Tastes

My first dram was nice. It definitely had potential. But each subsequent glass I have enjoyed less and less. I won’t be buying again.

It's OK. I'm trying to figure out how the expert reviewers score this as a 90 and Elijah Craig Small Batch an 88.

This bourbon is easily one of my top 2. For $35 you are getting a 10 year bourbon at an absolute steal. I hear some stores are selling it for a lot more, so I guess I am lucky. Heaven Hill is putting out some amazing bourbons. I have gone through several bottles and have had maybe 1-2 bottles that were just mediocre. Most bottles are very solid bourbons, but my current bottle is phenomenal. Some people complain about the inconsistency with McKenna 10 yr but so it goes with a single barrel - you can never really get identical barrels. I guess that’s why I like this one so much - I appreciate what the distiller can’t control once the bourbon is put into the barrel. What I can say about McKenna is I am confident I am getting a great bourbon every time but then every now and then you open a real gem of a bottle. It’s too bad this is getting harder to find.

Although I have tried this neat, I much prefer adding a small amount of ice, which unleashes the flavors of this bourbon. And man, there are some very unique flavors with a nice level of sweetness. In fact, I detected a profound almost dark chocolate/raisin note that, the more I let it sink in, became more clearly ancho or pasilla. Very unique and enjoyable. Great sipper, but add only a few chips of iced distilled water, not a full cube.