This review has been conducted as part of a blind taste test to determine the best Traverse City Bourbon.

Product Details

• Producer: Northern Latitudes Distillery (sourced from MGPI)
• Location: Lake Leelanau, Michigan
• Name: Deer Camp Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Classification: Commercially Sourced (from MGPI)
• Specific Characteristics: N/A
• Age: No Age Statement (We were told 3.5 years at the distillery)
• Proof: 86
• Michigan Minimum Shelf Price: Not distributed – $29.99 at the distillery

Tasting Notes

Smell: An initial smell of butterscotch gives way to a mixed floral and alcohol scent. Lesser earthy scents of cinnamon and nutmeg show through after sitting for a couple of minutes.  Although the alcohol scent may lead one to believe this is a 90+ proof Bourbon, it smells smooth and well blended.  We don’t pick up on any fruit fragrances.

Taste: The taste of butterscotch on the tip of the tongue moves to the back of the tongue where we pick up a nutmeg taste.  It lingers here with a slight bitter taste, eventually moving back to the front of the mouth once more.  It finishes with a salty and spicy taste on the tip of the tongue, with a noticeable bite in the back of your mouth.  There is a lingering, dry oak taste that detracts from the overall taste.

Summary 

This Bourbon smells fairly complex, but we are left waiting for the sophisticated flavor to develop.  It moves around the mouth well, but still seems as if something is missing.  If the flavor had a little more depth as the smell indicates it might, this would be a much higher scored Bourbon.

Recommendation and Score

Recommendation: I would recommend this Bourbon as a shot or mixed into a cocktail. It is just a little lacking to be recommended as a sipping Bourbon.

Score: 82 out of 100 overall.