Review #113 - Hotel Tango Bourbon
Today, a bourbon from a small distillery - this is from Hotel Tango, based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Started by Travis and Hilary Barnes, the distillery gets its name from the couple's initials, using the NATO phonetic alphabet; they opened in 2014, so we're nearing the distillery's 10 year anniversary. In addition to this bourbon, the distillery also produces a reserve bourbon, a rye, and a number of other unaged spirits like vodka, gin, and fruit liqueurs.
This bottle is their entry level bourbon - it's bottled at 45% ABV or 90 proof, and sports an age statement of two years in the fine print on the back label. Being a young distillery, this liquid could be changing quite quickly, so we think it's only fair we point out the fact that we bought this bottle two or three years ago - it's possible the newer whisky has evolved a little bit, or possibly even changed from sourced to their own distillate.
Hotel Tango Bourbon
USA - Bourbon
Price Paid: USD 30 (2021)
Current Locally Available Price: USD 27 (2023)
Age Statement: 2 Years
Strength: 45% ABV
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 18 months; bottles at 100%, 50%, and 20% (blind tasting) fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes
Nose: Light and a little fruity to start - green apple, lemon juice, some orange as well. Balanced between sweet and dry, and some oak begins to arrive, followed by fresh cut grass and a light brown sugar. There is some ethanol or nail polish remover in the nose, and with time, the oak turns a little more bitter; lower in the glass, it's peppery and slightly astringent, and we end with a whiff of a sour cocktail.
Palate: Hot orange and apple, some cinnamon and vanilla, relatively light and clean. Despite the fruits and spices, this isn't particularly sweet - dry oak and some bitter tannins soak in, and we get a perfume flavor that turns back toward that chemical ethanol from the nose. The mouthfeel is medium-thin, and after the fruit and oak notes fade, we have some nutmeg and anise, maybe a bit of brown sugar.
Finish: Medium-short, a little hot and thin. There are baking spices of pepper and dry vanilla, but also more of that chemical acetone, some oak, and a cloying, sickly sweet floral note.
Final Note: Needs a little more time in the barrel to mellow out those chemical notes, as well as develop a better mouthfeel. There are some nice bright fruits in the nose, but it turns toward oak and spice through the palate, and not necessarily in the best way. All of that said, this distillery is still quite young - we're hopeful to see some more interesting and mature spirits coming from them in the coming years.
Our Average Rating: 4.8 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 6.20
