Sam Houston Kentucky Straight Bourbon is bottled by Three Springs Bottling Company of Bowling Green, Kentucky. Three Springs is very open as to what is in the bottle. The label is a wealth of information. This is bottle 16 of 480. It is a small batch of three barrels that were barreled in April of 2006 and aged for 15 years and 6 months. The barrels had a number 4 char level. The mash bill was 74% corn, 18% rye and 8% malted barley. Matt and I tasted this bottle and here are our notes.
Sam Houston 15-Year-Old Bourbon
Proof: 103
Age: 15 Years, 6 Months
Nose:
- Mike: Caramel with a floral note of roses, very ripe apples, baking spices and oak wood.
- Matt: Caramel with roses, honey, cherries and oak wood.
Taste:
- Mike: Caramel with ripe apples, ginger and black pepper spice and oak tannins. Tasted with a dried cranberry and a note of vanilla with less spice, but it becomes a bit medicinal and astringent on the tongue. Tasted with a pecan and the apple notes and black pepper come out strong.
- Matt: A chocolate covered cherry and rose water dominate the flavor. The dried cranberry made it taste of chocolate and red hot cinnamon candy. The pecan made the Bourbon taste of chocolate, toffee and coffee bean.
Finish:
- Mike: Medium long with oak tannins and black pepper. The dried cranberry added a little lingering vanilla to the taste and tamed the pepper spice. The pecan made the finish very peppery and dry with oak tannins.
- Matt: Long with chocolate, leather and oak wood. The dried cranberry made the finish very spicy with a flavor of hot pepper jelly and oak. The pecan made the finish very spicy with cinnamon and black pepper and oak tannins.
I would pair this with a milder cigar, one without a lot of cedar spice. I would reach for a Nub Connecticut wrapper cigar.
Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller