Redeemed! A Blind Tasting of three Buffalo Trace White Dogs

Credit for image to bourbonr.com

A while back, the Captain gave me samples of three Buffalo Trace white dogs to try: Mash #1, Wheated Mash, and Rye Mash.  White dog is basically un-aged whiskey, right off the still. It's clear and raw and hot. Yes - I was kind of scared to taste them. I assumed they would burn like heck. They didn't. Actually, they were surprisingly delicious.

Sooo...after my blind tasting disaster in December, I was a bit hesitant to blind taste these, but that was the deal. Captain Dominic gave them to me labelled 1, 2, and 3. I had to taste, make my guesses, and then get the answers from him. Eek.

I recruited the husband to taste along with me. These things are always more fun with a buddy. This time, I was going to pay close attention. I had zero confidence I'd get any of them right, but wanted to give it my best shot. So I made a chart. (I'm a nerd. Conceded.) First, we would smell the samples and guess, then we would taste them neat and guess, then we would add a bit of water and guess.

Here's how it went. After smell only, I nailed the rye mash immediately. It was much spicier than the other two, which were quite similar. Turns out I mixed those two up after smelling only, but for reference, the husband got all three wrong.

After tasting neat, we both agreed which was which. We could taste the rye in the rye mash, and the sweeter of the other two we decided must be mash #1, while the more basic flavor had to be the wheat mash.

Then we tasted with a bit of water, and it was even more obvious that our neat guesses were correct. I was surprised we agreed, but decided this was a good thing. My husband is a far better cook than I - he can create things and marry flavors together well. Me - I need a recipe. I'm no good at that at all: at identifying smells or at knowing what will go well with something else.

I had some baby Saz and Stagg Jr at home. We smelled them, too, wondering if a hint of the finished products would help us in our decision. Eh. Didn't help and only confused things, so we ignored them.

So, we texted the captain and found out that we GOT THEM ALL RIGHT!! 100%! A+. Yippee skippy!! This nerd was elated.

Next time I blind taste, I'll probably mess it all up again, but it was a fun little project for that night. If you are looking for a fun tasting, I'd encourage you to pick a few favorites and taste them blind with your whiskey folk. Have fun! That's what whiskey is for, right?

Cheers until next time, peeps!!