Blantons is definitely something I'd like to get to have in my collection, but it's not worth the extreme effort you have to put in here in PA, or paying close to $100 out of state. If I happen into one for MSRP I'll grab it out of obligation but that's it. And that really sums up my opinion of pretty much all of BT's offerings. Except BTAC, which I'd work for and pay maybe 2-3x retail. Flying home on a work trip gone bad a couple years ago I bought 6 biscuits from the ATL Popeyes and happily ate them on my next connection. About the only thing good that happened that night.
I've been lucky and walked into the store for other bottles within 15 minutes of the drop both last month and this month. In December they had CASES of Buff Trace sitting there. All gone the next day of course; but you can definitely see volume going up... and the cashiers have told me that whereas Blantons/Eagle Rare would be gone in 15 minutes in the past; they're sticking around up to 3 hrs now (PA has no tracking/alert system for drops... so someone who buys bourbon has to walk in, see them, and send out alerts to their pals before they sell). Honestly; send out some feelers; and make some friends who like bourbon as well; and let them know if they see it and don't need it to please pick it up for you. But even if you don't; I'd guess by the end of 2024; we might actually get to see Blanton's on the shelf in some locations.
Paid $55 for my (open) Blade & Bow, not a fan. Had a $25 Jim Beam single barrel earlier that was better but still not something I'll buy again. $74-$80 for my three unopened Blantons. Almost opened one of the Blantons for my birthday but something else came up. Only bought them because the price was good, figured I could trade them for something better.
If we didn’t have a channel, we’d keep one bottle of Blanton’s around and any others we bought would 100% be bought for trades. It’s definitely good for that!
Great review. Man tough crowd in those glasses. I don't mind the Blanton's but it sure isn't worth the price/hype. I have 1 bottle for my collection but I don't chase horsies. I have tried Blade and Bow a few times and is pretty good but not exceptional. On a Matt scale I would give Blanton's a 73 and the B&B a 76. Both aren't bad, not exceptional, and I probably wouldn't buy again. There are a lot of $30- $50 bottles out there that are better I feel. Heck even some solid $15- $30 bottles that would beat these two out in a blind. Cheers!
We can definitely agree with that. There’s quite a bit in the $15-30 range we’d prefer ourselves. This particular bottle of Blanton’s is solid though so it’ll be interesting to see how it fares in upcoming head-to-heads.
Is the description awful, or is *the whiskey as she describes it* awful? I find Erin's descriptions pungent and clear, though I might not agree with them. 🙂
I LIKE Blantons and I'd do Eagle Rare plus Rare Breed over it... It's $68 here not $80 tho (But you have to get to the store 1-3 hrs after they put it out (Used to be 15 minutes... but Buffalo Trace HAS been upping production) Eagle Rare is $35 and Rare Breed is $49... so that's $84... Meaning for me; Blantons is a fair price; but paying over $100 for it is silly in my opinion. I see a lot of guys argue that Blanton's is a $50 bourbon in a $20 bottle for the $70 price... I can see that; but only opening up proof to allow stuff LIKE Rare Breed against it. Yes Rare Breed is a $50 bourbon that you could argue is better. It's also 25% higher proof. If you like 90 proofers... I can't think of any cheaper bottle @ that Proof I like better. Closest two for me are Eagle Rare and ECSB. I'll say this; a lot of hearts are going to break if Rare Breed keeps raising the price and/or gets allocated.
Excellent, excellent, excellent review. I totally agree with you on both. I bought Blade & Bow on the recommendation of a liquor store manager who ended up “finding” an EH Taylor bottle. It’s okay, I don’t hate it, but not one I ever crave. Blantons is good. I like Blantons, but it isn’t great. So many bottles on the shelf I would drink before it. Well done you two. And Josh is right ….. sausage!
Thumbs down on Blantons for me. Over hyped, much better stuff (I mean whiskey) for the money. (But I do want the horses…sigh…) Blade & Bow, never had, but I’ll pass. Yet to find New Riff in the meantime…
Haha! We gotta get back to saying that. We definitely don’t get all the usual notes that higher levels tasters get (and it’s our hope that that makes our content a bit more relatable). Cheers and thanks for watching Mitch!
