Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond, Spring 2022

I’d like to thank Heaven Hill for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

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They say that April showers bring May flowers (or they did when I was in elementary school 40 years ago), but here in Minnesota, sometimes they also bring snow. That’s right it’s snowing again. And so, I am locked in my office with the shades drawn simultaneously whining about it and pretending that it isn’t happening.

As any sane person would.

Actually, it isn’t that bad, I guess. April is usually hit or miss around here. Some years it is in the 80s and warm, other years you get six feet of snow in a week. At least so far the snow that falls is melting right away…I really do not want to try to dig out the snowblower again.

One thing that is not hit or miss though is the biannual release of Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond. They are always tasty (and almost always priced out of my budget). This release is no exception. Though at 17 years old, the age of this release is exceptional. Here is what the distillery has to say about the release:

The spring 2022 edition of Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey is the first 17-year-old of the nationally released series and features Bourbon pulled from across three floors of rickhouse V at Heaven Hill Distillery’s main campus. As a leader of the Bottled-in-Bond category, Heaven Hill is proud to offer a premium, allocated product within this special class that showcases the authenticity and quality of the American Whiskey portfolio.

And as their bonded whiskeys have won numerous competitions on this very site, I’d be inclined to agree with them on that last sentence. But onto what you are really here for, let's taste this puppy.

Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond, Spring 2022

Purchase Info: This sample was provided by the producer for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $185.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $12.33

Details: 50% ABV. 17 years old.

Nose: Caramel, vanilla, oak, and a touch of mint.

Mouth: Nice thick mouthfeel. Sweet with caramel and vanilla. Cinnamon spice. Lots of oak.

Finish: Medium in length and warmth. Lingering caramel chocolate and vanilla.

Thoughts: As you might have expected, this is delicious. It's been a while since I found a bourbon with vanilla sweetness on the finish. In fact, I'd say vanilla is the predominant note all the way through. Kinda tastes like an amazing chocolate chip cookie. And I do love chocolate chip cookies.

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Alberta Premium

I’d like to thank the folks at Beam Suntory and their PR firms for providing a review sample with no strings attached.

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Hey we’re back live! Now you may be asking yourself: “Live? but he just posted last week?” And you’d be correct on that as far as it goes. But this year, since I knew the results prior to writing the first word, I thought I might write three weeks worth of posts and take a bit of time off. And boy, was it a good thing I planned ahead, even if the time away wasn’t as relaxing as I had envisioned.

If you are a long-time reader, you will know that one of my many businesses is a dog sitting business. It just so happened that as I was finishing up writing all the bracket posts, I started watching a very elderly dog. Who was deaf. And took five medicines. One of which was for an infected abscess on his neck. Which smelled so strongly of overly fermented Provalone cheese that it was hard to be in the same room as him. And of course, I felt so sorry for the guy that I washed him up three times a day to keep everything clean while the antibiotics did their job.

While the stinky pup was here, we were also watching one of our frequent guests. He’d gotten into something and had hurt his throat. Poor guy. So he was on multiple medications as well. Some with very strict timing. Toss in two or three other pups and it was a busy week or so. And all of that would have been fine. Easy as can be…except for one small thing. My poor wife slipped, fell and broke her arm. And couldn’t get in to see the surgeon for a week and a half.

So picture this. I’ve got pups who are used to snuggling with my wife and I. Pups who can’t understand why their Auntie keeps telling them to get back from her. We’ve got two pups who aren’t feeling well and a couple more who can’t understand why no one wants to play. My solution? I put my wife in a cage.

Not a real cage, mind you. But we wrapped a large doggie playpen around the sofa so she could be comfortable and dog free while the rest of us played with those pups that wanted to play so they wouldn’t get too rambunctious. It was crazy town! And now things have settled down just in time to get started on tastings and live posts again. Hard to do accurate tastings with a super smelly pooch in the room with you.

Tonight, we are going north of the border for our whisky. We’ve looked at whisky from this company for almost as long as the site has been in existance. And yet, this is the first time I’ve ever had the standard release. And for good reason. It is only now that the flagship Alberta Premium is being released to the US. We’ve gotten the Cask-Strength, we’ve had the Dark Horse/Dark Batch version with a bit of Sherry added to it. We’ve even gotten a taste of their offerings through many, many Non-Distiller Producers who import the whisky under their own brands. But this is the first time we ge to taste what the press release touts as the “number one selling 100% rye whisky in the world.” It also says:

Crafted and distilled in Calgary, Alberta, Alberta Premium is made from 100% Canadian prairie rye grains grown by local farmers. The grains are uniquely nourished by nutrient-dense, glacier-fed spring water from the surrounding Rocky Mountains. The result is a perfectly balanced whisky with unique nuances of flavor that are influenced by the natural climate and environment in which it is made.

