Our pursuit to find you the best bourbon to add to your bar cart continues unabated. It’s a new year and new bourbons are already on the shelf. The end of 2023 and the first month of 2024 have seen some really interesting and great-tasting bourbons arrive across the whole bourbon spectrum. There are beautiful special barrel finishes, brand-new age-statement drops from classic brands, new barrel-proof bombs, special one-off single barrel releases, and unique new labels all over shelves right now.
So where do you start? That’s where a blind taste test from your friends at Uproxx comes into play. I’m taking 12 new and new-ish bourbons and finding a great smooth bourbon for you to try. Now when I say “smooth” I’m talking about the approachability of the flavor profile overall.
Smooth” simply relates to the fact that there is little to no burn, no rough edges, and no imperfections that distract from enjoying the deeper flavor profile built into the pour. Smooth can be a good thing wherein a whiskey has a great mouthfeel that allows you to enjoy the profile. But it can also be a fault wherein the smoothness doesn’t reveal any nuance besides “easy to down.”As with all things in our life, it can be two things. Life is grey and context-driven, not black and white.
So while I chose today’s lineup of bourbons because they’re all pretty much new releases (having dropped at the tail end of 2023 or the last couple of weeks), I’m judging them by how easy they go down while delivering a great profile overall.
Our lineup includes the following bourbons today:
- Redwood Empire Devils Tower High Rye Bourbon Whiskey
- Larceny Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Proof A124
- Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond 8-Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Fall 2023
- 291 Bad Guy Colorado Bourbon Whiskey 10th Anniversary
- Old Forester Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 1924 10-Year-Old
- Lost Lantern Single Distillery Series Brooklyn Bakery Kings County Distillery Straight Bourbon Whiskey
- Wheel Horse Cigar Blend Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Sherry, Port, & Armagnac Casks
- Almost Old Bones Bourbon 9 Years Reserve Straight Bourbon Whiskey
- New Riff High Note Series: Bohemian Wheat Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 8-Year-Old
- OOLA Waitsburg Whiskey Bourbon
- Conecuh Ridge Straight Bourbon Whiskey
- Starlight Distillery Carl T. Huber’s Mizunara Reserve Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Mizunara Barrels
After the blind tasting, I ranked each bourbon based on both how smooth the whiskey was and how beautiful the flavor profile was. And let me tell you, there are some stone-cold winners in the mix so let’s dive right in!
Part 1 — The 2024 Smooth Bourbon Blind Tasting
Taste 1
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a delicate blend of stewed red fruits with a deep and woody spice mix completed by soft leather, cedar bark, and soft pipe tobacco with a hint of cherry syrup.
Palate: The taste leans into the cherry with a deep clove, allspice, and cinnamon vibe before hitting a touch of grassy rye and buttery grits all rolled into an old leather tobacco pouch and placed in an old humidor that’s scented with brandied cherries.
Finish: The end has a subtle and well-rounded sense of classic bourbon with a warming touch of woody spice, dark and stewed red fruit, and deep vanilla creaminess with a hint of nutshell and tobacco.
Initial Thoughts:
This is a very good bourbon. It’s so soft yet runs deep. I want more of this.
Taste 2
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This feels warm on the nose with a sense of cinnamon toast, pecan waffles covered in maple syrup, and buttery vanilla paste with a hint of prune and maybe some dates swimming in mulled wine with a whisper of dark fruity brandy.
Palate: Rummy syrup with a deep sense of Nutella spread over a toasted brioche drives the palate toward fig jam, sticky toffee pudding, and a dark caramel cut with burnt orange and salt flakes on the mid-palate.
Finish: That caramel gets so dark that it turns into cinnamon-laced dark chocolate with a touch of allspice and clove before a dry sense of old oak staves wrapped in tobacco round out the hot and dry end.
Initial Thoughts:
This is very good but, wow, that heat builds on the finish. The spice peaks and the chocolate adds a lovely creamy bitter layer that works. I’d argue that this opens smoothly and then grows some serious fangs as you creep toward that finish.
Taste 3
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Wet brown sugar cut with cinnamon and fresh butter layers over toasted buttermilk biscuits before nutmeg-heavy eggnog creates a lush feeling on the nose next to hints of overripe peaches, apricots, and pears with a hint of salted caramel.
Palate: The palate opens with a vibrant sense of fresh peaches swimming in vanilla-laced heavy cream before hitting on the salted caramel with a layer of winter spice that starts to lean peppery and grassy on the mid-palate.
Finish: Those sharp spices drive the luxurious finish toward brandy-soaked pears and stewed peaches with plenty of winter spice, butter, and molasses before a whisper of old oak and tobacco sneak in late.
