Two Decades of Henry McKenna Bottled in Bond; Or, How Not to Do a Whiskey Tasting

For a long time, Henry McKenna Bottled in Bond has been a bourbon that flew under the radar of casual whiskey drinkers. That might be changing due to the fact that it just won bourbon of the year at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition and there are now reports of people clearing the shelves (which is incredibly stupid) but that's not what we are here to talk about.

On paper, everything about Henry McKenna is great. It's a bargain at around $30, bottled at a respectable 100 proof, carries an age statement of 10 years (something that is more and more rare these days), and it's readily available. Heaven Hill has earned a solid reputation for making good bourbon and McKenna lives up to that standard, it's a solid daily driver / house bourbon material.

My real fixation with McKenna started though when a friendly redditor sent me a sample from the very first barrel of Henry McKenna ever dumped. Barrel 001 distilled on December 14th 1984 and bottled in December of 1994 making it "pre-fire" which means it was distilled at Heaven Hill's Bardstown Kentucky distillery before it was destroyed by a 1996 fire. I was floored by how good it was and to this day it remains one of the best bourbons I've ever had. All you have to do is look at the color side by side with a current bottling to know there was something magical going on back then. My curiosity had been piqued to the point that I sought out more samples, all of which were distilled on the same day. While they were all very good, the results were mixed - the 84-94 Barrel 008 wasn't nearly as good as the first barrel and the 84-94 Barrel 016 was somewhere between the two.

This got me wondering just how much variance there was in McKenna over the years so I went on a mission to seek out as many bottles or samples as I could. I had initially just planned to do reviews of each of them but along the way, my friend Alex G. and I got the idea to do one massive blind tasting of all of them to see how or if McKenna had changed since its introduction in the mid-90's. So, I headed over to his place one night, the samples were randomized, and we dove in. The candidates were:

Barrel	Distilled	Pre-Fire	Source
#0016	12/14/84	✅	Alex G.
#0083	12/05/86	✅
#0141	11/27/89	✅
#0208	05/01/92	✅
#0232	04/19/93	✅
#0324	05/09/95	✅
#0328	05/20/96	✅
#0372	05/27/97	❌	/u/VulgarDisplayOfStuff
#0727	04/05/01	❌	Adam I.
#0797	09/28/01	❌	/u/Rev_Lijah
#0842	10/24/01	❌	/u/brettatlas
#1282	04/10/03	❌	/u/mikeczyz
#1508	05/04/04	❌	@bourbonooga
#3035	03/14/06	❌

And the results?

Well, here's the thing. A lot of these were so close in core profile it was really hard to distinguish differences in quality between them. Both of us ended up having to do a lot of tasting to hone in on the standouts. Combine that with the sheer number of samples involved, and well, we (unintentionally) got drunk. In the end, my notes were more or less garbage and I wasn't sure they accurately reflected the rankings. 

In hindsight, this was a terrible idea. I've done plenty of tastings before, some of which have involved lots of samples - like back when Four Roses would roll out 10 barrels or when Alex and I did a Russell's Reserve pick at Wild Turkey and Eddie insisted that we try every barrel. Both of those experiences were a slog - yet each was somehow easier than this night.

As useless as they are, my rankings for the night were in groups. On top:

#0328 (05/20/96), #0208 (05/01/92), #0141 (11/27/89)

Those were pretty close with #0328 being the standout. The next group was:

#0016 (12/14/84), #0083 (12/05/86), #0372 (05/27/97)

Everything beyond that was a wash except #3035 which was a clear last place by quite a margin. It is telling that the newest bottling finished last for both of us and that my top 6 was all pre-fire barrels so there seems to be a correlation of age to quality if you want to trust these results.

Final Thoughts

Don't ever try to do a tasting like this if you want accurate results. Instead, I'd recommend breaking this many candidates down into groups of four or at most six, playoff bracket style. As a penance, over the coming weeks, I plan to do a normal review of each of the bottles I have remaining to try and salvage some dignity here.

Thanks to Alex for helping source these as well as hosting the tasting and to all those who provided samples to make this happen.

Imaginary Internet Friends Blind Tasting #13: Anything Goes

Here’s another rundown from a blind tasting with our local whiskey group the “Imaginary Internet Friends”. You can read more of the backstory on our group and our previous tastings here if you are curious. The theme for this tasting was a group favorite “anything goes” with no constraints on whiskey type, price, proof, or age. Special thanks to /u/tvraisedme for being our blind impartial who selected a great lineup.

 

These are my blind notes, in order of how I ranked them:

1. Sample E: The nose was a fairly average but classic with medium woodiness and also a nice fruitiness. The taste was spicy with lots of mint and was a bit warm. I guessed it was a Four Roses around 105-110 proof with my alternate guess being Smooth Ambler Old Scout. Reveal: Four Roses /r/bourbon OBSF
2. Sample A: The nose was very woody and gave off an impression of being fairly old. The taste was rich, sweet, and a tad spicy. Very good and only a slight notch below my first pick. My guess was this was a higher rye bourbon around 100 proof, possibly Smooth Ambler. Reveal: Weller 12
3. Sample B: Overall, this one smelled and tasted the youngest of the group. The nose was spicy but also had a lot of youthful banana notes. The taste continued the young trend with green apple notes as well as more spice. Because of the young age and spice I suspected this was my submission (WTRB). Reveal: Henry McKenna 10 year Bottled in Bond
4. Sample C: Again pretty young, the second youngest in the group. The nose was very spicy with slight off-putting chemical notes. The taste was slightly more mature but very spicy. I guessed it was a barely legal rye or high rye bourbon around 100-110 proof. Reveal: Wild Turkey Rare Breed WT-03RB
5. Sample D: The nose was awesome on the first pass. It smelled old with a deep woodiness. On a second pass things took a horrible turn towards the bitter side along with very pronounced old musty wood notes. The taste was more of the same - way too bitter and funky in a bad way. I guessed this was an Orphan Barrel other than Barterhouse. Reveal: 2013 Old Forester Birthday Bourbon

Well, no real surprises here for me as this is exactly how I would have ranked these non-blind. As always, the Four Roses was easy to peg. I’m most disappointed I missed the Weller 12 but I didn’t get the classic cinnamon zip I typically get in BT wheated products though it goes to show that wheated bourbons have a spiciness all of their own that can be hard to differentiate from rye spice. The biggest surprise here for me is just how young the McKenna tasted - I would have guessed this was a 6-ish year old bourbon. Definitely the worst McKenna 10 year I’ve had and reinforces variability of single barrel products. Last but not least, I’m well on record as saying I really dislike the OFBB line and I believe this is the second blind tasting where I’ve placed it last.

As for the group rankings:

1. Four Roses /r/bourbon OBSF with 22 points via /u/dannyg483
2. Weller 12 with 17 points via /u/Imcoolerthanu50
3. Henry McKenna 10 year Bottled in Bond with 15 points via /u/pennbarts
4. 2013 Old Forester Birthday Bourbon with 11 points via /u/helios7
5. Wild Turkey Rare Breed WT-03RB with 10 points via /u/signde

No surprises here as it seems to line-up pretty well with the consensus of the community. The most interesting thing to note is this the 5th tasting where Four Roses has been entered and the 4th time It has taken first place. The fifth time was one of the controversial Q recipes that finished last (though I rated it first, haha). Above all else, this tasting only further solidifies the fact that Four Roses really is the best modern day bourbon you can buy off the shelf.

Imaginary Internet Friends Blind Tasting #10: Any Bourbon Goes

Last night I participated in another blind tasting with our local whiskey group the “Imaginary Internet Friends”. You can read more of the backstory on our group and our previous nine tastings here if you are curious. The theme for this tasting was the ever popular “any bourbon goes” with no price, proof, or age limits. All we knew going into the night was that each of us was bringing one specific bourbon and that for this particular lineup we were told there were no repeat submissions and no barrel proofers. Special thanks to /u/harry_fjord for being our blind impartial who selected the lineup.

This roundup was particularly tough. While there was a clear last place for me, everything above that was pretty much gravy. The difference between my first, second, third, and fourth was pretty negligible as I scored each about the same. At one point I think I threw my arms up and said I didn’t really like any of the submissions.

