The Story

Ah, the venerable Blanton’s. Do we really even need to tell the history on this one?

Surely most of you already know about the ‘Single Barrel that started it all’. Or the bottle that tends to be the bane of retailers with the “Got any Blanton’s?” greeting that meets a store owner as a new bourbon enthusiasts walks in the front door.

Well, I’ll skip all the history and lore alike. But since you’re here, I might as well tell you my story of Blanton’s.

Surprisingly it took me a hot minute to get the lowdown on one of the most coveted bottles in the bourbon world. I had started my bourbon education in the Jim Beam line of bottles and Woodford Reserve territory, so it wasn’t for a bit that I learned about Buffalo Trace in general. But when I did hear about Blanton’s specifically, I didn’t think too much of it. I’d heard that people were going crazy over the bottle, but I didn’t really think it was something to pine over. I recall the day our first crack at Blanton’s happened. My wife called me from a Kroger store.

“Hey” she said, as I could hear the sounds of the retail store in the background. “They have Blanton’s here. You know the one with the horse on top of the bottle?”

“Yeah”, I replied, somewhat intrigued. “How much is it?”

“$60, so it’s at state minimum” she replied.

Just a couple days before I had been perusing one of my favorite bottle review sites, Breaking Bourbon, and they had done a review on Blanton’s. It was so-so; they said it was decent but I recall them saying something about the hype not being all understandable. So, I thought, this must be one that the Taters are just pining after for no reason.

“I’d like to” I said reluctantly, “But we’re about to head down to Buffalo Trace anyway when we go to Kentucky next month. We can just get it at the distillery.”

Major face palm. I was in for a world of disappointment.

After declining the bottle of Blanton’s at minimum price, and of course finding out that it was near impossible to get a bottle of Blanton’s from the distillery (interested in getting in line at 6am?), I started to regret that Kroger decision pretty heavily. And yes; we did end up being those “Got any Blanton’s?” people. For about a half a year.

Until one day, something interesting happened. My wife ended up striking up a conversation with the beverage manager at the same Kroger. She told him the story of her (incredibly regretful) husband who had declined a bottle last time they had it. He nodded his head as if it was the hundredth time he’d heard a similar tale and let her know that IF by chance, one came in, he’d see if he could hold it for her.

As luck would have it, that day came sooner than expected. Not even a couple weeks later, we were shopping in Kroger when he walked up to us holding a boxed Blanton’s. My wife shrieked in delight as the manager extended the box out to her.

“I’m really glad you’re here today” he said, in a hushed tone. “This literally just came in.”

We thanked him several times and drove home with our new bottle of glory. A saga that could’ve and should’ve never happened was finally at an end. Moral of the story? Fellas, listen to your wives. And let them make the call. I guarantee if it went to voicemail when she called me, we’d have never gone through the Blanton’s search saga. And ladies – trust your instincts. You’re probably right.

Now I have several bottles of Blanton’s. And I can only credit it to building great relationships with other enthusiasts, with retail store owners/managers, and obviously from having an incredible wife.

Ok, story time is over. Let’s do a quick rundown of the bottle.

Blanton’s is a single barrel expression. It’s bottled at 93 proof, and utilizes Buffalo Trace’s mashbill #2. Buffalo Trace does not officially disclose the age of Blanton’s, but it’s widely rumored to be 6-8 years old.

Alright, with that, let’s get to the tasting!

Nose

The nose has those wonderful, typical mashbill 2 notes of honey, caramel and vanilla. It’s light and sweet.

Palate

The palate carries on the notes from the nose, bringing honey and caramel upfront and adding a touch of oak and a decent amount of pepper spice.

Finish

On the finish, you’ll get those baking spice notes and as the flavor dissipates, the sweetness comes right back in. There’s honey, caramel and vanilla which makes for a very easy and light finish.

Verdict

We have nothing bad to say about Blanton’s – it’s simply a solid pour. You want an easy drinker that features some of those quintessential bourbon notes? Grab some Blanton’s. You should especially grab it if you like Buffalo Trace’s general profile because that mashbill #2 shines through on the pour. It’s closest to Elmer T. Lee in our opinion, but with just a slight bit more of punch to it.

To play Devil’s Advocate, I’ll say a few things specifically about why someone may not enjoy Blanton’s (of course every bottle is not for everyone). If you’re into really, really deep character notes in your bourbon – like chocolate, tobacco, cherry cola, leather or smoke – Blanton’s does not have any of those. It would absolutely leave you wanting more. But we think there are other bottles that do that perfectly, and Blanton’s isn’t trying to accomplish that profile; it’s not double barreled, it’s not aged particularly long (from rumors, anyway) and it’s only a 93 proof. So for what it is, we believe it definitely delivers.

For price, don’t pay over $80 for the shelf version. We think the min price at $60 is just right, and could stretch that to $80 even, but we feel that value is lost beyond that number. We’ve had really great experiences with the store picks and barrel selections that are even better than the shelf version, so we would recommend going up to $90 for those as they tend to be much better (from our experience). Just please don’t pay $150-$200 because we think it may negatively impact your perception of Blanton’s. You’ll probably feel like “I spent $150 on this!?” when it’s absolutely worth the value at $60, but at higher price points I’m certain it would leave many enthusiasts disappointed.

Overall, we’re giving Blanton’s Single Barrel bourbon an 8 out of 10.

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Cheers friends!