With a tongue-in-cheek, but not untrue, line about being a product of “Mississippi’s oldest distillery” (they opened in 2011, the first since 1907) the Old Soul Blended Straight Bourbon Whiskey is the kind of product I like to see from a young distillery. They didn’t just push their young stuff out into the market and hope for the best. They didn’t just bottle some MGP whiskey and call it a day. They combined the two to make something new and different.
Not only did they make something new via the blend, but they went and listed the blend on the back of the bottle under their clear statement that it came from Indiana. That. Is. Awesome. Transparency to a fantastic level. They didn’t say who distilled which of the three whiskeys used, but the young, small craft guy having the youngest in the blend is a pretty safe bet. Blend listed below before we jump into the bourbon review.
- 55% Straight Bourbon Aged for 4 years 8 months
- 35% Straight Bourbon Aged for 4 years 3 months
- 10% Straight Bourbon Aged for 2 years 1 month
Old Soul Blended Straight Bourbon Whiskey Review: Details and Tasting Notes
In Cathead Distillery’s Words:
“This Old Soul is a precise blend of whiskey. Each with an identical high-rye mash bill. Aged for different amounts of time. Each barrel is reviewed by nose & palate – the old fashioned way – & expertly blended from whiskeys distilled in Indiana & Mississippi. Hand-made & hand selected. Old Soul is the perfect metaphor for our bourbon. One that is thoughtfully crafted with a nod to both tradition & the future.”
Details (price, mash bill, cask type, ABV, etc.)
Region: United States (Mississippi and Indiana)
Distiller: MGP & Cathead Distillery
Blender/Bottler: Cathead Distillery
Mash Bill: 75% Corn, 21% Rye, 4% Malted Barley
Cask: New Charred Oak
Age: 2 Years
ABV: 45%
Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color
Batch: 1
Barrels: 93
Price: $60*
Tasting Notes
EYE
Amber
NOSE
Caramel corn, spice, char, marshmallow, dried apples, oak and some bits of brown sugar and orange peel.
PALATE
Oak, caramel, corn, spiced orange peels. peanuts and some vanilla, chalk and olde candy.
FINISH
Med -> Oak, spice, nuts and dark sweetness.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Good sense of balance, medium body and a warm lightly oily feel.
Old Soul Blended Straight Bourbon Whiskey Review: Overall and Score
This is decent stuff. Aroma starts oaky and warm, though it flattens as it opens – but it’s still quite nice with bits of sweetness and rustic notes; Palate is warm and sweet and opens to more corn but keeps a strong oaky presence; Finish carries a nice even duality of sweet and spicy.
Was I a bit skeptical at first? Yes. But the sweetness and grain-forward notes of the younger bourbon riding under the more oaky and mature bourbon gives this a nice even profile.
I’d love to see this Old Soul Blended Straight Bourbon Whiskey done as a 6 yo, 8 yo, etc. to see how even more oak and spice play into this, but that’s getting a bit greedy. So I’ll just enjoy this as is or in an Old Fashioned, which it does VERY well in.
SCORE: 3.5/5
*Disclosure: This whiskey was graciously sent to me by the company for the purposes of this review. The views, opinions, and tasting notes are 100% my own.
Old Soul Blended Straight Bourbon Whiskey Review $60
Overall
3.5- Nose (3.5)
- Palate (3.5)
- Finish (3.5)
- BBF (3.5)
User Review
0 (0 votes) Comments Rating 0 (0 reviews)Old Soul Blended Straight Bourbon Whiskey Summary
Old Soul Blended Straight Bourbon Whiskey: A good whiskey with great layers or aromas and flavors to offer both neat or mixed.