Like cherry blossoms, cedar wood, orange and lemon zest, vanilla and a little bit of brown sugar. Nose: Light scents are the name of the game here. For this review, I sampled both of these neat and from a Glencairn. It’s a tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it. What if they’re both great whiskies? Well, there’s only one way to find out, it’s time to pit these both in a side by side semi-blind review and see which one comes out on top. That’s all well and good, but when the Tincup has a starting price in the mid $40’s and the Bird Dog raises their price from $40 to more than $70, it raises the question “what kind of suckers do you think we are?”īut maybe I’m being too hard on them. Both are low in proof (Bird Dog is 90 and Tin Cup is a paltry 84 proof) and both are inevitably aimed towards an American Whiskey newcomer. And look over there! The Bird Dog does too. I mention “whiskey” and not just “bourbon” because the Tincup is indeed, just a whiskey that is a combination of MGP bourbon distillate and Stranahan’s Malt Whiskey.īut it has an age statement! 10 years in fact. Case and point, the two whiskies before us today. In the world of bourbon and whiskey, sometimes a unique bottle or a label that has images of things people can associate with are two of the best ways to attract buyers. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. A D is one star and a D- one-half of a star.*Bourbon Culture is reader-supported. A C- is two stars.ĭ+ to D-: Below average whiskey. A B- is three stars.Ĭ+ to C-: Average whiskey. The best of the mass market whiskeys fit in this category, as do the bulk of the premium brands. Five stars.Ī-: A fine bottle of whiskey, representing the top end of the conventional, premium range.ī and B-: Good and above average. Above five stars.Ī: An outstanding bottle of whiskey, but lacking that special something which makes for a true masterpiece. A+: A masterpiece and one of the ten best whiskeys of its type. Some "premium" whiskeys really are quite terrible, while some mass market products are good enough to pour into a decanter and serve to the Duke of Edinburgh. The following indicators should be taken as only a guide and not a set of hard and fast rules. The Whiskey Reviewer uses a letter-based rating system, instead of the numerical 100-grade rating system. The 50ml sample bottle I picked up only went so far.Īnother big virtue of Bird Dog Peach is the price: a full 750ml bottle typically runs $20. I imagine it would be dynamite as an iced tea mixer, but that will need to wait for another time. Putting it on ice in no way dulls the flavor, and turns it into a rather refreshing drink. The finish is of moderate warmth and length, leaving a syrupy, peachy aftertaste.Īlthough I fail to see much point to drinking Bird Dog Peach neat, I can see much merit to it as a summertime whiskey served on the rocks. A slight, cloying, alcoholic astringency lies underneath, a reminder of the young and unremarkable whiskey at the center of the drink. The flavor follows from there, with no surprises: super strong sweet peach with a shot of vanilla. Just a hint of vanilla and a very slight alcoholic tinge are, in fact, all that lies there to remind you it isn’t strong peach tea. The nose is very peachy and sweet, like strongly brewed peach tea. My guess is the peach flavoring has darkened what would otherwise be a very young-looking bourbon, because the coloring in tthe glass is honey gold. That in and of itself is something noteworthy, since you don’t see too many fifth-bottles of whiskey in the $20 range sporting a nice stopper like that. The BourbonBird Dog Peach is bottled at 80 proof (40% abv) in a clear glass bottle with a nice wood and cork stopper. Add to that the knowledge that flavored whiskey of this type is usually meant for cocktails (see Jim Beam Red Stag or DYC Red One), and the questions become 1) what does the flavoring do for the immature whiskey 2) is that enough to make it drinkable on its own? Because the whiskey does not bear the appellation “straight,” and because Bird Dog does not claim to have its own distillery, we know that the bourbon in question is both sourced and under two years old. Hawking its wares under the tagline “this dog don’t bite,” Bird Dog’s line begins and ends with flavored bourbon. and the U.K., but it’s not the only player in flavoring whiskey, as Bird Dog amply demonstrates. Honey whiskey has been getting much of the attention lately, both in the U.S. These days it seems every big distillery is either getting into secondary maturation, or barrel finishing, or producing flavored whiskey. Just like vodka before it, whiskey is experiencing a boomtime-driven expansion into the area of flavored liquor.
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