Initial Thoughts:
This is f*cking great bourbon. It’s smooth but then dives so deep into a varied and delicious bourbon profile that takes you on a journey. This is going to be hard to beat.
Taste 4
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose on this is a wonderful medley of winter spices — clove, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon — rolled into a leathery tobacco pouch with a deep sense of green tea leaves marmalade, and buttery salted toffee.
Palate: The taste leans into stewed apple and pear candy while the spice really starts to kick up with a deep heat of the ABVs buzzing on all of your senses as old leather, oak, and tobacco sneak in under the heat.
Finish: Dried peach and apricot tie to the tobacco and oak as the spice starts to burn and numb your tongue on the finish with a dark sense of old marmalade tobacco and winter spice barks.
Initial Thoughts:
This is a good whiskey but it’s not for the faint of heart. It’s hot. That said, pour this over a big rock and we could be having a completely different conversation.
Taste 5
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Freshly fried cinnamon doughnuts, soft chocolate shavings, and buttery salted caramel drive the nose toward dry nutshells, a hint of apple fritter, and dark brandy cherries dipped in creamy dark chocolate.
Palate: That chocolate is just kissed with Graham Cracker and marshmallow on the palate with a good dose of cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice leading toward a dark brandy cherry tobacco on the mid-palate.
Finish: The dark cherry tobacco and S’mores drive the finish with a sense of dark stewed red fruit, stone fruit, and pear/apple before the oak arrives with a sense of an old cellar on a warm day.
Initial Thoughts:
This is a soft and supple bourbon with a great profile that’s pretty unique — albeit sweet — overall.
Taste 6
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This opens with a deep burnt caramel sweetness that gives way to five-spice powder over fatty smoked pork next to dark cherry cola and rich and clear tobacco.
Palate: That tobacco is fresh and vibrant on the palate as the fatty smoked pork drives the taste toward rich dark chocolate sauce, winter spice medleys, and campfire toasted marshmallows.
Finish: Mulled wine and apple cider spices drive the finish to some wet brown sugar, more dark cherry cola, and a hint of a buttermilk biscuit with marmalade just kissed with that five-spice powder before the heat really kicks in a mutes everything with a loud numbing mouthfeel.
Initial Thoughts:
This is a fun whiskey! That said, the heat of the ABVs really takes your senses out of the equation in the end with a numbing heat.
Taste 7
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This has a nice nose full of dark red fruits, soft winter spices, and plenty of oak and tobacco with a nice sense of “Classic” bourbon.
Palate: Dark sugars, vanilla, and chocolate drive the palate toward a touch of espresso cream and leathery tobacco pouches with a touch more of that old oak sneaking in on the mid-palate.
Finish: A hint of almond and vanilla peek in on the finish with a sense of stewed plums and cherries tied to tobacco and oak.
Initial Thoughts:
This is a perfectly good bourbon with a smooth vibe — there are zero edges to this one. It doesn’t really go beyond “Classic” (regular) in the flavor department though.
Taste 8
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is pure classic Kentucky bourbon with a deep vanilla presence layered with soft orchard fruits, stewed and spiced cherry, and old barrelhouse earthiness.
Palate: The palate leans into the sweet/spicy vibes with dark cherries dipped in cinnamon syrup and served with vanilla sauce and shaved dark chocolate cut with a hint of oily tobacco and cedar bark.
Finish: The end leans into the tobacco and cedar with a deep oakiness that highlights woody winter spices, stewed fruits, and soft vanilla.
Initial Thoughts:
This is another perfectly nice bourbon. The nose is great. The palate is exactly what you want from a bourbon but it doesn’t really go beyond that.
Taste 9
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose feels like walking into an old bread bakery in Central Europe early in the morning before hitting this note of freshly fried apple fritters and old-fashioned doughnuts, a touch of prune, plum, and date, and a good dose of soft winter spice.
Palate: The palate is dry but full of sourdough bread crusts, Graham Crackers, and Fig Newtons with a touch of huckleberry jam, dry sweetgrass braided with smudging sage, and a touch of straw bale before the woody spice kicks in with a cinnamon bark focus.
Finish: The end leans into the woody spices with a touch of clove, allspice, and nutmeg before sweetgrass and bread crusts take over with a hint of buttery cream.
Initial Thoughts:
This goes beyond the ordinary and delivers a delightfully fun and nuanced bourbon. It’s also very accessible. There’s a touch of warmth but it never distracts from the overall vibe of the whiskey.
Taste 10
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Classic notes of vanilla, caramel, and cherry dominate the nose with a thin vibe overall.
Palate: More caramel leads the way on the palate with a hint of oakiness next to buttery toast, a touch of toffee, and plenty of sweet cherries with a whisper of tobacco.
