Rebel Yell 10 Year Single Barrel Bourbon

It’s 2020. It’s December. Let’s shut this year down with a brand new whiskey (or whisky) every day. It’s my own personal whiskey advent calendar. +6! Dec. 10, 2020 A little over a year ago I bought this bottle with the unapologetic intent to treat it like currency. I confess, I haven’t always been one of the good guys. For some reason, this never happened, and tonight, there it was—sitting behind a few store picks I’ve been working on, with a giant number 10 on it. It was asking for it. If it’s the kind of thing that interests you, here’s the specifics: Barrel #: 5008669 Aged Since: 02/06 Nose is amazing. It’s gentle, but full of classic bourbon notes. Sugar, caramel, lemon, honey. Then chocolate, cinnamon, red delicious apples. The lack of astringency really lets you get some time with it, and there’s no dominant scent muting out the others. Body is hotter than I expected given that gentle nose. I’m getting chiefly dessert on this body. Heavy chocolate and caramel. Leather. Sugar too, but mostly the chocolate. Finish has something I don’t love, and it’s something I’ve always struggled with explaining. It’s somewhere between licorice and latex rubber, and it’s always ruined Russell’s Reserve products for me. Once I notice it, it’s hard to ignore. Luckily, it’s a minor note here, as there’s also cinnamon and vanilla on the tail of this one. This finish is also relatively long for a bourbon, and I don’t hate that. Overall, this dram has a special feel to it. I know that may sound dumb, but something about the color and the legs and a promising nose made me objectively excited when I picked up this glass. $200 bourbons can lack it, and $30 bourbons can have it. It’s an X factor, and this one has it. I have no love nor hatred for the Rebel Yell brand (and this isn’t in my top 20), but I’m surprised by how much I’m enjoying it. This is nothing like the RY standard issue nor the RY100. The jump in quality from that main line to this upper tier is one of the more remarkable instances of this phenomenon in the bourbon world. I’d highly recommend bourbon fans hunt the shelves for this one if you haven’t already done so, and I’m happy I withdrew this one from the ATM. It is currency no more. ‘Tis the season. I’m day-to-day on my whiskey selection, so if you’re reading this and there’s something readily available out there you’d like me to enjoy/suffer through this holiday season, leave it in the comments. Merry whiskey to all, and to all a beer flight!

This has a nice spice flavor of cloves and oranges, but the spice is very balanced with the heavy vanilla. This is a keeper!