Michter’s 20 Year, Jefferson’s Presidential Select 30 Year, Hillrock Solera Aged Reviews

This past weekend I took a long overdue trip to New York City. The impetus was mostly cocktail and food driven as I didn’t really expect to find a lot of interesting whiskey in the city. Sure enough even at the best whiskey bars NYC supposedly had to offer the unique bourbon pickings were slim. I did get a chance to checkout a few interesting bottles though so I thought I would share my notes. In general I don’t usually like to review a whiskey until I am at least 50% through a bottle so these are more first impressions than anything.

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Michter’s 20 Year Single Barrel Bourbon 

57.1% ABV, $60 1oz (Maysville)

Based on the nose alone I would have guessed this is a Bernheim wheater. It’s got that classic bold wheater profile I’ve had in really old Willett cask strength wheated bourbons. The taste is a complete change up though and tastes like a funky old Stitzel Weller wheater. The oak is very, very drying but along with the bitter wood there is also some deep dark chocolate sweetness and hints of the cinnamon note that is very prominent in Old Weller Antique. This pour is super interesting and I’ve never had anything like it. The oak brings a lot of musty funkiness but the sweet and cinnamon notes play a big role as well. It is not my personal favorite but I could see how people would lose their shit for this because of the uniqueness.
Rating: A- / A

Jefferson’s Presidential Select 30 Year Bourbon 
45.2% ABV, $38 1oz (Norman’s Kil)

The nose would make you think it is much younger than the bottle says. There is some slight wood polish but it’s mostly oak and light vanilla / caramel. The taste is very dry and more bitter than sweet. Old funky wood is the major play here but even that is muted. The finish tasted like a flat diet cola soda with more funky wood and some citrus to round things out. All in all it’s not the most oaky bourbon I’ve ever had so these barrels were either on the bottom of a cool warehouse somewhere or the end product was heavily filtered to tone down the bitter oak. I had a chance to purchase a bottle of this at retail (~$250) last year and in hindsight I am glad I passed.
Rating: C+

Hillrock Solera Aged Bourbon 
46.3% ABV, Barrel 13, $22 2oz (Brandy Library)

I was told this particular bottle was high rye bourbon that was a mix of sourced whiskey and newer whiskey distilled by Hillrock which was then finished in sherry casks. Seeing as how the rest of the selection at the Brandy Library was remarkably boring in the bourbon category I didn’t have many other options.

The nose is pretty classic high rye bourbon - sweet and spicy with slight cherry. The front palate is very soft with lots of vanilla - you can tell the sherry butt finishing has really smoothed out the rye. The finish brings drying wood, rye spices, light brown sugar, and dark maraschino cherries. My biggest complaint is that it’s rather boring and just had a general lightness to it both in flavor and heat. I think the sherry finish and rye have basically canceled each other out leaving little behind. I wont be thinking about this one later.
Rating: C / C+