Tastes

As with Tullamore DEW, this is a great introduction to Irish whiskey for bourbon drinkers. Nose: honeydew, lemon, biscuits, hints of oak and corn way back Palate: more honey, slight toffee, hints of vanilla and baking spices Finish: smooth, bright and sweet. Not as spicy as Tullamore DEW. Hints of butterscotch. Pleasant.

Barrel Select store pick Liquor Barn (KY) Age: 14 years Nose: the age on this bourbon really dampens the proof with a rich, semi sweet aroma that includes dark fruits, candy corn and pleasant aged oak Palate: rich with vanilla, baking spices, hints of buttered bread and nutmeg Finish: spice and proof does come up here, but pleasant. Oak returns on the finish. Some zesty citrus too. Despite the age of 14 years, this store pick is well balanced, not too oaky, a bit spicy, but enough sweetness to spread things out. It consistently beats Bookers for me, but your mileage may vary.

Nose: pleasant sweet corn, cereal, wheat, and cherry sugars, with hints of leather Palate: rich with maple syrup and brown sugar, hints of vanilla baking spices Finish: exceptionally smooth, with a little toffee and butterscotch, a little more vanilla and spice, maybe caramel One of the best easy to find bourbons out there.

I call this Baby Stagg. This is closer to George T Stagg (and not Stagg Jr), just a lower proof with less age. Still quite great. Nose: very sweet cherries, butterscotch, oak, candy corn. Palate: rich with even more cherries and raisins, baking spices and hints of vanilla. Finish: barely any warmth at all, very smooth with hints of citrus, spices creep in more here but barely Cherry sweet on the palate, more so than standard EH Taylor Small Batch. Very balanced. The additional age (I’m guessing) over Eagle Rare smoothes this out even more and does not taste like a 100-proof bourbon. Will come back to this one and do a blind with the small batch as well as Eagle Rare and standard BT. Of course the George T Stagg is spicier, older and warmer but this is damned close.

Nose: honey, candy corn, maple syrup, toffee Palate: bright with hints of butterscotch, honey, citrus, biscuits, tea, barley malt Finish: smooth and short, more Barley at the end, which balances the grain and pot stilled whiskey in this excellent dram Nothing bad to ever say about this Irish staple.

Nose: sweet corn, butterscotch, pecans and maple syrup Palate: sweet orange zest, vanilla baking spices, pleasant and balanced Finish: toffee, hints of dark fruits and more vanilla Great standard, on the level of Buffalo Trace & Elijah Craig. This is a high rye bourbon but you wouldn’t assume that in a blind tasting. Very balanced. Barrel selects of this are great.

*As with any new bottle I will come back to this one in a month or less for a second review. 1792 has grown on me after coming to appreciate Very Old Barton Bonded, which is one of the best bonded value bourbons on the shelf. The small batch 1792 is nothing special and VOB beats it hands down for me. This single barrel shines though. Proof: 98.6 Vintage: unknown Nose: some rye earthiness, but sweet fruits, leather, hints of honey and brown sugar Palate: quite rich, a little oily and more complex than the small batch offering. Sweeter than I expected from this higher eye bourbon. Balanced baking spices with butterscotch. Finish: medium warmth, dry finish but not as dry as other high rye bourbons I have tasted. A very balanced bourbon, from the earthy nose to the sweet candy palate to the spicy and dry finish. This single barrel has a lot to offer. Excited to return to it soon.

Nose: spicy vanilla, oak, some ethanol (which a few drops of water tames) & light citrus fruits Palate: more citrus, hints of toffee & cinnamon Finish: decent for a bottom shelf bourbon, more spice and hints of cherry A sweet and spicy bourbon standard. This is as good to me as Elijah Craig Small Batch and much cheaper (although barrel picks of EC are often better). Since Elijah Craig is no longer 12-years-old, this is a fantastic value and is much closer in quality as the current small batch of that line. This is a step below the fantastic EW single barrel but otherwise is the best Evan Williams bottle you can buy.

EH Taylor Small Batch continues to be my favorite of the distillery’s mashbill no. 1. Eagle Rare has become more close to the quality level of standard Buffalo Trace in recent years so I look to this bourbon as my best buy for that line. If you find it at msrp of course. Nose: brown sugar, raisins, cherries, cereal, toast, leather, oak Palate: rich and oily, vanilla, toffee and butterscotch, more dense and complex than Buffalo Trace or Eagle Rare but still bright Finish: medium and smooth, more vanilla in there too, some warmth from the low rye spice comes in at the end At $39 msrp buy, buy, buy. It’s quite an upgrade from BT/Eagle Rare. I’d spend up to $50 on this bourbon and generally buy on sight when I see it.

This pour was better than when I opened this bottle a couple weeks ago. Nose: vanilla, pepper, hints of toffee Palate: more vanilla, butterscotch, baking spices Finish: medium, some from the rye some from the 100 proof points. To me this is a lighter and less in-your-face Knob Creek Single Barrel or Bakers. It’s definitely an upgrade over Jim Beam white label.