Evan Williams White Label Bottled in Bond Bourbon

Pretty dang solid for a $14 bottle. Obvious choice for an everyday bourbon. I like the nutty finish.

Tasting on large rock. Smells of herb and spice with maybe a bit of pear. Assertively spicy and peppery up front, mellowing gradually into maple and vanilla. Long, warming finish that reminds me increasingly of cherry over half a minute.

On the nose I get caramel and vanilla and not much else. Extremely basic. However, once tasted the flavors hit the nasal passage and fill the throat with white and black pepper. The vanilla and caramel remain and open up the throat with a slight peanut shell flavor. The flavor dissipates quickly in the nose, but remains for minutes in the throat. Overall experience would be at best 1.5/5 upon smelling very basic, but a solid 3/5 on the taste as it opens up and lingers in the throat with the slightest of burn. Overall Rating 2.75/5 Repurchase: Yes Type: Daily Drinker/Mixer

Rating: 10/23 N: Peppery, grainy, youthful. I'm not liking this. Some lemon and the faintest hint of banana. Hints of apple. Not the worst, but not appealing. P: Bold heat and some nice viscosity. The flavor is peppery with minerals and some light caramel sweetness with hints of apple, green banana, and lemon. I'm getting some vanilla covering up some corny sweetness. Faint meatiness that is a bit worrying, but isn't too bad. Occasional hints of peanut. F: Lingering pepper, vanilla, wood (but not too tannic). It's nice and mellow, but bland and forgettable. - Conclusion - Not bad, but not good. It's not really memorable. It's clearly in the 11 to 12 range, with a 12 being the most likely outcome. I'm going with a 12. For a brief comparison, Evan Williams 1783 (11/23) has a bigger sweet note, but it still is hot and isn't as full. The two are pretty close together, but I definitely give this the win. It tastes like this would be great in a mint julep. The more I have of this side by side with Evan Williams 1983, the more the ethanol comes out here and the sweetness comes out there. I'm not so enamored with this anymore. It may be an 11 as well. An enamored may be an overly positive description of how I felt about this whiskey. Honestly, I'm preferring the 1783 now and wondering why I didn't give it a 12. Maybe I should swap their ratings? Coming back to this, I'm finding it to not be an obviously large improvement over The Sexton (9/23). The Sexton has a sweet fruitiness and mellowness in comparison. Evan Williams 1783 is mellower and sweeter as well. I do think that this is a bit better than The Sexton, but it isn't blowing it out of the water. They're quite close. The 1783 is probably better here. I could see this being an 11, but I'm thinking a 10.