Ancient Age Bourbon Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: C-

Among straight bourbon whiskeys standards, few brands have quite the same reputation for low cost and reliability as Ancient Age. The brand has been around since after the Second World War, and for a long time the bourbon was the entry-level whiskey and big bulk seller of the George T. Stagg Distillery, now known as Buffalo Trace. Indeed, Stagg was sometimes referred to as the Ancient Age Distillery. Back when I was a college student working in a bowling alley, a handful of the Ancient Age workers formed a distillery team for one of the league nights.

The Bourbon
Basic Ancient Age is a young straight bourbon bottled at 80 proof, and although there is no aging statement the contents are roughly three years old. That youth is plain to the eye, since the coloring is a pale amber, something like gold with a little copper mixed in.

Keeping all that in mind, the nose is surprisingly rich and floral, thick with corn sweetness and orange zest, with a teaspoon of vanilla added in for good measure. From a sniffing point of view, this is actually quite a good bourbon.

On the palate, Ancient Age veers back to expectation. The whiskey offers the core bourbon flavors — corny sweet, a little spice, caramel, vanilla — with a touch of dry woodiness, but the texture is much too thin to progress beyond. Following that young and thin line, the finish is nice and warm, but otherwise undistinguished.

The Price
The price tag is where Ancient Age has always been a winner. Unremarkable it might be, but a fifth (750 ml) is routinely available for $13 or less. Even the one liter bottles rarely run more than $17, and the most expensive I have ever seen a 1.75 liter bottle go for with my own eyes is $20.

53 comments

  1. patrick matthews

    why are the 1.75 bottles so hard to find in San Antonio Texas?

    • Either the stores aren’t ordering them or the distributor isn’t sending them would be my guess.

  2. The bourbon you’re distilling is hands down the worst thing I’ve ever attempted to throw down. The thought alone of the grotesque liquid makes me want to hurl. You may as well be putting ipecac in the bottles you sell, and furthermore I believe a warning should be placed on every bottle in big bold letters stating that drinking this noxious concoction may cause severe internal bleeding and possible death. I pray that not another soul purchases this third rate bourbon. I hope your business goes under, all of your employees lose their jobs, and the person responsible for creating this terrible beverage acquires a debt so large that they have to take out a loan to piss.

    Sincerely, very pissed off customer on the verge of death (otherwise known as Joseph welhouse)

    • Someone sounds like a little @#$!.

    • joe wellhouse, outhouse, what an *$$&@$^

    • Look for what you are paying, it is the best by far. There are plenty of worse bourbons(Kentucky Gentleman, Old Crow) and many more. For a working class, blue collar drinker, or a poor college kid is what this is made for. Ancient Age isn’t made for a bourbon snob, it’s made for the roll up your sleeves get the job done worker and drinker.

    • Sounds like you are a little d**k, little joe!
      Ancient Age has quite a “following” among decent, hard-working, non-pretentious, joyful people.
      Obviously, NOT the drink for YOUUUUUUUUU!!

    • pathetic and false, its no where near bad like what you say.

    • Joseph welhouse has been bitter ever since his mommy made him stop breast feeding, on his 17th birthday.

    • Joe,
      Perhaps you switched Ancient Age and your urine specimen, as my friends and I have avowed that Ancient Age has a smooth taste with an extremely pleasant aroma and taste.

      Taste is in the mouth of the drinker, so I will accept your message as being truly felt and believed. We just are on opposite ends of the pleasurable taste scheme.

      I drink Ancient Age over ice without a mixer, allowing several minutes to pass to have nearly half a cup of cold water to mix with the bourbon. I consider water to be the best mixer, as it is tasteless and does not cover the great taste of the bourbon.

    • Ancient Age is good working man’s Bourbon.

  3. I’m not going to go as deep as the last guy, it’s bad by certain standards, I agree, but let’s just condemn the product. I love to drink and enjoy a decent pour even if it’s coming from the bottom shelf but this pour I would say wasn’t my best buy to date. My first whiff I could smell the odor of nail polish remover, I have read several reviews in description to this smell coming from other bourbons but I had yet to experience it until now. After my first and second sip, it was hard convincing myself that it was going to get better as time went on with it. I was looking for an additional economical everyday sipper but this is not the one. This is by no means an everyday sipper but I will add; this will not find its way down the drain. It’s good enough for a mixer and I’m a true believe in everything is mixable among cheap and not so hard core drinking friends, choose your targets wisely.

