Tastes

Four Roses Yellow is the entry level expression in the FR line, and it shows. Enjoyed neat in a Glencairn. Nose is lightly sweet, with some vanilla and bright citrus poking through. Palate starts lightly sweet also with more vanilla notes being overpowered by ethanol. Light and short spiciness. Finish is short and underwhelming, some barrel wood comes in but needs more. Just very underwhelming and uninspired. Overall not too bad for under $20. Would make a good cheap mixer but as a sipper spend another $10 gets you a much nicer pour, or better yet another $3 gets you Wild Turkey 101 which clobbers this one in flavor. And if you really just need a mixer, Evan Williams Black or 1783 is better and cheaper. If you really want to experience the goodness of Four Roses please step up to the small batch variety or single barrel. It’s a night and day quality difference in that and their yellow label. Cheers!

Makers. The most well known wheater bourbon, because marketing, but it is outdone in quality and price by the Wellers line. So leave Makers to the masses leaving more Weller on the shelf for the rest of us. Enjoyed neat in a Glencairn. Nose is the typical sweet for a wheater but not as delicious as Weller SR. Some vanilla caramel and light fruit, maybe suggests strawberries. Palate is also sweet but not overly so. Finish has some lingering fruity sweetness and fades into light barrel wood. Not a ton of complexity here but not bad by any means. Makers is good bourbon, but overpriced because of it's brand recognition. I prefer Weller or even Larceny by far for a wheater. Superior in every way, while being cheaper.

EW BiB is a great deal if you need something with a higher alcohol kick for cocktails. As a sipper it doesn't quite hold up as well, not much depth and completely, but it's not unpleasant by any means. Enjoyed neat from a Glencairn. Nose is strong ethanol with caramel and vanilla trying to get through. No nice woody char notes which I do prefer a nice bit of wood. Too much sniffing on this one and I feel like I'm singing nose hairs! At this proof probably would benefit from a few drops of water. Palate offers sweet corn alcohol, high spiciness and burn, but still smooth enough to sip. Some brighter citrus along with caramel comes through the burn. Also a little tart. Finish is corn, alcohol, with some barrel wood but not enough for my liking. Just not rich and deep enough to be a daily sip that you would really enjoy. At the price and proof, EW BiB stands up to mixing fairly well but as a sipper it doesn't offer the greatest smoothness, flavor, or complexity. Served neat the higher alcohol tends to overpower the better qualities of this pour. As a BiB alternative try Jim Beam BiB. Although to be honest for the same proof, I greatly prefer Wild Turkey 101, Jim Beam Distiller's Cut and Henry McKenna BiB. Any of these offer far superior flavors as a neat sipper. Cheers!

Nice bourbon in the under $30 range, just not my favorite. Despite its high expert rating, I'm not a huge fan of EW SiB. There's not a lot of rich deep flavors or complexity here that warrant such a high rating IMO. I tend to prefer more barrel forward woody notes and a nicer nose and palate with a nice spiciness kick. This bourbon doesn't really check any of those boxes for me. It's not bad per se, just not my style. Enjoyed neat from a Glencairn. My bottle was put in oak in 2009 and bottled in 2017. Nose is somewhat fruity and honeyed, but mostly nail polish remover funkiness for me. Not a great start. Palate offers some initial grain sweetness but not much complexity with light cinnamon spiciness and virtually no barrel wood. Very thin watery mouthfeel seems similar to EW 1783 here. Sweetness quickly gives way to a tartness in the mouth. Finish is fairly short with no outstanding quality, not much to write home about there either. After a while the finish does give way to a very faint barrel wood but not nearly enough richness for my palate. Due to the lower proof and low spiciness it's definitely smoother I guess if that's what you're after. In the under $30 category this is certainly not my first choice. I'd go for Buffalo Trace or Turkey 101 all day or even Bulleit and for just a few $ more the Four Roses Small Batch, Eagle Rare, or Knob Creek which far outclasses the EW SiB in quality and flavor. Heck I think I even prefer the cheaper Evan Williams 100 proof BiB to the SiB variety. In all honesty, I feel like the EW SiB is a slightly amped up but more refined version of 1783. Both are thin and watery, offer similar flavor characteristics, with the only real difference being a slightly increased cinnamon spiciness in the SiB that is completely absent from 1783. The SiB isn't bad and I don't dislike it, just not my jam. I think if this one were around $20 or slightly under, it would be worth it, but nearing $30 there are simply far superior choices. Cheers!

One of the best bourbons in the $25 price point. I've heard this one billed as primarily a mixing bourbon but I enjoy it's flavors greatly sipped neat. To me it's a quintessential bourbon with all the right flavors at the right price. Enjoyed neat in a Glencairn. Nose is primarily floral and somewhat fruity with smokey barrel wood and light tobacco with caramel and spice undertones. Palate starts lightly sweet with grain and caramel, bright citrus, and nice rye cinnamon spiciness followed up with delicious woody barrel and tobacco flavors punching through. Finish is medium length and wood/tobacco dominate. I love more wood char and rich tobacco notes in my bourbon and this one is right up my alley. Not a overly complex pour but nonetheless a great daily sipper with plenty of flavors for the $. For a NDP bourbon, I'm surprised how much I like this one, but I suppose it hits just the right woody/tobacco character that I find appealing. It's also what I'd consider a brighter bourbon with the brighter citrus forward flavor. Even though I could drink this one any time of year, I think the bright floral citrusy nature would lend itself well as a great summer sip. Cheers!

Evan Williams Black is a straight-ahead no nonsense bourbon. If you looked up bourbon in the dictionary, it should use this bourbon as a textbook example of where to start. All the classic bourbon flavors, nothing overly fancy or complex and no BS, priced right. Enjoyed neat from a Glencairn. Nose is somewhat sweet with light caramel and vanilla notes. Palate starts a little sweet corn alcohol, turns to caramel, caramel, more caramel and vanilla. Some tartness on the tongue with a little heat and spice. The finish is its best quality for me, as it lingers on to a nice smoky char barrel wood. May not be the absolute best sipper but for the price it'll do. If you like simple sweet caramel and barrel wood char, this is your pour. It's textbook bourbon done right for the cost. Serve this to your guests and save the good stuff for yourself! For the low price though it's hard to argue against it. Cheers!