The "Wife is Out of Town 10-Day Blind Challenge" / Overview & Samples A-E

I enjoy doing blind tastings.  I think it is interesting when you taste something blind and miss that one tell-tale key to the answer--Jim Beam and peanut, Maker's Mark and banana/ester/Belgian beer or Four Roses and mint/citrus/Juicy Fruit gum.  That missing tell-tale key is the proof that more work is needed, and work in this case is tasting more whiskey.  If anyone reading this follows me on Twitter or Instagram (@bourbonooga), you might remember a few recent blind tastings that I have done:  a four-sample tasting of different private Knob Creek 120 picks; a five-sample Buffalo Trace 12 year old wheated horizontal done twice with a few weeks in between the two tastings; a fourteen-sample out of then twenty-four open bottle free-for-all; and most recently a four-sample out of then fifty-eight open bottle free-for-all spread out over four consecutive nights.  I had success in both blind tastings of the Buffalo Trace 12 year old wheated horizontal correctly guessing three of the five in each tasting and missing a perfect score by mixing two of my bottom three pours each time.  On the other hand, I failed rather miserably in my recent four-sample free-for-all by whiffing completely the first three nights and having luck the final night by guessing that the pour was Weller 12 when it was in fact a blend of Weller 12 and Old Weller Antique 107.Now, my wife has left me and the dog to fend for ourselves for ten days in colder weather.  Before she left, however, I asked her to pour another free-for-all blind tasting set, but on steroids.  This post and the next are devoted to a ten-sample free-for-all out of now sixty open bottles, with one pour each day or night.  I will not know the answers until the end as my wife holds the Rosetta Stone for this challenge.My current open bottle inventory covers a wide swath of whiskey with high-rye bourbon, low-rye bourbon, wheated bourbon, wheat whiskeys, rye whiskeys (Canadian and American), scotch (peated and non-peated), Buffalo Trace, Four Roses, Heaven Hill, Jim Beam, MGP, Willett, Wild Turkey, Barton, homemade vats, vats from generous friends and the open bottles range from four years in age to twenty-two years in age.  Four Roses dominates my liquor cabinet, but I have sixteen different bottles of Four Roses open so pinpointing the exact recipe or small batch will be difficult even if Four Roses is the most likely to be represented in this blind challenge making up 27% of my open bottle list.I will use for each pour the Society of Wine Educations Spirits Tasting Rationale score sheet simply because I find it to contain a great section on aromas and a sufficient section on taste and finish, with the added bonus that it means I have less writing to do.  Instead, I can be lazy and upload PDFs of my score sheets.Moving on the Sample A. . .After a two ounce pour, I would rank Sample A in the 4.75 to 5.25 range.Sample A Scoresheet - PDFMoving on the Sample B. . .After a two ounce pour, I would rank Sample B in the 7.0 to 7.25 range.Sample B Scoresheet - PDFMoving on the Sample C. . .After a two ounce pour, I would rank Sample C in the 7.25 to 7.75 range.Sample C Scoresheet - PDFMoving on the Sample D. . .After a two ounce pour, I would rank Sample D in the 8.25 to 8.75 range.Sample D Scoresheet - PDFMoving on the Sample E. . .After a two ounce pour, I would rank Sample E in the 8.25 to 8.75 range.Sample E Scoresheet - PDFStay tuned later this week for the final 5 score sheets and, ultimately, the big reveal.@bourbonooga's rubric:9.5-10.0 bourbon basically does not exist in my scoring system.  It is a figure left for the life-altering bourbons.9.0-9.5 bourbon is as best as they come.8.5-9.0 bourbon is fantastic, and it is a mark that a limited edition release should hit.  Obviously, not all do.8.0-8.5 bourbon is a bourbon that likely has one superb feature and above average remainders, or it is a bourbon that is more than above average across the board.  This is a mark that a limited edition release must hit to avoid underperformance.7.0-8.0 bourbon is a bourbon that is probably above average across the board.  There may be one close to average aspect about it.  This is the worst bourbon that I want to pour each night when I am rich.6.0-7.0 bourbon is a bourbon with nearly every facet near average, but not yet average.  Expect slightly less reviews to fall here.5.0-6.0 bourbon is average bourbon.  Expect most reviews to fall here.4.0-5.0 bourbon is a bourbon with nearly every facet near average, but on the wrong side of average.  Expect most reviews to fall here.3.0-4.0 bourbon is a bourbon with probably one average or near average aspect, with the others being below average.  Expect slightly less reviews to fall here.2.0-3.0 bourbon is solidly below average bourbon.  I suspect I could be reviewing a few of these bourbons.1.0-2.0 bourbon is bad.  I hope I do not have to review many bourbons in this category.0.0-1.0 bourbon should be avoided at all costs.  I highly doubt I ever review a bourbon in this category.