  4. Well, I decided to pick this one up because it says that it is distilled and aged by Buffalo Trace Distillery. I have thoroughly enjoyed Blantons, Old Weller, Sazarac, etc from the distillery. I thought…it’s gotta be at least ok. The initial review gave it a C-…perhaps a little generous.

    Definitely better than Ten High, but that does not say much. I was hoping for something mildly enjoyable, but found no richness or depth. Yes…I did get the fingernail polish remover smell.

    I struggled to overcome any real character and felt that this was maybe only 8 months removed from its form of white dog.

    While many will mix, I prefer bourbon either neat or on the rocks depending on my mood. This is neither so my sink enjoyed the rest.

  5. I’ve had better, I’ve had worse. Frankly, at this price point you’re not looking for a nice, evening sipper; through a rock in it and drink it with a beer after a rough day at work.

  6. Dungeon shoemaker

    Provided The heartiest hangover ever, absolute dog shit. A flamboyant gag with every sip. But then again of your in a pinch and want some bourbon.

  7. Here in New England, particularly my state, Ancient Age is sort of hard to come by and when I see it I grab up a bottle. Not because I love it, but because it’s dirt cheap and palatable.

    If you’re drinking this straight, as a sipper, you’re doing it wrong.

    This stuff is just the best of the bottom shelf, so use it as a cheap mixer and you’ll hardly notice. It lacks complexity and its hot, but in a whiskey sour you won’t notice. Right now I’m sipping an old fashioned made with Ancient Age and loving it.

  8. Marvelous, rich, sumptuous bourbon at an incredible price. This is the way bourbon was meant to be made. I’ve tried them all, and this one for the price simply can’t be beat. Honest, classic, delicious bourbon. I’ve tried bourbons at three times the price that don’t measure up to this. Don’t waste your money. Add a couple of cubes of ice to a shot in an old fashioned glass and enjoy yourselves!

  9. It’s not a great bourbon served neat, or even on the rocks, but as a mixer this can’t be beat. It’s getting harder to find due to the popularity of Buffalo Trace, as this is the same whiskey they hold to bottle as Trace.

  10. As a. Mixer I would like to see the haters responces. Why would anyone be serously discussing this as a neat or rocks preference vs other options? Haters gonna every opp they got to hate wha ever da site/blogzz

  11. I AGREE with Kris Long. This stuff is PRETTY DAMN GOOD at this price point. And this is coming from someone who’s benchmark is Four Roses Single barrel. Look for the good in this. It’s THERE!

  12. Picked up a 375 ml on my last camping trip because it was the only thing in the store that came in a plastic bottle (I don’t like packing glass). I usually drink Bulleit or Wild Turkey 81 so this was a step down but, sheez, for under $4 for a pint, I enjoyed every swig around the campfire, straight from the plastic bottle!

    • Now that sounds like some solid open sky drinking! It brings back memories too. We used to take the cheaper bourbons in pocket-sized bottles into the backcountry and put the bottle into a stream, wedged into some rocks, to cool it down for drinking later.

  13. This one has a gold Listerine’ish Eucalyptus menthol finish that ruins anything you try to mix it with. For the same money, you can get Benchmark or Heaven Hills Old Style 80 proof and have a much better pour.

  14. It’s whiskey. It’s the kind of bourbon men, with grease up to their elbows, drink with a beer after they just saved 500 bucks fixing their own car. I have tasted alot worse

  15. Yeah it’s not the best, definitely not the worst. I drink this every now and then because its what my Dad drank. It has nostalgia for me. He was special forces in Vietnam, came home worked hard for what he had and took care of his family. This isn’t for snobs or guys who can’t change a tire, this is for everyday people. It’s for men, battle-hardened from everyday life or kicking ass defending your right to bitch about bourbon.

    • Great statements Ryan. I, like you, trued anchient because my Dad drank it. I think it is great with seven or Coke, and not made to drink neat or on the rocks. Much better than Jessy James. And that is not a stretch.

  16. It’s a good reliable cheap drunk, and its initials are AA, which is kind of funny, if you appreciate dark humor. And the more of this swill you can quaff down, the more you appreciate dark humor.

