“Concerts, Cornbread & Cheap Bourbon: Benchmark Top Floor Rant”

Jul 15

Alright, let’s be honest — not every day is a $50 bourbon day. I’m a working stiff. I’ve got a family, bills, obligations, and let’s not forget this bourbon channel that burns through money faster than I can land on Boardwalk with a hotel. Sometimes I need to reach for a bottle that won’t leave me calculating how to afford toilet paper next month.

And yeah — I’ve gotta save my “Honey, look what I bought!” money for when I actually stumble across something special. Plus, it’s concert season. Lawn passes? Not cheap. That Offspring tour tee I’ll wear twice before it shrinks? Definitely not cheap. So I need bourbons I can haul to a tailgate without sweating when some friend of a friend of a friend’s random husband walks up and wants a pour. I’m never seeing that guy again — why hand him a $75 bottle he’ll probably dump in Sprite?

Enter Benchmark Top Floor.

MSRP: $19.95.
Buffalo Trace juice.
86 proof.
Comes in a square bottle that looks like something you’d use to siphon diesel. Perfect for the back of a tailgate.

So what’s the deal? Buffalo Trace’s mystery men claim it’s picked from the top floor of the rickhouse, where heat drives the whiskey deeper into the wood. No age statement (of course), no mash bill (because apparently it’s a trade secret known only to woodland elves), but we all know it’s Mash Bill #1 — the same low-rye recipe as Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, and Stagg Jr.

They’ll feed you some story about two guys pounding a stake (a benchmark, get it?) into the Kentucky dirt to survey land and accidentally decide to bless us with bourbon history. Cool. Let’s talk about what’s actually in the glass.

Looks:

Light amber. Has some age, but not exactly a sunsoaked grandpa.

Nose:

It’s fine. Light caramel, a whisper of vanilla. Tried real hard to find fruit — didn’t. That’s okay.

Taste:

Not overly sweet. Caramel shows up, soft on the front.

Mid-palate you get “soft oak.” Not harsh, just enough barrel to say it lived there.

Definitely some toasted grain and corn — kinda like undercooked cornbread (which I love, by the way).

Subtle spice, no Kentucky hug. Still, pretty dang pleasant.

Bottom line:

You’re not gonna stand by the fireplace, quote The Raven, and ponder life’s mysteries over Benchmark Top Floor. But you will enjoy it at a concert, by the grill, poured over ice, or dumped in a Coke — and have zero regrets.