1792 Small Batch Bourbon

Sweet notes, very slight maple.

Sweet, smooth with not much bite. Very pleasant charred-oak aftertaste. Strong vanilla notes and caramel at first and then an explosion of flavor. Love it!

Picked this up a couple of weeks ago as a “what the hell” selection. After all the publicity Barton had last year with the rickhouse collapse I thought wth, might as well give it a try. I imagine some of the whiskey lost in that collapse last year was good, aged barrels. Obviously this wasn’t any of that. 1792 Bourbon is named for the year Kentucky became a state. It’s distilled by the Barton distillery in Bardstown which is owned by Brown-Foreman. This bottle is an NAS offering bottled at an odd 46.85% ABV. It’s medium gold in the glass. It clings to the glass like glue, giving up short thick legs. The nose is fairly pleasant. There is a slight burn with cinnamon, vanilla, and caramel. That’s about the best feature of this whiskey. The palate is somewhat dry for a bourbon, a little hot, and echoes the nose with oak and spicy caramel and vanilla. It’s not bad, but the flavors seem muted, a little weak. The finish is disappointing with just a weak oak tone that disappears quickly. This bottle was $30, making it a moderately priced bottle but it just doesn’t deliver the goods. It’s a good mixer and makes a decent Old Fashioned but there are better options for sipping neat. 2.75/5.