Some bourbons get bottled up uncut. Coming up in 2nd place is Ronnie's batch, adding in some notes like chocolate and peanut butter, light vanilla, I really enjoyed 2022-01 Bookers was launched in 1988 as the first mass produced bourbon bottled straight from the barrel, uncut and unfiltered. Blantons is The Original Single Barrel bourbon, and this expression is the purest form of that whiskey. And while I dig the Cowboy Bourbon and Guadalupe, this is the one that stuck out in my mind for a heavy-duty yet accessible flavor profile that whisked me back to the dry grass plains of Texas. While Ive used it more in cocktails, it works well on the rocks if youre looking for something a little different. These conditions apply to the use of this website of Whiskybase.com. It's stored in barrels aged on the middle shelves within Jim Beam's nine-story rack houses. The bourbon spent 12 months finishing in those old-school barrels before vatting, proofing, and bottling. The end warms a bit with the fruitiness waning towards a spicy, choco-tobacco end. . The mid-palate leans into that sweet dried fruit/peppery edge as the pecans return in a bowl of Caro syrup and dusted with nutmeg-heavy eggnog spices and a final flourish of that wet yet fruity wood. Position Rank. The end is long-ish and carries more of that vanilla cream while that cinnamon becomes slightly chewy with a dried choco-mint tobacco buzz on the tip of the tongue. You think about it. The cask strength bourbon is obviously pretty powerful stuff, and it delivers a raw and smoky drinking experience. Best for: Overall Bourbon Arguably the world's best bourbon whiskey, Buffalo Trace is serious value for money. 125-128 Proof Semi-Limited Clermont, KY. By law, bourbon must go in the barrel no higher than 125 proof and be bottled no lower than 80 proof. Theres really little more you could ask for. 1. The juice is bottled as-is with no cutting with water. The taste veers away from that with deeply stewed apples that are almost a warm apple sauce with cinnamon, clove, and allspice kicking up some heat as minor notes of marzipan, cornmeal, and cacao lurk far in the background. The bourbons are two, five, and 15 years old. 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 . One final word before we jump in, price and accessibility are not factors here. The bourbon mash bill has a touch of rye in it and it aged for up to five years in medium char barrels. Sure, it lacks the age (and thankfully, the price tag), but Pigskin is a showcase for why Bookers has always been such a beloved and respected bourboneven at 6 years and change. Booker's Batch 2018-03 'Kentucky Chew' Bourbon Whisky. This distillery-only release came out of nowhere and proved to be one of the easiest drinkers of the year. Booker's Bourbon is a brand named for master distiller Booker Noe, a sixth-generation bourbon maker. Warehouse H is one of Beams nine story warehouses. Clocking in at 128.5 proof, Booker's allows you to experiment at home by adding as much or as little water as you want until you get to a profile thats just right for you. Youre greeted with dried roses, marzipan, and creamy eggnog on the nose with a hint of apple and corn. 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. Think a tropical, hazy IPA with clear notes of pineapple, lemon-lime, and maybe a slight hint of savory papaya next to more a-typical bourbon notes of vanilla, holiday spices, and caramel. This whiskey is a collaboration between Heavens Door Master Blender Ryan Perry and Redbreasts legendary Master Blender Billy Leighton. And a little goes a long way to spike your cocoa."Gullo. This makes for a complex and robust flavor profile with notes of rye spice, backing spices, and oak. The whiskey in the bottle is generally at least 12 years old and bottled with no cutting down to proof or filtration whatsoever. Here are the best bourbons to drink this year.. . Critic tasting note: "Originally touted by Booker Noe, the "Kentucky Chew" is a way of tasting whiskey: swishing it around your mouth, then swallowing and . Whiskybase is founded in 2007 with the goal to create the biggest resource of whisky information in the world. This batch is named in honor of series creator Booker Noe's dad, the original Frederick Booker Noe, per a news release. The palate edges away from the spice towards a powdered sugar sweetness with a hint of dry vanilla. The nose is a bouquet of dark spices next to dried orange rinds, soft Christmas cake, and a slight floral underpinning thats more damp than dried out. The taste embraces the holiday spice matrix with a creamy veneer of dark chocolate oranges, eggnog spice, and a velvety mouthfeel with a hint of orchard fruit and toffee drizzle. The 15-year barrels are high-quality bourbons hand-selected by Beam. Buy Booker's Bourbon Online Buy Booker's Bourbon Online. 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. 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. Its just damn good bourbon from a top-tier blender. The taste really focuses on that caramel, with hints of oak next to roasted almonds, cinnamon, nutmeg, dry wicker, and a drop of soft mineral water. The nose is beautiful rich with hints of red berries, sweet and dry dates, a touch of vanilla tobacco, and a whisper of soft leather. Its a predominantly grain forward batch (and the youngest of this years releases by about a month), but it still manages a gorgeous transition out of those grain notes and into a finish of soft vanilla custard. Thats great. Barrell puts out a lot of whiskeys every year. The finish is slightly brief, but its mostly light, focusing in on oaky dryness and a hint of orange peel. The spirit is from Buffalo Traces low-rye mash bill. This is a bowl of stewed apple over vanilla ice cream thats been drizzled with extra caramel. Theres a sense of vanilla bean (pod, seeds, essence) up top with