Hall of Champions Distillery Bourbon (Golf Club Decanter)
$50
Hall of Champions Distillery Bourbon (Golf Club Decanter)
Proof: 90
Age: Unknown
Distillery: Cooperstown Distillery (Cooperstown, NY)
Type: Bourbon Whiskey
Mash: Unknown
Website: Cooperstown Distillery
*Disclaimer: A score of 5 is the midpoint for my reviews. Above 5 I like it. Below 5 I didn’t for some reason. Most of my reviews are between 4-7. It takes something really really special to go above 7 or below 4. See the methodologies for rating at the end of the article
Nose: Honey, Light Fruits, Light Oak, Sweet Corn Grain comes through. The nose was pleasant, but the youth is noticeable.
Taste/Palate: Caramel Chew, Dry Oak, Honey, and Clove. You take a sip and after a second the flavor profile seems to drop off. Heavy Caramel and Sawdust (The Dry Oak) and it seems to go from volume level 7 to 3 immediately.
Finish: The finish is a victim of the flavor profile dropping sharply. It’s dull and muted. You are left with a finish that’s a combination of Light Oak, Cinnamon, and Raisin. It’s a short dry finish.
Verdict: The juice itself is not worth the price. It seems to be young and unbalanced. If you like Bourbons where the Grain is upfront like Buck 8 or Garrison Brothers, this might be for you. However you can find better characteristics and balance from another brand. If you value the golf club as a future decanter and put a $25-$30 value on that then sure go for it. The contents that come with this bottle did not deliver anything special to me. It’s certainly not a drain pour, but it’s standard drinker that could consumed neat with no real benefit or used as a solid mixer. The decanter was factored into the value rating for this review, because lets be honest, It’s the only reason why I purchased this to begin with.
MSRP: $50 Price Ceiling: $50… But only once, for the bottle (The most I’d pay for this bottle)
The Story: I’m fortunate to have friends in other states that occasionally take pictures from their local stores to see if there is anything I want. On this occasion I spotted the golf club shaped bottle in the picture and said “if it’s under $50, go ahead and grab it for me”. It turned out to be $53, so they grabbed it anyway. I blindly said pick it up. I had no knowledge as to who distilled the spirit inside, just pick it up because it’s the shape of a golf club. The marketing got me. But hey, it’s a conversation piece on the bar now. It will probably end up at the cabin on a shelf to be completely honest. But it’s not a throwaway bottle. The brand itself has a lot of spirits of all varieties put in different decanter shapes, such as a baseball, football, or golf club driver head. This reminds me of the tommy gun shaped vodka or the whiskey that comes in a bowling pin. Marketing.
I’m going to ruffle some feathers here, but speaking of marketing… Blanton’s. It’s all the rage. Everyone LOVES Blanton’s. I myself used to always have a bottle on hand and enjoyed drinking it… For the price I used to pay for it ($50). Now it seems to be a popularity contest because it’s so hard to find. But, how did we get to that stage? Blanton’s had a cool shaped bottle, but more importantly the bottle stoppers shaped like a horse with individually lettered spelling out B L A N T O N: S make it a treasure hunt. The hunt component has since been duplicated by brands such as Blade and Bow with the 5 Key’s club. Given Marketing is my day job I have a interest in this aspect of Bourbon, but I’m always curious if the juice inside matches the Marketing aspect. More times than I can count the marketing outpaces the contents and that’s why the marketing is needed so much. I don’t mean to attack Blanton’s. Luckily, they have more than just marketing behind the brand. They are one of the first single barrel offered spirit as a standard delivery, not to mention it’s produced by Buffalo Trace. They know what they are doing. I bring up Buffalo Trace because the Marketing has elevated the brand to a price point beyond what it delivered on the inside. Buffalo Trace is not responsible for the inflated price point. I for one commend Buffalo Trace for keeping their spirits at a reasonable price, even when they know they could double almost their entire line’s MSRP and it would still be allocated.
The Distillery’s Story: “Hand Crafted Artisanal Spirits. Cooperstown Distillery employs the highest quality artisanal distilling practices. Using almost entirely New York State grains, we produce a full line of spirits. We are a farm distillery and work to “know our farmers” to produce spirits made from select grains grown by people we trust and respect. Our custom-crafted stills are the focal point of our Railroad Avenue location.
Here, you can enjoy the “grain to bottle” experience. You will witness the entire process, from the mash right through distillation and aging. Most notably, our award-winning, distinguished whiskeys are carefully matured on site in choice barrels, which further enhance their deep rich color and complex character. We then hand-bottle and hand-label our nationally-recognized spirits.
At Cooperstown Distillery, you can join a VIP tour, meet the distiller, and enjoy a sampling in our tasting room. Our distillery store and satellite Beverage Exchange retail outlets also feature an eclectic mix of bitters, cocktail accessories and glassware- including our Baseball Hall of Fame Signature Series decanters and other premium gift items.”
Side Note: I could not find much information on this Bourbon Whiskey in the Golf Club shaped bottle at the time of this review. On the website they only have a Vodka or Single Malt listed in this particular shape. They have a bunch of different whiskey offerings in other bottle shapes, but this one was tough to track down, even on secondary sites.
Methodologies for Rating:
1. Dump it down the drain or regift it to someone you don’t care for.
2. This doesn’t even belong in a mixed drink. Use in case of an emergency.
3. It’s really not for me, but I heard some people like it.
4. Its only good when I’ve had too many and it’s decent in a mixer.
5. Average. Not bad, but not special.
6. Above average. Good to bring to an event and you wouldn’t expect any guff from it.
7. Buy two if you see it to make sure you have one on reserve.
8. Very Very good. Constantly a GREAT POUR.
9. Superb. If I were to drink this and only this from now on I’d be a happy person.
10. Perfection is impossible. But this really comes as close as you can possibly get.
Reviewer: David S
Click Image for About Us Page