I also thought this would end up my favorite bourbon of the year since it marries Kentucky and Ireland. The end softens the leather as the dark chocolate lingers the longest on your senses with a final touch of almost peppery spice. The sip ends quietly and fades quickly, leaving you with a nice touch of lemon oils next to dark chocolate powder and a hint of spicy stewed oranges. Its one of those bourbons that I wish more people knew about and had a chance to try. While preferences may vary by batch, you can count on a great barrel proof bourbon with every bottle. The finish is soft and fast with that spice leading back towards a leather tobacco chew. 93 / 100 from 1 Critic Review. The Tennessee whiskey is a marriage of ten-year-old whiskeys aged in the lowest char barrels available, allowing more direct contact with dried wood rather than black char. The nose opens with deep vanilla that mingles with hints of dark chocolate sugar cookies with a touch of mint. The juice is then aged in warehouses built by the Colonel over 100 years ago. The sip is an easy one that brings the depth you want from an almost old-school-tasting bourbon while still being fun to drink and mix. Bulleit Barrel Strength Bourbon. The taste leans into that oak barrel with dashes of woody spices (think allspice berries, star anise, and cinnamon sticks), dry cherry tobacco leaves, salted caramel, and more of that super soft leather. Noah's Mill ($60) Liquor.com. It tastes a lot similar to Knob Creek, with a more traditional bourbon flavor profile. Either way, the juice goes through Michters bespoke filtration process before a touch of Kentuckys iconic soft limestone water is added, bringing the bourbon down to a very crushable 94.4 proof. This whiskey ups the Eagle Rare game up in two ways. Part of that may be due to just spending more time with this one. Among the more than 150 bottles considered, we sampled brands from across the country and encountered more craft expressions than ever before. This years 199 bottles are going to be super tough to find. Taking responsibility for your own actions. This rare Bourbon is best enjoyed neat with flavours of oak tannin, smoky vanilla, mocha and coffee with a clean and intense finish. The palate offers a warm rollercoaster ride through figgy puddings touched with burnt sugars, dried fruits and nuts, holiday spices, and a brandy butter silkiness. Its a delicate balance of mixing great whiskeys to make something better than the individual parts. Bulleit's high-proof version of its flagship high-rye bourbon was conceived as a chance to taste one of the most beloved moonshines in the country straight from the cask. It's bottled at its natural proof of between 121 and 127, and aged between six and eight years. If you do, treat yourself to a pour. That whiskey is then batched, proofed down with limestone water, and bottled. The bourbon spent 12 months finishing in those old-school barrels before vatting, proofing, and bottling. Stephen Beam is doing some amazing work out of a tiny distillery in rural Kentucky. The finish really takes its time as the cherry attaches to an old cinnamon stick and the tobacco takes on a sticky chewiness with a mild savory fruit edge. Four Roses is renowned for its ten distinct recipes with two mash bills and five yeast strains. The finish is long, effervescent, and leaves you with this soft sense of having just eaten the best oatmeal raisin cookie of your life with just the right amounts of oats, spice, raisins, brown sugar, and crumble. Theres a real throughline of sunny berry brambles (blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry) next to orange oils and a touch of oakiness on the nose. Every bar cart should have at least one Wilderness Trail on it. You can tell youre drinking something special with every sip. Beyond that, this was a Travelers Exclusive up until the pandemic. This might be the perfect old fashioned bourbon. This opens with a nose full of salted butter next to hints of very soft leather, light notes of vanilla bean, a touch of toffee sweetness, and freshly cracked walnuts with a dry edge. Alcohol heat permeates this barrel-proof monster. Booker's Bourbon first came to be when Booker would hand select barrels to give as holiday gifts for friends. Master Blender Dave Carpenter built this small-batch bourbon off the back of barrels of very high-rye bourbon (60 percent corn, 36 percent rye, and four percent malted barley) from MGP of Indiana. With that in mind, we tasted this years releases side by side and ranked them below. In fact, the rest of this list is the same. "Noah's Mill is a 114 proof bourbon coming from the Willett family again. Speaking of bottles I