hints of spicy chewy tobacco, dry oak (almost pine), and a distant note of fresh corn husks. Theres a clear pecan pie vibe on the nose with a buttery crust, plenty of holiday spices, a touch of apricot, and a whisper of dried hibiscus petals. Michter's 20 Bourbon. The actual whiskey is a two-year-old bourbon thats batched to highlight the bright fruits of this new and craft-forward whiskey. By accessing this website or by using the information on this website the user automatically accepts these Conditions. The finish takes its time as the tobacco spice and fruit slowly fade out, leaving you with a dry woody note and a touch of sweet and buttery toffee. The website of Whiskybase B.V. includes references and/or hyperlinks to third party websites. But there are some killers to come. Whiskybase uses external services to enhance the functionality of Whiskybase.com these external services are: - Google analytics for analytics- Mailchimp for sending our newsletters- Paypal, Multisafepay and Stripe for handeling Market paymentsYour personal data (collection, purchase price, tasting notes, reviews and checkins) are not shared with other companies and are securely stored in our database. There are two types of Bourbon: high-rank (high-red dye) and wheat-grade (wheated dye). NOTICE: Many other small liquor store sites will end up . The finish sweetens with a spoonful of fresh and floral honey as those orchard fruits affix to a mildly spicy and vanilla-forward tobacco leaf. This might be the perfect old fashioned bourbon. This also leans very classic bourbon with hints of corn on the cob with melty salted butter next to hints of soft leather pouches filled with roasted peanut shells, a touch of caramel, and a vanilla/chocolate ice cream vibe. Their High Rye Bourbon is a mash of 64 percent corn, 24 percent rye, and 12 percent barley grains that are fermented with a proprietary Wildness Trail yeast using the sweet mash process. Theres a real throughline of sunny berry brambles (blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry) next to orange oils and a touch of oakiness on the nose. They are both high heat, uncut and unfiltered. . The Best Bottles Of Bourbon Whiskey For Under $20, Ranked Our Favorite Bourbon Whiskey From Every Price Point Between $10-$200 All 19 Brands From The Buffalo Trace Distillery, Ranked Here's. That dark chocolate and cherry fruit drive the palate as a hint of charred cedar lead towards vanilla tobacco with more of that dark chocolate and a small touch of honey. These are the best 50 sips of bourbon I tasted in 2021, no holding back! Noe recommends drinking Pigskin, though, as temperatures start to drop a little and youre watching your favorite football teams this season. For now, this bottle is contract-distilled (distilled at a big distillery based on their own recipe/concept) in Indiana from a mash bill of 75 percent corn, 21 percent rye, and four percent malted barley. 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. The palate opens up towards the dark fruit but dries it out and married it to a sticky and spicy tobacco leaf while toasted cedar soaked in salted caramel vibes with dry corn husks that are just singed. . The juice in the bottle is hand-selected by Jim Rutledge and barreled as a single barrel at cask strength with less than 150 bottles per release. 2017 Copyright The Bourbon Review. This whiskey is all about the blending process that Stellum employs to make this special and award-winning bourbon. That whiskey is then married, slightly proofed, and bottled. The best-selling bourbon in the world, ol' white label has held steady through thick and thin times. After retiring in 1992, Booker went on to work as an ambassador for the company and traveled the world promoting Beam bourbon until he died in 2004.Bookers bourbon ranges in proof between 121-131 and is aged 6-8 yrs. 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. A Caro syrup-soaked pecan sweetness and nuttiness drive the mid-palate towards a cherry tobacco finish with a hint of dark cacao powder. After that release, pour this over a single rock or add a little water to really dive into the flavor notes. Now, his son, Fred Noe, carries on his father's legacy with the series. Rye and baking spices on the nose carry through to the palate, where they shift pleasantly in herbal direction. 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. Freddie Noe hit this one out of the park. As mentioned above, this is a vatted from 40 total barrels from three different states. The exchange informs buyers and sellers on legal auctions of collectible bottles of spirits. Whats most interesting is that while Warehouse H is represented across all three batches, Grannys Batch is literally 50 percent Warehouse L, including floors four, five, and six. Booker's Bourbon is a series of bourbons started by sixth-generation Beam master distiller Booker Noe, who died in 2004. Ranking batches of Booker's is, to a certain extent, a ridiculous exercise. The Best Rare Bourbons for a Whiskey Drinker's Collection. The finish takes its time as the mid-palate cherry sweetness slowly dissolves into an old wooden garden box full of fresh dark potting soil bursting with fresh mint and spicy nasturtiums. Mix this into a cocktail or pour it over some rocks and youll be set. The palate goes full crme brle with sticky burnt sugar over the top and a slight touch of allspice and nutmeg next to a dark cacao powder dryness with a touch of smoke salt and light, dry cedar. Old Foresters Master Taster Jackie Zykan released this new line from the iconic brand last spring. Pear drives the nose with a pear compote or pear butter made with plenty of dark spice and just a hint of dark chocolate and tobacco. The new bottling also comes with a new proof of 90, bumping this up from the previous version. 