1984-1994 Henry McKenna Bottled in Bond Barrel No. 016 Review

Here today is a comparison of some very old Henry McKenna side by side with a modern bottle purchased right of the shelf. I've recently done similar side by sides before, once with barrel 001 and again with barrel 008. Both of those bottles run circles around the current product with the first one being an all time favorite. Thanks to a friend I've been lucky enough to acquire a taste of yet another barrel distilled on the same day as those two in December of 1984. What I want to know is were the first two barrels flukes in terms of quality or is dusty pre-fire Henry McKenna really just that good? 

Thanks to Alex G. for the sample and photo

Left: Barrel No. 3035, Barreled on 03/14/2006Right: Barrel No. 016, Barreled on 12/14/1984

Color: As always, I don't usually remark on color but next to the current product, the 016 is considerably darker. So far though barrel 001 is still the darkest with this one being a shade lighter than the previous two.

Nose: Very rich and dense with lots of classic bourbon flavors in the form of thick vanilla caramel cake frosting. The modern bottle by comparison smells thinner, younger, and fruitier. The 016 actually has a little bit of a fruit vibe as well but it's more like boozed soaked dark pitted fruits such as prunes vs. the younger ripe banana grain of the 2016.

Taste: Similar but even more impressive than the nose. Heavy doses of classic bourbon oaky sweets and a blast of that familiar dusty profile. It's very thick and chewy, like liquified cake batter. The oak influence is strong but heavy towards the sweet end along with touches of rye spice. By comparison the 2016 tastes like young barely legal bottled in bond bourbon which is totally nuts because on any other day I enjoy McKenna and consider it a rather mature product. 

Thoughts: I'm blown away by how good these old McKennas are. Just like with previous experiences I keep thinking these taste like extremely concentrated bourbon. It's like all the flavor you get out of a high proof bourbon such Elijah Craig Barrel Proof but with considerably less heat and way more drinkability. I dunno, maybe I just have a thing for bottle conditioned pre-fire Heaven Hill because this has been a repeated pattern for me with any well aged Heaven Hill products I've had from that era. Regardless, these are about classic as bourbon gets and it's a damn shame the current product doesn't still taste like this.

Rating: A-

Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating.

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-