This blade and bow bourbon review goes way back before I was able to get my hands on the bottle. To get to the punchline, blade and bow is blended and aged in the same warehouse as some very old pappy van winkle.
Now that your curiosity is piqued, let’s get the full story.
Blade and Bow is made by Diageo, , which is a huge brand. They make a ton of liquors, most of which you’ll find anywhere. However, they’ve been making their way into the area of bourbon.
Bulleit Bourbon has been their biggest success so far. That’s actually not one of my favorites so I feel like that was due in large part to a good marketing team and the wide distribution. In any case, Bulleit has earned them a spot at the table for sure.
Blade and Bow is named for the parts of a key. The Blade is the long part of the key and the bow is the more ornamental section. Apparently, the Five Key symbols also stands for the five steps to making bourbon. These steps start with grain, then yeast and fermentation, and finally distillation and aging. To make things even more neatly wrapped, the key is also a symbol of southern hospitality.
Plus, the key that is hanging off the bottle is cool looking. When I brought it home, my wife said she liked the design. She also picks her favorite football players by the colors of their uniform and if they look like nice people, so that all makes sense.
I’ve had a couple chances to pickup some Blade and Bow, but always had a higher priority. Finally, this one made its way to the top of my list and I went for it.
I found a nice liquor store that has a really wide selection, including Blade and Bow, at a reasonable cost. And actually the had a great bottle of 12 year old Weller, that I got at the same time as the Blade and Bow. That’s funny because Stitzel-Weller does the aging and blending for Blade and Bow. That’s where the Pappy roots come in. The Stitzel-Weller facility is where some of the older Pappy Van Winkle was made.
So you could say that Pappy and Blade and Bow have some similar roots, but they’re not the same by any means. Blade and Bow is good, but in my opinion it’s not Pappy good. However, there is a 22 year old Blade and Bow that I have yet to sample. So they could prove me wrong with that one.
Let me set the stage for you
It was a beautiful Southern California day when I was driving to my favorite liquor store. The freeway was pretty well free of significant traffic, which is always a nice thing in urban California. We have 10 lane freeways, but they always have so many people on them. It’s nuts. But at least I was able to shop in peace, without the tense muscles of road rage and stop and go traffic on the way there.
In addition, I had just played a really decent round of golf. I had one birdie and a handful of pats. So I was ready to relax with some decent bourbon and perhaps sit someplace where I could see the ocean. Plus, if you can see the ocean, then you can usually count on a nice breeze to go with it. That’s really a fantastic way to enjoy some fancy booze.
The younger Blade and Bow had a surprisingly simple taste. It was smooth and easy to drink, but it didn’t have a lot of character to it. The taste is straightforward. It didn’t have that complex flavor that many bourbons have, which many people probably like. It’s not very spicy or cinnamon tasting like Bulleit. But it’s also not very sweet. So you could say there’s a balance there, but it’s a balance of nothing.
It finishes smooth, so you know the quality is there. Don’t get me wrong, this is a nice bourbon. It’s light and accessible. Wine Enthusiast Magazine gives it a 94 and they recommend adding a little water to release some of the flavor layers so i need to try that as well.
Overall, this bourbon was very good. It just left me wanting a little more.