Evan Williams Bourbon - Mmmmmm

derek murray · derek murray's Garage

Last weekend was my family's yearly pilgrimage down to Grand Forks, North Dakota. This year, as I perused Happy Harry's vast selection of liquors I came across Evan William's Single Barrel bourbon. I remembered from an old BBS thread that Shuie claimed this was the best bourbon on the planet. So, I bought one... and after a few cocktails around the waterslides, I went back and bought three more. Thanks Shuie, you were right.

RallyJon · 05-17-2006, 12:22 PM

What a coincidence. I was in Bardstown, KY last weekend and took a tour of Heaven Hill. 40 warehouses, each with 15-20 thousand barrels aging at any one time.

goat · goat's Garage

Had some last night!
Very good stuff.
was given a case a few years ago as a gift down to 3 or 4 bottles now.....

mschuep · 05-18-2006, 01:03 PM

I have a similar opinion of old "E-dub". Good stuff, even the cheaper varieties are drinkable IMO. I think it's the sour mash blend that gives it its distinct flavor, that some like and some don't

Shuie · 05-18-2006, 07:58 PM

This stuff really is the best bourbon I've ever tasted. Its also the only bourbon to ever win 'Bourbon Of The Year' consecutively. Im not sure if it won the award again this year, but it would have been the 4th year in a row if it did.

It will be really interesting to see how the '07 and '08 batches turn out. Remember that this is a 10 year bourbon. The stuff thats being bottled right now is the last that was made in the old Heaven Hill distillery that burned to the ground along with 7 warehouses in '96.

bigchillcar · bigchillcar's Garage

shuie or derek..how much is it?

Shuie · 03:39 AM

$25 a bottle. Its technically small batch, but they bottled a lot of it. You should be able to find it just about anywhere that sells bourbon.

Don't ever pay more for something thats older just because its older. Bourbon is not like Scotch as far as the age goes. 10-12 years is optimal for bourbon. Anything older and it starts to have too much of a wood flavor from the barrel, IMHO. Don't ever pay more than $25 for something thats supposed to be better than the single barrel Evan Williams either. It isn't

bigchillcar · bigchillcar's Garage

thanks, shuie.

so, is that the price of a fifth, then?
ryan

RallyJon · 07:26 AM

Hmm. Booker Noe is pretty good stuff. And the new Brown Foreman bourbon--Woodford Reserve--wins hands down in terms of purity of process in spite of its pathetic focus group-y name. It's not "done" yet, but once they start selling the >10y.o. Woodford Reserve barrels, I bet it'll be the new "best".

Shuie · 07:31 AM

Booker's isn't bad at all. Its just way too expensive and hard to find. The Labrot & Graham distillery is a wonderful tourist attraction that offers the best tour in the business, but the Woodford Reserve that I've tasted is not anywhere near as good as either Booker's or the Evan Williams Single Barrel. Or even the Wild Turkey 'Rare Breed' or the 'Barrel Proof'. Woodford is way down the list of good small batch bourbons, IMHO.

RallyJon · 05-19-2006, 07:29 AM

Not yet. The Woodford Reserve distillery was just opened in 1996. The corporate whores that they are, they were releasing "Woodford Reserve" bourbon from day one, that was made off site.

I'm saying that the process at Woodford Reserve is second to none. The final product will certainly be much better than the stuff they put in the bottle today.

Also, Blanton's is pretty damn good, too.

bigchillcar · bigchillcar's Garage

sorry, shuie..guess you didn't see my question. is that $25 for a fifth of the bourbon? i only buy gin, so not sure on bourbon pricing..
ryan

Shuie · 05-19-2006, 07:33 AM

okay, fair enough. Did you visit Labrot & Graham? Brown Foreman really did it right when they re-opened/modernized that place. Buffalo Trace is cool if you want to see a real old timey Bourbon operation.

Shuie · 05-19-2006, 07:34 AM

yes, its only sold in 750ml bottles

RallyJon · 05-19-2006, 07:41 AM

I went to Labrot & Graham a couple of years after they opened. They've basically built an anachronism--where Heaven Hill is a big factory, Labrot & Graham looks like something out of 150 years ago, just all new. I used to be really into Grappa, and the best ones seemed to come from the small producers using antiquated equipment.