Bourbon Reviews:
| Bottling Name | Ancient Ancient Age 10 yr | | Bottled By | Ancient Age Distilling Co. Frankfort,KY | | Type | Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey | | Alcohol content | 86 Proof | | Availability | US: Available Japan: Unknown Duty Free: Unknown Europe: Unknown | | Mashbill Info | BT high rye | | Age | 10 | | Views (since 20080612) | 33682 | | Bottling Info | (From the "GreatBourbon" website)
This is mesmeric stuff. It is quite a dry bourbon, really. But there is just the right toffee presence to form the perfect balance. This is the whiskey I ask for first when in Kentucky and in search of something with a character and class of its own.
Jim Murray
Classic Bourbon, Rye and Tennessee Whiskey
Photo courtesy trade section on GreatBourbon |
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Review from Birdo (BourbonEnthusiast Review ID 2113, Created:20120904144816, Updated:20120905090603) | Purchased at: | Liquor Barn on Hurstborne, Louisville KY | | Purchased for: | 16.99/750ml | | Info on this bottle: | 10 years old | | Nose: | Nice typical bourbon. Vanilla. | | Taste: | Nice carmel and vanilla smoothed out nice from the 10 years in the barrels. Not to sweet. | | Finish: | Very smooth, medium viscocity, the rye is subdued due to the age (I guesss). Reasonably long finish. | | Overall: | Very drinkable. I like it as well as Buffalo Trace which also Makes AAA, and at $5 less, its a heck of a good value. I'll buy more. This not the 100 proof brawlers I usually like, but this is excellent and will please bourbon drinkers in the know. May be the best bourbon under $20 bucks, and is as good as many small batch offerings. |
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Review from gillmang (BourbonEnthusiast Review ID 2098, Created:20120722214136, Updated:20120722214249) | Purchased at: | Bought in Kentucky earlier this year, I think Liquor Barn | | Purchased for: | About $18.00 | | Info on this bottle: | Current issue | | Proof Of this Bottle: | 86 | | Nose: | Very light nose | | Taste: | Very good, soft and pillowy, light flavor for 10 years old but good flavor, everything in the right place, kind of like light-colored butterscotch | | Finish: | Maybe a touch fruity like greengage or green grapes, excellent fade like a good brandy | | Overall: | Top quality, very different from the 70's bottle I reviewed at the foot of these reviews of Triple A: cleaner, more elegant. I recall some bottles of this 10 years ago being a little rough, this isn't like that at all. Excellent value. |
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Review from corvidan (BourbonEnthusiast Review ID 1718, Created:20091007213539) | Purchased at: | Liquor Barn, Lexington, KY | | Purchased for: | $Cheap | | Info on this bottle: | The usual | | Nose: | I love the smell of AA in the morning. | | Taste: | I love the taste more than the nose. | | Finish: | I finished the bottle much to soon - not much past noon. | | Overall: | Excellent by any standard! Damn the powers that be that make it impossible to buy this fine whiskey in Upstate NY. Damn them all to hell! |
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Review from BourbonDave (BourbonEnthusiast Review ID 1554, Created:20090504204513) | Purchased at: | Rite Aid, Lexington, KY | | Purchased for: | $17 | | Info on this bottle: | 750ml | | Nose: | Vanilla, but on the lighter side, reminds me of ETL but not as pronounced. | | Taste: | Lightly sweet, vanilla and toffee. Mid palate some burn but not very heavy. Light to medium viscosity on the tongue. I swear this tastes a little like ETL. | | Finish: | Dry, in fact, pretty dry. There is a slight finish, maybe because I just came off of higher proof bottles. It doesn't have a great finish, not like ETL or even other 90 proof bourbons. | | Overall: | For $17 bucks this is an incrdible buy. I know that Blantons is selected from single barrels, once those are chosen, then what remains isn't thrown in the KY River. It's bottled and sold as Ancient Ancient Age! I still think this resembles an ETL light, rather than Blantons. It's more fruity and less malty than Blantons. Great beginner whisky or even budget bourbon. |
