Henry McKenna Bottled in Bond Arts & Crafts Review Series Part 2/7

Here is the start of a followup to a huge side by side tasting I did involving twenty years of Henry McKenna Bottled in Bond. The TL;DR version is after trying some amazing Henry McKennas distilled in the mid 80s that run circles around the current product, I thought it would be fun to run through the years since then to see how the profile has changed. The grand side by side turned into a bit of a disaster though as there were just too many samples involved. In an attempt to salvage some sense of usefulness, I'm running through what vintages I have remaining in a more typical review style. On deck we have:

• Barrel No. 0083, Barreled on 12/05/86
• Barrel No. 0208, Barreled on 05/01/92
• Barrel No. 0232, Barreled on 04/19/93
• Barrel No. 0324, Barreled on 05/09/95
• Barrel No. 0328, Barreled on 05/20/96
• Barrel No. 0842, Barreled on 10/24/01
• Barrel No. 1024, Barreled on 05/30/02

(Left) Aged 10 Years; 50.0% ABV; Barrel No. 208, Barreled on 05/01/92

(Right) Aged 10 Years; 50.0% ABV; Barrel No. 3035, Barreled on 03/14/06

Nose: Condensed bourbon sweet flavors - like all the normal sweet notes you get from a regular bourbon but way more concentrated. 

Taste: More of the same from the nose - honey, graham cracker, maple syrup, vanilla and oak for days. It drinks and tastes like bourbon syrup. Super rich and oily mouthfeel for only 100 proof, I'd had barrel proofers that weren't this viscous. Tasting this side by side with the current product makes that taste like hot young garbage which is nuts because on its own I think regular off the shelf McKenna is pretty decent.

Thoughts: Like many of the pre-fire McKennas I've covered, all you have to do is look at the color difference between this and a current product to know there's something special going on here. I keep harping on this experience with these but it tastes way more concentrated than it should for a 100 proof bourbon yet without all the heat that typically comes when you ramp up the proof. This isn't the best of these I've had but it's certainly up there - just a wonderful, easy to drink, incredibly rich whiskey packed full of classic bourbon flavors.

Rating: B+ / A-

Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating.