Blade and Bow Kentucky Straight Bourbon is crafted using a solera-aging, a process typically reserved for aging cognacs, ports and sherries. This is done to preserve the precious original stock of Stitzel-Weller, which is mingled with other fine whiskies during the solera process, during which a series of casks are filled at different intervals over a long period of time (in fact, Blade and Bow Kentucky Straight Bourbon contains the oldest remaining stock of whiskey distilled at Stitzel-Weller, and will be the last available liquid for sale that was distilled at the original distillery). As whiskey from the oldest cask is emptied and bottled, the cask is refilled with an equivalent amount of whiskey from the second-oldest cask in the solera. This cascading effect continues until the youngest cask in the solera is filled with new whiskey. As a result, no cask in the solera is ever fully emptied. In addition, as the younger whiskey ages and cascades through the solera, its average age and complexity gradually increase over time.
What you smell and taste in a whisky is highly subjective.
Even the pros do not always agree on the tasting notes. Therefore, we have combined the tasting notes from several sources into a cross-section Nose, Palate, and Finish to find the commonalities between two whiskies. We use the Aroma Wheel with its concentric circles of increasingly specific tastes and smells (general in the center; more specific the further out you go) to find Exact, Secondary, and General matches between two whiskies. We also take into account other important factors like mash bill, barrel type(s), ABV, region, ratings, price and more. We then weight each factor based on what we believe to be the approximate importance it has in determining whether two whiskies are similar.
We're all different.
Again, we cannot stress enough that what you smell and taste in a whisky is likely going to be different than the person you're drinking it with. Whisky Mates is meant to be a guide to help you find what you like drinking, using the best methodologies available. In the end, rely on your own palate to tell you what you like and don't like.