Welcome back, friends. It’s a lovely week here in Utah - besides the unyielding wind completely drowning my turkey hunts and fly fishing practice - and I have another lovely bottle to share with you. This was a find up in Bountiful, shipped over from Colorado. It really looks like the ol’ CO is propping itself up to be one of the next big states outside of KY and the rest of the traditional Whiskey Road stops, alongside big brother Texas and our home turf, UT, the west is trying it’s best to be the best, and Old Elk isn’t letting us down.
Old Elk Blended Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Fort Collins, CO
$49.99
44% / 80 Proof
Nose - The Ol’ Ungulate’s musk was a surprise, a sharp shock of pine, citrus, and rye is immediate and upfront. Refreshing and cooling, the anticipation of a menthol-esque sensation is titillating for the taste buds and really got me excited. Maraschino cherries and brown sugar come in on the back end with hints of other classic bourbon flavors and cinammon, as well what I detect to be a deep, sweet banana aroma.
Palette - The pine comes through beautifully delivering a taste similar to fresh pine needle tea, leading quickly to a refreshing gin mint julep, cooling sensations a full rye flavors start to take hold on the second half of the taste, but the gin flavors are nearly omnipotent once they make their presence known.
Finish - Delightful and refreshing just as the nose promises, the cooling menthol sensation of the high-rye and malted barley recipe truly sits unique and on its own from beginning to end, introducing a warming-yet-cool numbness that transcends most typical bourbon finishes of either crisp heat or slow burns.
Thoughts - Old Elk must be a 6 point buck because the unique and intriguing tastes it offers is hard to find in the wild. This bourbon prides itself on its different nature, and they should; The distillers over in Fort Collins aren’t taking the easy road of basic bourbon ballast, using up-front sweet sugary/vanilla notes with an unoffensive nature. This bull is masterful in its bugle, and without a doubt runs the Whiskey Mountain with a strong and natural flavor of bold, eccentric piquancy. I’m really digging this bottle and it’s a fantastic break-away from other bourbons that are either easy go-to’s or easy to forget. My friends in Colorado have captured the zest of their Rocky Mountain heritage, mixed it with water, and let it sit in a beautifully charred barrel for the perfect amount of time. I highly recommend Old Elk if you’re into spicy ryes, a gin man looking to get into whiskey or a lover of bottles with character. I’m quite impressed with this whiskey, which in all honesty I thought was going to be a kind of kitschy knock-off like Gold Bar.
8/10