Whiskey Review: J.R. Ewing Private Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

I walked into my local Ralph's with the intent to buy a bottle of whiskey I have never tried, seen or even heard of, just to make things interesting.  When I was there, I came across this bottle, J. R. Ewing, Private Reserve.  It seemed interesting enough, especially since anything that is private and reserved mush be better than something that is public and easily available, right?

I am experimenting with different backgrounds for my pictures.  This is the bottle next to a lamp.  Don't judge.  The color is light, and the smell was not very assertive.  Smelled almost like almond jello?  The flavor was unique.  Like the smell, not too assertive.  I am not sure how to describe this bourbon, except to call it extremely focused in flavor, as if a normal bourbon with 17 different flavors were reduced to 3 flavors.  The aftertaste does not linger for too long, and ends clean.  I can say that it is an interesting whiskey.  Its lightness and non-assertiveness makes it easy to drink.  Seeing as how I have more writing to do later to night I will take the advice of Hemingway...

How can I argue with Hemingway?  I will have another!

The numbers:  I purchased this bottle at Ralphs for $30, which is a good price for this interesting whiskey. 

It reminds me of...oddly, of studying late nights, with a good whiskey and making no progress because you have really been playing video games instead. 

The verdict: The whiskey is interesting enough where I would include it into my regular rotation of whiskies.  Especially at the reasonable price of $30.  Although, I feel like there are probably other whiskies I would prefer for the same price.  This is up to you to find out for yourself.  Go ahead and try it.  

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Professional tasting notes:
Reviews were difficult to find, but here are a few good ones. 
bourbonbanter.com
thewhiskeywash.com - This one has an interesting story behind this whiskey.  I didn't watch Dallas, so I had no clue!

Whiskey Review: Bulleit Bourbon Frontier Whiskey

For some completely unfair reason, I have always been snobby towards Bulleit, both their boubon and their rye.  To be frank, I am not 100% certain I have even tried both prior to establishing this opinion.  So tonight I thought I would give them a fair shot, and will start with the bourbon, something I am more familiar with in general than a rye.  I thought I'd take a picture of the bottle with a nicer than my normal bland background to maybe take away some of my negative stigma.

This will be the first time I sample this bottle as I write this, so here it goes.  OK, the first impression of the nose or smell or whatever you are supposed to call it, is it smells like a whiskey.  Nothing too special about it.  The taste is also somewhat on the...meh...side.  It is a solid whiskey, not too assertive, but not too mild either.  There is a slight burn and a lingering warm after taste.  I am not sure that this bourbon necessarily stands out from the pack in any way, but it doesn't fall behind either. I noticed as I am working on this, the after taste does seem to linger quite a bit, so for those of you who are NOT fans of the whiskey taste, this offering is not for you.

I really have no reason for serious ill will towards Bulleit, I can't seem to figure out why I had a preconceived opinion.  Then I realized...its the word Bulleit.  Reminds me too much of this guy:

HOW DARE YOU MOCK MY BELOVED KENPO.  But wait...upon further investigation...Master Ken, well at least the actor and creator of this show, is actually a Kenpo practitioner!  AND, his Youtube show Enter the Dojo, is actually hilarious.  Fine.  Bulleit is not bullshit.

The numbers:  I purchased this bottle at Vons for $24 and could have been less if I had done the six bottle deal.  I think at this price point it is in the ballpark of what you would expect.  

It reminds me of...going to a hipster bar that requires a password to enter, and claims to be a speakeasy-like place, with your favorite person on the planet, just to find out that the whiskey selection is not quite what you expected, but you settle down with a familiar whiskey that is in a way comforting and a stark contrast to the hippy dippy mixed drink menu, just to find out its karaoke night? What? Bail out!

The verdict:  I personally would not label this as a must have, or include this in my daily whiskey rotation.  I feel like there are other whiskies in the same price range that have more to offer; that being said, I think I may be more inclined towards the unique.  This is a solid whiskey over all, and I would drink this over something more generic like basic Jack Daniels.  This one is definitely a "try it and find out for yourself" type of offering.  I can see that this may appeal to people depending on their preferred flavor profile.  If you like this, you have found yourself a very good deal.    

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Professional tasting notes:
thewhiskeyjug.com
whiskey-reviews.com