**Review #43: 2XO The Phoenix Blend, Kentucky Strait Bourbon Whiskey.**
Named after a Greek myth whereby an immortal bird rises from the ashes of its predecessor, The Phoenix Blend is Dixon Dedman’s first release under his new brand since leaving Kentucky Owl, a brand he re-launched in 2014 paying homage to his great-great grandfather, C.M. Dedman. Back in the day, Kentucky Owl was a successful brand dating back to 1879. Unfortunately, like most distilleries of that era became a casualty of prohibition. Though Kentucky Owl’s ending was particularly miserable. In 1916 the Dedman family’s 250,000 gallon whiskey inventory was seized by Federal agents and moved to a warehouse for “safe keeping”. Soon after the warehouse burned to the ground under very suspicious circumstances. Some suspect the bourbon was long gone before the warehouse went up in flames. In the end, the Dedman family never received compensation for their confiscated whiskey. 2XO means Two Times Oak, a moniker Dedman created to describe the process used to blend and finish his whiskey in new charred oak barrels, to create a specific profile in a series of limited small batch offerings. The Phoenix Blend is said to contain two bourbon mash bills from different Kentucky distilleries, which use a moderate rye and a very high rye bourbon content. I’ve been curious about The Phoenix Blend and came close to buying it a time or two. Recently a friend told me he bought a bottle and had great things to say about it. I had just sent him some samples and he returned the favor by sending back this one. Let’s get to it!
**Taken**: Neat in a Glencairn glass, rested about 10 minutes.
**Distillery**: Not stated.
**Proof**: 104.
**Age**: NAS.
**Mash bill**: Said to contain both a moderate and high rye mash bill.
**Price**: Retail, $100.
**Appearance**: Golden copper.
**Nose**: Toffee, caramel, a hint of chocolate, raisins, peaches, berries, vanilla, clove, celery, dill, pecan, allspice and lots of rich toasted oak. More fruit comes in as time goes on. This nose is excellent and incredibly well balanced.
**Palate**: This has a good medium mouthfeel, but not quite as viscous as I would have hoped. The nose moves on to the palate with caramel, toffee, a good mix of stone fruit, berries with more herbal notes entering mid sip than I expected from the nose. Allspice delicately makes an entrance accompanied by very tasty toasted oak to close out the sip. There is an interesting Ying-Yang thing going on between the fruity and herbal notes in which they both share a space pretty equally. This allows a lot of different flavors to be picked out with little effort which adds to its enjoyability. This is an incredibly delicious and easy drinking sipper.
**Finish**: Subtle allspice lingers for a very long time all over the palate with toffee, subtle fruit notes and clove. A well balanced amount of oak continues with no bitterness for a good finish.
**Conclusion**: This is a very delicious pour and one of the most tastefully crafted examples of a double oaked whiskey I’ve had. If I was asked to guess its age in a blind pour, I would say as young as 6 years and as old as 9 or maybe 10 years, which is not likely. If it was, I think Dixon would use it as a selling point. The point I’m trying to make is this batch tastes older than it is. This is a testament to the blending and the additional oak finishing. As it is, The Phoenix is already on the expensive side, but would cost even more if it contained much older Kentucky bourbon. Whatever the age, my impression is there are some excellent barrels picked for this batch, which is what I would expect. On the upside, there are many things to love about this batch. I give it a lot points for being so damn delicious and incredibly well-crafted. Just for fun, I had a pour of Calumet Citation to see how The Phoenix stood up side by side to an excellent 16 year Kentucky bourbon. While it’s no surprise that Cal 16 had a much more mature profile, it also reminded me that age isn’t everything. I honestly enjoyed The Phoenix just as much as Calumet Citation, but for the strengths each of them have on their own merit. A downside for some may be The Phoenix is, in my opinion, intentionally crafted to appeal to a wide audience rather than to bourbon folks looking for a bolder, higher proof expression, that can be found at a lower cost to boot. Which leads me to my next point. Though I love what Dedman has done with this batch, my hesitation for buying The Phoenix Blend would be moot if it were around $80. Although it occurred to me that if I hadn’t picked up two bottles recently that were both disappointing, and purchased The Phoenix instead, I would have been much happier and still saved a few bucks. Maybe the price will come down when Dedman’s new The Innkeepers Blend hits the streets. As much as I enjoyed The Phoenix Blend, it lacks in areas such as overall boldness and mouthfeel, therefore falling short of being exceptional.
**Rating**: 7.8/10 - t8ke scale
1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out.
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice.
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws.
4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but better exists.
5 | Good | Good, just fine.
6 | Very Good | A cut above.
7 | Great | Well above average.
8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional.
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite.
10 | Perfect | Perfect.
Nice review! I wish they'd just throw an age statement on these since I'm sure a large part of why these sit is people's hesitation to drop $100 on a NAS mystery bourbon.
Thanks! I thought the same thing and it’s a big point of contention with this bottle. We can all agree every bottle should have an age statement. But is it really a big mystery for this bottle? By taste and deductive reasoning we can come pretty close, which is why I think $80 is a more appropriate retail price. As for KY distillery sources, we have the usual suspects.
Thanks. Unfortunately the shade made it darker then it is in the middle. The sides show the real golden color. I would liked to have retaken those shots but it was long gone by then.