So after all of that, let’s see how this tastes. Shall we?

Alberta Premium

Purchase Info: This sample was sent to me by the producer for review purposes. Suggested Retail Price is $24.99.

Price per Drink (50mL): $1.67

Details: 40% ABV.

Nose: Butterscotch, cedar, and pencil shavings.

Mouth: Cinnamon, butterscotch, cedar, and mint.

Finish: Gentle and on the shorter side. Notes of butterscotch, cinnamon, and cedar.

Thoughts: Nothing wrong with that at all. If you are exclusively a bourbon drinker, give it a pass. It's a little more delicate than you will be used to. But if you enjoy a Canadian Whisky now and then, give this a shot. I think it is quite tasty. And if nothing else. it will give you something to compare all the higher-end Alberta Premium expressions against.

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9th Annual BourbonGuy.com Bottom-Shelf Bourbon Brackets: 2022 Championship Rounds

Welcome back, folks! We come now to the end of the 2022 contest. Eight bourbons entered the arena. Four have fallen by the wayside. There have been some delicious treats and there have been some real stinkers. Let’s see how it all ends and see if we’ve learned anything along the way. First, we have the Round Two matchups.

Division 1: Arctic Mama (Evan Williams Bottled in Bond) vs Giant Charmer (Four Roses)

Thoughts: Giant Charmer has a nicer nose. Nothing wrong with Arctic Mama, but Giant Charmer is fruity and creamy which I really like in a bourbon. Arctic Mama is spicy on the mouth with notes of caramel and vanilla. Giant Charmer is spicy on the mouth with notes of mint and fruit. Arctic Mama has a nicer finish, showing lots of baking spice. Arctic Mama (Evan Williams Bottled in Bond) advances on the strength of that lovely finish.

Division 2: Fire Pirate (Banker's Club) vs. Quark Juggler (Evan Williams 1783)

Thoughts: The nose on Fire Pirate initially presented more grain notes and Quark Juggler initially presented more spice, but after a moment they both settled in and became very similar. Fire Pirate has a thinner mouthfeel and shows more grains notes. Quark Juggler is spicier and sweeter with a nicer mouthfeel and finish. Quark Juggler (Evan Williams 1783) advances to the Championship. Nothing wrong with Fire Pirate though. Nothing at all.

Championship Round: Quark Juggler (Evan Williams 1783) vs. Arctic Mama (Evan Williams Bottled in Bond)

The noses are very similar with Quark Juggler being slightly mintier while Arctic Mama is slightly fruitier. Arctic Mama is fruity and spicy on the mouth. Quark Juggler shows a lot of baking spice and some mint on the mouth. Arctic Mama wins a squeaker. It is a very well-rounded bourbon whereas Quark Juggler seems more focused on the spice. Both are very tasty and either would be an easy winner against other competition.

Congrats to Arctic Mama! Evan Williams Bottled in Bond is the 2022 Bottom-Shelf Champion!

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Lessons Learned:

This was an interesting contest for me. When I decided to set myself the restriction to only include bourbons that were sold by the handle and only for less than $35, I eliminated a lot of the usual candidates. There was nothing from Buffalo Trace, Sazerac did have one entry in Colonel Lee, but it certainly isn’t one of their best offerings. Beam only offered Old Crow in the price/format needed for this contest. All their Jim Beam branded offerings were too pricy in this market. Same with Wild Turkey. Usually I’d be able to at least get the 81 proof release, but it was not in stock at the stores that carry it at a low enough price.

All that left me scrambling to fill four slots. I was in the process of rethinking this crazy plan—which I really only implemented because I found a handle of the new 1783 on sale for $29.99 and I wanted all the bottles the same size so the photos would look better—when I wandered into Total Wine and decided that I could probably take a look at a few items that I really could only find there. So I ended up with four contestants that I’d never before included in the contest and three that I’d never even tasted before. That kind of thing is fun for me. At least before the first sips.

So what did I learn about each of these?

