Town Branch Bourbon Review
By Richard Thomas
Rating: B-
(Credit: Richard Thomas)
Since Town Branch Distillery brought bourbon distilling back to Lexington, Kentucky for the first time since 1958, a word is in order about the namesake for both the distillery and its flagship product, Town Branch Bourbon. A watercourse crossing downtown Lexington, Town Branch could be said to be literally at the heart of the Bluegrass. You can see this on the very label of Town Branch Bourbon, since it bears an old style rendition of a map of downtown Lexington, with Town Branch running across it in blue.
In the 19th Century, Town Branch was how many Lexingtonians got their water. In my youth, it was that creek full of shopping carts running through the city’s inner industrial and warehouse district, and indeed it is still like that today. From a distilling point of view, the creek ran through an area that was once densely packed with distilleries, the last of which was the James E. Pepper plant. Today, the creek is at the center of a proposal to give Lexington a 2.2 mile greenway connecting downtown to Masterson Station Park.
The Bourbon
Town Branch comes in a stout, square bottle with a lovely, rough paper label and a wood and cork stopper. It is certainly the sort of thing that will beautify your liquor shelf. There has been some incorrect information making the rounds about the mashbill for Town Branch, but I was told straight from the source in an interview that will appear on The Whiskey Reviewer next week that the mashbill is 72% corn, 13% rye, and 15% malted barley. The whiskey is bottled at 40% abv.
Once in the glass, the whiskey has the color of brightly polished copper. The nose is clear, and distinctly corn syrup sweet with a dash of a citrus zest in there, and a hint of caramel and oaky woodiness.
The flavor is not quite as sweet as the scent, and is actually a bit dry. It’s light and almost balanced, but I found that dry quality makes it perhaps too crisp and throws it off just a bit. The taste remains corn sweet, but not predominately so, with minor notes of caramel, dried fruit and brown sugar, a heftier helping of oak than the nose might suggest, and a dash of pepper. The finish springs off of a continuing bite of pepper and the woody astringency into a rising, but short wave of warmth.
The Price
When I did my brick-and-mortar price check for Town Branch, it was retailing for between $26 and $30 a bottle. This puts it squarely between your run of average bourbons, which hover at around or under $20 a bottle, and your typical small batch stuff, which is usually in the lower to mid-$30s.
When is Town Branch coming to VA ABC? 3 years is a long wait. Please resolve…
Town Branch is by far not only the worst bourbon I have ever tasted but the worst liquor or drink of any kind I have ever tasted unbelievably bad… how did it get this far?
Count yourself lucky then 😉
Overpriced, watery swill. Paid about $29 and I think they put all the value in the pretty bottle. I can buy Fighting Cock for $17 and get a full flavored bourbon. For the same price as Town Branch, Evan Williams Single Barrel will provide an excellent whiskey as will Buffalo Trace, Bulleit and Old Grand Dad 114. Avoid this junk unless you collect bottles.
Fully agree with Procrustes Jones – bottle is great…Bourbon is not good at all
Recommend by a friend we gave it a try, this is Scotch lovers Boubon. For all the Scotch drinkers who have never given Bourbon a fair shot, light a cigar and give it a try.
Everyone has their favorites and their dogs. Town Branch is a dog. A real ugly dog of a bourbon in a very pretty doghouse of a bottle. I didn’t gag when I tried TB neat, but I nearly considered pouring it down the drain along with the $35 I paid for it. Determined, I tried TB straight, over the rocks and even mixed with a Diet Coke. No dice. It was still one ugly dog . Someone once told me, the prettier the bottle, the worst the whiskey. That’s not always true, but Town Branch is the evidence that occasionally it is.
Taste more like a scotch, being a fan of both Im good with it!
I agree with the notes on this bourbon.
The bottle is very handsome but the contents are horrible.
Jim Beam White label is a million times better.
Just bought my first and last bottle of Town Branch. If I had wanted scotch, I would have bought scotch. I hate scotch, so you see my dilemma. I won’t pour it out. I’ll just blend it with something cheap and chalk it up as a lesson learned.
I didn’t hate it. I didn’t fall in love either. I agree with the scotch notes, and I love GOOD scotch, to which TB doesn’t even compare. It looks great on my bar though.
I agree with other comments. This is horrible. Such a distinct sharp and dry finish. Unbearable. Wish I would have read reviews before purchasing. Beautiful bottle though. I’ve never in my life tasted a bourbon this dry. Very strange.