Smooth Ambler Old Scout - TPS Bottling

[Yeti]

I guess I didn't clarify, but both 7 year and both 10 year bottles were each from 4 different barrels at barrel strength. The guys at Smooth Ambler do a very good job blending their stock together for the standard 99 proof Old Scout release. The specific 7 year barrels from TPS are not indicative of the regular Old Scout flavor profile.

[BoyScout]

Thanks Yeti. My stock includes 6yo from the 1/17/13 and 3/6/13 bottlings, 7yo from 6/18/13, a 10yo from a 5/2/13 batch, and with what is a strangle hand label, my 10yo TPS labeled bottle is dated 12/6/02, DSP-IN-1, #362. The 6 and 7yo are 99 proof, the standard 10 is 100 proof and the final one with the 02 label is 111.2 proof.

[Yeti]

That's a bunch of good drinking. I think I preferred the #362 10 year that you have to the neighbor #363, but they were both very nice to my palate. I sent out blind samples of both to several friends and everyone enjoyed them very much and were shocked to find it was a single barrel LDI bourbon.

I'm taking my whiskey group to Smooth Ambler the first weekend in November and with any luck we'll be able to taste some barrel samples and other neat Smooth Ambler and Old Scout goodies.

[BoyScout]

Smooth Ambler does tours? Wonderful. My tasting group are camping buddies in the Red River Gorge, usually mid-to-late October. We visited Buffalo Trace on one of our trips. If Maxwellton wasn't so far away we would visit there as well. That will be a separate trip.

[Yeti]

It's really, really small. But incredibly nice. They've really put their money where their mouth is in every aspect of their products. There's one building with offices/gift shop/tasting bar/distillation room. And then two rickhouses. I think the 2nd one has been built. But they're similarly small in scale. Certainly nothing like the big KY distillers, and really even a good deal smaller than Willett. Looking through their rickhouse is a lot of fun though. They have a ton of experimental stuff they've put to wood for various reasons. They're pretty much all marked with some identifier on the barrel head. Who knows how much will see the light of day, but it's pretty cool that they're trying a lot of different things.

Not bourbon related, but if you make it to Greenbrier county sometime you should definitely stop by the Greenbrier resort, if only for a short visit to the grounds. It's one of WV's treasures.

[Yeti]

Worked late into the evening last night and had a few pours at the end of the night to relax. Finished with the two 7 year TPS bottles. I wasn't focusing too critically, but I definitely preferred the 115 to the 120.8. The 115 was a little prickly, with the hint-o-mint, but the 120.8 was really the one that I had put into my mind as the full blown menthol flavor. I'm going to make a manhattan with the 120.8 soon and see how that works with the flavor profile.

[SmoothAmbler]

It's really, really small. But incredibly nice. They've really put their money where their mouth is in every aspect of their products. There's one building with offices/gift shop/tasting bar/distillation room. And then two rickhouses. I think the 2nd one has been built. But they're similarly small in scale. Certainly nothing like the big KY distillers, and really even a good deal smaller than Willett. Looking through their rickhouse is a lot of fun though. They have a ton of experimental stuff they've put to wood for various reasons. They're pretty much all marked with some identifier on the barrel head. Who knows how much will see the light of day, but it's pretty cool that they're trying a lot of different things.

Not bourbon related, but if you make it to Greenbrier county sometime you should definitely stop by the Greenbrier resort, if only for a short visit to the grounds. It's one of WV's treasures.