Last week I ran through a bunch of Very Olde St. Nick Rye whiskeys, this week it’s the bourbons turn and just like we did at the tasting we’re kicking it off with the Very Olde St. Nick 8 yr Estate Reserve Bourbon. The VOSN line is an interesting NDP brand that has all kinds of ties into bourbon history. Most of which is speculation. I’ve reached out to try and discover more detail about this elusive brand, but still haven’t heard anything back from them yet.
However, unlike the unruly world of speculation we were living in for the rye we do know where most, if not all, of the VOSN bourbon comes from and that is the legendary Stitzel-Weller distillery. So as far as we knew, that night we were going through a nice line-up of old Stitzel-Weller stocks, but as the night unfolded it was clear that if all of it was indeed from SW then it, like every other distillery in existence, had it’s fair share of hits and misses.
Very Olde St. Nick – 8 yr Estate Reserve Bourbon Review
ABV: 45%
Age: 8 years
Price: NA – Prices vary due to rarity (Japan export)
Distiller: Stitzel-Weller
Bottler: The Kulsveens (Willett / KBD)
EYE
Caramel
NOSE
A nice mild caramel kicks things off with some vanilla and mild dark fruit counterparts. A touch of astringent oak pairs well with some butterscotch and nutty notes to make a nice pleasant, albeit not too complex aroma.
PALATE
Caramel is a bit more syrup like here and the presence of raw grains and corn are surprisingly high here. A bit of that pure alcohol presence mixes with notes of sugar, citrus zest, dark fruit and vanilla. The palate is busier than the nose, but busy doesn’t always mean better.
FINISH
Kind of a “meh” ending of old caramel, dark fruit, funky wood and alcohol. Medium in length.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Didn’t feel very balanced, came across as disjointed and awkward to me. Medium body and a hot rough feel didn’t really help things out much.
OVERALL
This one was a bit of a miss for me. The nose was a little too closed off and the palate, while having some nice characteristics, didn’t quite come together as a cohesive whole. It felt a bit disjointed and out of whack to me and was a bit of a polarizing bourbon with some loving it, some not and others not caring one way or the other which is ultimately where I landed. So really, a great way to start off a night and get everyone talking. As an ice-breaker bourbon it works pretty damn well.
SCORE: 80-84/100 (range given due to having it at a tasting and not in a controlled environment)