These are my notes, in order of how I ranked them:

1. Sample E: The nose was kind of meh at first with a bit of varnish. On a second round though I got lots of butterscotch. The taste had some rye spice bite. Overall it was sweet and spicy. This was my primary guess as my submission for the night (Smooth Ambler Contradiction). Reveal: 1990’s Ancient Ancient Age 10 Star
2. Sample B: The nose was fruity and sweet which made me think it was slightly young. Notes of banana, fruit, and clove which were nice. The taste was rich, full, sweet, and oaky but at the same time fruity and young. Very strange. This was my secondary guess as my submission (Smooth Ambler Contradiction). Reveal: Smooth Ambler Contradiction
3. Sample A: On first pass it smelled bitter and hot. On a second pass it just smelled bitter and musty/old. I got lots of bitter oak but also some rich molasses. The taste was a little flat and not very sweet but again I felt it was pretty musty. My guess was perhaps an Orphan Barrel (I’ve only had Barterhouse). Reveal: 1970’s Old Charter 7 year
4. Sample C: Nose was thin and warm with some varnish smell but also a slight sweetness. The taste was young and sweet but also nutty. The nuttiness is usually a sign of Beam juice to me so I guessed Beam Bonded or Knob Creek. Reveal: Heaven Hill Bottled in Bond 6 Year
5. Sample D: Nose: Eww, bitter, varnish, very weird, very Old Forrester Birthday Bourbon reminiscent (I hate OFBB). Taste: Same as nose. Grapes? Sweet. Yuck. Reveal: Lost Prophet

Like I mentioned earlier, everything above 5 was a jumbled mess. I thought the Lost Prophet was truly terrible and it makes me glad I’ve passed on all the Orphan Barrel releases after Barterhouse. I’m a bit sad that I wasn’t more keen on the Heaven Hill Bottled in Bond as I usually love BIB whiskies but the nuttiness kind of threw me off. The Evan Williams Bottled in Bond took first for me last time and I know a lot of people get nutty notes in in but I’ve not experienced them in any Heaven Hill products until last night. Palate lesson learned there.

As for the group rankings:

1. Lost Prophet with 22 points via /u/dannyg483
2. 1970’s Old Charter 7 year with 19 points via /u/Imcoolerthanu50
3. Ancient Ancient Age 10 Star with 18 points via /u/docjones12
4. Smooth Ambler Contradiction with 16 points via /u/signde
5. Heaven Hill Bottled in Bond 6 Year with 15 points via /u/tvraisedme

A pretty close and pretty scruffy lineup with a whiskey barreled in each of the last 5 decades. This was certainly the wackiest and most interesting tasting we’ve done to date.

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As much fun as the tastings are things really get into full swing once the blind sampling is over and rare/interesting bottles start popping out. Here’s a rundown with some quick notes on other things we sampled.

Abraham Bowman Vanilla Bean Infused 
Pretty tasty if you like vanilla. The vanilla notes are very predominate. Group consensus was pretty positive but not really glowing. I would put this below the Last Millennium and Port Finished compared to other Abraham Bowman releases. Flash Rating: B

Abraham Bowman Coffee Finished 
This is the one that I was really looking forward to opening. Cask strength, finished in barrels that held coffee beans. The front of the palate starts off with some bitter dirty coffee grounds but the finish really comes in and blows the roof off with intense mocha coffee and classic rich bourbon flavors. It’s like someone poured coffee into bourbon without proofing it down. It’s incredibly good and easily one of the most interesting whiskeys I’ve ever had. I absolutely love it. Flash Rating: A-

Michter’s 25 Year Bourbon #4238 
Wow. This was was a real treat as /u/tvraisedme showed the utmost generosity in surprising us with this one. Much like the Michter’s 20 year I’ve had before this tastes exactly like what you would expect from a cask strength 20+ year old Stitzel Weller (or maybe Bernheim) wheater. Absolutely does not taste as old or as funky as you would expect for 25 years but has plenty of intricate wood notes and lots of umpf. Simply marvelous and in my top pours of all time. Flash Rating: A+/A

Wild Turkey American Spirit 15 Year 
I’d always been curious to try this one as they always seem to be in high demand on the secondary market. Frankly I was pretty let down. It has some old musty funk notes to it but other than that it was kind of thin and flat. It reminded me a lot of Wild Turkey Diamond in how unremarkable and forgettable it was. I’m glad I never kept any of these as I found quite a few of them in the wild over the last few years. Flash Rating: C-

