Square 6 High-Rye Bourbon by Evan Williams

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

Have you ever wanted to see a group of people roll a whiskey barrel down Main Street Louisville? Well, if you were in downtown Louisville in May of 2021, you just might have gotten to do just that. According to the 2021 press release of tonight’s bourbon, Heaven Hill Distillery President Max Shapira, Artisanal Distiller Jodie Filiatreau, Artisanal Distiller Emeritus Charlie Downs, Louisville Tourism President & CEO Karen Williams, and Louisville Tourism Chief Operating Officer Cleo Battle celebrated the release of the first batch of Square 6 by rolling a barrel of it down the street.

Ok, so what is Square 6? Because if you are like me and haven’t visited the Even Williams Bourobn Experience in the last couple of years, you might not be aware.

In May 2021, Heaven Hill Distillery announced the launch of Square 6 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, the first bottled Bourbon produced at their artisanal distillery in the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience. The Square 6 name pays homage to the original plot where Evan Williams built Kentucky's first commercial distillery in 1783, sharing the same block as the current Evan Williams Bourbon Experience. The High Rye Bourbon, distilled and cared for by Artisanal Distiller Emeritus Charlie Downs and Artisanal Distiller Jodie Filiatreau, features a unique mashbill of 52% corn, 35% rye, and 13% malted barley and is bottled at 95° proof with a suggested price of $89.99.

I became aware of this release when Heaven Hill kindly sent me samples of all three Square 6 releases to celebrate last month’s release of a new addition to the Square 6 lineup. Now, pretty much everything produced by Heaven Hill is at least good, right? So there is no way that this could be a less-than-pleasant experience…right?

Square 6 High-Rye Bourbon

Purchase Info: This was kindly provided by Heaven Hill for Review purposes. The suggested retail price is $89.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $6.00

Details: 47.5% ABV. Mash bill: 52% corn, 35% rye, and 13% malted barley.

Nose: Wood shavings, cedar, raisins, and chocolate.

Mouth: Cinnamon, nutmeg, raisin, cedar, and mint.

Finish: Medium length and warm. Notes of cinnamon, malt, nutmeg, mint, vanilla, and leather.

Thoughts: When you think of Heaven Hill bourbon, this is not what you think of. This tastes much more like a craft bourbon than one made by one of bourbon's largest producers. And I don't mean that as a compliment. This tastes like an early craft bourbon from before the industry found its footing. I am not a fan…at all. I think this is the first dislike rating I’ve ever given a Heaven Hill release. I’m shocked. But, hey, your mileage may vary. I’m not a fan of malt whiskey, especially when combined with the American Straight Whiskey aging process. And this had a lot of malt notes that just aren’t translating well for my palate. I also dislike raisins. A lot. So that isn’t helping either.

All in all, I’d skip this one if your palate aligns with mine. But if you think it sounds tasty, see if they offer samples at the distillery or if they have it at one of the many bars down the street before you drop a hundred bucks on a full bottle.

Stay tuned for reviews of the other releases in the Square 6 line in the coming days. They do get better…

Did you enjoy this post? If you want to support the work going on here at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch (tasting journals, stickers, pins, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com.

Jefferson’s Reserve Bourbon, Revisited and a Giveaway

This bottle of Jefferson’s Reserve was provided by the producer for review purposes with no strings attached.

It has been one thousand eight hundred and fifty-six days since I last reviewed Jefferson’s Reserve. At that point, in order to find content, I was working my way through the various releases of brands like Jefferson’s. Basically, those that had “good, better, best” product line-ups. My thoughts at the time were flattering. I enjoyed the pour even though it didn’t really fit the “stereotypical” bourbon flavor profile. I called it a “change-of-pace” bourbon.

The article I wrote was, for the most part, a defense of the brand being open about being created from sourced whiskey, which was still—somehow—a relative rarity five years ago. And people were still up in arms if you were a bottler instead of a distiller. These days, of course, most of the brands you see on the shelf are sourced, and I’ve found that a high percentage of them are fairly open about it. I’d like to include a comment from a reader about the article here because John summarizes my thoughts in the article better than I did in the article itself.