actually finish over the course of the year, I finished two of these since they hit the open market. Elijah Craig Barrel Proof is all about finding the best barrels in the Heaven Hill warehouses and letting that whiskey shine on its own. The entrance and use of this website and these Conditions are governed by Dutch law. The 50 Best Bourbon Whiskeys Of 2021, Ranked, GloRilla, Ice Spice, And The Carefree Black Girl Backlash, Karol G Tells Us About Her Most Personal Album Yet, Maana Ser Bonito, And Collaborating With Shakira, The Rundown: Between Cocaine Bears And Maple Syrup Heists, Margo Martindale Is Absolutely Thriving In 2023. The first Black-owned and operated distillery in Louisville, Kentucky is putting out quality juice at affordable, everyday prices. This is classic Beam whiskey with a low-ish rye mash bill of 77 percent corn, 13 percent rye, and ten percent malted barley. Paul Sutton is a new bourbon from an old family recipe. Booker's Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Access to over 2.4 million ratings and reviews, More than 200.000 bottles available from retailers around the world, The most trusted source of factual bottle information available. Whiskybase is founded in 2007 with the goal to create the biggest resource of whisky information in the world. Were including them all anyway! His own offspring are now running things at the Jim Beam-owned distillery that bears his name, making for at least 7 generations in the bourbon business. Palate: Whew.Before adding a couple of drops of water, this bourbon is . The 15-year barrels are high-quality bourbons hand-selected by Beam. The palate really holds onto the berries while savory rhubarb cobbler mingles with dates, old leather tobacco pouches, and vanilla pudding with a salted caramel drizzle. The brand took the time to release its own contract distilled juice. Just about every distiller adds water to the final product, not to save coin, but to balance the ABV, flavor and color. The juice in that bottle is a cask-strength blend of whiskeys from Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. This is a classic bourbon. Booker's Bourbon 2022-04 'Pinkie's Batch' Review. I really cant find any faults in this bourbon. That cornmeal comes through on the nose with a sense of candied orange, salted butter, and pancake syrup with a hint of brewers yeast. Theres a lot to draw you in with this nose of rich tobacco spiciness next to soft cedar, tart cherry pie filling, saffron stewed pears, salted toffee, and what almost feels like the salted water left after boiling artichokes (seriously). And ranking them isnt exactly a navel-gazing exercise, because Bookers batches are not all the same. These releases have been getting better/more refined every year. Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of 2021. Boston Batch is described as a history-making batch of Bookers because its the first time Freddie Noe assisted his dad on the selection (formally, anyway). Barrell puts out a lot of whiskeys every year. This bursts forth with bright red berries covered in rich and bitter dark chocolate with sultanas, burnt orange peels, and nutmeg-heavy French toast custard. These are the best 50 sips of bourbon I tasted in 2021, no holding back! Pappy Van Winkle 25 Decanter. Booker's by Jim Beam is typically released 4 times per year, twice as much as the Buffalo Trace offering. This isnt a bourbon to be taken lightly. This whiskey marries four of those recipes with two from Mash B (very high rye) and two from Mash Bill E (high rye). This bourbon from Alabama seemed to come out of nowhere this year and shook up the whole scene. A sip gives you powerful but smooth corn and more cnnamon, finely polished oak, a hot twist of mint. Our number two pick for this year is an untraditional Bookers with a familiar Beam flavor. The nose then leans towards a woody spice matrix of cinnamon sticks soaked in cherry syrup next to a slight note of anise thats more absinthe green than licorice dark. This bourbon is a pure classic that will feel familiar yet refined. Blanton's Straight From The Barrel is better than Pappy Van Winkle. This is the epitome of a slow-sipping bourbon with real depth. The palate has a pecan pie vibe with the maple syrup turning into Caro syrup as the oak gets a little toasty, with rich buttery toffee and a dollop of creamy vanilla pudding. Those barrels are blended and then proofed down with soft Tennessee water. The palate really holds onto that velvety vanilla as the corn husks dry out and notes of orange-infused dark chocolate mingle with that spicy tobacco, which starts buzzing on your tongue. This much-lauded and beloved bottle from Buffalo Trace is