Alchemist Heaven Hill 12 
This is one I was super excited to try. Not because I expected it to be awesome but just because of the incredible backstory on it and the rarity involved. You can read more on this one from Sku’s write up but the gist is it’s a straight bourbon that was distilled in Kentucky, sent to Scotland to age for a while, then imported back to the states. There were only 350 bottles of this so it’s very, very rare. As for the taste, it was actually better than I expected. It tasted like a light bourbon, certainly not as oaky as Elijah Craig 12. It has all the sweet bourbon flavors without the intense oakyness. Very strange but I’m elated to have tried this. Flash Rating: B-

William Larue Weller 2010 
This is one I opened at the last tasting and something I will probably formally review in the future. Compared to the most recent two releases of WLW this is much softer, cooler, and silky smooth. It has all the classic big boy wheater flavors of cinnamon and cake batter. It doesn’t have quite as much depth as the last two releases though. Truth be told I’m not sure which style of WLW I prefer more, the brash hot 2013 and 2014 or this. Flash Rating: A

Imaginary Internet Friends Blind Tasting #9: Barrel Proof Bourbons

As some of you know, we have a local whiskey group here in Nashville called the “Imaginary Internet Friends”. In addition to helping each other source booze locally, we get together about once a month for blind tastings. Last night marks our ninth tasting together and is also our one year anniversary so we decide to make this one a little special. We’ve talked about doing this since the very beginning but finally worked up the courage for a barrel proof theme. Our only rule for the night was bourbon with a proof greater than 107. Special thanks to /u/harry_fjord for being our blind impartial and selecting the lineup. I think you will see he picked a good one.

Here are my notes, in order of how I ranked them:

• Sample C The nose was fruity and sweet with spicy mint and slight furniture polish. I thought it was the best nose. The taste was spicy and sweet and not very woody. Guess: Four Roses Private Selection, perhaps OESK.
• Sample A The nose was woody and hot. It was definitely the highest proof whiskey here. I also go some dark fruit notes. The taste was deeply rich, slightly woody, and cinnamon spicy. Again very hot but very tasty. Guess: Stagg, Buffalo Trace for sure.
• Sample B Nose smelled awesome. It was sweet and smooth with not a lot of heat. The taste was very woody and dry with some heat spice. I got some banana and nut notes through which threw me off. The nut notes tricked me into thinking this was in the Beam family so along with the heat I guessed this was my submission, Booker’s.
• Sample E The nose was dull compared to the others with some woody and rye pine notes. The taste was sweet but seemed young with more of the piney cinnamon rye notes. My first guess was Makers but then I backed off that. Second taste I thought maybe Rare Breed but then backed off that too. I had no idea what this was.
• Sample D The nose was very young / raw with fruity banana notes and lots of heat. The taste was more of the same - hot, fruity, and young. On a second round I got typical Beam nutty yeast notes so along with the youngness I guessed this was Old Grand Dad 114.

So the reveal, in the order I ranked them:

• Sample C Four Roses OESQ (Liquor Barn Selected), submitted by /u/werdx
• Sample A William Larue Weller, submitted by /u/docjones12
• Sample B Elijah Craig Barrel Proof (Batch 5), submitted by /u/imcoolerthanu50
• Sample E Smooth Ambler Old Scout (Red Dog Selected), submitted by /u/tvraisedme
• Sample D Booker’s (Big Man, Small Batch), submitted by /u/signde

Number one and two were very close for me. I knew that number one was likely a big boy Buffalo Trace bottle and while it probably tasted the best I went with my heart which always sides with Four Roses. In hindsight I should have known with the heat and cinnamon that A was Weller and not Stagg but tasting this many high proof whiskeys in one night is rough on the palate. I’m kind let down I pegged ECBP for my Booker’s submission but that goes to show how preconceived notions can mess with your head (it was the only bottle I knew was present). Other than the bad guess on ECBP I’m pretty happy with my rankings - I feel it’s pretty spot on with how I would ranking them non-blind with the exception of Weller being #1.

