Zachary-Robbins
Henry McKenna 10 Year Bottled in Bond Bourbon
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed
August 6, 2020 (edited August 8, 2020)
Blind tasting - 1.0 oz neat in a Glencairn
Elijah Craig Single Barrel Select (NAS)
bottled in 2019 for Orange Count ABC
(47%, open 6 months, $29.95 in NC)
Henry McKenna 10Y Single Barrel Bottled-in-Bond
Barrel No. 7279, Barreled on 05-29-09
(50%, open 8 months, $39.95 in NC)
Nose:
A - Rich cinnamon and caramel, vanilla cream, medium oak, rye, and ethanol, light brown sugar and toffee, light dark fruits
8.5/10
B - Honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, chalky dried fruits and corn dust, light oak and peanut, very light ethanol and rye
7.5/10
Palate:
A - Surprisingly muted on the tongue because I was expecting more with the nose, light caramel and vanilla, light corn dust, light oak and spice
6.5/10
B - Stronger oak and ethanol, spicy, light caramel sweetness, dry cereal with no added sugar, could use more fruit and sugar for balance
6.5/10
Finish:
A - Oak and tannins pop, rye and baking spices, light vanilla, medium-short finish
6.5/10
B - Dry and tannic, oak lingers, corn dust and cereal, medium finish
6/10
Drinkability:
A - 7/10
B - 6.5/10
Total Score:
A = 28.5/40
B = 26.5/40
A = Henry McKenna 10Y Single Barrel Bottled-in-Bond
B = Elijah Craig Single Barrel Select
This one surprised me a little because I purchased multiple bottles of the Elijah Craig because I loved it and it was a great value at $30 or $27 during sales in 2019. I immediately disliked the Henry McKenna when I bought it in December 2019, it was too astringent and artificial chemical on the nose and taste, but I think it has greatly improved after being a few months open. Both of these were much better on the nose than on the palate, particularly the Henry McKenna which smelled wonderful. It was a letdown on the tongue, while the Elijah Craig had a bolder flavor but was a little too dry and tannic. Both are great values though. I use my score out of 40 for my Distiller rating. By themselves I'd probably rate them closer to 3.75-4.
39.95
USD
per
Bottle
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@ContemplativeFox Trust me, the worst part was a group of women showed up 10 min after the lottery tickets were supposed to close. They gave them tickets and all 6 women got called within the first 45 min. The crowd wasn't pleased.
@Zachary-Robbins Dang, the odds of getting something good there are really good. Sorry you didn't get one of those bottles.
@ContemplativeFox It isn't, they rounded the lottery out with a lot of bottles I can pick up any time. That was the annoying part.
@BDanner I didn't know that 4R SiB was hard to get now either. I am, however, extremely jealous that you can just walk in and find ECBP.
@Zachary-Robbins in fairness, that haul of allocated stuff probably warrants a 400-person lottery. That's quite a lot of hard to find bottles.
@ContemplativeFox They had like 24 Blanton's, 12 Elmer, 16 Stagg, 16 Pappy, 36 Weller, 24 1792 Full Proof and Sweet Wheat, 12 Old Forester Birthday, 12 Old Fitzgerald, etc. But all of those gone by the time I was called.
@Zachary-Robbins OK, wow, those options you had in the lottery range from totally unexciting to moderately interesting. Seeing ECBP, Booker's and some distiller's editions on the shelves sounds way more exciting!
I’ve always said the lone advantage of a control State is that when you do luck into a bottle, it’s retail. I also have the advantage of being in a more rural county, so demand is less. I had no idea until very recently that 4RSiB was now a “find”. You can catch McKenna at least once a month and ECBP is usually on the shelf 24/7.
@ContemplativeFox It wasn't exciting being near last. They had all the bottles behind the counter, you could choose one rare bottle and one less rare bottle, when I was up all I could get was Buffalo Trace, Angel's Envy, Four Roses SiB, 1792 SiB, Henry McKenna SiB, Very Old Barton, Peerless Rye, Knob Creek SiB store pick and some expensive Japanese whiskey. The new store had at least 40 bottles of ECBP A120 and B520 each, never seen more than 10 at one store. The new Maker's 46 Cask Strength, a few Barrell store picks, Booker's 2020-01 and 2020-02, some Woodford store picks, distiller's editions of a few scotches I rarely see.
@Zachary-Robbins That actually sounds like a kind of fun, exciting event then. Did the new store just stick the bottles on the shelf?
@ContemplativeFox They do online lotteries once a year in most counties. I think the in-person was special because they opened a new county headquarters and stocked a bunch of allocated whiskey. A new store just opened this week in my new county and they had a great collection, but I'm guessing they didn't do a lottery because of COVID.
@Zachary-Robbins Yikes! I didn't realize they did actual in-person lotteries. That's a big time commitment.
@bigwhitemike Yeah at $40 there are plenty of bourbons to try that are easier to find in my state
Great head to head. Always illuminating, but extra work. Big fan of both of these bottles, but neither are perfect (and SiB variation too). I got too accustomed to seeing HMK for $25 pre-San Fran best in show to stomach $40-$60 and ultra scarcity for the same bottle. It was great for the price... now it’s just good.
@WhiskeyLonghorn I don't know if we're lucky, we only get it once a year and I managed to get it at a lottery that was full of BTAC and Barton products. This was my consolation waiting 3 hours going close to last out of 400 people.
@WhiskeyLonghorn here in NorthEast as well. Used to be $30...now maybe $60, if you can find it
This was one of those Jim Murray picks. You’re lucky you’re in a control state on this one. The price has soared here.