Ezra Brooks Distiller's Collection Bourbon

Light nose with a hint of sweetness. Heavy vanilla, butterscotch (withers original), hits dry on the mouth, long satisfying finish, heat with a light floral note

When you go looking for something different and walk out with a $35 impulse buy - one might ask the question “should I have done that?” At $80 and above the answer is often a resounding “no.” That said, $24-35 is a sweet spot where VFM can come alive in a world of $60 bottles these days. Liquor Barn #4, barrel 7493223. Filled in 9/19/2016 so ~7y. I honestly bought this hoping it would be along the same profile as Old Ezra 7 (58.5 ABV vs 53.5, $55-70 vs $35, both 7 years, both likely Heaven Hill or Beam re-branded by Lux Co). The color is a nice, light amber in a high-ball glass. The nose is hot with with lots of buttered cinnamon toast, cherries jubilee, vanilla and cashew. Might have some brown sugar, allspice and pecan notes as well. Very bourbon - reminds me of Thanksgiving. Palate is very sweet up front with vanilla bean, brown sugar, raw heat, maraschino cherry, almond and a swell of baking spices. The finish is moderate at worst with almond, cherries and vanilla. I’m gonna call this a win. I would likely score this at or above most Knob Creek 9y 120 proof store picks and put it just behind Old Ezra 7 barrel strength. It honestly would score favorably against one of my pillar bourbons - OF 1920, and do so for $20 less! Here’s the catch. Some of us have had less than stellar experiences with these single barrels. I know @BDanner was underwhelmed and who knows where these barrels come from. Are they off-profile or simply not up to Old Ezra 7 BP standards? That I can’t say but I would vote yes on dropping $35 to find out, especially if you know who picked the barrel. On its own this is close to a 4 but considering again that it’s $20 less than OF 1920 or Old Ezra 7 BP I feel like it deserves at least a 4.25 with value taken into account.

Sweet with some mellow char

Caramel, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg Binny’s Pick

First whiskey I tried that gave me that toasted marshmallow on the nose. Fairly simple and easy drinker.

Nothing overly special, but for the price point it’s a great drinker.