As for the group rankings:

• Sample A William Larue Weller with 25 points
• Sample A Elijah Craig Barrel Proof (Batch 5) with 24 points
• Sample D Booker’s (Big Man, Small Batch) with 15 points
• Sample E Smooth Ambler Old Scout (Red Dog Selected) with 14 points
• Sample C Four Roses OESQ (Liquor Barn Selected) with 12 points

As a group, the William Larue was easily the crowd favorite. Most guessed Stagg but I think one person guessed Weller. I’m both surprised and not surprised by the Four Roses finishing last but the Q is by far the most polarizing yeast strain in their lineup. I’m personally a big fan as it’s one of my favorites but it’s been obvious to me for a while now that I am in the minority on it. This tasting was by far the most challenging but also the most fun - truly an all star lineup here.

As usual after the tasting, we broke into some killer bottles. Notable items from the night: Heaven Hill Select Stock, George T. Stagg 2011, Willett Family Estate 12 yr #837, Willett Family Estate 13 yr #392, Colonel Taylor Cured Oak. I wanted to get my first impressions of the cured oak up but that will have to wait until tomorrow. The real highlight for me were two beers - Bourbon County Backyard Rye and Bourbon County Vanilla Rye. I’m not as heavy into beers as bourbon but those were easily the two best beers I’ve ever had.

Imaginary Internet Friends Blind Tasting Part VIII: Any Bourbon Goes

Here's another write-up from a whiskey tasting I participated in last night. You can find the backstory and links to the previous tastings at the end of this post but the TLDR; version is a local group of us from /r/bourbon banded together to help each other sourcing booze and also to get together once in a while for blind tastings.

With seven blind tastings under our belt now, "any bourbon goes" has been one of our favorite themes. The broad open-ended category makes guessing much more difficult which has a cascading effect of making you question yourself under the constant fear you might like something you think you hate and hate something you think you love.

Here are my notes of the five blind samples in order of my rankings.

1) Sample D

• nose: honey, graham cracker, slight ethanol, cake batter.
• taste: sweet, rye, good balance, slight char.
• guess: Wild Turkey 101
• reveal: Evan Williams Bottled in Bond

2) Sample A (close)

• nose: perfume, rich, good, wood polish.
• taste: rich, chocolate, sweet, wood, slight bitter oak.
• reveal: Abraham Bowman Double Barrel

3) Sample E (close)

• nose: fruity, young?, banana, sweet, grass.
• taste: fruity, red fruits, rich, oak and sweet, nice balance.
• guess: Michter's Toasted Barrel (my submission)
• reveal: Michter's Toasted Barrel Finish

4) Sample B

• nose: flat, light, thin, varnish, not good. richer on second round.
• taste: salty, sweet and bitter, acetone, spicy.
• reveal: Bulleit 10 year

5) Sample C

• nose: young, awful, furniture polish.
• taste: char, bitter, really bitter, no sweet, dry, spice.
• reveal: Black Maple Hill (red label NAS)

To say I was pleased with my rankings would be an understatement - it's exactly how I would have ranked these before the tasting. I've never had Evan Williams BIB but based on my preferences I knew it was a hell of a value pour and I would be a big fan. I've never had the Bowman Double Barrel either but had read enough reviews to know what to expect. I know the Michter's Toasted is getting some praise but personally I've never been a fan nor am I a fan of Bulleit 10 either. As for my last place... I feel complete vindicated for trashing Black Maple Hill - it's just a horrible, horrible pour.

As for the group rankings:

1. Bulleit 10 Year submitted by /u/tvraisedme with 24 points
2. Abraham Bowman Double Barrel submitted by /u/docjones12 with 21 points
3. Evan Williams Bottled in Bond submitted by /u/imcoolerthanu50 with 20 points
4. Michter's Toasted Barrel submitted by /u/signde with 13 points
5. Black Maple Hill (Red NAS) submitted by /u/werdx with 12 points

Again the Black Maple Hill tanks which makes me incredibly happy. Can't believe people are paying $200 for this on the secondary market. The top three aren't quite how I would have expected it but it's worth noting that the scoring among those is close.

Per usual at the end of the night we shared a few bottles and enjoyed some great whiskey banter. I cracked open a William Larue Weller 2010 - the nose was great but I think I prefer the 2014, 2013, and 2012 over it. We also dipped into Jefferson's Presidential Select 18 batch 13 which I will say is quite a bit better than the batch 14 I've previously reviewed. It's simply a marvelous bourbon. Special thanks to /u/imcoolerthanu50 for bringing a 2013 and 2014 Bourbon County Stout for a side by side comparison, that was fun. Also big thanks to our missing member /u/helios7for being our blind impartial who arranged all the selections.

