MrWizard's Ramblings

Short preface… If you asked me about 5 years ago about American Single Malt, I’d laugh… but since then a number of new distilleries opened up that produce well regarded, and often delicious spirit.

Side Note: Continuing going down the open bottles on the shelf… I noticed an interesting fact… When i started writing these entries, I went through my open backlog at that time. And none of it is around anymore.

In addition to the ones below, I have Woodinville Bourbon (Double Gold SF Spirits 2020) and Dickel Bottled-in-Bond (Whiskey of the Year 2019 Spirits Advocate) open, but I’ve already talked about those two being excellent so I won’t repeat myself. Now, without further ado… I present the open bottles of American spirit that I am willing to have on The Shelf. As a side note, the price and availability of decent bourbons is… atrocious, but that’s something for a rant on a different day…

Colonel E.H. Taylor Bottled-in-Bond Small Batch
Wife Notes: Classic old school french perfume and cheerios. Smell-taste-aftertaste is exactly same. Not too much burn.

Short version… This stuff is delicious! If you can find it at about $50 its an amazing deal! Lets go through the pieces one by one, shall we… For once, I’ll talk about packaging first. This is one of the fanciest boxes that I’ve dealt with. Especially at that price, embossed lettering, stickers, the works. Someone in the marketing department really knows their stuff and this packaging isn’t cheap! No information on mashbill but the rest is there complete with a story and pictures. Nose: Cherry pie! Classic american black cherry pie. Cherry isn’t overwhelming but that little sweet-and-sour whiff is there and spot on. Palate is more pie, this time with less cherry and more classic bourbon spice. The alcohol is present but not overwhelming and balanced between sweet and spicy. The aftertaste… more of the same, long and very slow to fade. Yet again perfectly balanced. No bitterness, just spice, sweetness, and tiny bit of cherry lingering back there. Delicious, don’t be afraid to pick up a bottle or two. Fantastic sipper, Great to share. Should fit right into a manhattan if you’re feeling little extra.
https://klwines.com/p/i?i=1120322

Edit and Addendum: Having Tried EHT Single Barrel Bottled-in-Bond.

With the caveat that every barrel is different, I’ve not found anything special in the single barrel vs small batch. The individual notes were somewhat clearer but the overall melody was essentially the same. Overall, I don’t believe it’s worth chasing down BiB single barrel version or pay secondary price for a bottle.
Score: N/A

Hancock’s President’s Reserve Single Barrel
Wife Notes: Fruity. Tasty. Bread vanilla spice, not too much alcohol, warm finish

This is an interesting one. Picked up from Total Wine on a whim and off the ScotchNoob’s review. This bottle’s labeling is borderline awful and is at best unremarkable. The bottle shape itself is beautiful and evokes crystal decanter in shape and indents. The contents are at 88.9 proof and ’single barrel’ are the only data points given aside from this being Buffalo Trace juice. Lets dig in! This is by far the easiest-drinking bourbon I’ve had, but it doesn’t drink at all like a bourbon. It drinks more of a fruit punch. Decadent strong bourbon-y nose, sweet baking spices on the palate, flowers flowers flowers!!! almost no sign of alcohol, medium length full volume finish that lingers sweet in the very back as a subtle aftertaste for a very long time. Basically fancy Hawaiian fruit punch! Mai Tai with cloves and nutmeg? Complete disconnect of nose to palate, yet somehow still amazing for me. Would I pick another bottle? Absolutely (at msrp of around $50)! I’m like 3rd into the bottle and I only drank from it 3 times. It’s that easy of a drinker.
https://scotchnoob.c … -presidents-reserve/
https://www.totalwin … on-whiskey/p/5350750
Score: N/A

Balcones Texas Single Malt Whiskey Single Barrel Cask Strength (Total Wine Pick)
Wife note: Cheerios again. Very burny palate and tasty-sweet aftertaste. With water: Much better! Butter cookies.

Balcones is a Texas-based distillery, they have been in the press a lot due to interesting takes on distilled spirits with a fairly distinctive southern style, such as blue corn and interesting limited editions. Their entire aesthetic screams “Texas”. So today we’re talking about their single malt. Being single cask, this is highest proof bottle I have open at 64.3%. It’s technically good enough to be hand sanitizer. On the nose, burnt (think charred) sugar, bit of sandalwood, and tons of vanilla together with malt. Reminds of caramelized sugar on top of creme brûlée. No smoke but a bit of that char bitterness is there. Palate is alcohol bite, more vanilla and a lot of spices. More of that char too, almost ashy, the spirit and spices warm up as it goes down. Medium length sweet aftertaste much more balanced than the palate. Still that char and sandalwood, some spices that fade pretty fast into pleasant leftovers. With water, the palate snaps into line with the nose and aftertaste, and becomes brown-sugar cookies that are nicely toasted. Water recommended!
Overall, I cannot quite make my mind on it. It’s good in its own way but this one is not quite balanced well at full proof. I’ve certainly wanted to try single malt from this distillery and its a worthwhile experiment.
As a side note: This particular bottle gets me drunk really fast where others hardly phase me.
https://www.totalwi … e-brlsel/p/191597750
Score: N/A