Great write-up and I share your sentiments regarding the criticism Jefferson's receives in some bourbon-centric Internet/social media outlets. I have personally never had an issue with their sourcing. My only quibble with Jefferson's is I feel their pricing is too high, but that is a quibble I have with other whiskeys, and is a bit like complaining about the tides rising and falling. The point that carries the day for me is I have never been disappointed by any pour of Jefferson's in the past, I have found them all to be enjoyable and unique.

Now, I hadn’t planned to revisit Jefferson’s Reserve until their PR agency reached out to me and offered me a chance at a media kit containing a few goodies and a couple of bottles of whiskey. One of the bottles was Jefferson’s Ocean Rye, which I'd recently reviewed, and the choice of either Jefferson’s or Jefferson’s Reserve. When I noticed that I’d last looked at the Reserve five years ago, in 2018, I decided to take them up on it. I figured branded goodies are always nice giveaways. (See below the tasting notes for more on that.)

Plus…free whiskey.

So let’s see how it tastes, shall we? Is it still a “change-of-pace,” or has it fallen in line with more typical bourbon flavor profiles in the last five years?

Jefferson's Reserve

Purchase Info: This was provided by the producer for review purposes. It sells locally for anywhere from $52.99 to $65.

Price per Drink: $3.53 to $4.33

Details: 45.1% ABV

Nose: Bubblegum, mint, vanilla, and cocoa.

Mouth: Cinnamon, mint, vanilla, oak, red fruits, and bubblegum.

Finish: Warm and on the longer side of medium. Notes of bubblegum, honey, cinnamon candies, and oak.

Thoughts: This is a lot better than I remember. In the past, I've gotten some rather strange notes from Jefferson's core products. This has none of that, and I am very pleasantly surprised. I’ll be enjoying the heck out of the rest of this bottle. I love a good bubblegum/cherry/almond note, especially when paired with a nice spice note. I’m a fan.

Giveaway

Hey, remember in the previous post when I mentioned that I was having trouble keeping track of all of these new bourbon releases? And how I’d usually ask the person in the liquor department what was new or selling well so that I could pick it up for review? Well, I’m trying another tactic. I’m asking you! Have you picked up a new or under-the-radar bourbon or rye brand that you loved (or hated, I mean, those can be fun too)? Nominate it for review on BourbonGuy.com. In return, you’ll be entered into the giveaway for the branded goodies sent to me as part of the Jefferson’s Bourbon media kit.

You can enter the giveaway using the form below. You may enter once per day. There will be one winner chosen at random. That winner will get the Jefferson’s Bourbon ball cap and Jefferson’s Bourbon deck of playing cards.

Good Luck! You have until Thursday, July 21st, 2023, to enter (you need to "log in" so I can receive your email address to notify you if you win, either login method gets me that).

Did you enjoy this post? If you want to support the work going on here at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch (tasting journals, stickers, pins, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com.

Buy some of my creations at BourbonGuyGifts.com

For a few years now, BourbonGuy.com has been supported in two ways. One is by generous one-time gifts through Ko-Fi, Venmo, or PayPal. These are amazingly gratifying to receive because when I get them, I know that someone did it just because they want to support my writing.

But the other way that the site is supported is through my Etsy store: BourbonGuyGifts.com. I make a lot of fun bourbon-themed items. A lot of these, like stickers, came about because I felt the need to flex my creativity in a way that was unconstrained by clients. (I love to be creative. I just get burned out doing it to promote other people’s companies.) But others came about because I wanted something for my own home and realized that it was just as easy to have multiple produced at the same time.

So if you’d like to support the ongoing mission of BourbonGuy.com to share the love of bourbon and show that you can be frugal while doing it, keep reading and see if you find something that you can’t live without. This is only a selection of the items I’ve made for sale, but they are my favorites.