That's it for the this round but stay tuned for another tasting soon. We hope to get back into the swing of things with one tasting a month. Cheers!

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Link to previous tastings: http://signdedrinks.blogspot.com/search/label/Tastings

Imaginary Internet Friends Blind Tasting Part VII: Any Bourbon Goes

Here's another write-up from a whiskey tasting I participated in last night. You can find the backstory and links to the previous tastings at the end of this post but the TLDR; version is a local group of us from /r/bourbon banded together to help each other sourcing booze and also to get together once in a while for blind tastings.

Our last tasting category was budget bourbons $20 or under. While that's a fun category it's not necessarily that challenging as there is no danger of picking Jim Beam over Old Rip Van Winkle. To bring some excitement back into our tastings we decided on an anything goes category with a restriction on previous winners. Our hope was that we would get a mix of bourbons across the board. Each of us submitted a bunch of options to /u/Hispes who then picked out our lineup. Here's how things went on my end:

1. Sample E: The nose wasn't great. I got the most alcohol here which I think is due to it being the highest proof. The taste was worlds better though and this was by far the clear number one. There was a lot of complexity but most importantly I could easily pinpoint the classic Four Roses mint. I was guessing this was either private selection OE recipe or small batch.
2. Sample D: My second through fourth spots were pretty blurry and hard to pick. I also had a real problem with D because there was some slight soap remnants in my glass and I kept smelling them when nosing. On the nose I was finally able to get some light fruit and on the palate I got some darker sweets. I had no clue what this one was but somehow kept feeling the soap was clouding my perception of it and it was better than my current pour.
3. Sample A: This one had the best nose of the bunch. At first I thought it was very OFBB '13 reminiscent but a touch sweeter and more oak. There was also lots of butterscotch once it cooled off. On the taste there was lots of oak and syrupy cola. My guess was this was a Brown Forman product, possibly Michter's.
4. Sample C: The nose here was sweet and fruity. The taste had lots of minty rye and cinnamon. When I came back to it though I got some notes I didn't really care for like bananas and possibly even some peanut which made me think it might be in the Jim Beam family. This was originally my 3rd but fell after I got the banana nut notes.
5. Sample B: One whiff of the nose and I knew this was my submission. It smelled young with hot ripe bananas and green oak. The taste was thin cola, oaky, and charcoal.

So the reveal, based on my rankings:

1. Sample E: Four Roses 2012 Small Batch Limited Edition
2. Sample D: Russell's Reserve Small Batch
3. Sample A: Barterhouse
4. Sample C: Smooth Ambler Old Scout 10 year
5. Sample B: Jack Daniels Old No. 7

I nailed the Four Roses but was very surprised to find out it was the 2012 LE. In hindsight from my notes Barterhouse really should have been my number two. It had a lot more favorable qualities and I even put down a higher score for it. I'm not surprised by the Smooth Ambler 10 year ranking - having had many variants of the private selections I've always preferred the higher rye 8 and 9 year to the older lower rye 10 year. The Russell's Reserve was a wildcard for me since I've never had it and don't have much experience with the Wild Turkey family in general.

As for the group:

1. Four Roses 2012 Small Batch Limited Edition submitted by /u/helio7 with 33 points
2. Barterhouse submitted by /u/werdx with 30 points
3. Smooth Ambler Old Scout 10 year submitted by /u/dannyg483 with 26 points
4. Russell's Reserve Small Batch submitted by /u/docjones12 with 20 points
5. Jack Daniels Old No. 7 submitted by /u/signde with 11 points

Once again, no surprises here. I'm pretty impressed our group's ability to nail these submissions blind. This was a really fun category and one I think we will revisit a few times. Hat's off to /u/Hispes for another fantastic lineup.

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As usual once the blind tasting was over we broke out some other things to share.

