1984-1994 Henry McKenna Barrel No. 008 Review

A few weeks back I reviewed a Henry McKenna Barrel 001. It was one of the best bourbons I've ever tasted and really caught me off guard by how good it was. What was even more surprising is tasted side by side against a current bottling of McKenna it made that whiskey taste fruity and immature which is crazy because on an normal day I think McKenna is a very solid bourbon with a nice oak backbone. After my review there was some speculation that maybe not all the McKenna from back then was quite that stellar, particularly this review from Sku which doesn't sound anything like what I experienced. One guess was that perhaps Heaven Hill choose a honey barrel to be the first in the line but I never thought I would get a chance to test that theory. As luck would have it, I happened upon another sample of pre-fire Heaven Hill Mckenna barreled on the same day as the previous sample. So here we go again with a side by side against a current bottle out of barrel no 2979 from 03/14/2006.

Aged 10 years; 50% ABV; Barrel 008, Barreled On 12/14/1984

Color: Again I'm not one to comment on color but side by side with the current release the difference is staggering. It's not quite as dark as barrel 001 but if the one on the left is a 10 year bourbon then this looks like it is 20 years old.

Nose: Dense with lots of sweets like dark molasses. Those classic dusty bourbon notes are there but a little faint. By comparison, the current bottling smells like fruity bananas side by side, kind like a no age statement bottom shelf whiskey.

Taste: It's thick and chewy, very viscous. It's also woody but not overly tannic. There are lots of classic bourbon sweets and everything is more dense than most things you'll taste today. That old dusty bourbon profile is here but not as forward as in other dusties I've had. In the finish there is some rye spice and a bit of cherry cough syrup which tapers out to more typical bourbon sweets. By comparison, the current bottle tastes like banana bubble gum when tasted side by side. I feel like a broken record here but that is completely insane to me because normally I'd say McKenna is a solid sipper with a decent amount of depth.

Thoughts: A wonderful bourbon that again runs circles around the current bottle. I don't know why these old dusty bourbons are so much better but all you have to do is look at the side by side picture to know there is something special going on here. The most interesting thing to me this time around is that this fell short of my last experience, mainly because the dusty notes were a bit toned down and it wasn't quite as well rounded. I think that can be attributed to single barrel variance and perhaps a specific choice for the other barrel.

Rating: B+ / A-