Being an archery enthusiast and outdoorsman, the name of this bourbon was really appealing to me. Turns out that appeal was misguided, as Blade & Bow refers to keys, and the original distillery was known for its five keys of success. Either way, it was a bourbon that I head someone talking about, too, and they said it was really good.
Blade And Bow is a fine bourbon. It also has a cool gimmick in the collector’s world with the five unique keys that hang from the various bottles.
The nose brings with it a sense of vanilla, honey, cinnamon, and a little oak. It sounds like a sweet nose, but it’s not so sweet. Alcohol is present in the nose, too. I found the bouquet pleasant, for sure.
On the palette, however, that alcohol bloom was much more present, and I got a sense of toffee cinnamon, and more oak than the nose revealed. The palette also brought me a sense of citrus, which was a surprise.
Where the bourbon fails is when ice is added. The nose and palette both fall apart and leave very little when it’s cooled.
I’m willing to give this another go one of these days, but it’s not going to be a go-to, especially since it’s not available in Ohio. I had to go all the way to Kentucky to pick this one up. Neat, worth it. Iced, not so much.
By the way, the video for this review was done during the first part of the 2020 pandemic, on April 11th.
“¡Salúd!” 🥃