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Review from Mike (BourbonEnthusiast Review ID 1329, Created:20081026160822) | Purchased at: | KY its own self | | Purchased for: | Near 'bout $13 | | Nose: | Corn, rye, oak, vanilla greet the smeller. Lurking nearby in smidgeariness are raisins or some dark fruit........I think. A nice bourbonic nose leading the drinker on to a taste. | | Taste: | As foretold by the nose, a nice thick sweet upfront taste moderated by a grip of spice along about the middle. Oak hums a solemn but insistent tune in the background. The sweet, the dry, and the spice in good proportions make for a complex drap and I like it considerablely. The 86 proof yields a soft by not timid whiskey. | | Finish: | Moderately long and dry finish with very subdued alcohol presence. | | Overall: | One of Mr Bunghole's favorite pours from the past holds up well and is in no way ashamed of its 86 proof. I could see myself sitting in the shade of a fall afternoon and drinking half a bottle whilst watching the leaves change color before my very eyes............but if I did my dog would want a sip and next thing you know we would be quarreling about who was best, man or dog...........so I will stop now before things get out of paw. |
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Review from spun_cookie (BourbonEnthusiast Review ID 1102, Created:20080601205157) | Purchased at: | Gilbert Clan Bourbon palace | | Nose: | Green apples and vanilla | | Taste: | Might be the best cheap bourbpn I have ever had. Buttery vanilla, cream of corn yummy | | Finish: | 40 seconds on the top end, but just as buttery as teh taste | | Overall: | This reminded me of the Bartons with more vanilla and buttery |
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Review from bourbonv (BourbonEnthusiast Review ID 930, Created:20071202120616, Updated:20090608222929) | Purchased at: | Our Place Liquors | | Purchased for: | 17.99 | | Info on this bottle: | Standard bottle from liqor store | | Proof Of this Bottle: | 86 | | Nose: | Caramel and apples with a hint of fine leather and sweet spices. | | Taste: | A bit thin in the mouth feel but sweet with corn and caramel and sweet spices like cloves and allspice. No alcohol burn at all. | | Finish: | Longer than one would think with the thinness of the taste, but sweet with caramel and spices leading to an oak tannin dryness. Very pleasant finish that lingers just long enough. | | Overall: | A very good bourbon for the price. Nothing offensive and plenty working in its favor. |
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Review from Kendall (BourbonEnthusiast Review ID 833, Created:20070910150930) | Purchased at: | Central Liquors, Richmond Ky. | | Purchased for: | 5.25 | | Info on this bottle: | ancient acient age full 10 years/200ml 1/2 pint | | Proof Of this Bottle: | 86 | | Nose: | very light butterscotch,butter | | Taste: | light, not much to describe. | | Finish: | dry, fast and smooth | | Overall: | good first bourbon, good mixer
added water, it did nothing but make it weaker. |
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Review from LogicalFrank (BourbonEnthusiast Review ID 827, Created:20070828202339) | Purchased at: | Binny's in Chicago, Lakeview | | Purchased for: | $13.99 | | Proof Of this Bottle: | 86 | | Nose: | Unfortunately quite subdued as what is there is quite a nice mix of tart fruit, oak, leather and earth. | | Taste: | Sharp up front w/ a nice corn sweetness. | | Finish: | Burns the throat a bit much but is pleasant overall and a very much consistent w/ the nose--mild and tart. | | Overall: | Very basic in a way that means it's just simple and tasty. Though it is very mild, I didn't find it had that "bourbon and a splash of water" taste that a lot of lower proof things have. It has a complexity fitting of a ten year but w/o nearly an assertive flavor profile as a higher proof whiskey. |
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Review from Mike (BourbonEnthusiast Review ID 744, Created:20070413142142, Updated:20070413143721) View discussion on this review.
