasting “better” Bourbons, the weaker ones will be pushed farther down the scale.

Comments: This is the section where we point out the strengths and weaknesses – like value for money, enjoyment level, need for more ice or water or simply neat, is this mixer only….ideas we thought to share.