Finish: The end thins out a bit, leaving you with caramel, vanilla, and cherry.
Initial Thoughts:
This is fine but it’s clearly a rail whiskey for basic bourbon needs.
Taste 11
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a nice dark and almost tart cherry on the nose with a sense of rich toffee rolled in almonds and dipped in chocolate with a whisper of rummy molasses and mulled wine spices.
Palate: The palate is classic in all the right ways with a deep and rich caramel and vanilla creaminess touched by dark cherry, orange zest, almond paste, and mulled winter spices.
Finish: The end is long and creamy with deep caramel, soft cherry tobacco, and a fleeting sense of an old barrel house full of aging oak.
Initial Thoughts:
This is another nice bourbon. It’s easygoing and delivers every classic bourbon note you’ll want. And… that’s it.
Taste 12
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a soft sense of black tea leaves on the nose next to broken-up Snickerdoodles, vanilla malted ice cream, cinnamon sticky buns iced with powdered sugar icing, and a whisper of old dry grass fields with a hint of smudging sage and cedar.
Palate: Those cinnamon cookies drive the palate toward more dry tea leaves with a deep sense of vanilla custard, toffee syrup, biting marmalade, and soft apricot jam over a soft buttermilk biscuit with a whisper of acacia sneaking in late next to old oakiness.
Finish: The end has this silky sense of apricot-laced tobacco with a deep orange essence over cinnamon cakes and gingerbread with a dry edge next to black-tea-laced tobacco just kissed with sweetgrass and dry prairie sage.
Initial Thoughts:
This is ultra silky — yes, smooth — with a deep and fascinatingly delicate flavor profile. This is a winner, folks!
Part 2 — The 2024 Smooth Bourbon Ranking
12. OOLA Waitsburg Whiskey Bourbon — Taste 10
ABV: 47%
Average Price: $53
The Whiskey:
This whiskey from Seattle, Washington, is a local grain-to-glass operation with a focus on organic Washington white winter wheat. The whiskey is aged for six to eight years before batching and bottling.
Bottom Line:
This is good standard bourbon. Yes, it’s easy to drink but there’s not much else there.
11. Almost Old Bones Bourbon 9 Years Reserve Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 8
ABV: 55%
Average Price: $89
The Whiskey:
Old Bones is known for their 10-year-old bourbon releases but changed it up a bit for this late 2023 drop. The whiskey is a sourced Kentucky bourbon from Bardstown with a 75% corn, 15% rye, and 10% malted barley mash bill. The whiskey barrels were left alone for nine years before batching and bottling with a light kiss of water.
Bottom Line:
This is a nice bourbon overall. It’s easygoing and delivers a classic bourbon profile. That’s about it.
10. 291 Bad Guy Colorado Bourbon Whiskey 10th Anniversary — Taste 4
ABV: 61.6%
Average Price: $107
The Whiskey:
This Colorado whiskey is made from a mix of local corn, malted wheat, malted rye, and beech-smoked malted barley. As per 291’s classic aging methods, the whiskey is aged for about two years with aspen wood staves in the barrel to accelerate the aging process. Finally, this is batched and bottled as-is.
Bottom Line:
There’s a great bourbon here, you’ll just need a rock or two (or some serious water) to get to it. That sort of knocks it down a few places if you’re looking for a smooth sipper out of the bottle.
9. Lost Lantern Single Distillery Series Brooklyn Bakery Kings County Distillery Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 6
ABV: 58.1%
Average Price: $99
The Whiskey:
This single cask bottling from Lost Lantern is a one-of-a-kind Kentucky barrel from New Riff Distilling (across the river from Cincinnati). The whiskey in the barrel was a low-corn bourbon (65% corn, 30% rye, and 5% malted barley) aged for four years. The barrel was bottled at cask strength and yielded around 120 bottles.
Bottom Line:
This is another very good whiskey that you need to pour over a rock to get the most out of. There’s a lot of great stuff going on the profile, it’s just really hot when you try it neat.
8. Wheel Horse Cigar Blend Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Sherry, Port, & Armagnac Casks — Taste 7
ABV: 50.5%
Average Price: $42
The Whiskey:
This special release from Wheel Horse was only 3,000 bottles at the tail end of last year. The whiskey in those bottles is a blend of four- to five-year-old Kentucky bourbons finished in Armagnac, Sherry, and Port casks. The whiskey spends around six to eight months mellowing in those finishing casks before batching and bottling.
Bottom Line:
I liked this whiskey. It’s very classically rendered and goes a little deeper than average. That said, it does have some warmth that’ll detract anyone looking for that silky smooth experience. Still, you can make a hell of a cocktail with this and solve that issue immediately.
