Tastes

Caramel and vanilla on the nose. Oak, vanilla, and a touch of spiciness on the palate. This is enjoyable, but Larceny Small Batch is my preferred wheater in this price range. To me, this is a much better bourbon when I drink it neat and without food. When drinking this with food, I often experience a searing burn down my throat. Also, there's something about the iconic shape of the bottle that does not work in my favor. I can never seem to pour this without several drops of bourbon escaping down the side of the bottle and moistening the label.

I poured this neat as I always do with my whisk(e)y. On the nose, I detected caramel, vanilla, some oakiness, and a little bit of green apple. The green apple wasn't prominent at first. Yet, once I smelled it, I was able to single it out and hone in on it. Coming through on the palate was apple, oak, and vanilla. This has a nice full-bodied texture. A second sipping brought forth some of the nuttiness that's generally expected in Heaven Hill products. The finish is lengthy, and the apple and oak are still coming through. Note from my first tasting of EW1783 in 2018: I revisited this one from a few years ago. When I first tasted EW1783 back then, it was extremely bitter, and I tossed out that bottle after a half-dozen shots or so. My palate wasn't as refined back then as it is now, and it's also possible that I had a bad batch years ago. I feel that it was worthwhile to revisit this, but I'm not sure that this is a keeper in my bar. I've had my bottle of this for six month now, and I'm now starting to taste a slight bit of bitter oak. Perhaps oxidation isn't kind to EW1783.

Old Crow was the first bourbon I ever tasted. It's actually somewhat decent. To me, it's not fabulous, but it's not rotgut. It tastes better when adding water, which I rarely do with whisk(e)y. I generally like my drinks neat. However, the deal-breaker for me with Old Crow is that it gives me terribly bad breath the next morning.

Oak and vanilla on the nose and palate. I know there's more complex stuff out there, but I enjoy this. This is my weekday pour. This is what's in my glass when I've had a rough day. This is what I order at a restaurant when there are no other options that appeal to me. In short, Jim Beam White is my "old reliable" pour.

To me, this had a very dry, burnt oak taste. Too young. I just didn't enjoy it.

This is just too dry for me.

I love the fruity nose. Honestly, I could buy this bourbon just to smell it. Taste-wise, it was a bit too rough for me though.

I didn't take extensive notes when I last had this. I recall the oakiness and some caramel on the palate. I had this a couple of months ago and was surprised that I actually enjoyed it. My prior experience with this about five years ago was a bit "Jekyll and Hyde." Sometimes it was OK, and sometimes it was a bit bitter. My palate was definitely not refined back then. Would I go out of my way to purchase this? Probably not. For a cheap weeknight pour, I prefer Jim Beam White Label. Would I drink this if it's offered to me? Absolutely.

This has a sweet taste to it, actually too sweet for me. The first time I had this five years ago, it made my stomach a bit uneasy about an hour after drinking it. This was the first scotch I ever tasted. You have to start somewhere, right? This eventually pushed me to look around at the slightly higher priced blends. I had this again about a year ago, and it tasted like scotch with vodka added to it. It kind of reminded me of a scotch version of Kessler.

This is more dry and spicy than the main Jameson offering but still very good. The main component of Granny Smith apples still shines though accompanied by a little bit of the beer barrel taste on the palate. I enjoy the flagship Jameson product more than this, but I would buy this again if my local store was out of the original offering.