Representing Bourbon in our tasting comes from one of my favourite brands around the industry, Michter’s Distillery. Reliably bottling and releasing consistently great whiskeys, this Single Barrel 10 year is no different. It’s a very delicious bourbon and is more than deserved to be part of everyone’s collection. Worth the price tho? Maybe for the $100 USD I found it for in Minneapolis but up in Canada where is cost upwards of $230 CAD, I am not sure it is… Luckily for me I frequent the states. For those of you that don’t, there are plenty of Michter’s offerings that will still impress in lower price ranges.
The issue with bourbon these days is that the market has been distastefully spread out based more on rarity within the secondary market than than the quality of the liquid inside. This forces us to spend much more than a bottle’s worth to acquire those rare choices. The thing is with bourbon though, there is an infinite variety at cheaper price ranges that stand toe to toe with a lot of the big boys. Though the price of this bourbon may deter buyers from adding it to their collection, it checks all the boxes of a top shelf bourbon and deserves some worthy consideration.
Now lets get to the tasting of this bad boy!
ABV – 47.2% / Age – 10 years / Mash – 79% Corn, 11% Rye, 10% Barley / Region – USA (Kentucky) / Cask – New Charred Oak
NOSE – Prototypical bold bourbon like nose, hitting you with some orange peel, candied bacon, sweet pepper but light on the alcohol. Very distinctive which sets up the palate quite nicely.
PALATE – On the palate, flavours presenting themselves more animated that a typical bourbon. A little warm on the tip of the tongue but the caramel, cocoa, baking spice, butter, praline and vanilla blend out beautifully throughout the mouth but leaving a slight oily residue behind as it finishes.
FINISH – A pleasant finish of camp fired marshmallows and pecans lingering perfectly while not over staying its welcome. Although, that sweet after taste will leave you salivating and anxious for the next sip.
Like I previously mentioned, this bourbon truly does check all the boxes and the quality is plausible at every stage. I was a big fan and personally rated it a 9.1/10.
The rest of the group shared similar opinions as it was enjoyed across the room. Collective rating ended up 8.2/10.
- Review by Steven Shaw
