Pocket Shot Whiskey

40% abv

Score:  74/100

 

Kentucky Straight Bourbon in a bag.  Mmmmm.  Sounds apealing, right? 

A friend of mine picked this up for me several weeks back and I’m finally getting around to writing it up.  Her actual handover of this little plastic pouch was contingent upon my giving it a fair shake for review.  Alright.  So be it.  At the risk of asking a question I don’t really want the answer to…how bad can it be, right?

Let’s find out.

First though…a little back story:  The Pocket Shots concept was developed by a gent named Jarrold Bachmann in San Jose, California in 2000.  Apparently, according to the PS website, the idea came to him after seeing the workers at his farm in South Africa buying some sort of crudely packaged 25 ml packets of liquor to celebrate payday.  Hmmm…maybe a wage hike is in order so they can buy a proper bottle, huh?

Anyway…this four year old whiskey is not produced in California, nor is it made in South Africa for that matter.  The appellation of ‘Kentucky Straight Bourbon’ can only be levied if the product is produced and aged for a minimum of two years in…shock!…Kentucky.  For all my digging I was unable to find out just which distillery is providing the juice that Mr. Bachmann et al are packing up with the Pocket Shot label.  I s’pose it doesn’t really matter though, so long as the end result is tasty.

So, let’s step back a minute; suspend our snobbery, as it were.  When you can get your head around the fact that you’re essentially dumping a little plastic pouch ‘mini’ into a glass (or right down the throat maybe?)…there’s no two ways about it…the whiskey is actually not bad at all.  While a little too restrained and mellow (read: weak and watery) on the palate, the nose is actually good.  Consider this only my personal bias though, as I know much of the general populace who are none too particular about their bourbons will actually relish the ease of drinkability here.

One final weigh-in before I get to tasting notes:

How ’bout an extra point for a product that surprises with it’s unexpected quality, but two points off for debasing the institution of whisky being a classy spirit.  To be totally honest…I can’t get behind a product that seems geared to hiding in pockets on the way to the bar/club/concert/whatever.  The whole concept reeks of getting sneakily drunk on the cheap.   

Nose:  Rather pleasant spice profile.  Nippy bit oepper.  Cherry and almond.  Mint or eucalyptus.  Clean vanilla.  Cinnamon.  Hint of dill.  Very fresh.  Very nice oak notes.  Syrup and sweet corn.

Palate:  Mint with cinnamon and synthetic cherry notes.  A slight plastic-ness.  Some corn and oak.  Sweet and mild.  Too mild.  Needs an extra 5% abv or so.  Tannic and almost immediately drying.  Fades into red apple skins.  Better nose than palate, as mentioned above.

Fun ont to write up.  Thanks, Meg.  Yer a sweetheart.

 

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  Curt