    • This guys comment is the best, I love the humor and you just made me appreciate this whiskey more. Yeah bourbon snobs is it the best? No. That’s not what it’s trying to be… As a bartender this is easily the best “well whiskey” and like most people have stated it’s not meant to be savored. This is a working mans whiskey who just wants to feel the punch without the burn. It is no doubt the smoothest bottom shelf whiskey, but it is not a sipping mans whiskey. If you’re just trying to drown your sorrows with whiskey then this is your bourbon, but if you’re looking for a sleeper of a whiskey like old grandad BIB this isn’t your bag. This is the whiskey that makes your favorites, but it’s young and immature so take it for what it is… liquid happiness, nothing more nothing less. Enjoy it and just know you’re gonna make it through whatever is troubling you.

  17. Don’t be fooled by snobbery. This is just fine for every day sipping/mixing. I describe it as a younger, sweeter Beam, and actually prefer it to Beam, straight. I’ve enjoyed bourbon since I was old enough to sneak it. I’ve had incredible bourbons, both pricey and cheap. Try a blind taste test. This Thanksgiving, this came in second place against 7 other bourbons, ranging in price from $15 to $80 a liter. The winner was under $30. Try the same thing with $5 and $35 wines, you’ll be surprised. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I enjoy 15-20 year scotches that run $60-$100+/liter, but I don’t need to drink $40+/liter “popular” bourbons everyday to make myself feel like a winner. This suits me just fine. “Better some, than none….”

    • I agree with you, Dan, I like this better than Jim Beam.

      I just discovered A.A. this summer, and it does just fine on the rocks. Some of my friends (who don’t normally drink whiskey) even preferred A.A. over Johnny Walker Black. I still prefer J.W.B. and other $$ ones, but the price point of A.A. makes it a very acceptable working man’s drink – and I try to keep it stocked.

      I wonder if 2014/2015 years were harsher than the 2017/2018 years?

  18. I buy Ancient Age in the 1/2 gallon size because it comes in a plastic bottle. I broke a glass bottle of expensive booze one time.

  19. I would piss off beer snobs by setting up 7 different beers in unmarked glasses including their fave. They couldn’t tell which was which, including their fave. I didn’t get beat up. In truth, the beer drinkers already had a beer so their palate was compromised.
    I wonder if the same was done for these bourbon snobs they could tell which was which? $$$$$ involved.

    • Good question. A similar thing are bourbon snobs moaning about how bourbon used to be so much better in yesteryear, a notion that comes apart when vertical panels of a fixed product, like Wild Turkey 101, are put together covering a span of time.

    • Hey Ron,

      I did the exact same thing in college as an advertising major: Unmarked, identical beer mugs with five different domestic beers in them to prove it was all about the label, tv ads and print ads that made them loyal to only one brand. Budweiser, Coors, Hamm’s, Olympia and Pabst. Guys who swore Oly was the worst picked that one as their favorite over Bud more than half the time and said the Bud had to be Hamm’s and couldn’t stand it. Bourbon is a similar ticket and Ancient Age gets no respect because it doesn’t cost much.
      I had a Honda Goldwing and an Accord for 30 years. They cost half as much as a Harley or Camry and were twice as good. You don’t always get what you pay for; more often than not, when you pay too much, you get ripped off. It’s all about the hype…I was in the business for years and that’s all there is to it.

  20. I enjoy the fine bourbon too, but this is decent for its price point . Don’t expect Four Roses or anything . If you like shots with Coke chaser like me, then this one is good for that. Neat or on the rocks, not so much. Mixed might be ok