With Evan Williams Bottled in Bond and Evan Williams 1783 meeting in the Championship, they prove once again that if you are looking for inexpensive bourbon, grab a Heaven Hill product. You have the best odds of getting something really tasty for not a lot of money with them.

Four Roses finally got out of the first round on their fourth try. I really like their “Beige Label” standard bourbon, but when you put it head to head with other products in the price range they are hampered by their signature mellowness. On it’s own? Delicious. But put it against a Bonded bourbon and it just can’t compete. You better believe that I’m still going to finish the handle though.

McFarlane’s Reserve lost in the only upset. And that was a huge surprise for me. For the price, I expected more. I honestly don’t understand the description that it got from my buddy Fred Minnick. In a completely blind tasting, I thought it was the worst thing in the contest. It pains me to dump a $35 handle, but there is now way this is going back in my mouth. I even liked the TerrePURE entry better.

And speaking of the TerrePURE entry, let’s skip ahead to Winchester. This was one that I hesitated on including. It claims to be a straight bourbon, but much like the conversation around flavored bourbons and their status as even being a bourbon, does the TerrePURE process constitute “flavoring” (thus disqualifying it as even being a bourbon, much less a straight bourbon)? But then, I figured I was overthinking things. If they got it approved as straight bourbon, and they want to compete with straight bourbons, then who am I to let keep them out of a silly little contest on a small whiskey blog? To the surprise of no one in this house, when the winners of each contest were revealed, Winchester didn’t make it out of the first round. It was just too unpleasant, minty and…weird.

I learned nothing from Old Crow. The last time I included it in the contest, I stated that I would never buy it again…I should have stuck with that philosophy because I’m probably dumping this bottle too. When I said: “if you had never had bourbon, had it described for you by someone who didn't like it, and then tried to make a bourbon using only their description as a guide, you would make this bourbon” I think I was being generous.

As long as we are on the topic of bottles to be dumped, let’s look at Colonel Lee. I like bourbons from Barton. I like all of their flagships. Very Old Barton and 1792 are very tasty bourbons. But Colonel Lee is just bad. Not as bad as Mc Farlane’s Reserve or Old Crow, but not much better either. At least Colonel Lee tastes like bourbon, bad bourbon, but still bourbon. It might taste like the bourbon you take multiple rounds of shots of just before bar close, but that is still bourbon. Old Crow merely resembled bourbon and McFarlane’s Reserve tasted like buttered raisins…that’s not a bourbon flavor.

So now the final, and the most surprising, contestant: Banker’s Club Bourbon. Banker’s Club is a line of spirits sold by Laird’s (the AppleJack people). It has gin, vodka, bourbon, etc in the line. Think of it like a Seagram’s, Mr. Boston, or Fleischmann’s line. Some of everything, none of it high-end enough to be worthy of its own brand name. Banker’s Club was the least expensive entry in the contest. In fact, it is the least expensive entry in the nine years we have been doing this contest. You’d have to round up to make one cent per milliliter. That’s a very inexpensive bourbon. And it’s decent. Not like, drink- it-neat-in-a-Glencairn decent. But certainly throw-it-in-a-whiskey-sour or use-it-with-coke decent. Heck I won’t be dumping the bottle. I’ll probably mix it with higher proof and more flavorful bourbons to make them last longer. I’m super impressed with this one.

Overall this was a fun contest. It ended up right about where I would have guessed and I got a few surprises along the way. And heck I even like trying bad bourbon once in a while. It’s fun to know what not to buy too. Though, with three of dumpable bourbons in the mix this time around, I’m thinking that I’ll be happy to switch to tasting the top-shelf Barton and Heaven Hill samples that have been stacking up while the contest has been running.

Once again congrats to Heaven Hill and their Arctic Mama, Evan Williams Bottled in Bond!

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Did you enjoy this post? If so, maybe you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee in return. Go to ko-fi.com/bourbonguy to support. And thank you, BourbonGuy.com is solely supported via your generosity.

Of course, if you want to support BourbonGuy.com and get a little something back in return, you can always head over to BourbonGuyGifts.com and purchase some merch. I’ve made tasting journals, stickers, pins, and more.

Bottom-Shelf Brackets 2022: Round 1: Banker's Club Bourbon vs. McFarlane's Reserve

Tonight we feature a match-up of bourbons that I have never had before tasting them blind. One is the most expensive bottle in the competition and the other is the least expensive bottle. Should be fun.

