Have you ever noticed that some good things and some bad things come with age. In time you learn that the bad things might not have been as bad as you thought they were when you were going through them. Take for example the fall of the Greek empire, I’m sure it really blew for the people that had to go through the fall, but it left us all these cool ruins to look at. Lots of historic examples of things that were bad at the time, but their significance either tought us something, or gave a glimps into another world or time. To bring things a little closer to home, you could think of a loss of a job for example. There are plenty of examples of people who lost a job, and that was just the catalyst they needed to do something they always wanted to do.
So there seems to be some evidence of time “healing all wounds” so to speak. What about Whiskey? Is time a good thing or a bad thing? Truth is, its kind of a mixed bag. Sometimes you can hit a sweet spot in aging that makes a whiskey great, and sometimes too much time in the barrel can make the whiskey taste like a barrel. The folks at Ancient Ancient Age, a distillery in Louisville, Kentucky have seemed to find the right mix at a great price…
Ancient Ancient Age 10 Star is a mixed age bourbon that combines the best characters of old and young to come up with an excellent whiskey at a lower shelf price. I paid $14.95 for this 90 proof bourbon, and I would put it up against any comparable bourbon for flavor and value. This whiskey is actually a compilation of different aged barrels some in the 10 to 12 year range and some in the 4 to 6 year range. This mixing of ages produces a bourbon that is a dark amber color with a big nose. The nose has floral scents as well as old leather and some wood. Upon my first sip, the sweet floral flavors came through first like cherry blossoms and honey, the old leather and barrel notes come through on the back side with a nice finish with good heat that lasted about 45 seconds. A very good finish for a lower shelf offering.
Neat
This is a smooth and well balanced bourbon neat. It has enough complexity to be interesting and a finish that produces great value for the price.
On the Rocks
Cooling it brings out a little sweetness and barrel char on the back side. The finish is somewhat diminished, but still present.
With a Splash
This bourbon is the first lower shelf product that can stand up to water without loosing its structure. Still has good nose and flavor, while the burn is tamed, but the finish is still there.
This was an excellent value, and without a doubt the best of the lower shelf offerings I have reviewed. Buy it and enjoy!
-Don
Beer & Whiskey Brothers 
That does have some very nice color. I never tired that particular bourbon when I lived in KY. It’s always nice to find a nice bourbon for a very reasonable price.
And this really does fit that bill Mike. I have never had it, but my understanding is that it is distilled in the same facility as Old Charter, and has a similar flavor profile. But for $15 you can’t go wrong. This was my hope when I began to look into the lower shelf products, that I would find one or more that were great values and good whiskey!
I’ll look for it based on your recommendation. It’s nice to find a bargain now and again.
Hey Mike, When you find it and try it, let me know your thoughts about it. I hate to lead people astray, but I have been known to go off on a tangent sometimes. Would be a great reality check for me.
thanks
On your recommendation I picked up a bottle of this over the weekend. It was 13.13 with tax for a one litter bottle. I am sad to say that I have not had the pleasure of trying this bottle before. I really liked this bottle and I must say that because of the dropping of the age statement I had a preconceived notion that this bottle was going to be sub par but it was not at all. Great call on this one!!
One thing that I have to disagree on is that you said this label contained older juice 10 to 12 yo. I can’t see buffalo trace adding any aged barrels in this product. I am not sure of this, but with all the aged product that BT sells I can’t see them adding aged barrels to this.
Hey Dan:
Glad you liked this one. I really was impressed for a lower shelf product. What my research found was that this is a mixed age product that averages to about 8 years. So it is hard to know how they got to that exactly, but it does have a pretty good age profile in its flavor and I suspect that if not 12 year old juice, perhaps some 9 and ten year stuff to get to the 8 year average. Either way it is a good pour, and I’m glad I found it. They do have an 80 proof offering for $10.95, but I’m thinking the extra 4 bucks is worth the additional proof. Not sure I am interested in reviewing the 80 proofer. I’d like to find the 1 liter bottle, as mine was a 750 ml. Freaking Idaho ABC and their price gouging!