Tastes

Nose: a bale of dusty hay but a sort-of sweet barley Palate: cloves and nutmeg, slight peppercorn Finish: more sweetness, brown sugars, short to medium length Fantastic price for such a balanced straight rye. Lots of ethanol on the nose that quickly went away after the bottle was first opened and the whiskey sat in a glass. Very approachable. Interested to see how the bottle shapes up in a few weeks.

There are a lot of comparisons of this to the old Heaven Hill bonded which was generally only available in Kentucky. Those comparisons are fair. Although this has a bit less complexity. Nose: dusty oak, vanilla, corn, hints of fruitiness Palate: bright, buttery but spicy with subtle earthy notes albeit majority sweet Finish: quite rich with a decently long finish, sweet toffee sneaks in To me this doesn’t have as much of the cherry and dark fruit notes of the HH bonded which is now discontinued. It’s a decent bourbon for the price, especially for Evan Williams fans. It’s still a bit loud and brittle because I’d imagine it’s not much older than 4 years. But the palate is rich even if it’s not as silky and creamy as older bourbons. I rank it a bit below HH bonded but this is still available so I recommend it. Buy this bottle and a JTS Brown bonded for two above-average bonded 4-years-and-up whiskeys for under $30 total. *EW bonded is charcoal filtered so keep that in mind

Nose: butter and corn, dark fruits, oak and a hint of spice Palate: creamy and rich with cinnamon and rye spices, hints of vanilla and butterscotch Finish: warm and sweet, orange zest, well-balanced I like this bourbon. I really do. I’ve met both the Russells. Great people. For my tastes this bourbon would be middle of the road a decade ago. But the richness, consistency, quality and 10-year age statement propels this to the upper tier for me in this day and age. It’s readily available. Not overpriced. Recommend absolutely.

This is a barrel selection (WW&W, Louisville, 10-years-old, barreled in late 2008, bottled in early 2019). Nose: this store pick noses a lot like Buffalo Trace; bright with butterscotch and sweet maple, light fruits Palate: buttery with cinnamon and a hint of nuttyness but not as prominent as the Heaven Hill peanut notes that often come out of that distillery Finish: some warmth with spice on the front and mid palate, sweet at the end, very balanced Definitely more complex than the typical EC small batch, and better in that regard. The fruits aren’t as decipherable as day the C918 batch of 12-year Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, but this is a great example of what Elijah Craig used to be at its old 12-year age statement.

Several months after opening and I rarely taste a whiskey that tastes exactly as when I opened it. And it’s a good thing. Nose: approachable, sweet and light, some fruits, a little earth, a little malt Palate: very bright with cinnamon and for a rye it isn’t all that spicy Finish: long finish but balanced and smooth for a rye and my taste. This is an approachable whiskey that rye newbies should try to get an easy introduction to the standard. Add a little water and it reminds me of Tullamore DEW. Good balance of sweet and spicy. It’s definitely overpriced in an age of more aged ryes hitting the market (thinking specifically of Old Forester). But if you find it at MSRP it’s worth a buy.

Barreled: Jan 18, 2010 Bottled: April 26, 2018 Nose: butterscotch and sweet corn, soft but just rich enough Palate: rich, oily, cherries, vanilla Finish: all the oily smooth sweetness pops to attention with some rye spice at the end that finishes nicely This bottle continues to improve with time opened. It’s interesting. The bitterness present when I first opened this bottle has mostly gone and been replaced with a nice nutmeg rye spice.

Improvement over the first tasting after this bottle was opened about six weeks. Nose: vanilla spice and yes corn. Hints of butterscotch and less of the funk from before, hints of biscuits and tea Palate: quite rich and sweet, but hot on the mid palate, nutmeg, heavy spice on the end Finish: rye kicks it up a notch along with the proof for significant warmth, still rich and bright The nose is fantastic now but toward the finish it gets a bit muddled. Will check in with it later.

Nose: honey, butterscotch, bread, spices, light fruits, malted barley, hints of oak Palate: rich and sweet with more pear, honey, vanilla, apple, some additional spice on the backend Finish: barley comes out more at the end and this trends toward scotch territory generally I recommend bourbon drinkers try Teeling Single Grain if they want to branch out into Irish, but this is another excellent choice. It’s rich for a 80-proofer, and has enough spice and familiar flavors, but diverts into Irish whiskey territory with ease. I like to call this the Buffalo Trace of Irish whiskey.

Nose: not much here besides corn and wood sugars Palate: a young bourbon bitterness is one of the first things I noticed. Not awful but is definitely there Finish: more bitterness and some butterscotch sugars but that’s about it

This is my 100th review. Single Barrel is a more mellow Old Forester 1910/20. Quite balanced. It reminds me a lot more of Woodford Reserve (and their double oaked) more than the standard Old Forester 86. If you want something less in your face than the 1910 and lower proof than the 1920 you’d enjoy this.