First up is our number two seed for Division Two. Coming in at 90° proof, this bourbon is created by the secretive IJW Whiskey company. It is competing under the name Hamburger Advocate, please welcome: McFarlane’s Reserve!

And its opponent, coming in at 80° proof, this bourbon is produced by the Laird’s company (of Apple Jack fame), please welcome: Banker’s Club Bourbon!

Reminder, all of the competitions this year were tasted blind and we knew the winner of the competition prior to any reveal. Notes, thoughts, and conclusions were all from before we knew what was what. Needless to say, some of my conclusions were surprising to me. Tasting notes may be a little unusual since they were being tasted at the same time and could have influenced the perceptions of one another.

Fire Pirate (Banker's Club)

Purchase Info: $16.99 for a 1.75-liter bottle, Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $0.49

Details: 40% ABV. Aged 3 Years.

Nose: Caramel, lots of vanilla, and a baking spice blend.

Mouth: Caramel, vanilla, honey, and a hint of oak.

Finish: Medium in both length and warmth. Notes of honey, toasted bread, and mint.

Thoughts:  This is actually quite pleasant.

Hamburger Arcade (McFarlane's Reserve)

Purchase Info: $34.99 for a 1.75-liter bottle, Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $1.00

Details: 45% ABV. Aged for a minimum of three years.

Nose: Buttered popcorn, white wine, and spearmint.

Mouth: This tastes like buttered raisins.

Finish: Mercifully short. Follows the mouth very faithfully.

Thoughts: I've only tasted something this bad once. Hopefully I never taste anything this bad again.

Winner: Fire Pirate wins big. Hamburger Arcade is the worst thing in round 1. Thankfully we are now on to round 2 and I can put all this behind me. Banker’s Club advances to Round 2.

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Did you enjoy this post? If so, maybe you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee in return. Go to ko-fi.com/bourbonguy to support. And thank you, BourbonGuy.com is solely supported via your generosity.

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Bottom-Shelf Brackets 2022: Round 1: Evan Williams Bottled in Bond vs. Colonel Lee

Tonight we feature a fan favorite in Heaven Hill’s Evan Williams Bottled in Bond against a bourbon that has been considered and rejected multiple times for the competition. Colonel Lee is a bourbon that currently says it is “Bottled by Barton Distilling Company.” They do not list this brand on any of the Sazerac websites though apparently, it isn’t a new brand. This is either going to be a pleasant surprise or ass-whooping. Let’s see how it goes.

First up is our overall number one seed. Coming in at 100° proof, at least four years old, and the product of one distilling, please welcome: Evan Williams Bottled in Bond who is competing under the random, yet oddly appropriate, name of Arctic Mama.

And its opponent, who is looking so striking in an orange suit and competing under the name Sonic Berry, please welcome: Colonel Lee!

Reminder, all of the competitions this year were tasted blind and we knew the winner of the competition prior to any reveal. Notes, thoughts, and conclusions were all from before we knew what was what. Needless to say, some of my conclusions were surprising to me. Tasting notes may be a little unusual since they were being tasted at the same time and could have influenced the perceptions of one another.

Arctic Mama (Evan Williams Bottled in Bond)

Purchase Info: $28.49 for a 1.75-liter bottle, Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $0.81

Details: 50% ABV.

Nose: Mint, nutmeg, and honey

Mouth: Honey, mint, nutmeg, caramel, and cinnamon.

Finish: Medium length and warmth. Notes of butterscotch and oatmeal.

Thoughts:  That's pretty good.

Sonic Berry (Colonel Lee)

Purchase Info: $21.97 for a 1.75-liter bottle, Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $0.63

Details: 40% ABV. Aged 36 months.

Nose: Mint, dried grain, and an unpleasant earthy note.

Mouth: Fermented grain and mint.

Finish: Short but warm. Heavy on dried grain.

Thoughts: This is unpleasant. It will probably be dumped when we are finished.

Winner: From the first hint of Sonic Berry's nose, I knew Arctic Mama was the winner. Arctic Mama tastes like bourbon. Sonic Mama tastes like too many shots, hangovers, and bad decisions that you can't quite remember in the morning. Arctic Mama (Evan Williams Bottled in Bond) advances to round 2.