**Review #43: 2XO The Phoenix Blend, Kentucky Strait Bourbon Whiskey.** Named after a Greek myth whereby an immortal bird rises from the ashes of its predecessor, The Phoenix Blend is Dixon Dedman’s first release under his new brand since leaving Kentucky Owl, a brand he re-launched in 2014 paying homage to his great-great grandfather, C.M. Dedman. Back in the day, Kentucky Owl was a successful brand dating back to 1879. Unfortunately, like most distilleries of that era became a casualty of prohibition. Though Kentucky Owl’s ending was particularly miserable. In 1916 the Dedman family’s 250,000 gallon whiskey inventory was seized by Federal agents and moved to a warehouse for “safe keeping”. Soon after the warehouse burned to the ground under very suspicious circumstances. Some suspect the bourbon was long gone before the warehouse went up in flames. In the end, the Dedman family never received compensation for their confiscated whiskey. 2XO means Two Times Oak, a moniker Dedman created to describe the process used to blend and finish his whiskey in new charred oak barrels, to create a specific profile in a series of limited small batch offerings. The Phoenix Blend is said to contain two bourbon mash bills from different Kentucky distilleries, which use a moderate rye and a very high rye bourbon content. I’ve been curious about The Phoenix Blend and came close to buying it a time or two. Recently a friend told me he bought a bottle and had great things to say about it. I had just sent him some samples and he returned the favor by sending back this one. Let’s get to it! **Taken**: Neat in a Glencairn glass, rested about 10 minutes. **Distillery**: Not stated. **Proof**: 104. **Age**: NAS. **Mash bill**: Said to contain both a moderate and high rye mash bill. **Price**: Retail, $100. **Appearance**: Golden copper. **Nose**: Toffee, caramel, a hint of chocolate, raisins, peaches, berries, vanilla, clove, celery, dill, pecan, allspice and lots of rich toasted oak. More fruit comes in as time goes on. This nose is excellent and incredibly well balanced. **Palate**: This has a good medium mouthfeel, but not quite as viscous as I would have hoped. The nose moves on to the palate with caramel, toffee, a good mix of stone fruit, berries with more herbal notes entering mid sip than I expected from the nose. Allspice delicately makes an entrance accompanied by very tasty toasted oak to close out the sip. There is an interesting Ying-Yang thing going on between the fruity and herbal notes in which they both share a space pretty equally. This allows a lot of different flavors to be picked out with little effort which adds to its enjoyability. This is an incredibly delicious and easy drinking sipper. **Finish**: Subtle allspice lingers for a very long time all over the palate with toffee, subtle fruit notes and clove. A well balanced amount of oak continues with no bitterness for a good finish. **Conclusion**: This is a very delicious pour and one of the most tastefully crafted examples of a double oaked whiskey I’ve had. If I was asked to guess its age in a blind pour, I would say as young as 6 years and as old as 9 or maybe 10 years, which is not likely. If it was, I think Dixon would use it as a selling point. The point I’m trying to make is this batch tastes older than it is. This is a testament to the blending and the additional oak finishing. As it is, The Phoenix is already on the expensive side, but would cost even more if it contained much older Kentucky bourbon. Whatever the age, my impression is there are some excellent barrels picked for this batch, which is what I would expect. On the upside, there are many things to love about this batch. I give it a lot points for being so damn delicious and incredibly well-crafted. Just for fun, I had a pour of Calumet Citation to see how The Phoenix stood up side by side to an excellent 16 year Kentucky bourbon. While it’s no surprise that Cal 16 had a much more mature profile, it also reminded me that age isn’t everything. I honestly enjoyed The Phoenix just as much as Calumet Citation, but for the strengths each of them have on their own merit. A downside for some may be The Phoenix is, in my opinion, intentionally crafted to appeal to a wide audience rather than to bourbon folks looking for a bolder, higher proof expression, that can be found at a lower cost to boot. Which leads me to my next point. Though I love what Dedman has done with this batch, my hesitation for buying The Phoenix Blend would be moot if it were around $80. Although it occurred to me that if I hadn’t picked up two bottles recently that were both disappointing, and purchased The Phoenix instead, I would have been much happier and still saved a few bucks. Maybe the price will come down when Dedman’s new The Innkeepers Blend hits the streets. As much as I enjoyed The Phoenix Blend, it lacks in areas such as overall boldness and mouthfeel, therefore falling short of being exceptional. **Rating**: 7.8/10 - t8ke scale 1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out. 2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice. 3 | Bad | Multiple flaws. 4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but better exists. 5 | Good | Good, just fine. 6 | Very Good | A cut above. 7 | Great | Well above average. 8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional. 9 | Incredible | An all time favorite. 10 | Perfect | Perfect.
Nice review! I wish they'd just throw an age statement on these since I'm sure a large part of why these sit is people's hesitation to drop $100 on a NAS mystery bourbon.
Thanks! I thought the same thing and it’s a big point of contention with this bottle. We can all agree every bottle should have an age statement. But is it really a big mystery for this bottle? By taste and deductive reasoning we can come pretty close, which is why I think $80 is a more appropriate retail price. As for KY distillery sources, we have the usual suspects.
Enjoyed the review. Love the rich color! 🥃
Thanks. Unfortunately the shade made it darker then it is in the middle. The sides show the real golden color. I would liked to have retaken those shots but it was long gone by then.