Tastes

After discovering some gold on the bottom shelf from a few other Heaven Hill offerings, I thought I’d make it around to this one. I have yet to be disappointed by Heaven Hill on bottom their shelfers, especially 100 proofers and above. The nose is sweet and slightly floral with vanilla custard, sweet corn, pear juice, light raisins, toasted almonds, and a hint of freshly baked ginger snap cookies. There is a tinge of alcohol vapors that stings the nostrils every now and then if I get a little too close to the glass when nosing, but it’s not too distracting. The palate is medium bodied and slightly creamy. It is a little more sweet than bitter, though both are present. There is sweet corn, pear, vanilla, black pepper, slight nuttiness, a floral note that jumps out and a little ethanol, but it’s not too much. The finish is medium long, slightly bitter with lingering vanilla and corn and a slight nutty barrel char note. Once again, I’m pleasantly surprised by Heaven Hill. I’ve often been turned off by its unattractive label and bottom shelf price. But I’ve again been reminded of how many very decent and great bourbons there are down there. I’ll say this one probably has the most present alcohol notes of the Heaven Hill products I’ve had around this proof, but it’s still good.

I just found this one at a store a little out of the way from me. From what I can tell this is a slightly outlier Booker’s from other batches as far as the profile goes. But I’m excited to try it. The nose is sweet and rich with dried apricots, pear juice, syrupy caramel, dusty wood (like wood shavings), nice barrel char, and creme brûlée. Very pleasant nose, with notable barrel char and wood. Usually those are things I pick up more on the palate The palate is semi-sweet with some definite heat on the tip and front sides of the tongue. It has a medium bodied oily mouthfeel that is only slightly drying, which is nice considering the proof. There is vanilla, lightly roasted nuts, custard, charred wood and some dusty rye. The finish is hot at first with a punch of dried fruit that then lingers with smokey vanilla and dusty rye. The finish is very long, partly because your tongue will be tingling and slightly numb to reminded you of what you just sipped, with barrel char sticking around for quite a while. This one gets better as you get through the glass, which I always enjoy. I get why this one is named “Backyard BBQ”, it’s smokey and woody and would compliment with a nice smoked brisket or ribs.

I’ve always been curious about Bardstown, and thought I’d start with their most affordable offering. Keep in mind, this is a neck pour. The nose is sweet, fruity and slightly bitter. There are dried fruit, pears, toasted marshmallow, light leather, a light nuttiness, and nice baking spices. There is a slight ethanol twinge, but it’s not distracting. But for the most part, a promising nose. The palate is sweet, slightly bitter and oily but light bodied. There is honey, light corn, dusty oak, baking spices, brown sugar and some dried fruit. Time is your friend here, let it open up in the glass for 10mins or so. The finish is medium in length with an initial hit of sweet leather and then fading to lingering vanilla, oak, and dried fruit sweetness. Not a bad bourbon. At a little under 100 proof, this one drinks a lot hotter than the proof would suggest. Maybe it’s the 60% 3yr and 2yr old bourbons coming out. But I have a feeling this one is going to really shine as I get a little more headroom in the bottle.

I was familiar with the distillery-only release of this bottle, but I never had the chance to visit. So when I heard there was going to be a limited nationwide release of this in a 750ml bottle, I was pretty excited. Let’s se how it turned out! This one is sweet and oaky at first nosing. There’s a sweet dried fruit note, along with pear juice, sweet corn, vanilla, some classic Jim Beam nuttiness, some light wood notes (but still prominent, if that makes sense), light spices (nutmeg) and some nice caramel. Pretty old school bourbon notes, kind of reminds me of what a hybrid Jimi Beam/Heaven Hill product would smell like. I would also guess that this one is on the younger side. Probably close to the 4 year mark, a minimum for bottled-in-bond. The palate has a slight oiliness and is sweet with some definite woody characteristics. Including, dare I say, some light card board. But it’s not a turnoff, oddly enough. That cardboard note quickly develops into the classic Jim Beam nutty note. There is also some rye spice, vanilla and a little bit of caramel. The finish is on the shorter side of long with the sides and front of the tongue tingling quite a bit for 100 proof. Light cardboard, a nuttiness, corn, a little spice and a some barrel char hang on to finish it out. This is a decent bourbon. But for $23, this makes even little better. Unfortunately this is a “limited” release and was told by a shop owner that this is a one-time deal. I guess we’ll see.