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Did you enjoy this post? If so, maybe you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee in return. Go to ko-fi.com/bourbonguy to support. And thank you, BourbonGuy.com is solely supported via your generosity.

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Bottom Shelf Brackets 2022: Round 1: Four Roses versus Old Crow

Tonight we feature a match-up of bourbons that have competed before. In fact, Four Roses Bourbon has been in three of the previous eight competitions. And fun fact, neither of these bourbons have ever made it out of the first round. So no matter what happens we will see someone get their first win.

First up is our number two seed for Division One. Coming in at 80° proof, the former blended whiskey but now fan-favorite bourbon, and competing under the name Giant Charmer, please welcome: Four Roses!

And its opponent is the former favorite of generals and presidents. Even though this one has fallen on hard times, please welcome: Old Crow!

Reminder, all of the competitions this year were tasted blind and we knew the winner of the competition prior to any reveal. Notes, thoughts, and conclusions were all from before we knew what was what. Needless to say, some of my conclusions were surprising to me. Tasting notes may be a little unusual since they were being tasted at the same time and could have influenced the perceptions of one another.

Giant Charmer (Four Roses)

Purchase Info: $29.99 for a 1.75-liter bottle, Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $0.86

Details: 40% ABV.

Nose: Vanilla, mint, and caramel.

Mouth: A little thin on the mouth. Notes of vanilla, caramel, mint, and after a moment, cinnamon.

Finish: On the gentle side. Notes of cinnamon linger.

Thoughts:  This isn't bad. Wouldn't be my first choice but I wouldn't turn it down if offered.

Barrel Shakes (Old Crow)

Purchase Info: $21.99 for a 1.75-liter bottle, Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $0.63

Details: 40% ABV. Aged “for a full 3 years.”

Nose: Buttered popcorn and yeast bread.

Mouth: This is weird. Brown sugar, cinnamon, and an oddly chemical oak note.

Finish: Longer than I'd like. Oddly bitter.

Thoughts: If you had never had bourbon, had it described for you by someone who didn't like it, and then tried to make a bourbon using only their description as a guide, you would make this bourbon.

Winner: Giant Charmer and it isn't even close. Four Roses gets their first win on their fourth try. They will be advancing to round 2.

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Did you enjoy this post? If so, maybe you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee in return. Go to ko-fi.com/bourbonguy to support. And thank you, BourbonGuy.com is solely supported via your generosity.

Of course, if you want to support BourbonGuy.com and get a little something back in return, you can always head over to BourbonGuyGifts.com and purchase some merch. I’ve made tasting journals, stickers, pins, and more.

Bottom-Shelf Brackets 2022: Round 1: Evan Williams 1783 vs. Winchester

Here we go! Let’s get down to the competitions. I hope that you guys are as excited by this as I am. Round 1 of the 2022 BourbonGuy.com Bottom-Shelf Brackets opens with Division 2 Number 1 seed Evan Williams 1783 versus Number 4 seed Winchester. 

These are two newcomers to the contest, at least in their current forms. Evan Williams 1783 recently went through a reformulation that gave it a proof bump. And for its opponent, well, I’ve never allowed a TerrePURE product in previously. In fact, I almost disqualified Winchester right up to the moment of our tasting because of the TerrePURE process. But then, I remembered that TerrePURE claimed early on that they were not trying to make high-end bourbons, but were instead looking to compete with budget whiskeys. In that case, then there was no contest they belong in more.

So, first up is the small-batch version of the number two selling bourbon in the country. Looking good in its svelte new outfit, and competing under the name Quark Juggler, we have Evan Williams 1783!

And their opponent is a collaboration between Total Wine and TerrePURE. Aged for two years before being subjected to fancy scientific processes, please welcome Winchester Bourbon!

All of the competitions this year were tasted blind and we knew the winner of the competition prior to any reveal. Notes, thoughts, and conclusions were all from before we knew what was what. Needless to say, some of my conclusions were surprising to me. Tasting notes may be a little unusual since they were being tasted at the same time and could have influenced the perceptions of one another.

Quark Juggler (Evan Williams 1783)

Purchase Info: $29.99 for a 1.75-liter bottle, MGM Wine & Spirits, Burnsville, MN

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $0.86

Details: 45% ABV.

Nose: Mint, orange, cinnamon, and a dusty note.

Mouth: Cinnamon candies, oak, and honey.

Finish: Warm and of medium length. Notes of oak and cinnamon.