• Willett XCF: Very, very good. I am still unhappy about the price but I don't regret buying it now. It's unlike any other whiskey I've ever had and the craveability there is very high.
• Belle Meade 9yr Sherry Finished: Wasn't that impressed with it. It's not nearly as interesting as other sherry finished scotch I've had and overpriced at $80. It's okay, not great. I think I will tire of it as the bottle does down.
• George T. Stagg 2014: Initial opinion is that it is not as good as 2012 but better than 2013. I will say my opinion of the 2013 has grown by leaps and bounds as the bottle winds down.
• William Larue Weller 2014: Mind-blowingly good. The perfect bourbon. Everyone felt the same way. My 100/100.
• Laphroaig 25: Delightful. Tasted side by side with the 18 and the 25 was creamier with more intricate, subtle smokiness.

Imaginary Internet Friends Blind Tasting Part VI: Bourbons $20 or Under

Here is another write-up from a whiskey tasting I participated in over the weekend. You can find the backstory and links to the previous tastings at the end of this post but the TLDR; version is a local group of us from /r/bourbon banded together to help each other sourcing booze and also to get together once in a while for tastings.

This tasting was kind of a throwback to our very first get-together. The category that night was bourbons $25 or under and was a lot of fun. In hindsight I think it was so much fun because it was our first tasting and the start of something really great. We soon found at this tasting there is a big difference between most $25 bourbons and those under $20. Being such low end bourbons my notes aren't going to be overly verbose or complex but here's my best attempt to define "not very good" is as many ways as possible. Here are my rankings from first to worst:

1. Sample B: My notes for this one were simply "not the worst". I got a little furniture polish on the nose but that was really the only bad thing about it. The taste had some notable oak, a slight sweetness, and tiny hints of spice.
2. Sample E: The nose on this one wasn't impressive. Tasting it last probably had something to do with that because by the time I got to it the field was looking pretty damn terrible. The taste was redeeming though as there were big notes of rye and some slight sweetness. My guess was that this one was Four Roses.
3. Sample A: Here's where things started falling apart as the first two were a huge cut above this. This one had a nose that wreaked of young whiskey and bananas which is a common note in underaged whiskey for me. The taste was very young with bitter barrel char and hot fruit. My comment was "bad".
4. Sample C: Things went from bad to worse here. The nose had lots of ethanol and overly ripe sour fruit. The taste was flat with stale cardboard notes and some oak. My comment was "really bad". I should note that the entire group winced when tasting this one. The responses were comical.
5. Sample D: This was the lightest in color. The nose was light and there was lots of bitterness and unpleasant hot fruit. The taste was truly awful with bitter acetone. My comment was "terrible".

So the reveal, based on my rankings:

1. Sample B: Old Charter 10 year
2. Sample D: Four Roses
3. Sample A: Ten High
4. Sample C: Benchmark
5. Sample D: Rebel Yell

Really not surprised here. Old Charter 10 is actually decent. I nailed the Four Roses as the rye is a dead giveaway for that one. Those were the only two of these five that I have ever owned before and I'm glad because the last three are just foul.

As for the group, the results were pretty much what you would expect. First two are solid. I'm not sure it matters after that.

1. Four Roses submitted by /u/Imcoolerthanu with 29 points
2. Old Charter 10 year submitted by /u/signde with 26 points
3. Rebel Yell submitted by /u/docjones12 with 22 points
4. Ten High submitted by /u/tvraisedme with 16 points
5. Benchmark submitted by /u/werdx with 12 points

This tasting was a lot of fun just for the pure comedic value - the wisecracks and faces people were making trying some of these were hilarious. Having said that I'm pretty sure we are content with never doing the budget category ever again.

Of course after drinking so much swill we were all eager to break out the good stuff. /u/tvraisedme brought a Balvenie Tun 1401 batch 9 and whew boy is that good stuff. I might have to pick up one of those even with the $275 price tag. From this year's releases we had a bottle of both Parker's Heritage Wheat and the OFBB '14. u/docjones12 brought his Willett FE 11yr that we are all convinced came from Beam as it tastes exactly like a better version of Booker's 25th. /u/helios7 even broke out his Booker's 25 for us to do a side by side and the profile on them is identical. I always like to open something most of the group has never had so this night I popped a High West 21. It was a big hit - I'm still blown away how good it is even at such a low proof. /u/tvraised me also brought a gang of Ardbegs. It was a great night of tasting and good company.

Not sure what's next on our agenda but we should have another tasting in the next month. As always, special thanks so /u/Hispes for being our impartial and picking our lineups.