Spirit Review: Bowman Brothers Bourbon

• ~$32 for a 750mL bottle (I think)
• Purchased at Bacchus Spirits, Hixson, TN

Background

Colonel Abraham Bowman and his brothers (Colonel John, Major Joseph, and Captain Isaac) were among the earliest settlings in Kentucky; they were also excellent horsemen and became known as the “Four Centaurs of Cedar Creek.” They left Virginia for what would become the Bluegrass State in the mid-1770s and helped to settle the area, along with Daniel Boone.

The A. Smith Bowman Distillery pays homage to that history with a line of Bowman Brothers whiskeys. The distillery was originally located on the Bowman family’s farm in Fairfax County, Virginia, but was later moved near Fredericksburg in 1988. In 2003, the distillery was purchased by the Sazerac Company, a large privately owned liquor producer out of New Orleans (best known for Sazerac Rye). The Bowman Distillery operates as a “microdistillery” under the Sazerac banner now, producing several bourbons, a vodka (Deep Run) and a gin (Sunset Hills).

I picked up a bottle of Bowman Brothers a couple months ago from Bacchus in Hixson. I had never heard of it but was curious about the “Virginia Straight Bourbon Whiskey” appellation on the front. This whiskey is bottled at 90 proof and has won a gold medal at the 2011 and 2013 San Francisco World Spirits Competitions (as well as a silver in 2012), as well as several other medals and awards. This is what the website had to say:

This small batch bourbon has been distilled three times using the finest corn, rye and malted barley. Our unique copper still produces a flavor like no other bourbon. After many years of aging in new charred oak barrels, this 90 proof Virginia bourbon whiskey will please even those with the most discerning tastes. 

They also make some other whiskeys, also “Pioneer Spirits” and named for various brothers: John J. Bowman whiskey is a single barrel version, hand-selected from some of the oldest barrels in their warehouse. Abraham Bowman whiskey is a limited edition where each release is unique.

Notes

Bowman Brothers has a medium amber color in the glass with a nose that is high in alcohol vapors, graininess, and oak. A small sip was sweet on the tip of the tongue and as I held it at the front of my mouth, I felt a smooth ramping up of spice as the alcohol started evaporating.

Despite a graininess on the nose, there was no overt grain flavor on the tongue, which so often happens with younger bourbons (I’m not indicating this is a “young” bourbon, just point out that I did get a whiff of grain on the nose). Instead I got light vanilla and oak flavors.

The vanilla really became apparent on the finish, which was long and pronounced and featured a bit more spice.

I paired the Bowman Brothers with a Fume D’Amour from Illusione, a cigar which is definitely on my short list for Cigar of the Year this year. At the beginning the cigar and whiskey didn’t play all that well together, but by the midway point, they started melding. The sweetness in the bourbon brought out more sweet notes in the cigar; the spice in the cigar enhanced the spicier notes of the whiskey. By the end it was an excellent pairing, but overall this whiskey might benefit from a more full-bodied smoke, perhaps an Illusione MJ12 or something from Tatuaje’s Reserva line.