The first item that I want to show off is the thing that got me interested in making an online store in the first place. My wife needed a tasting journal in which to keep the copious notes that we make in preparation for each week’s publishing schedule. She decided that she wanted something that laid flat, but was more fun than the spiral bound school notebooks that she’d been using and tasked me with creating just such a thing. Enter the wood-bound BourbonGuy tasting journal. Initially these were entirely printed on my home laser printer. But these days, I have the wood covers pre-printed from by the wood supplier. It makes for a more consistent product. It has consistently been the biggest seller on the store and I still love it. It measures 8.5” x 5.5” and is available for $14.

I informally call this piece the Kentucky Skyline. I made this as test of my laser engraving machine and loved how it looks. The frame and bottles are birch plywood and the black background is glossy black acrylic. The front nameplate is customizable with up to 35 characters. The one hanging on my wall just says “Kentucky Bourbon” on it. It measures 11.8” x 5.9” and is available for $59

At Christmas, I designed a line of Bourbon-themed ornaments. It’s not Christmas now, but I am getting a ton of “Christmas in July” emails right now so what the heck. At this point there are three designs, each cut from birch plywood and hung from ribbon. They are all about 3 inches across and are available for $14.50 for the set of three.

For something a little more timely, I have a couple of Pride-themed items as well. Both are statements of support for the LGTBQ+ community. I have the sticker above for $5 (includes free-shipping) and the 9” heart shaped engraved wooden wall-hanging (below) for $44. Both feature the phrase: “I like my Bourbon straight but my friends can go either way.”

If you want something small and fun, get a bourbon-themed sticker pack. Each of these were digital “doodles” that I did because of a sale at the printer I use for stickers. All are about 3 inches across and you can either buy them individually for $5 each or get all four as a set for $10. Stickers come with free shipping.

I’ve also made a couple of posters. One is a list of the cocktails that I like to make on the regular, including one of my own creation. The other is of the original Bottled-in Bond Act of 1897. The cocktail poster is 20” x 30” and is available for $25 plus shipping, and the Bottled in bond poster is 24” x 36” and is available for $40 with free shipping.

Of course, that is just a handful of the items I’ve made that I sell to help support the site. I’ve also got keychains, coasters, pins, and a sticker of a Penis-shaped super hero that my 30-year-old daughter drew on my whiteboard one day (I made the stickers for her, and she gets the money from those). Of course, there is one last thing to promote. This isn’t explicitly bourbon-themed, but I stick a label version on every package I send out because I really do hope that you all have an amazing day!

Did you enjoy this post? If you want to support the work going on here at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch (tasting journals, stickers, pins, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com.

Bib & Tucker Double Char Bourbon

I’d like to thank Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits and their PR team for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

Poor air quality is becoming a fixture of life this summer, isn’t it? Alexa gave me another air quality alert today. Luckily for me, we have it pretty good compared to the folks just a little to the east and south of us. Being as we are only in the “moderate air quality” range here in the southern Twin Cities Metro, I can actually go outside without breathing becoming hard to do. But according to the maps, many of you will smell smoke when you step outside.

Which sucks. Because though you might want smoke on your food or your whiskey, you probably do not want it in your lungs. So stay safe, folks.

But speaking of smoke and whiskey, let’s take a look at Bib & Tucker Double Char. This Tennessee bourbon was aged for six years in standard 53-gallon charred White Oak barrels before being finished in a second heavily charred barrel for an additional 5-plus months. Now, as this is Tennessee bourbon, it does go through the Lincoln County process of being filtered through sugar maple charcoal prior to aging.

And according to the company:

For Double Char, to pay homage to the Lincoln County process, the second barrel is smoked with sugar maple before being filled with our 6 year aged bourbon. The perfect amount of time in the barrels, the char, and the sugar maple barrel smoking process delivers a bourbon with an inviting savory white smoke flavor not found in any other whiskey on the market.

I tasted this prior to reading the press release, and I personally didn’t detect any smoke, which is a good thing, as I tend to dislike smoky notes in my whiskey. But there was a subtle note that I could be convinced was smoke now that I’ve read it. It’s one of those interesting notes that is subtle enough that it only comes into focus once someone else points it out.