classic whiskey making. Thats just the nose. Its a dream on the rocks when a little water really starts to open up the flavor profile. The taste has a hint of almond or walnut shell on the end that marries to a dry mouthfeel, vanilla notes, and a touch of tobacco chewiness. The website of Whiskybase B.V. includes references and/or hyperlinks to third party websites. ABV: 63.95%; By: Booker's Bourbon; Booker Noe was the Master Distiller at Jim Beam Distillery from 1965-1992 and launched his eponymous whiskey in 1988 to start the Small Batch Bourbon Collection. Instead, I found myself going back for more and more sips just to capture some additional flavor. That caramel sweetness merges into a fresh honeycomb next to Dr. Browns Cream Soda vanilla flavor and pep while the fruit dries out, leaving you with meaty dried figs, dates, and prunes driving the midpalate toward the finish. The result is this award-winning Barrel Strength bottle, which possesses a surprising complexity considering that its alcohol content lies somewhere between 120 and 25 proof, depending on . This remains one of my favorite sips of the year. The finish is long but doesnt overstay its welcome. The juice is another classic that hits a little higher price point but pours really well, especially if youre looking for a craft Kentucky bourbon gift this year. This thirst quencher was sourced from 6 different rickhouses with an age statement of 7 years, 4 months, and 14 days. Rating: 93: Style: Bourbon American Whiskey Whiskey: Produced In: Kentucky United States . Booker's Small Batch Bourbon Whiskey. Batch # 2021-04. Bardstown is doing some of the most interesting blending (and contract distilling) in the game. Barton 1792 doesnt release their mash bills to the public. This is one of those whiskeys where youll likely say Ah, I get it now when drinking it. That makes the barrels that go into this expression super rare. The end is kind of long and really smoothes out, thanks to the vanilla and toffee as the peppery spice builds towards a tobacco-filled cedar box and a very distant hint of fresh mint. Apple pie meets bourbon barrel spice. That aside, this is just delicious goddamn whiskey. Top 100 Bourbon of 2023. This whiskey, distilled at Lux Row Distillers in Bardstown, is kind of like a Tennessee whiskey made in Kentucky. The palate leans into the dessert vibes as the berries turn into a sweet blueberries pie with a touch of cinnamon and nutmeg next to dry cedar and anise. George T. Stagg Producer: Buffalo Trace Proof: Barrel Proof MSRP: $80 Why it's better: Simply put, George T. Stagg is the best bourbon currently being produced. A dark and deep spice layer draws you in with that classic Old Foresters vibe of tart red berries, coconut cream pie, and plenty of wet brown sugar on the nose. The seven-year barrels were finished by Beam in Amarone red wine casks before this batch was put together, proofed, and bottled. On first whiff, I got a strong upfront alcohol burn, which is common for barrel proof bourbons. This batch is named in honor of series creator Booker Noe's dad, the original Frederick Booker Noe, per a news release. It has a heavy caramel and fudge profile with a good amount of spice from its high rye content. Extremely well priced and always available, it's one to always have on the shelf. That makes each release extremely unique and fleeting. Nicole Austin has been killing it with these bottled-in-bond releases from George Dickel. The juice then goes right into the bottle with no cutting or filtering, allowing the masterful craft to shine through in every sip. Michters is currently distilling and aging their own whiskey, but this is still sourced. Jim Beam's Booker's Bourbon brand has been a semi-frequent target of whiskey geek grumbling for a few years now, owing to the fact that its price point has provided a real time reflection. The taste runs deep with vanilla leading the way next to a touch of apple and pecan crumble. The barrels are chosen according to a specific taste and married to create this high-proof expression. The MGP of Indiana (now Ross & Squibb) signature bourbon is comprised of nine percent 2005 bourbon with a 21 percent high-rye mash, five percent 2006 bourbon with a very high-rye mash of 36 percent of the sticky grain, 19 percent 2006 bourbon with the same 21 percent high-rye mash, 13 percent 2008 bourbon with that 21 percent rye mash, and 54 percent 2008 bourbon with the 36 percent high-rye mash. This year the most used warehouse actually came down to a tie. The bourbon mash bill has a touch of rye in it and it aged for up to five years in medium char barrels. This expression blends 15-year-old bourbon from Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennesse into a final product that reaches new heights for blended bourbon. The fruitiness really builds as the cherry leads towards a bowl full of ripe raspberries swimming in cream with a dusting of dark spices and brown sugar thats countered by a dose of floral tea leaves, culminating with a mildly bitter coffee bean. The nose has a mix of honey next to buttery biscuits, rich vanilla, a touch of tart red berries, dry cedar, and a very faint hint of dry mint. The nose is a classic mix of bold vanilla, baking spice, oak, and fruity sweetness. After that release, pour this over a single rock or add a little water to really dive into the flavor notes. This then morphed into the taste of aged wood and light leather. Pinhooks contract distilled bourbon is all about refinement. This years LE Small Batch is a blend of four bourbons. 13 years later, this juice was bottled at 100 proof (as per the law) and sent out to the wide world where it received much adoration. Crafted with care, this bourbon offers a rich aroma and smooth finish, making it a must-have for any collector. But this expression really is something special. Each of these MGP barrels is hand-selected for its beauty and then bottled at cask strength to let that barrel shine through in the finished product. Two years after naming Yamazaki Single Malt Sherry Cask 2013 the "World Whisky of the Year," Jim Murray's Whisky Bible anointed Booker's Rye Whiskey the "World Whisky of the Year" . The amped-up ABVs helped it shine in cocktails and on the rocks while still holding on to that Evan Willams vibe (think approachable, affordable, and very drinkable). Its also a single barrel you can actually still find. Position Rank. The mid-palate explodes with heat that then mellows pretty quickly as the finish leans into creamy vanilla pudding spiked with cloves, leather, and a wet cedar vibe with mild cherry tobacco. Youre greeted with that classic Beam cherry that has dark chocolate and brandy candy depth alongside clear Christmas spices next to a hint of menthol tobacco. The mid-palate hits on a bit of dark spice, vanilla tobacco, and dark cacao bitterness. The end circles back around to all that sweet and chocolatey creaminess with a final slice of pecan pie on a slow fade. A Caro syrup-soaked pecan sweetness and nuttiness drive the mid-palate towards a cherry tobacco finish with a hint of dark cacao powder. Grab a bottle and try for yourself. The rye is a 100 percent malted rye thats three years old. Our parameters for which bourbons made the list are simple: Thats all there is to it. While this whiskey is a blend of sourced juice, it really shines as a classic bourbon from a new brand. This list comes. The palate centers the creamy vanilla while adding in a cinnamon bark vibe with notes of black pepper and floral honey moved into the background. It's stored in barrels aged on the middle shelves within Jim Beam's nine-story rack houses. If you liked Grannys Batch then congratulations: you now have a favorite warehouse. Brough Brothers definitely has me excited for whats next from the brand. . The taste holds onto the honeyed sweetness with burnt sugars, light cedar, chocolate tobacco leaves, and a hint of orange oils. Its crazy-sippable neat while really going deep when you bloom it with a little water. So this is a small batch in theory and name more than practice. The real beauty is in the softness of the taste. Ranking batches of Booker's is, to a certain extent, a ridiculous exercise. Since then, it lost 73 percent of its volume to the angels as it rested in warehouses C, K, M, and Q on various floors. This whiskey was produced in the spring of 2003. The juice has a pretty standard mash bill corn, rye, and barley. This is a gem. The expression is a marrying of 200 barrels of bourbon from Heaven Hills warehouses. During that time, the barrels spend time in the Buzzards Roost at the top of the rickhouse. Thats a shame because this is a hell of a sipper and more folks should be able to get their hands on this one. Now, you can find it on most shelves, making this one finally accessible to the masses. And a little goes a long way to spike your cocoa."Gullo. Youre greeted with a real sense of a corn-syrup-laced pecan pie next to hazelnut bespeckled cinnamon rolls and creamy milk chocolate. Feel familiar yet refined still sourced this years releases side by side and ranked them below Alabama. Crazy-Sippable neat while really going deep when you bloom it with these bottled-in-bond releases from George Dickel into expression! Every bottle 60 ) Liquor.com with limestone water, and 14 days cutting! 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