Heaven Hill Bottled In Bond 7 Year

Stop buying this. They discontinued the $11 6yr BIB, added one year, rebranded, and started charging 4x. Don't encourage that type of behavior. No, it doesn't taste any better than it did at $11, despite the fancy new bottle and price.

Nose is quite good featuring buttered popcorn, vanilla, fresh cut wood, and golden raisin. Ethanol is nice and low. Palate opens with standard vanilla/caramel (in no way a bad thing) and creamed corn, along with bright oak tannins and pecan. Flavors aren’t the richest, but have a certain punch nonetheless. Well balanced. Finish turns into a nice spice bloom of cinnamon, clove, and prickly pepper heat, and is of medium length. Mouthfeel is effervescent and silky and elevates the experience. I found this to be super solid and pleasantly traditional. The obvious comparison is to Henry McKenna 10 yr, and this is just a shade hotter and less refined but otherwise ranks right up there. Completely unavailable in my area, I paid an up charge of $65 for mail order, but I will rate this on its MSRP of $40 and quite frankly it’s a total win and could easily be my daily drinker at that price. Insta-buy at $50 or under.

HH BIB 7YR *APPEARANCE: Great bottle and label. Probably HH's best look. Most of their packaging just seems stuck in the 90's. This should be their inspiration moving forward with any redesigns. The liquid inside is a great mahogany hue. *NOSE: Fantastic. Sweet Corn with Butter, Vanilla, Praline Pecans, Peach, Freshly Cut Lumber, a Hint of Dry Roasted Peanut, and a Little Bitt of Barnyard. Very Promising. *NEAT: Surprisingly Thin. Oaky and Lightly Sweet. Vanilla, Orange Peel, Some Peanut, Sawdust, and Black Pepper. Medium Length Oaky Finish with a Blooming KYHug deep in the chest. The Palate is coated with Drying Oak Tannins, Black Pepper, and Peanut Shell. *SPLASH: Adds a touch of Fruitiness to the Palate and a little more Peanut on the coating finish. *VERDICT: One of the better Bourbon-y Noses and Finishes I've experienced in a while. Great beginning and great end. The issue is the parts in between. The Mouthfeel was disappointing, and the flavors seemed a bit muted for a BIB. Don't get me wrong, it was good. Reminds me of a more refined EW1783. The problem is, 1783 is sub-$20, Evan Williams Single Barrels similar in age are around $35 (for now), and this one runs half a C-Note. Glad I finally found one, but consider my curiosity satisfied.

Very nice! Highly recommend.

A friend of mine gave me a small sampler bottle of this bourbon to try. Initially, you get a hit of alcohol heat. 100 proof? It certainly tastes it. But as the lingering, tongue tingling heat dissipates, a bit of nutty sweetness peeks through. Almost like a caramel pecan cluster. Not overwhelming and most certainly not overpowering, so that alcohol burn is still there to the end. This is an interesting, but not very complex; bourbon. Pleasant but slightly forgettable. Would I be mad about receiving a bottle as a gift? No, certainly not. But I don't know that I would spend my hard earned bucks on it.