Welcome to Nice Sipper
Wilderness Trail Small Batch Bourbon Bottled in Bond
The next review for Bottle Kill Week will be for Wilderness Trail Small Batch Straight Bourbon Bottled in Bond. I wrote quite a bit about the distillery last time on my website, so I will spare you with the extensive preamble, but this particular bottle came from Batch 16D01. As a BiB release, it is 100 proof (50% ABV).
Eagle Rare Bourbon 10 Year Old
I don’t know how I have done this many reviews and I’m just now getting to Eagle Rare Bourbon. The Eagle Rare 10 year, like the Stagg Jr. I recently reviewed, is the younger sibling of a Buffalo Trace Antique Collection release (Eagle Rare 17), but unlike the Stagg, this one is readily available year round….or rather, it used to be…..
Stagg Jr. Bourbon (Batch 17)
Stagg Jr. Straight Bourbon Whiskey is the younger sibling of George T. Stagg Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. Unfortunately, older brother George took a sabbatical in 2021. Luckily, Stagg Jr., which is rumored to be aged 8-9 years, had 2 releases (as usual) in 2021. The one I will be reviewing is Batch 17, which was the last release in 2021 and is said to be the last that will carry the “Jr.” in the label.
Maker’s Mark 46 Cask Strength
The Maker’s Mark No. 46 Cask Strength is a Limited Release which, in my opinion, benefits from both the No. 46 stave profile as well as the higher-octane proof point. Don’t get me wrong, I like the traditional Maker’s as well, but I have found myself gravitating towards the No. 46’s more often.
The Balvenie “The Sweet Toast of American Oak” Aged 12 Years
Full disclosure, I am a big The Balvenie fan with the first nice single malt I ever purchased being the old Single Barrel 15 Year (the one aged in traditional casks, not the current sherried version). For this review, we will be tasting The Sweet Toast of American Oak Aged 12 Years, which was the first release in the new Balvenie Stories Collection. This expression takes Balvenie juice aged in ex-bourbon barrels and then puts it in Kentucky virgin oak barrels that were deeply toasted at Balvenie’s cooperage. Given the profile, I expected this to be somewhat similar to the 12 year old Single Barrel First Fill staple that is part of the core Balvenie line.