So let’s see how it tastes.

Bib & Tucker Double Char Bourbon

Purchase Info: This was provided free of charge for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $54.99.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.66

Details: 6 years old. 44% ABV. Batch 01. Bottle 29090. Distilled in Tennessee.

Nose: Mint, vanilla, cinnamon, fresh lumber, (seasoned) oak, and a touch of cherry.

Mouth: Sweet caramel and vanilla, vibrant cinnamon, and sharp oak.

Finish: Medium in both length and warmth. Notes of cherry, cinnamon, minerals, and vanilla.

Thoughts: I'm a bit shocked at how complex the flavor is, considering it's low proof. I'm a fan. If you like the usual suspects when it comes to supplying sourced bourbon from Tennessee, you'll probably like this too. Has a bit of a Dickel vibe to it.

Now you might ask how it compares to the standard Bib & Tucker 6-year-old. And since they were nice enough to send me a sample of that for comparison’s sake, let’s take a look. The noses are similar, but Double Char is sweeter on the nose. The mouths have similar notes, but Double Char is sweeter and spicier. Standard 6 has a longer finish, but Double Char compensates for that by having more complexity on the finish. Overall, if you like one, you'll probably like the other.

Did you enjoy this post? If you want to support the work going on here at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch (tasting journals, stickers, pins, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com.

Ezra Brooks Bourbon Cream, now at 33 proof

I’d like to thank ByrnePR and Lux Row for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

Last Christmas, we took a look at four different bourbon cream liqueurs. Since that time, one of them—Ezra Brooks Bourbon Cream—has been reformulated in order to give it a pretty hefty proof bump from 25° proof to 33° proof. Now, at first, I thought that it was an odd time of year to be releasing a bourbon cream. I usually think of it as a drink to have during the holidays.

But then, I remembered ice cream. Something that I usually do not keep in the house. Mostly because the bourbon is making me fat enough. But, if I was going to give a bottle of bourbon cream a fair shake in the summer, I needed it in a milkshake.

Do you see the sacrifices I make for you?

Anyway, before we talk about how delicious a boozy milkshake made with Ezra Brooks Bourbon Cream is, let’s see what the company has to say about their new release:

Ezra Brooks Bourbon Cream is still made using all-natural cream and Kentucky Straight Bourbon but is now bottled at 33 proof – one of the highest proof levels of any offering in the Bourbon Cream category. Tasting notes include cinnamon, nutmeg and caramel with hints of vanilla and sweet pecan on the nose and buttery caramel, sweet toffee and a smooth, warm finish on the palate. Like its other elevated namesakes, Ezra Brooks Bourbon Cream now is offered in upscale packaging – in this case, with a prominent “33” callout and Lux Row Distillers embossing on the bottle’s shoulder.

Ezra Brooks Bourbon Cream, 33 proof

Purchase Info: This was provided but the producer for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $21.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $1.47

Details: 16.5% ABV

Nose: Creamy with caramel, vanilla, chocolate, and a "boozy" note beneath it all.

Mouth: Nice thick mouthfeel. Follows the nose with notes of vanilla, caramel, and chocolate.

Finish: Sweet and creamy with notes of vibrant vanilla along with caramel and cinnamon.

Thoughts: This is delicious. It's like dipping a delicious cookie in milk. It is sweet and creamy. And that powerful vanilla note on the finish makes the wholes thing a pleasure to sip.

Ok. So since this bottle arrived, I’ve eaten almost an entire quart of ice cream in milkshake form. This stuff pairs so well with it that you can go as simple as just ice cream and bourbon cream in a blender. Of course a splash of chocolate is also quite delicious. You can even toss in some malt power to make a boozy chocolate malt. Every single milkshake recipe I’ve tried has been amazing. I’m a big fan…might be time for bigger pants.

Did you enjoy this post? If you want to support the work going on here at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch (tasting journals, stickers, pins, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com.