I paid $64 and $74 for my two Blanton's. I guess I would still buy it at $74 again, just so friends can try it. No more than that though. The idiots buying on the secondary market for hundreds of dollars, are driving the retail places to raise their prices, and you get about 5mins to pick it up when it's available. So what's your $80 go to?
We’ve got so many. Anything 100 proof and up that’s quality is a better fit for our palates and Rare Breed is our “yardstick” bourbon. Almost any 90ish proof pour from a major distillery can compete and beat Blanton’s in a blind tasting in our experience.
I don’t know why but Blanton’s finds me. I always have multiple bottles. I am in CA and it is relatively hard to find. But I think it is average to mediocre at best. In fact I was just awarded one as a consolation in the Total Wine lottery and I did not pick it up as there are better bottles for $65. I wish Stagg would find me. That would be a problem I could handle.
We did a 7 person 5 way blind with some heavy hitters (Smoke Wagon Uncut Unfiltered, Blue Run, Barrell Bourbon, Stellum Black) and it was far and away everyone's favorite (possibly a bit unfair as Blanton's was 10-15 pts lower in proof than the others). I think it is an amazing pour for someone who like Bourbon but isn't all the way down the rabbit hole. It's balanced and has a lot of mild flavors to pick out and enjoy. It compares very favorably with other 90 ish proof offerings. I think that's all it is. It's not blowing your palette up and it's not super oakey or complicated or one note like some of the other bottles you can buy for $80. I'm not suggesting it's a good value at that price, but I can totally understand why people go crazy for it. This is the exact same reason McKenna 10yr is so popular. It's a really balanced bottle that feels well balanced and at 100 proof, it's not too hard to drink for those who aren't chasing after cask strength.
@@RocketSauce666 then you must have gotten a great barrel cause everytime ive done a blind with blantons it has come out near the bottom, and it lost to wt 101. So yeah, i just legitimately dont get why people freak out about it. It lacks depth and flavor. Im not saying its bad, its perfectly enjoyable, but it also doesnt hold up to plenty of bottles half its price in my experience.
Spot on Aidan. It’s not that it’s bad, unless you get a single barrel you don’t enjoy, but it’s not that it’s crazy good either. Interesting blind, Zachary. We always try to keep proof close, otherwise bias above and beyond flavor profile comes into the equation (the outlier in proof will almost surely come in first or last depending on preference, and almost entirely because of proof rather than quality). Blanton’s is middling in a sea of 90ish proof pours in our experience unless you just get an absolute ringer of a bottle.
@@stuffandwhiskey - Yeah, it wasn't ideal... we were having our monthly Whiskey Club get together and decided to go for expensive / harder to find bottles vs. trying to create a blind to tease out something specific. I intend to put that same bottle up against similar ones to see how it holds up.
Not paying over retail for Blantons. I'm not anti-Blantons just against paying outrageous markups for average product that the "masses" have deemed to be sooo amazing. I feel like having it on your shelf is just to flex that you were able to find it when, for most, it is hard to come by.
The way neither of you were overly impressed by the Blanton's blind shows how silly it is that the stuff is so sought after. The finger quotes "It's so smooth" cracked me up. It's the casual "smooth" whiskey people going nuts for Blanton's.
Thanks so much Riley. That’s precisely why we do all our tastings double blind. It really shows how some of these hyped up bottles don’t inspire a lot of excitement when you don’t know you’re drinking them. Cheers and thanks for watching!
Not fair on the comment Josh, “BT products are all artificially sweet.” I agree with Erin here B&B is a good alternative but isn’t nearly as good. Hard to find but Boone County 6yr SiB is excellent alternative to Blantons if you find it.
Josh here. That's fair. We each have our own taste profiles we prefer. We've found that Buffalo Trace products aren't really either of our favorites through blind tastings--depending on the Buffalo Trace product and age, there's either a sugary, fruit-forward apple juice vibe or a cherry/grape hard candy vibe. Erin prefers the more herbal, earthy profiles of ryes and high rye bourbons. I prefer a darker, heavier, more candy bar profile in my bourbon with heavier caramel and vanilla profile. That's what I meant when I say artificially sweet.
