This is one I’ve been meaning to try for a while, but due to its low price and wide availability I just never got around to picking one up since I knew I could at any given time. Honestly, the only reason I decided to add a bottle to my collection now was due to the change in packaging. No, not because 1792 now looks like a tacky bottle of perfume, but because I saw one last bottle with the old design at a local store and had to get it. I’m not quite sure what Sazerac is trying to do here with all the gold and Great Gatsby website, but it’s clearly not aimed at my demographic.

1792 Ridgemont Reserve is distilled at the Barton 1792 Distillery and is aged in barrels with a 3-4 level char in “Warehouse Z” which, according to marketing, is the best place on planet earth to age bourbon. Congratulations 1792, you did it!

Ok, enough of that. Review time.

Company: Sazerac

Distillery: Barton 1792 Distillery

Location: Bardstown, KY

Mashbill: Not stated other than being a “high rye” recipe

Age: NAS, but previously carried an 8-year age statement

ABV: 46.85% (93.7 proof)

Released: Ongoing

Price: $22

Color: Amber

Nose: The first thing I notice here is a distinct green apple thing going on. It’s very sweet and I would never think I was sniffing a high-rye bourbon. There is quite a bit of vanilla here as well, with a little bit of oak in the back, but not much.

Taste: There’s the rye. Not as much as I would have expected, but it’s there. With the rye there are some thin layers of oak and brown sugar.

Finish:  More rye follows to the finish than anything else which brings with it some cinnamon heat and some decent dry oak notes.

Overall: This is a nice, clean, simple bourbon. I am very much reminded of Basil Hayden’s here, both because of the similar rye notes, but also the over all drinkability. I would put this with Basil Hayden’s as a great “so you want to try straight bourbon” bottle, and at the price point it would definitely be a good first step for those who are only familiar with bourbon as something you can put in Coke and get drunk on (not that there is anything wrong with that, I’ve done it so so many times).

Rating: 3.5/5