7. Conecuh Ridge Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 11
ABV: 50.3%
Average Price: $55
The Whiskey:
This new whiskey is a highlight for Alabama’s Clyde May’s new Conecuh Ridge Distillery in Troy, Alabama. The whiskey in the bottle is sourced from Indiana and is a blend of five-year-old barrels. The blend is meant as an example of the whiskey that’ll be produced at the new Troy distillery.
Bottom Line:
This is another really good classic bourbon. I’d use it to mix up a good whiskey-forward cocktail.
6. Larceny Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Proof A124 — Taste 2
ABV: 62.1%
Average Price: $69
The Whiskey:
The first Larceny Barrel Proof release of 2024 is a classic. The whiskey in the bottle is a blend of six- to eight-year-old bourbons from the wheated bourbon barrels at Heaven Hill. Those barrels were batched and then went into the bottle 100% as-is.
Bottom Line:
This is another great sipper that needs a rock. But, this might not need that rock if you’re already accustomed to warming Kentucky bourbons. This one has a nice mouthfeel that’s pure vanilla cream … that gets very warm on the end. Hence, this is kind of the middle of the road in what we’re looking for in the blind tasting — it’s smooth but still might need a bit of ice to calm down those ABVs.
5. New Riff High Note Series: Bohemian Wheat Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 8-Year-Old — Taste 9
ABV: 58.95%
Average Price: $69
The Whiskey:
This late 2023 release from New Riff is all about the wheat. The whiskey is made with 65% non-GMO corn, 18% Bohemian floor-malted wheat, 10% unmalted wheat, and 7% dark wheat. The whiskey was then small batched and bottled 100% as-is to highlight the work that the wood and wheated bourbon underwent over years of resting on the Ohio River.
Bottom Line:
This is where we get into the good stuff that hits the parameters of this blind tasting perfectly. The profile hits great classic bourbon notes while taking it that little bit further to help this whiskey feel special. I’d add a small drop of water or two to really let this one bloom in the glass and get ultra silky, or mix it into a great whiskey-forward cocktail.
4. Old Forester Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 1924 10-Year-Old — Taste 5
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $115
The Whiskey:
This brand-new release from Old Forester is new in more ways than one. The whiskey is their first age-statement whiskey at 10 years old. It’s also a new mash bill for the heritage brand with a recipe of 79% corn, 11$ rye, and 10% malted barley. The whiskey aged in the Brown-Forman warehouse until just right for batching, proofing, and bottling.
Bottom Line:
That classic cherry bomb Old Forester essence wasn’t here on this one, which is a nice change of pace. Overall this is a super easy sipper with a nice balance of dark fruit and spice. It’s just really good. The only reason that it’s a little lower on this list is that it wasn’t necessarily exciting. But sometimes “really good” is more than enough to buy and drink a bottle, folks.
3. Redwood Empire Devils Tower High Rye Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 1
ABV: 49.5%
Average Price: $89
The Whiskey:
This new release from Redwood Empire out in California is a very small batch — only 25 barrels — of good straight bourbon. The mash is super unique with only 51% corn supported by 45% rye, 2% malted barley, and 2% wheat. Those barrels rested until just right for batching, proofing, and bottling.
Bottom Line:
This whiskey went beyond the “classic” bourbon notes and delivered something fun and vibrant while holding onto a lush and velvety mouthfeel — i.e. smooth. This is a quality whiskey that’s worth checking out as a sipper or cocktail base for your favorite concoction.
2. Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond 8-Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Fall 2023 — Taste 3
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $499
The Whiskey:
The last limited edition Old Fitz release of 2023 was a fairly young entry to the ongoing Decanter series. This edition was built from Heaven Hill wheated bourbon barrels filled in the fall of 205. Those barrels were carefully selected and batched before proofing and bottling.
Bottom Line:
This is damn near perfect Kentucky bourbon for this blind tasting. It’s so freaking creamy smooth while delivering a deep and nuanced bourbon profile that hit every note you want it to and more. It was only narrowly beat out by the next entry.
1. Starlight Distillery Carl T. Huber’s Mizunara Reserve Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Mizunara Barrels — Taste 12
ABV: 58%
Average Price: $79
The Whiskey:
This late release from Indiana’s farm-raised Starlight Distillery is their classic 80% corn bourbon that was left to rest for seven long years. That whiskey was then re-barreled into fresh Japanese Mizunara casks for a final mellowing before batching and bottling.
Bottom Line:
This had everything you want from a great whiskey — iconic bourbon flavor notes, new delicate nuances that take your palate in unexpected directions, and a silky texture that is pure silky smooth. This is one of those whiskeys that I wish I’d tried before my end-of-the-year list of 2023’s best bourbons.
It’d have been a serious contender.