This was a neck pour, so after letting this sit for about 20 minutes, this is what I got... The nose has some nice corn, vanilla icing and dried fruit expressing the sweetness. There is oak, milk chocolate, slight nuttiness (peanuts) and a present barrel char that make up the body, along with baking spices, ginger cookie and old books/leather. A very pleasant nose! Also, very Heaven Hill, in the best way. The palate is sweet and full bodied with a nice coating mouthfeel that doesn’t completely dry you out like some previous releases. There is plenty if rich corn, dried cherries, cinnamon, nutmeg and a slight grassy note which is typical of these. The finish is long with lingering sweet corn, dried cherries. The baking spices also hang out on the back of the palate for a while. Then a nice barrel char note comes out. Most of the burn is happening at the very top of the throat/back of palate during the finish. I need to do some comparing, but on this first pour, I’m really liking this one a lot. It seems like a beefed up B519, which I really liked.

This is from a local store in Hendersonville, TN (just outside Nashville) called Center Point Liquors. Warehouse B, 4th floor, 8 years and 6 months. The nose is sweet with vanilla frosting, caramelized red apples and plumbs, raisins, rye and other baking spices, light chocolate, along with some wild turkey funk, which I describe as an empty peanut can with some dusty peanut debris, and there’s also a hint of baked bread. Very pleasant nose. The palate is sweet and medium viscosity. It has rye spice, chocolate, caramel, vanilla frosting, a little bit of dried fruit and dusty peanut can. The finish is long with cooked plumbs, corn, and a lingering rye spice on the back of the palate. This is probably the best Russel’s Reserve Single Barrel store pick that I have had, and it was a neck pour! This one has all of the classic Wild Turkey profile notes that I love in spades.

This was a review I did back in the fall of 2019 listed under the generic Elijah Craig Barrel Proof listing, so I thought I would put this in its proper place. Batch A119 - tasted at a bar The nose is brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and light leather. The palate is a little sweet with vanilla and a big barrel/leathery note. And I also get a cola note. It almost seems carbonated for a second, which I’ve never gotten before from a whiskey. Maybe because it reminded me of coke? It has a thicker mouthfeel, but that gets lost with the dryness that happens to your tongue and cheeks. It really dries it out, like chalky almost. All in all I like this one, but it’s the first Barrell Proof Elijah Craig. So I can’t compare to other batches.

The nose is hot at first, which is not surprising given the proof. There’s cinnamon and other baking spices, vanilla frosting, a little cut grass, a dark caramelized fruit note, corn, maple syrup, cola and some leather. The palate is sweet, thick and oily with the tongue and cheeks drying out leaving you with a sort of lingering chalky feeling. There are dried dark cherries, a ton of baking spices, oak, leather, cola, and a little bit of that cut grass comes through. Its very interesting how coating and oily this one is, while also giving you that drying chalky effect in your mouth, especially the longer you let it hang out before you swallow. The Finish is very long with an initial pop of spiciness, cola and sweet corn that fades into light vanilla and oak, with some barrel char that rises to the surface after a while. This one is great. I love how viscous it is and how there are some fruit notes that made its way into this batch. Even though there is some grassiness/earthyness that comes through, (I get that in a lot of these) its not as dominant as in past batches, which is a welcome change. On a side note, I know there are a lot of people that swear by batch C919, but this one wins for me, even though it comes off a little hotter, it’s just better.

I’ve had this one on deck for a while and finally decided to crack her open. Let’s take a whiff and a sip! The nose has milk chocolate, sweet corn, baking spices, freshly baked bread, brown sugar and a hint of cut grass. Very Heaven Hill, and I like that! The palate is sweet, thick and oily with some sweet corn, baking spices, a hint of cut grass and oak. The finish is long with lingering sweet corn, confectioners sugar, baking spices with a slight nutty character and a smidge of cut grass with some tingling on the sides of the tongue. This might be one of my top Elijah Craig Barrel Proof batches. It reminds me a lot of classic Heaven Hill distillery notes, which I’m a huge fan of. This is a little lower proof than a lot of their batches, but I don’t care. It’s good.

Recently I’ve become quite the Heaven Hill fan. Not only for their flavor profile, but also their many quality “bottom shelf” offerings that are often overlooked. After learning of some mostly Kentucky only expressions, like this one, I was on the hunt. Now that I have one, let’s check it out! The nose is sweet with confectioners sugar, corn, cooked plumbs, baking spices along with a little rye which brings out a ginger bread note, chocolate and light leather. A very pleasant and sweet nose with some spices, that are reminiscent of other Heaven Hill offerings, and yet still unique. The palate is sweet and slightly coating with baking spices, a little rye, some mint, a little cut grass, corn, cooked plumbs and vanilla frosting. The finish is medium in length with the front of your palate tingling which is followed by lingering sweet vanilla, spices and nutty barrel char. Wow, this is a very good bourbon and at an exceptional value! This is one of my favorite Heaven Hill expressions, it’s a shame you can’t really find it outside of Kentucky.