Database
Bottle Guide
Mash bill, proof and price where we have them, with a rating out of 10 where the evidence supports one.
- Legacy Rating
- A published Ledger editorial judgment that predates our current evidence standard. The number is preserved exactly; its sensory basis was not recorded.
- Tasting notes
- Our own nose, palate and finish, published when we have written them up. We do not present other reviewers' observations as ours.
- Review Pending
- We have not covered this bottle yet.
- Audience Score Pending
- We researched the community evidence and it did not support a number we would defend.
Showing all 10 bottles
Small Batch · Bottled-in-Bond
E.H. Taylor, Jr. Small Batch
Issue No. 002's featured bottle — a bonded, 100-proof reference point, and a lesson in what a federal designation does and doesn't guarantee.
Wheated Bourbon
Bardstown Bourbon Company High Wheat
Bottle #3 in Issue No. 003's three-way mash bill lab: 39% wheat, a low 108 barrel-entry proof, and the highest score of the three.
Wheated Bourbon
W.L. Weller Antique 107
Issue No. 005's Bottle of the Week — more concentration than Special Reserve, still below barrel-proof territory, and the clearest lesson in the whole Weller lineup.
Wheated Bottled-in-Bond · Bottled-in-Bond
Bardstown Bourbon Company Wheated Bottled-in-Bond
Bottle #2 in Issue No. 003's three-way mash bill lab, and the clearest bridge to Issue No. 002's Bottled-in-Bond lesson.
Straight Bourbon
Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon
The Bottle of the Week in Issue No. 006: a bourbon built from pot-still and column-still whiskey, blended for a consistent, repeatable profile.
High-Rye Bourbon
Bardstown Bourbon Company High Rye
Bottle #1 in Issue No. 003's three-way mash bill lab: 36% rye, estate-distilled, six years old.
Wheated Bourbon
Willett Pot Still Reserve
Issue No. 004's Bottle of the Week — an accessible, wheated modern Willett with a published recipe and lower entry proof.
Solera-aged · Straight Bourbon
Blade and Bow
Issue No. 011's featured bottle — made and sold at the Stitzel-Weller site, with a solera the company says carries older Stitzel-Weller stock in every bottle.
Fair Value
Barrel Proof — uncut, non-chill-filtered, batch-specific proof and age · Cask Strength
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof
Issue No. 007's Bottle of the Week — uncut, non-chill-filtered Elijah Craig with batch-specific proof and age, priced closer to rational than most cask-strength bourbon.
US★1 Small Batch
Michter's US★1 Bourbon
Issue No. 001's featured bottle — the modern Michter's house style, and the reference point the rest of the range is measured against.