Now, y'all and all, I have a fondness for wheat bourbons, always have, always will. I recently had a few unkind things to say about Larceny bourbon, but upon reconsideration, I think it to be a better than passable bourbon. In so far as I have any complaint agin it, it is the complaint I have always lodged agin wheat bourbons.... the finish tends to be abbreviated.
The strength of wheat bourbons, to me, is that they carry a lot of subtlety and softness. This subtlety and softness makes them prime candidates to anchor a vatting of bourbons. Which bring us to Blade and Bow, which, as they like to point out is a solera vatting (cf how sherry and port are 'mixed'), which is accomplished through a top down within the warehouse mingling.
Now, without distiller confirmation, it is assumed that Bland and Bow is a four grain bourbon (if you do not know what a four grain bourbon is, welcome to the intricate and interesting world of bourbon), which (as it seems) contains some of Diageo's sourced bourbons and the some of the precious remnant Stitzel-Weller bourbons which were last distilled and stored in the early 1990s.
I, like no doubt far too many others, was curious about Blade and Bow, because it reputedly contains some of the famous last stocks of Stitzel-Weller bourbon. Many of us, probably too many, bourbon lovers consider bourbon from Stitzel-Weller to be the sine qua non of bourbons. There is, in my opinion, a mite of truth in that. The other mite of truth in that lies in a bourbon lover's susceptibility to legend and lore, which I readily confess is an influence on me. There is no such thing as a pristine palate in regard to bourbon, aside from the one that rejects all bourbon upon the first taste.
That rejection palate is useless as regards the taste and attractions of bourbon. For the rest of us, I would suggest that this does not argue for the subjectivity of bourbon taste, but quite the opposite. Taste, for bourbon lovers, as in all else, is first public, then private, with that possible exception of the rejectees first encounter. We learn. as we create, our tastes from an encounter with others, and taste alone may not be the primary factor. My Bourbonenthusiast friend, Bourbon Joe, influences my tastes in bourbon, and I learn from him. If, as was true with Larceny, he likes a bourbon that I at first am not so fond of, that makes me reconsider.
Now, Larceny vs Blade and Bow. I like Larceny better now than I did initially, it is superior to Maker's Mark, although the finish is a bit short to me. I prefer Blade and Bow because of what I think is the rye component, which adds a degree of robustness and depth. It is my subjective opinion that the deficiencies of a wheat bourbon can only be corrected with time in the barrel and the tannins that result. I have posted thereupon extensively in the past. Time in the barrel, as does the barrel and it placement in the warehouse, matter, as does the experience of the master distiller in his selection of the contents of the bottle.