Thoughts:  Warm with lots of spicy baking spices. Tasty.

Horse Jacket (Winchester)

Purchase Info: $34.97 for a 1.75-liter bottle, MGM Wine & Spirits, Burnsville, MN

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $1.00

Details: 45% ABV. Aged 2 years.

Nose: Wintergreen, caramel, vanilla, and almond.

Mouth: Smokey brown sugar and wintergreen.

Finish: Robust and kinda bitter. Very perfumey.

Thoughts: It's a minty bourbon. some people love those, some hate them. I'm mostly ok with them. This one however just feels off somehow. It's as if all the pieces for a tasty bourbon are there, they were just put together in the wrong order.

Winner: I feel like this had the opportunity to be a very close matchup. Because there is so much inconsistency at the lowest end of the price scale, we often get a powerfully flavored 90° proof versus an 80° proof that is thin and watery. But not here. Both of these were full-flavored, robust bourbons. The problem was in the nature of that robust flavor. Horse Junkie was so minty that it felt just weird in the mouth. Very reminiscent of Pepto-Bismol. Just way too overpowering on the wintergreen note.

Quark Juggler doesn't so much win this as Horse Jacket loses it. Quark Juggler or Evan Williams 1783 is advancing to round 2.

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Did you enjoy this post? If so, maybe you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee in return. Go to ko-fi.com/bourbonguy to support. And thank you, BourbonGuy.com is solely supported via your generosity.

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Heaven Hill Heritage Collection, 1st Edition

I’d like to thank Heaven Hill for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

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Heaven Hill has announced a new annual spring release to balance the fall release of Parker’s Heritage Collection. The first edition is age-stated at 17 years old and is a blend of “ultra-aged” bourbons between 17 and 20 years old. Here are the details as described by Heaven Hill:

“The Collection, a testament to Heaven Hill’s patience and ultra-aging techniques, will feature one of the six traditional American Whiskey mashbills produced by Heaven Hill, the only heritage distillery to produce this range. The first edition features Heaven Hill’s Bourbon mashbill comprised of 78% corn, 10% rye, and 12% malted barley, and bottled at a barrel proof of 118.2. With an age statement of 17 years, this release is made up of 28% 20-year-old barrels, 44% 19-year-old barrels, and 28% 17-year-old barrels pulled from Deatsville, Glencoe, Schenley, and Heaven Hill main campus warehouse locations.”

Of course, this is just the first release, and as you might expect with whiskey this old, attributes will vary by release. There is only so much old whiskey to go around, even for Heaven Hill who seems to have more than most. And if you are curious about the packaging and price they talk about that as well:

“Each Heaven Hill Heritage Collection 750ml bottle will be accompanied by a premium box in signature Heaven Hill blue with the double-H insignia stamped in gold to signify Heaven Hill. As will become a signature of the Collection, specific attributes such as warehouse site locations, production dates, mashbill percentage, and other designations will be noted prominently on the packaging.  Heaven Hill Heritage Collection 17-Year-Old Barrel Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey will launch nationally on a limited basis with an SRP of $274.99.”

So now that we’ve gotten all of that out of the way, let’s see how it tastes.

Heaven Hill Heritage Collection, 1st Edition

Purchase info: This was graciously provided by Heaven Hill for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $274.99.

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $18.33

Details: 59.1% ABV. Aged 17 years

Nose: Caramel, vanilla, mixed berries, nutmeg, and oak.

Mouth: Very rich. Caramel, vanilla, tobacco, chocolate, and nutmeg.

Finish: Long and warm. Lingering cocoa notes.

Thoughts: When I poured my sample into a Glencairn, the aroma filled the room. The glass was a foot away from my hand and I was already starting to pick up notes of caramel and vanilla. The nose is so rich that you could spend a happy evening just smelling this. But if you did, you would miss out on a very delicious whiskey. The mouth is just as nice as the nose. Typical Heaven Hill bourbon notes, but super concentrated. I love this. At over $18 per pour, I can't possibly afford it, but I do love it.

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Did you enjoy this post? If so, maybe you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee in return. Go to ko-fi.com/bourbonguy to support. And thank you, BourbonGuy.com is solely supported via your generosity.

Of course, if you want to support BourbonGuy.com and get a little something back in return, you can always head over to BourbonGuyGifts.com and purchase some merch. I’ve made tasting journals, stickers, pins, and more.