So,เรื่อง this Howling Monkey Bourbon thing. It wasn’t something I went looking for, you know? My buddy, Kevin, swung by last weekend. He’d been cleaning out his parents’ old place and found this dusty bottle tucked away in a cabinet. Looked ancient, but the seal was intact.
He brought it over, saying, “Found this, wanna give it a try?” The label was kinda quirky, with this cartoonish monkey actually howling. Didn’t look like your typical fancy bourbon bottle, more like something you’d find at a novelty shop. But hey, free bourbon is free bourbon, right?
Cracking it Open
So, we decided to crack it open right then. I grabbed a couple of lowball glasses, nothing special. The cork put up a bit of a fight, probably hadn’t been opened in decades if Kevin’s story was right. Finally got it out with a decent pop.
Poured a little bit into each glass. The color was pretty dark, a deep amber. Looked nice enough. I gave it the old swirl and sniff. The smell was… interesting. Definitely got the oak, like most bourbons. But there was this other note, almost like burnt sugar mixed with something kinda fruity? Hard to pin down. Not bad, just different.
Time for the taste test. Took a small sip first. Okay, definitely got some heat right away. It wasn’t super smooth going down, had a bit of a bite to it. Kevin took a bigger gulp and kinda winced, then grinned. “Got character!” he said. Yeah, you could call it that.
- First impression: Strong oak flavor.
- Followed by: That weird burnt sugar thing again.
- Finish: Kinda sharp, lingered a bit. Not exactly unpleasant, but not silky smooth either.
Final Thoughts
We ended up sipping on it for a while, mostly talking about how weird it was finding this bottle. It wasn’t the best bourbon I’ve ever had, not by a long shot. But it wasn’t terrible either. It was just… memorable because of the story and the weird label.
Would I actively seek out another bottle? Probably not. It tasted a bit rough around the edges, like maybe it wasn’t super well-made, or maybe that’s just its style. But for a random find from an old cabinet, shared with a friend? Yeah, it made for a good story. The bottle’s still sitting on my counter, mostly full. Maybe I’ll break it out next time Kevin visits, just for laughs.
