Whether you’re just finding your way to bourbon or have been around for a minute and tried a lot of great brownwater, there’s loads of new bourbon coming out all the time and chances are pretty darn high that there’s a pile of bottles on the shelf that you’ve not gotten into that you may really, really like.  In fact, I know it.  I drink a lot of bourbon, and there’s a ton of things that I’ve not even tried.  As I walk down the bourbon aisle in most liquor stores these days, the selection is quite impressive.  But what bottle should you choose?  Ideally, like me, you’d probably like to try them all, but in a world where folks don’t have access to unlimited capital (or an accommodating spouse) to go out and buy ALL the bourbon, how can you find something you’ll like without buying ten bottles that you end up hating?  It may surprise you to know that there’s a cheap way to find your way into some things you will like, and you won’t have to decipher someone else’s random musings about hints of cardamom…and wonder, “what is cardamom?”…”do I even like “cardamom?”

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Bourbon Flavor Mapping

Tasting notes are great but they fall far short from being a guide to matching me with a bourbon I love, and few times have I ever read someone’s tasting notes and came away with much than a list of flavors, some of which I never taste.  We all approach each pour armed with a uniquely personal library of flavor data that has been honed from a lifetime of sensory experiences.  Just because I taste cherry doesn’t mean that you won’t taste plum or vice versa.  Each one of those flavors you may detect in your pour also has a certain flavor intensity to it, some flavors are subtle and nuanced whilst others are large and in your face.  In the chaos of a thousand online reviews about what Joe or Fred or Suzy bourbon expert think they taste in any dram, Bourboneur has crowdsourced that data and worked to drive order in the chaos, coming up with the most comprehensive bourbon mapping created to date that’s based on the scientific principle of flavor intensity.  This proprietary analysis, put together over months of research and calculations, arms the average Bourboneur with the ability to find pours that are more fitting to their palettes helping to make the world whiskey wise™.

Below you can see the scatter plot of the extensive bourbon mapping that has been undertaken, with new bourbons being added every month.

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Stagg Jr. | Stagg Case Study

Let’s dive into the data to show how nuanced it can be with a case study on the entire lineup of Stagg Jr. (now just Stagg).  Master Distiller Harlan Wheatley describes the Stagg/Stagg Jr. overall profile to be “rich, sweet, chocolate and brown sugar flavors mingled in the perfect balance with a bold, rye spiciness.  The boundless finish lingers with hints of cherries, cloves and smokiness.”  In general, yes, but the batch variation jumps around considerably, and we have unpackaged that detail through our analysis of crowdsourced flavor intensity data to take all the noise out of the equation and distill each unique batch down to a point on our flavor map.  As you can see in the figure below, the individual batches are all over the board with some pulling towards each spectrum of the flavor intensity mapping.  If you liked the heavy spiced nature of Batch 3, you’re certain to also like Batch 16; looking for something a bit more balanced, Batch 15 is your jam.  Batch 14 would be the sweetest of the lot, hanging out in a space all its own.  We’ve taken the legwork out of failed experimentation, helping unpackage the nuance that will allow you to home in on what works and doesn’t work for your palate.

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Expensive and Allocated Isn’t Always Better

Before I go any further, let’s just get this out there…it’s perfectly fine to like cheap bourbon, and I bet you’re going to find there’s some great cheap bottles that fit in your wheelhouse that you won’t have to break the bank to acquire.  Similarly, there’s probably some allocated stuff that you’ll find that may be worth a pickup based on this data.  It would probably shock you how many times at a blind tasting when stripped of the alure of a fancy bottle or placement on a shelf that something cheap wins out heads above another bottle that is highly allocated or getting a ton of hype.  We all just want to drink good bourbon, and Bourboneur is putting the science of flavor intensity to work to save you money on bottles you end up hating to help you more quickly find bourbons you’re going to love.

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Access Taste Data for Nearly 500 Different Bourbons

Unpackage complex flavor intensity data on nearly 500 different bourbons to find a pour you’ll love in our Members Only section, where you can sign up and then pin/add our site to your home screen where it will function much like an app, often referred to as a “web app.” The new web app will incorporate all the existing features available on Bourboneur as well as an expanded offering of tools and resources to help Bourboneur’s everywhere become whiskey wise. Want to keep up with Bourboneur and our upcoming launch, bottles drops and more?  Join our community of thousands by scrolling down and subscribing to our weekly email list – you can also find us on Instagram, Facebook, and yes, even TikTok.  Show us some love and give us a like on your favorite platform, or all of them and keep up with all the Bourboneur happenings!

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