W.B. Saffell
This review is the story of second chances. A second chance for a whiskey I originally dismissed as underwhelming. A second chance for a line of whiskeys that hadn’t generated much fanfare. And a second chance for an historical bourbon name lost to the passage of time. This is a review of W.B. Saffell Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey made by the Wild Turkey Distilling Co in Lawrenceburg, KY.
William Butler Saffell is hardly a well known name in bourbon history. I don’t know about you, but I’d never heard of the man before I first came across the little whiskey bottle that bares his name, the latest release in the Whiskey Barons series from Campari (owners of Wild Turkey). Although he isn’t a household name, Mr. Saffell was indeed an historical bourbon figure, having started his own distillery in Kentucky back in 1889. The distillery apparently was quite successful in its day and lasted past its founders death in 1910 until it was put under by the great evil that destroyed so many distilleries—US Prohibition. The Saffell name was more or less lost to history until earlier this year, when Campari raised it from the grave as the third name in the Whiskey Barons collection, a series of releases meant to honor (or even recreate, if you believe the marketing) past generations of whiskey brands long forgotten.
The previous Whiskey Barons releases—Old Ripy and Bond & Lillard—were mostly met with a collective “meh” from bourbon fans and reviewers. Not a whole lot of buzz over those two releases, apart from their lovely little bottle designs. I’ve never tried either one, so I can’t comment on their quality, but most of the reviews I read about them led me to not care much to seek them out. W.B. Saffell, however, has been highly praised by many bourbon fans since its release. Positive reviews and praise came quickly for this new old brand.
When I first tried a sample of Saffell at an in-store tasting, I have to admit I wasn’t overly impressed. It wasn’t bad, I was simply underwhelmed. Maybe it had to do with the other whiskeys I had also sampled that day, but I quickly decided I wasn’t interested in buying a bottle. For whatever reason though, I decided to give it a second chance and sampled it again a few weeks later. Upon a second tasting I liked Saffell enough to seriously question my initial judgement, ending up with a bottle at home.
Although it doesn’t say it on the label, the whiskey inside the bottle is made by Wild Turkey (as are the other Whiskey Baron releases). I have a bit of a complicated relationship with Wild Turkey. The very first Kentucky bourbon I ever sipped neat was Wild Turkey 101. I liked it, but it didn’t turn me into a bourbon lover immediately—I was far more interested in beer back then. By the time I had become a whiskey fan, Wild Turkey wasn’t exactly at the top of my list of favorite distilleries. For a while there (roughly 5 or 10 years ago), I felt that much of the bourbon coming from Wild Turkey was underwhelming, at least the few I’d tried. It took me a while to shake off a bad experience—I bought a bottle of WT101 that was simply not very good (and that’s putting it nicely)—and in the meantime I considered Wild Turkey to be overrated by its oddly ravenous fans on Reddit and elsewhere online. But my opinion has changed quite a bit over the last few years, especially within the last 12 months. A handful of excellent Russell’s Reserve store picks and samples of a few other Wild Turkey expressions (both old and new) have swayed me—yes, I’m a Turkey fan now. Even WT101, which I used to dislike, I now enjoy. I suppose it’s a lesson we need to remind ourselves of in the whiskey world—one bad experience from a distillery does not warrant damnation.
Anyhow, I gave this bourbon a second chance and I’m glad I did. On to the tasting notes!
W.B. Saffell Review
Type: Straight Bourbon
Region: Kentucky
Age: NAS
ABV: 53.5%
Non chill-filtered
Nose
A dry sort of caramel, rich but not especially sweet. Roasted nuts. Old wood, almost like walking into an old, empty barn. Leather. Cold cherry pie that’s been sitting out for a few days. Baking spices.
Palate
Rich and spicy, with notes of sweet corn, brown sugar, and caramel syrup balanced by cinnamon, rye, and allspice. Funkyish oak. Unsweetened vanilla. A bit grassy. Slightly medicinal and maybe a touch metallic. Old leather. There’s also something of a barnyard type note that I can’t quite pinpoint, but which I find enjoyable. Complex with layers of depth. The texture is moderately viscous and a touch oily—nice enough, although not the strength of the palate… if anything, the mouthfeel holds this bourbon back from greatness.
Finish
Medium (almost long) in length, spicy and dry. Grassy rye. Cinnamon and other baking spices. Vanilla extract.
Overall
This bourbon received a fair amount of hype when it was first released earlier this year, and this is one of the rare instances these days where the bourbon actually lives up to the hype. Complex and challenging, this is a tasty dram. Very well blended in my opinion, with a nice balance of what I would guess is mostly medium-aged bourbon, but also a fair amount of older barrels. There’s clearly some old wood influence in here.
I’m a fan of bourbons that contain sweet notes but that aren’t actually all that sweet. I prefer my bourbon to be on the spicy side, with enough rye to make its presence known. On both accounts, that is indeed what we have here in W.B. Saffell. Very, very good.
SCORE: 7/10
Final Thoughts
After initially being underwhelmed the first time I tried W.B. Saffell, I gave it a second chance and I’m happy I did. It’s good. It has character. Depth. It’s not just another sweet tooth bourbon, which seems to be the popular style for many these days. It challenges the palate and awards patience. It’s just a damn good, old-fashioned Kentucky bourbon.
The score here, which is a good score by the way, is held back by a couple of things that I value most when scoring a whiskey—texture and finish. Both of those things are fine in this bourbon, but merely fine and not great. Nonetheless, I do like this bourbon quite a bit and recommend it.
Buying Advice: The price of these Whiskey Barons bottles is a bit high ($50 for 375mL), but in the case of W.B. Saffell, the quality makes the price palatable. It’s true that you could get a Russell’s Reserve store pick that is double the size for only about $10-15 more, but I find that Saffell is more interesting—and just flat out better—than most Russell’s picks I’ve had (and that’s not to say anything bad about Russell’s store picks—I’ve had some delicious ones recently). Ultimately I think this bourbon is worth seeking out, especially if you enjoy a whiskey that will challenge you.
Questions about my scoring system? Refer to the Review Method & Scoring Scale page.
For more reviews, check out the Whisky Review Archive.
