The name of the Old Hansford Cask Strength Bourbon Whiskey isn’t, technically, accurate. Being made from a blend of MGP and Texas straight bourbon it’s technically a “blend of straight bourbons”… not a bourbon. I know the technicalities of naming have no effect on the taste and smell of a whiskey, and that’s what we’re focusing on here, but I like to point these things out as a way to “keep the record straight” if you will.
Getting back to the whiskey, there seems to be an interesting trend in Texas lately of importing MGP whiskey and either letting it age in TX, mixing it with other TX whiskey, or some combination of both. A couple of months ago I tasted the Sweetheart of the Rodeo Bourbon and the Kooper Family Rye from TX which fall into this category. There’s nothing wrong with this by the way, just something I’m seeing and pointing out. Now, on to the review.
Old Hansford Cask Strength Bourbon Whiskey – Details and Tasting Notes
Whiskey Details
Region: Indiana and Texas, USA
Distiller: MGP & an undisclosed central Texas Distillery
Blender/Bottler: Texas Tails Distillery
Mash Bill: At least 51% Corn + Rye + Malted Barley
Cask: New Charred Oak
Age: 2 Years
ABV: 62.87%
Cask Strength | Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color
Price: $80*
Tasting Notes
EYE
Ruddy caramel
NOSE
Dark fruit, caramel, vanilla, spice, raw wood, vanilla Laffy Taffy, grain and some biscuity notes. It starts out simple and darkly fruity and sweet, but as the Old Hansford Cask Strength Bourbon Whiskey opens that all-too-familiar raw, woody, craft note wafts up and slowly grows to the point of fixation if not domination.
PALATE
Crafty raw wood, dark fruit, cocoa, waxy taffy, cocoa and spice. Palate hits heavier with that crafty raw wood note overshadowing the darkly sweet and fruity and spicy notes I want to be experiencing.
FINISH
Medium-long -> Crafty raw wood, cocoa, blackberry taffy and grain. It starts with that crafty raw wood note, exposes some sweeter notes but then doubles back to fade out completely with that raw wood note.
BALANCE, BODY and FEEL
Not balanced, full body and a hot feel across the tongue.
Old Hansford Cask Strength Bourbon Whiskey – Overall Thoughts and Score
Do I see promise here? Sure. Do I think a 2-year-old Texas craft whiskey blended with MGP fully hits that bourbon mark? Nope; at least, not yet. From what I’m tasting and smelling in here I think the reason this isn’t quite-so-successful is the craft TX whiskey. I’m 99% sure that’s where that raw-unintegrated-woody craft profile is coming from.
Being able to sit down and dissect what was going on in this bourbon is exactly why I wanted to do it after doing a run of MGP whiskeys (Redemption series). I wanted to be able to compare and contrast and isolate notes and profiles. Though, unfortunately, that raw crafty profile that kept kicking up a bit higher than the MGP-style notes, covering them up a bit. I love the idea of the Old Hansford Cask Strength Bourbon Whiskey, and looking at the success of High West it obviously has merit, but I think the TX part of the blend needs further maturation.
SCORE: 2/5
*Disclosure: The bottle for this bourbon review was graciously sent to me by the company without obligation. The views, opinions, and tasting notes are 100% my own.
Old Hansford Cask Strength Bourbon Whiskey Review $80
Summary
Great idea, but the execution needs work. The raw crafty profile of the TX craft whiskey is far too pronounced and drowns out everything else as it opens.
Overall
2- Nose (2)
- Palate (2)
- Finish (2)
- BBF (2)