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. With that in mind, we tasted this years releases side by side and ranked them below. These older age statement bourbons were a tee-up to Blue Run releasing their own-make whiskeys going forward. Barrell Craft Spirits is another craft blendery thats sourcing some of the best barrels in the game and expertly marrying those barrels. 7 Tennessee Whiskey. The rye comes in late with a mild pepperiness and a slight savory fruit vibe. Booker's Bourbons are considered quite expensive. Still, this was a great whiskey that I want more of and thats what this list is about. The taste becomes a sort of buttered-biscuit-smothered-with-berry-jam thats been touched with spice as a note of sweetened vanilla lurks in the background. The finish is long but doesnt overstay its welcome. This years 199 bottles are going to be super tough to find. It tastes a lot similar to Knob Creek, with a more traditional bourbon flavor profile. In spring of this year, those barrels were vatted and whiskey was proofed down to 100 (per bottled-in-bond law). The nose opens with this rich and meaty plum presence next to a hint of buttery toffee and creamy vanilla with a touch of wood lurking in the background. Still, this is a great bourbon and the best Weller there is. Classic would be the best descriptor of the nose. The information provided on this website is not intended as an advice in any way. 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. I was lucky enough to get to sample a lot of whiskeys this year and narrowing all those drams down to 50 beloved bottles proved to be a little harder than expected. USA. The end softens the leather as the dark chocolate lingers the longest on your senses with a final touch of almost peppery spice. You cant go wrong investing in one of these bottles either for your vault or your bar cart. These releases never fail to wow and this year was no different. Booker's bourbon is one of the few bourbon brands left bottled straight from the barrel. If you liked Grannys Batch then congratulations: you now have a favorite warehouse. Bardstown Bourbon Company Origin Series Bottled in Bond Bourbon, Bernheim Barrel Proof Original Wheat Whiskey (Batch A223), Lifting the shroud on malted corn bourbon with Frey Ranch's Co-Founder Colby Frey, The definitive guide on how to drink bourbon. 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. This is Makers Mark classic wheated bourbon thats bottled at a higher proof to bring about a richer flavor. Well, thats what the label says anyway. This whiskey takes Woodinvilles signature (and much-lauded) five-year-old straight bourbon and gives it a new finishing touch. Therefore, they are often times compared head-to-head. Nicole Austin has been killing it with these bottled-in-bond releases from George Dickel. 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. The end lingers for just the right amount of time as the spice fades back towards the honeyed sweetness and a final touch of vanilla tobacco buzz lands in the back of the throat. The expression is a blend of nine-year-old bourbons that are hand-selected by Major for their precise taste and texture. So, take this being number four instead of two or one as splitting some pretty fine hairs. Every bar cart should have at least one Wilderness Trail on it. I vouch for the whole list, top to bottom. This years LE release was a great reminder of wonderful bourbons coming out of Four Roses. Apple pie meets bourbon barrel spice. This opens with a lemon curd vibe with a buttered bread nearly croissant feel next to a mild dose of spiced fruits. But mines a pretty evolved palate, too just ask the guests on Expression Session. So this is a small batch in theory and name more than practice. 3. 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. Personal information provided to Whiskybase B.V. via the website of Whiskybase B.V. or by email, shall be used solely for the purpose for which the personal data is provided to Whiskybase B.V., for instance the reaction to requests for information. This whiskey was produced in the spring of 2003. Those barrels were then vatted and just proofed to 110 before bottling in half-bottles. The reproduction and publishing (of parts of) the content of this website for non personal and/or commercial use, in whatever form, or in whatever way, is prohibited without the prior written consent of Whiskybase B.V.. And ranking them isnt exactly a navel-gazing exercise, because Bookers batches are not all the same. Four Roses is renowned for its ten distinct recipes with two mash bills and five yeast strains. The tasting for VinePair's 2023 edition of our annual bourbon roundup offered great insight into how broad and deep the category has become. The sweet taste was really nice and quite enjoyable. That fruit edges towards dark berries with notes of worn leather, aged oakiness, and a sweet and rose-water-forward marzipan nuttiness shining through. This expression blends 15-year-old bourbon from Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennesse into a final product that reaches new heights for blended bourbon. Then the whiskey was filled into Old Fitzgeralds signature decanters and sent out into the world. Its going to be very interesting to watch (and taste) where this bourbon goes. This new release from Redemption feels perfect for the end of the year and all the feasting that comes along with it. A cherry sasparilla maybe? Booker's Bluegrass. Any disputes arising out of the entrance or use of this website and/or the use of information derived from this website shall exclusively be submitted to and finally be resolved by the competent court in Utrecht, the Netherlands. 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. As distiller David Pickerell pointed out, "it is hard to ignore the millions of cases Beam has. 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