Early Times Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon

A lot of spice, followed by a lot of sweet on the nose, as expected with as much corn as found in the mashbill. When neat, the sweetness is very quickly displaced by smokey vanilla and light leather notes, but even those are eventually chased off by a very strong cherry aftertaste, which does dampen a bit of the enthusiasm. (The cherry is lessened significantly when mellowed over ice.) Still, given its proof and availability, ET BiB is pretty hard to beat at its current price, and makes a solid (if unspectacular and best for crowds) old fashioned.

Lots of vanilla and spicy heat at the end will be good in cocktails. Ok for sipping

Sweetness and some char on the nose. Sweet vanilla, a little fruit and some spice shows up late. A fairly lengthy finish. Not that impressed at first, got a lot better as time went by. Very nice, a good value too.

Vanilla and orange blossom nose. Soft entry, medium light mouthfeel. Sweet grain, citrus, and vanilla oak around an essential core of sweet corn sweetness. Only in the finish does a little rye spice show up. Reminds me of Wild Turkey 101, but sweeter and softer, missing WT's spicier rye finish. But that makes it an easy entry-point bourbon, with little ethanol heat for a 50% ABV. This is a really good BIB product that deserves more recognition for quality than it's bottom shelf status affords it, but there's a cult following out there and they're not wrong. $25 for 1000ml BIB bourbon? Bang! OK, it's not going to knock your socks off with complexity--sweet corn is it--but it's a good sip outdoors in the woods and a great mixer at home.

The nose starts off a little flat, but after breathing for a moment notes of vanilla and cream appear. The palate is very corn forward at first and then comes some caramel and brown sugar. The finish pleasantly lingers with some slight spiciness and leaves a somewhat oily mouthfeel. Overall a very solid pour.