Review: What's the key to Blade and Bow?
Why name a bourbon after the main components of a key? That’s where Blade and Bow gets its name. Actually, it represents the five keys that used to be on the door to the old Stitzel Weller Distillery. Those keys represented the five foundations of whiskey making: grains, yeast, fermentation, distillation and aging. Stitzel Weller had the reputation of distilling some of the best bourbons including Pappy Winkle before it closed in 1992.
Diageo eventually took over the defunct Stitzel Weller Distillery along with the warehouses of bourbon remaining. Those old barrels date back to the late 1980s and early 1990s. Diageo now takes small parts of those barrels and mix them in new batches of bourbon in what is termed their Solera process.
That Solera process is what sets Blade and Bow apart. How much of bourbon from those old barrels goes into a batch of Blade and Bow? We don’t know. It could be just a single drop. Basically, the Solera process is time consuming because they move part of one barrel into the next. This limits how many barrels Diageo can produce.
It’s a neat looking bottle with the key skeleton key hanging on the bottle. Each key has a number from 1 to 5, representing those five foundations from the old Stitzel Weller Distillery. I’m told that each number will correlate with a bottle that has a different taste. My bottle was a 4 - I’m also told that 2 is the best. Not sure if that is true since we don’t know how much of the old barrels are mix with the new ones during the Solera process.
On thing is for sure with the Solera process, Diageo has found a way to attach the Stitzel Weller brand to a batch of new bourbon like Blade and Bow. In all likelihood Blade and Bow is a bottle comparable to Old Barton or New Bernheim except it contains a very small amount of the old batches Stizel Weller bourbon. So how does it taste?
I found Blade and Bow to be an above average pour, especially for its price of $50 or more. While there’s nothing complex about it’s taste., you’ll note some floral and fruity aroma. There are hints of dried apricot, ripe pear and a sweet roasted grain. One could describe Blade and Bow as a smooth bourbon because it lacks much of a bite. It’s missing the overbearing spiciness that some enjoy in a their bottle. Finally, you won’t detect much oak or leather on the finish, but there are notes of warm winter spices.
In the end Blade and Bow is a bourbon I’d recommend, especially for those wanting a pour that doesn’t have too strong of a bite. Plus the fun and unique look of the bottle will stand out in your collection. That alone makes it worth buying.
