Traverse City Whiskey Company Bourbon Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: C+

Traverse City Whiskey Co. Straight Bourbon
(Credit: Richard Thomas)

A month ago the summer custody of my son had ended, I was at the airport seeing him off. As I was checking him in, there was a college student sitting at the next set of counters over, busy reorganizing her luggage. Her hat read “Traverse City, Michigan.” This had narrowly missed becoming my first exposure to that little town in northern Michigan by a matter of just a few days, because just prior to that I had received a sample of the whiskey made their.

Traverse City Whiskey Company makes a straight Bourbon and a blended Rye, plus cask strength, a Port-finished and a cherry-flavored versions of their Bourbon. An older version of Traverse City Whiskey’s Bourbon was at least four years old, but the version I was sent was down to two years old, the minimum to be labeled a straight whiskey. The Bourbon is bottled at 43% ABV (86 proof).

The Bourbon
A pour of Traverse City Bourbon has a light amber, quite coppery look. A coating of the glass proved surprisingly thick, and dropped a curtain of legs.

I believe that thick coating of the glass causes a lot of evaporation, because while I would not call it a hot whiskey based on what comes later, that initial sniff had some serious burn on it. After letting it settle down a bit, the scent was one of molasses and cookie spices, with a little honey and a little oak. It sits lightly on the tongue, with a flavor that is corn sweet with vanilla in the main, with a dash of cinnamon. The finish follows from that cinnamon spice.

It’s clearly a youngish Bourbon, but nice enough that I was left wondering what the four year old version must have been like.

The Price
This Bourbon is listed at $35 with online retailers.