The Story

When W.B. Saffell first hit the shelves in our area, we have to admit we were skeptical.

It isn’t terribly often that you’ll see a 375ml bottle command a $50 price tag. Being thrifty bottle nerds, we ignored it for quite some time and made sure to grab our standard 750ml – of something else. It was a tough call to go out on a limb and drop half a bill on a product that we didn’t know much about.

But as is known to happen in the whiskey enthusiast community, someone writes a review and speaks the praises of a lesser-known bottle and the rest of us perk up our ears. If we hear it’s good from a trusted source, then that bottle doesn’t seem quite as expensive as it did when it was a true unknown.

Which brings us to the next time we were in one of the local liquor stores. There it sat on the shelf for our state minimum price of $59.99. This time we decided to grab it and see what all the excitement was about. But before we get into it, let’s take a look into the specifics of this bottle.

Back in 2017, Campari released a line of whiskeys called the Whiskey Barons Collection – a throwback to pre-prohibitions whiskeys that time forgot. The first two brands they (re)launched were Old Ripy and Bond & Lillard. Some time later in 2018, they released a statement that they were going to add another bottle to the Whiskey Barons Collection, which is the W.B. Saffell brand we are going to review here. It was released in 2019 and the label states that it was “distilled and bottled by the American Medicinal Spirits Co” out of Lawrenceburg, KY, but the press release clearly indicates it was distilled at Wild Turkey – and assumedly using their standard mashbill which is 75% corn, 13% rye, and 12% malted barley. It’s non-age-stated but other outlets have reported that it may be a blend of 6, 8, 10, and 12 year old bourbons. It’s 107 proof.

Alright, enough of the specifics – let’s pop this one open.

An important note:

So before hopping right into the tasting notes, I just wanted to give a disclaimer. When I tried this bottle initially, I didn’t get much out of it. To be honest, it was hot and spicy with very slight sweetness, and incredibly dry and oaky. That was the neck pour. I didn’t make any final judgments on it at that time, and I’m glad I didn’t, because when I went back to it for a second tasting about 18 hours later it opened up and was much, much better. The tasting notes from that second tasting are below.

So FYI: If it’s hot and generally unenjoyable on the neck pour, maybe give it another chance.

Nose

It’s pretty oaky but also sweet as well. Maple syrup, brown sugar, and buttercream frosting come through on the nose.

Palate

The oak continues to show up prominently on the palate, while remaining dry, but a decent amount of pepper and baking spice show up as well. We detected notes of caramel and maple syrup sweetness throughout.

Finish

The sharper spicy notes mellow a bit on the finish and what you’re left with is mostly caramel sweetness with a strong profile of nuttiness as well. Baking spice sticks around on the tongue with some lingering oak too.

Verdict

So this is always a tough call when we’re looking at bottles that are 375ml and are priced fairly high. This bottle retails at $49.99 and though we do enjoy it, it’s asking a pretty high price point for half a fifth. We can’t outright say it’s a buy – so we’re going to go with ‘depends on factors.’

Do you like the more oak-forward, dry profiles? Are you a fan of collecting and trying limited lines of Wild Turkey stuff? Then it’s a buy. Go ahead and grab it because you won’t be disappointed. You’ll get those notes and more, and we’re sure you’ll enjoy it.

If you are not a fan of that oak-forward and dry profile, then we’d say pass. From our personal perspective we’ve had Kentucky Spirit picks that have the same general profile that cost us around $15 more for a 750ml bottle (twice the size of the W.B. Saffell offering). And for us, the state minimum is actually $59.99 so the difference there is $5. It’s a no brainer ‘leave on the shelf’ situation there.

If you’re gonna grab it, do so at that $50 mark if possible, but don’t go over $55.

Overall, it’s a decent pour, so we’re going to give it a 7.8.

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Cheers friends!