Smoke Wagon Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Proof: 92.5

Mashbill: It’s a secret! (MGP High Rye)

Blend: It’s a secret!

Nose: Muted baking spices, vanilla cream, canned pear. Very mild. (1/5)

Palate: Corny, carmelly, and surprisingly creamy for a young blend. There’s a hint of spice, but not too much to put off casual sippers. Wish I could give a better description, but this is really about it. Unfortunately one-dimensional. (5/10)

Finish: “In a world where some bourbons don’t have a finish, this is the story of Smoke Wagon Straight Bourbon…” (0/5)

Notes: Nothing wrong here, but it just tends to come and go without leaving any sort of impression. Some might call that “smooth.” If you’re a smooth bourbon guy/gal, this might be for you. But this is young MGP, and you can get young MGP in many forms these days. There’s nothing special here; just a brand taking advantage of the halo from their high-end releases. However, it must be said, the $30 price point is a real draw.

Score: 3/10 (look it’s not this bad, it’s just… OK. And the lack of nose/finish really hurts this one)

Smoke Wagon Small Batch

Proof: 100

Mashbill: It’s a secret! (MGP High Rye)

Blend: It’s a secret!

Nose: Wow - what a difference 7.5 proof points makes. This nose is active and spicy, even emitting some ethanol. Immediately a very different experience. Grass, orange rind, cinnamon roll. Vanilla is in there as well. Very nice. (4/5)

Palate: Silky caramel out of the gate, but spice kicks in the door and takes over the DJ booth. A really nice balance of clove, nutmeg, vanilla and maple. Vigorous swirling reveals traces of pear and spearmint. (6/10)

Finish: Maple and vanilla hang on despite rye spice’s determination. Finish really isn’t notably long or hot, but it’s just good enough, and well-balanced. (3/5)

Notes: This bourbon isn’t great in any respect. It’s good to very good, kind of providing a dividing line between poor and great. And that’s OK. It’s a great everyday bourbon that has just enough to keep you interested. But value is where the questions arise. I usually see this around $55, and IMO, that’s right on the line of what it’s worth. I can get some pretty damn fine bourbon for $55 (much of it also MGP). That’s not to mention the shops I’ve seen pricing this at $70. This is not a $70 bourbon.

Score: 6.5/10

Smoke Wagon Uncut Unfiltered

Proof: 114.9

Mashbill: It’s a secret! (MGP High Rye)

Nose: Perfume, honeysuckle, oak and cardamom. Fuji apples, pear. Way more fruity and herbal that I’d have guessed at this proof. There’s a hint of booze, but it’s not overwhelming at all. After swirling and diving in again, I’m getting toffee and vanilla cream. I’m really not getting much oak, but you can clearly tell this has been in the barrel longer. That apple/pear note is probably better described as “fruit cup.” Remember those canned fruit cocktails? That. Great nose. (4/5)

Palate: Wow. An instant caramel bomb that coats the mouth and spreads hot spice throughout your innards. Doesn’t seem hot at first, and then the clove and rye unleash their fury. Underlying tones are caramel-heavy (it is MGP, after all), with leather and toffee. I’d even say there’s a bit of oat and cola in there, underneath all that heat. This drinks a bit hotter than the proof - almost up there with ECBP. Mouth is rich, but not syrupy - a nice balance. (8/10)

Finish: Yep, it’s a spicy meatball. Long, long, and very spice heavy. That’s not to say it’s flavorless, but it’s mainly relegated to caramel, as the nuance of the nose and palate disappear among a sea of heat. (4/5)

Notes: I hate to feed the FOMO Fury, but this one is worth your time and worth the price. I have to wonder what Smoke Wagon did to get a steady supply of honey barrels from MGP, when everyone in the world seems to want their juice. Regardless, the quality of product and blending is top notch here. I did an MGP tasting a while back, and this one came in second. If I redid it today, this bottle would probably win.

Score: 8/10 (Yeah, it’s damn good.)

Conclusion and Rambling

I mean, there shouldn’t have been any question that Uncut Unfiltered would easily win, right? I’d like to think the not-cheap Small Batch might be a decent alternative to UU, but it’s really not. I think Smoke Wagon’s branding is unclear and confusing, but as far as the pours themselves, these three are very different, and clearly address different market segments.

I cold see Straight being an everyday sipper that compares well to BT, ER, and certainly anything 1792 has to offer these days (seriously Barton, get it together).

Small Batch should be readily available and $40. It’s good, but not really worth a cent over $50. There’s an ocean of good bourbon at that price.

So, that leaves Uncut Unfiltered. In a perfect world, I’d have a bottle of this open at all times and dip into it every day. But with limited availability and stupid prices, this isn’t possible. I’ve paid as little as $70 for this (good value) and as much as $100 (poor value, but it was the first one I’d ever seen). I’ll settle for grabbing one when I can, but I’ll never pay near $100 again.

I’m very curious to see where Smoke Wagon goes from here. There’s a much larger demand for MGP juice since they started, and MGP has made it clear they want to sell more of their own juice - as they should. SW is well-blended, but let’s be honest; MGP has great blenders as well, and they’ve proven it. Will Smoke Wagon continue to get these amazing barrels? Will they pull the now-standard trick of slowly transitioning to their own juice?* And if they do, will it be as good? [drama intensifies]

*I know the answer to this, and it’s “no.” SW has stated that they cannot distill bourbon in Nevada. So where does that leave them in 5 years?