Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

A collection of 349 posts

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Old Hamer 10 Year Bourbon Review: Corn-Fueled Classic

After sampling a handful of these different 8- and 10-year-old barrels, Pops and I decided that instead of a “Bottle” rating, we should buy a barrel.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Fanged Pursuit Bourbon Review: Orphan Barrel’s Best Yet?

If I were to point to my favorite of the Orphan Barrel line, this would be it. It's not dry to the point of being acrid or bitterly oaky, which, honestly, is what I expected based on other long-aged Orphan Barrel releases.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Bomberger's Precision Fine Grain Bourbon Review: Layered Complexity & Elegance

To me, those whiskies exhibit a greater intensity of aromas gathered while resting in the first barrel, like extra coffee, extra cocoa and extra oak and all the tannin you'd expect that the bear. But this has dustiness all over it.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Bulleit Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon Review: Hits and Misses

I'm a Bulleit fan. I love its barrel strength releases, I've done single barrel picks there and I love its 10-year products. But all of those came from elsewhere, and I was ready to see what the home team could do this time.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Green River Wheated Single Barrel Bourbon Review: A $60 Cask Strength Gem

This high-proof release is in my sweet spot for wheated bourbon. Below 100 proof, wheated bourbon is unassertive and short on spice for my palate. As Maker's Mark Cask Strength proved years ago, magic happens in wheated bourbon proofed well past the century mark.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

WhistlePig Snout-to-Tail 10-Year Bourbon Review: Unique Barrel Aging Unveiled

The nose is laden with honey, caramel, spring flowers and a little ripe banana. Hints of white pepper and cinnamon come next with a whiff of mint thrown in. Those same aromas become flavors that form the backbone of this this middleweight spirit.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Remus Gatsby Reserve 2024 Review: A 15-Year Bourbon to Chase?

I personally enjoyed the 2022 and 2023 Gatsby releases a little more than this one. It's still a very solid bourbon that drinks well above its age statement (more on that below), but it's also quite different from previous releases.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Woodford Reserve Double Double Oaked Review: Worth the Hype?

What surprises me is the finish, which doesn't linger, is not all that warm and is neither immediately tannic nor drying–attributes I expected from such lengthy oak interaction.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Booker's 'Jimmy's Batch' Review: A Tribute to A Bourbon Legend

I've tasted better Booker's releases for my palate, but there isn't much to nitpick with this one, especially if you're a fan of Beam's drier and more peppery barrel-proof bourbons. And let's be honest, who doesn't love Jimmy Russell?

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Old Forester 1924 Bourbon Review: A Decade of Depth and Flavor

If someone can find flaws in this, you're either a freak of nature who's going to teach us all something we didn't know or you're nuts and making things up.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Old Fitzgerald 11 Year Old Bottled In Bond Bourbon Review (Fall 2024): A Classic With a Twist

The fall edition is a return to form for Old Fitz worthy of its MSRP and probably a reasonable markup, too.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

New Riff Winter Whiskey Review: A Bourbon Tailor-Made For Sweater Weather

Winter Whiskey is one of those bourbons you'll want to share with friends and keep in the bar for those occasions when your palate craves something really good but also something different.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Elijah Craig A125 Barrel Proof Review: Is This the Best Batch Yet?

No one ever regrets buying a bottle of ECBP because it always delivers, never disappoints and always makes people smile when you pour them some.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Preservation Estate Wheated Bourbon Review: Bold Notes Beyond Its Age

If Preservation is already achieving that combination of rich fruit and ponderous dark notes at 6.5 years, that's exciting. To enter the Preservation Wheated Bourbon's flavor journey at the trailhead is a fun place to be, and now I look forward to every forthcoming release.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Old Forester 117 Series 'Warehouse I' Review: A Limited 11-Year Bourbon

This is flat-out delicious. Kudos to whoever chose 95 as this spirit's proof. It's bold and beautiful, complex and loaded with character, velvety, weighty and luxuriant but without the bite of cask strength whiskey. Sometimes you gotta love medium proof bourbon.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Batch C924 Review: 129 Proof Bourbon Excellence

The finish ties it all together expertly with torched sugar, chocolate mint, and lingering notes of marmalade and chai tea. It's perhaps not the stunner we were given at the end of 2023, but there's certainly nothing to complain about here.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Bulleit 10 Year Bourbon Review: Aged Perfection at 91.2 Proof

I'd have an incredibly hard time understanding any bourbon fan wouldn't like this amazingly reliable, well-made and well-aged bourbon. It embodies everything that's right and unique about America's native spirit...

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Larceny Barrel Proof Batch C924 Review: A 125.1 Proof Wheated Bourbon Gem

Pound for pound, there's no better value in barrel-proof wheated bourbon right now. I'm not sure why the price hasn't increased along with Heaven Hill's other annual barrel-proof trio, Elijah Craig, but I'm not complaining.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

First Taste: Four Roses New Single Barrel Collection

The deep copper color of these bourbons all but screams, “I’m 7 to 9 years old and one heck of a bargain at $49.” It’s a good visual reminder of the high-quality product in the glass and the fact that Four Roses simply never disappoints.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

TX Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey Review

This tastes like too many other 90-proof American whiskies on the market: ordinary and even cautious. This tastes as if it was made to risk offending no one. It's inoffensive in every way possible, but that also renders it quite plain.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Angel's Envy 2024 Cask Strength Bourbon Finished in Port Wine Barrels

This year's port note is more wine like that's driven by the addition of tawny port barrels to the finishing regime. Where earlier port notes were sweeter and pleasantly candied, this is more intriguing: fermented, tarter, angular and dark cherry-candied.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Hard Truth Bottled-In-Bond Wheated Bourbon

A first sip serves up fruit and spice: golden apples, ripe banana, cinnamon, cocoa and a bit of black pepper. Keep after it and you get a bourbon toddy that, given its high corn and wheat mashbill, needs no warming or honey; it's sweet and subtle enough on its own.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Mary Dowling Toasted Double Oaked Wheated Bourbon Review

It's truly dynamic on the palate, shifting from toasted oak to baked fruit then twisting sideways to toasted cinnamon bread and poached spiced apples. Every sip lays down another layer of dark flavors (tobacco, fig a little leather) to build up the rich finish.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Safai Straight Bourbon Review: A $300 Kentucky Contender?

BOTTLE DETAILS * DISTILLER: New Riff Distillery * MASH BILL: Not fully disclosed, though honey-roasted malt is mentioned. * AGE: 8 years * YEAR: 2024 * PROOF: 112 (56% ABV) * MSRP: $300 * BUY ONLINE: Safai Bottle Shop STEVE'S NOTES SHARE WITH: Any whiskey fan who likes weighty, slightly woody bourbon. WORTH THE PRICE:

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Remus Repeal Reserve VIII Review: A 2024 Bourbon Blend with 17-Year-Old Depth

Your home bar deserves a bourbon like this, just special and approachable enough to sip through slowly and enjoy, but not so precious (or crazy high in proof) that it starts gathering dust on the shelf.