I like sweet whisky, and what I've had from Buffalo Trace (BT itself, White Dog Mash Bill #1, and Eagle Rare) haven't struck me as *artificially* sweet. They're sweet, yes, but I consider it a natural sweetness. Of course tastes differ, and what strikes me one way might legitimately strike you a whole nother way. 🙂
I just had both the other night at my parents Kentucky Derby party. The conclusion I made is that Blade and Bow is excellent. Blanton's, at least for me, in terms of Buffalo Trace products is behind, Buffalo Trace and Eagle Rare. I've done blind taste tests over and over again hoping to rank Blanton's ahead of those two, but I can't, it never seems to work out that way.
We’ve had the same thing happen to us, Ryan. Eagle Rare has a lot more age and is our favorite low proof Buffalo Trace product. And Buffalo Trace itself is a batched product, likely with more age than Blanton’s. Unless it’s an exceptional single barrel of Blanton’s, they’re just not measuring up well even to Buffalo Trace’s other product offerings in our eyes.
I like Blanton’s better than Blade and Bow. I need to get back to the Blade and Bow. I tried it a couple times but didn’t really care for it but that was the neck pour. Hopefully it’s opened up a bit. Blanton’s is 60 in Kentucky where I live.
I was able to get a bottle of Blantons for £65 and was fine paying that. Would I buy it again? Probably not. Glad to try it but too many other possibilities to still try.
I'm a Blade and Bow fan. I never see Blantons in the upstate of SC. I've had a pour of Blantons before and for the pice and availability, I'll pick B&B all day long!! Cheers!
Thanks again for a good blind. I got my 1st bottle of Blantons last week in a store lotto. I have not opened it yet as i would rather hold it for a trade since i am not overly excited about blantons but know many want it for trade.
Oh wow, that’s the lowest we’ve heard of in years. For that price it’s definitely worth keeping around (if for no other reason than the fact that it’s bottle art).
I Like Larceny, but I wouldn't say it stacks up to Blantons... I put it between Buffalo Trace and Eagle Rare, and much closer to Buffalo Trace. That said; is Blantons worth more than twice as much? Up to the buyer/drinker to decide. Rich/Complex brings us back to the proof again. It's hard to justify >$50 for a 90ish (93) proof whiskey in my book... unless you're finishing it or putting a ton of age on it or something to get that additional complexity. I would say the best representation of that for me is Knob 12 vs Blantons... Very close in price here. Both allocated (But Knob 12 much much easier to get and is on the shelf in MOST stores here... seen it behind the counter a time or two)... and that extra 7 proof on the knob (and I'd assume extra age since Blantons is supposedly 6-8yr) makes it easily worth the extra $4 if you had to choose one. But if you don't and you want some variety on the bar... I can't think of a better straightforward, easy drinking, 90ish proof bottle than Blantons. If my budget were capped at $30? Larceny may be the choice. But it's worth the extra $38 for the amount I enjoy Blantons over Larceny. (I do sip on Larceny on occasion; but Blantons is more often my choice).
You said glass two at $80 isn't one you're excited about but at $62? That's what I paid for the big "B" at costco my last bottle...I think it's definitely worth THAT if for nothing else the share factor...
Definitely worth having a bottle around to share with guests. We like being able to give them that experience. We also like blinding them on Blanton’s vs. any other 90ish proof pour from any other major distillery and seeing them find out Blanton’s isn’t anything special. The bottle is a work of art though and worth having on the shelf for that reason alone.
My local grocery store get Blantons on the regular. But i think I’ll just re fill my Blantons bottle with Jon J Bowman instead of dropping another $60 on a new bottle 😂
We actually like John J Bowman a lot better than Blanton’s. The extra proof helps a ton. We’ll be filling an old empty Blanton’s with Ancient age 90 and blinding guests on it, an actual Blanton’s, and a few other things that are comparable.