  21. Hello, Any one on here remember what the real Ancient age tasted like ? My Grandfather drank nothing but Ancient age from the 40s until he passed away in the 90s . Let me tell I grew up drinking it too when I came of age . For some reason the changed the recipe sometime around 1999 or 2000 . I remember buying a bottle one day and something was wrong . Something had changed . I had to quit drinking it and switched to JD. Over the years I would buy a bottle and try it again only to pour it out . Well about two months ago I was visiting an old friend . He said you left of bottle of Ancient age here about 15 years ago and I still have it . Well I said lets have a drink . So we poured a couple and O my God it was the Original good stuff ! Tears started running down my check as memories of my grandfather and that whisky he would give me a sip of once in awhile when I was a young one .Its was so good ! I said lets run down to the liquor store and buy a new bottle . We came back and make two drinks . The new stuff was nasty . I was right they had changed the recipe. When they made the good stuff everyone of my friends back in the 80s and 90s that I introduced it to would switch for JD and start drinking Ancient Age .Its was that good . So does anyone know how we can get them to start making it the old way again ? I would pay JD price for it . I would love to see them bring it back in the cool glass bottles they used to make it in too . They used to be narrow at the bottom and wide at the top . With a ribbon award at the top . I remember you could get 6 year old or 8 year old stuff . It was awesome . I think now with whisky drinking on the rise now would be a could time to remarket it bring it up to the original recipe and make it the award winning higher scale glass bottle whisky it used to be . I would be willing to bring what’s left in that old bottle to Kentucky if that’s what’s needed to figure out what was different . Not sue who to get in touch with about it ?

  22. I have a roughly 40 year old half gallon of unopened ancient age bourbon. The seal is still in tact. I’m if anyone could estimate how much it would be worth.

  23. I’ve been drinking Ancient Age since I was younger because my Dad drank it. It’s smooth and very drinkable straight or in a mix.
    Here’s the best part. Somehow if you have a cold, sore throat, flu; take it at bedtime, and you will feel better next morning. As a retired teacher I used a lot of voice and needed Ancient Age for “those kind of days”. IT WORKS

  24. I’ve tried many bourbon whiskies in my time & ancient age is the best straight bourbon whiskey that I’ve had that is bonded. I have had homemade rye whiskey that was better but the man that made it is no longer with us. The only thing I can say is I wish the price was cheaper so I could drink more of it.

  25. This bourbon is the best straight bourbon whiskey that I no of, except for some stuff that my uncle in law made. I love the charcoal taste & the flavor.

  26. This has been my favorite bourbon for 50 years. I suppose the next best thing is Wild Turkey, but Ancient Age beats it hands-down and is very reasonably price. It is extremely hard to find anymore. The liquor stores say they order it but have to wait and wait. I most assuredly am not a bourbon snob. In fact, snobs make lousy bourbon drinkers. We could describe their discernment in regards to the properties of bourbon as being ‘thin’.

  27. This and Henry McKenna are the two best buys on the market! Snobs “go away!” Neat or on the rocks, in a mixer you can’t go wrong.

  28. Wish I could still find it locally. Love great bourbon
    But AA is a fine everyday whiskey. The great bourbon heist of 3 years ago have put it in short supply. And jacked the price on everything else.

  29. I will psss up other bourbons on the shelf to get AA. And Im not alone. My local liquor 9store cant keep it in stock any more. As soon as it comes in its sold out.
    Haters will hate, always, so let them.

  30. I always drank A A in preference to any other bourbon back in the 70ies early eighties then it vanished from the bars and liquor outlets here in AUSTRALIA .I miss it If you find a better Bourbon buy it.T

  31. Got a bottle of this as a gift. Broke out the sour mix thinking due to its price it had to be absolute swill and only good for mixing. Took a sip first and had to pause. Decided to drink it on rocks instead of mixing and was very pleasantly surprised. It’s not equivalent to other high end Bourbons found at Buffalo Trace, but it IS very drinkable. Good to know I have an option for a straight drink when I hit a dive bar!

  32. AA was a gift this year for a Christmas. After letting the ice melt it was pretty tasty and went down smooth.

    Joe thinks for >$20 he is getting Pappy. GMAFB. This is a solid starter bourbon that gets you drunk, makes you want to fight and gives you a solid full pain in the brain for the next day enjoyment.

    AA will be my best choice when I can’t afford a happy meal and a bottle of mid range.

  33. I stumbled upon Ancient Age as a very affordable and delicious bourbon. Makes a great Manhattan and is delicious as a mixer with Coc-Cola. I like it better than Old Crow or Evan Williams. The snobs need to let up and enjoy themselves.

  34. I’ve never been let down on an inexpensive bourbon as long as it is bourbon and not one of those blends.
    Ancient Age is great for the price, also Very Old Barton, Benchmark and numerous others. They’re all enjoyable.
    Let’s just hope there isn’t a run on our favorite budget brands – I’d hate to see allocated/marked up McKenna

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