Bourbonr Standard Rating System (BSRS)
Contributed by on Feb 21, 2014
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New Standardized Rating System for Bourbon
As Bourbonr continues to grow and the bourbon review database builds there is a need to standardized the whiskey rating system. For instance, a rating of 80/100 for Wild Turkey 101 to one member may mean something completely different to other members interested in buying a bottle of WT101. Standardizing ratings makes the information more reliable and credible. This doesn’t mean every bottle will have the same rating. Everyone has different taste and preferences. However, with standardized ratings, if you see I’ve rated Wild Turkey 101 an 80/100 you know I mean it’s a good whiskey to bourbon for the price but not something you will hoard by the case load.
To make it easy I will work in 5 point or quarter star increments
100-96 –Perfect. This whiskey is easily a top five whiskey of all time (in your opinion). If money weren’t an issue you’d buy every bottle. When friends come over you hide these bottles because you want to enjoy every drop yourself. If you see a bottle at a bar you have to try it no matter the cost. If someone asks you what the best bourbon or whiskey is you mention one in this scoring range
95-90 – Excellent. You’d buy this bottle every time you have the chance but wouldn’t mortgage your house for a bottle. You would share a glass with a friend if he was a fellow Bourbonr.
89-85 – Good. This is a great bottle but there were one or two things that you didn’t enjoy. That could be price, too sweet, high alcohol burn, etc. You probably have a bottle on the shelf as a reserve.
84-80 – Pretty good. Not that complex but makes up for it in price or the fact that it’s easy to drink.
79-70 – Drinkable. You may have received the bottle as a gift and after a couple drinks the bottle has been sitting on the shelf. This bottle would make a decent mixer.
69-60 – Bad. You’d only use this bottle as a mixer.
59-0 – Terrible. Why is this distillery allowed to make whiskey?
We want to make Bourbonr.com as beneficial to you as possible and hopefully a standardized rating system is a part of that.