| Purchased at: | | | Purchased for: | $13 | | Nose: | A nose that has a slight sour cast that my memory associates with yeast. A bit like sour dough bread, it is. This aroma gives AAA 10 YO its own distinct character and surprises and perks up the nose immediately. I enjoy that unique smell. Along come wood, vanilla, caramel, nuts, and, after a while in the glass, a wee hint of chocolate/coffee that is rich and pleasing. A complex play with a host of small town eccentric characters parading about. | | Taste: | Corn sweetness and wood tannins tug against some spicy bite, giving way toward the back of the mouth to a very dry taste. Like the nose, a unique whiskey taste experience. The slight sourness comes through the winner over the sweetness, and again seems yeasty to me. | | Finish: | The finish is not long, not short, but is very dry. As noted above the sour (but not unpleasant) notes return and linger.........again, I propose that it is the yeast doing this........but I cannot say that with certainty. | | Overall: | A very interesting bourbon that is a change of pace for me. It is not very sweet, not very spicy, but is quite dry across the palate and is an interesting and complex bourbon. Mr. Bunghole, tell us about one of your favorite bourbons, do you know the recipe, could it be the yeast I am detecting, or am I in left field altogether? Speak, ole buddy! Reveal its mysteries......... |
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Review from Mike (BourbonEnthusiast Review ID 513, Created:20060530133159, Updated:20060530174717) | Purchased at: | Chuck's Liquor Outlet, Bowling Green, KY | | Purchased for: | $12.99 | | Proof Of this Bottle: | 86 | | Nose: | A somewhat light nose with corn and vanilla immediately followed by a dry oak and char aroma. Teasing their way out are nuts, mild spices, coffee, and dry autumn leaves. Not a forceful nose but complex and subtle in its softness. | | Taste: | The taste is in complete character with the nose. A light sweetness that almost tiptoes across the tongue before becoming spicy around mid-palate. The oak and char dryness take command at the back of the mouth. | | Finish: | The finish is moderately long with the sweet and spice flavors lingering only to be driven off again by the oak dryness with just a touch of coffee. | | Overall: | An interesting bourbon with a distinct flavor profile to my palate. I would not hesitate to recommend it, especially for the money. It reminds me a bit of Dickel No 12, which I also like. |
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Review from bourbonv (BourbonEnthusiast Review ID 363, Created:20060311063854) | Purchased at: | Bourbon's Bistor Bar | | Purchased for: | 5.00 | | Info on this bottle: | Standard Bottle | | Proof Of this Bottle: | 86 | | Nose: | Sweet corn and oak with a hint of caramel and a little mint. | | Taste: | Rich caramel with oak and spice - cinnamon and allspice. | | Finish: | Very sweet caramel with a hint of dry oak. | | Overall: | Very good neat, but would also make a good cocktail such as a manhattan or julep. |
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Review from bunghole (BourbonEnthusiast Review ID 290, Created:20051003074533, Updated:20090608223144) | Purchased at: | ABC Store #338 Waynesboro, Virginia. | | Purchased for: | $12.90/1L | | Proof Of this Bottle: | 86 | | Nose: | Nicely complex nose with delightful banana; vanilla, and caramel topnotes. Toffee and smokey oak undertones along with some very light florals round out the tune. | | Taste: | Creamy vanilla toffee and charred oak right out front with some malty/fruity string section in the back. | | Finish: | Very sweet start that dries softly in a pleasent medium finish with a very nice late arriving mocha during the fade out. | | Overall: | This is one of my very favorite bourbons of all time. Due to it's affordable price it is my everyday pour.
Try a totally blind shootout between this and Hancock's President's Reserve single barrel and I think you will be very pleasently surprised at how close these two fine bourbons truely are. The biggest difference is price. |
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Review from gillmang (BourbonEnthusiast Review ID 187) View discussion on this review.
| Purchased at: | Tim S. bought it at a Tennessee store with old stock and gave me some at recent sampler | | Info on this bottle: | Late 1970's bottle | | Proof Of this Bottle: | 80 | | Nose: | Medium-dark butterscotch, corn, vanilla, some "dank" flavours (forest, mushroom). | | Taste: | Sweetish, full in flavor, slight peppermint note (from rye perhaps), light smokey background, tingly (oak tannin), faint taste of old wood, "medicinal", complex. | | Finish: | In contrast to the 1967 AA I'd say this Triple A is older-tasting, slightly more astringent but more "concentrated": in other words basically the same whiskey but 4 years on: makes sense. :) | | Overall: | Very good whiskey. For sipping neat I think I prefer the 1967 AA which is more "luscious". But this Triple A would make a killer Old-Fashioned or long drink. I think my taste notes, while differently expressed, are essentially what Mike has reported for the Triple A of the late 1980's/early 90's. The Triple A of 2005 strikes me as quite different from those two. If there is one thing I note in these 1960's and 1970's bottlings it is a heavy body and soft, balanced flavor. The Trace range today doesn't really offer that, I think the whiskeys have gotten lighter with the exception of Elmer T. Lee, which is very good but doesn't resemble these older ones at all. The Elmer Lee's taste is more pungent, pronounced and spicy, less toffee-like, too. I guess I have to hold out the possibility that these whiskeys from the 60's and 70's improved in the bottle. As John Lipman said, the components in bottles that old have been getting to know each other for a long time, so that may meld the flavours in a way not apparent in the current Trace products. Possibly an Elmer T. Lee bunkered for 30 years may taste better than it does when new. Sorry I can't wait. :) |
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