Jack Daniel’s Single-Barrel Barrel-Proof Rye Whiskey

I’m a big fan of serendipity. Most of my most interesting experiences in life have been completely unplanned. Take tonight’s whiskey. I’d been sitting on a bottle of Jack Daniel’s Bonded Rye for months before it finally came up in the editorial calendar. Later that week, I was wandering through the liquor store to see if anything caught my fancy when I saw its barrel-proof big Brother, for the first time. My closest Total Wine is set up very similarly to many others across the country. They have the extra-wide whiskey aisle with bourbon up one side, things they are trying to push down the center and Canadian, Flavored, “American” whiskey, and then Rye down the other as you make your way toward the front of the store.

I went up the bourbon section without seeing anything. There were a bunch of boxes of Spirits Direct crap down the center. I turned the corner to go down the other side. Glaced at the Canadian and didn’t see anything that interested me. I walked past the flavored section without stopping. I looked at most of the American Whiskey and Rye without seeing anything when, on the second-to-last shelf on the final facing, I saw this bottle of Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Barrel Proof Rye. It was the only one there. And knowing that I hadn’t covered it prior, it was in my cart before I even looked at the price.

Of course, then I looked at the price and was relieved that it was well under a hundred dollars. So, what is this newish release from the Tennessee Behemoth of American Whiskey? Well, it’s something that we’ve kinda looked at before. Back in 2020, Jack Daniel’s released a limited edition Single-Barrel Barrel-Proof Rye. About a year ago, they announced that it would become a permanent ongoing addition to the Single-Barrel lineup—a very welcome addition, in my opinion.

Like the other Jack Daniel’s Rye Whiskeys, this uses their standard rye mash bill of 70% rye, 18% corn, and 12% malted barley. Bottles will range between 125° proof and 145° proof. The suggested retail price is $59.99, though it was quite a bit more than that here in Minnesota at $75.

So let’s see how it tastes.

Jack Daniel’s Single-Barrel Barrel-Proof Rye Whiskey

Purchase Info: $74.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $5.00

Details: 65.25% ABV. Barrel House: 1-09. Barrel Number: 24-02588. Bottling Date: March 12, 2024

Nose: Spearmint, caramel, cedar, and circus peanuts (candy).

Mouth: Sweet and as hot as you'd expect 130° proof to be. Notes of Cinnamon, spearmint, caramel, and oak.

Finish: Medium length and hot. Notes of cinnamon, oak, banana, and caramel.

Thoughts: It is very sweet and very hot when neat. Luckily, a touch of water tames the heat without eliminating the sweetness or spice notes. This is delicious—absolutely delicious. Is it worth almost twice the price of the Bonded Rye? Well, that's up to you. All I’ll say is that I’m reaching to pour this one even though both are on my shelf next to one another. And honestly, I'd buy it again if I saw it at the store. Tasting them side-by-side, they taste pretty similar. As you might expect. But the added proof is quite tasty. When it comes to Jack Daniel’s, the less water they add, the more I like it.

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Jack Daniel’s Bonded Rye

It is easy to get caught up in the negative side of any story. I mean, after two solid years of drought, 75% of my yard is currently flooded. I could be super unhappy with that. But, since we were able to get our garden in before all the rain, we shouldn’t have to water it for a while. And since our garden doesn’t like city water, it’s good that we won’t need to use it as soon as usual.

Or take tonight’s whiskey. I bought this 700 mL bottle of Jack Daniel’s Bonded Rye for $34.99 back in March. However, Jack Daniel’s Bonded Rye recently replaced Jack Daniel’s Straight Rye, which I reviewed back in November 2017 for $29.99 for a 750 mL bottle. That’s an additional five bucks for 50 milliliters less whiskey. And sure, I could be mad if I focused just on that. However, the proof went up along with the price. And honestly, if you look a little deeper and do the math, the price increase is slightly less than the difference in inflation since that time.*

So, I guess what I’m saying is that we got a higher-proof whiskey for the same effective price, which if you focused only on the negative items, you might have missed. Now, while I wander around the house singing a song from Monty Python’s The Life of Brian, let’s let the press release from Jack Daniel’s have a word.

Jack Daniel’s Bonded Rye has a grain bill of 70% rye, 18% corn, and 12% malted barley and is charcoal mellowed before aging in new, handmade American white oak barrels. It opens with notes of dried fruit followed by lingering hints of toffee, imparting a bold, complex, and balanced taste with a rye spice finish.

Alright, I’m back. Let’s see what the BourbonGuy household thought of this one, shall we?

Jack Daniel’s Bonded Rye

Purchase Info: $34.99 for a 700 mL bottle at South Lyndale Liquors, Minneapolis, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $2.50

Details: 50% ABV. Mash bill: 70% rye, 18% corn, 12% malted barley.

Nose: Cedar, cinnamon, and chocolate.

Mouth: Zesty spices of cinnamon candy and clove, vanilla, citrus zest, cocoa, and oak.

Finish: Medium length and warmth with notes of oak, almond, baking spices, and just a touch of banana.

Thoughts: This is decent. Like its predecessor, it's not a world-beater by any means, but it's solid. It drinks well neat and works well in a cocktail. The oak is more prominent than I’d have thought for a product from Jack Daniel’s core lineup. It is sweeter than I usually like my rye, but it seems to work in this case. If you loved Jack Daniel’s Straight Rye, this is more full-flavored and isn’t as soft as that. If you really like Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Rye, this has a higher proof, but it reminds me of that. However, Single Barrel is over $50, so personally, I’d buy the Bonded Rye more often for that reason.

Now I need to figure out how to get Always Look on the Bright Side of Life out of my head…

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*$29.99/750 = 3.999 cents per milliliter. $0.03999 x 700 = $27.99. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, $27.99 in November 2017 had the same buying power as $35.44 in March 2024—or slightly more than the $34.99 that I paid for the new bottle. Basically it’s a wash.

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11th Annual BourbonGuy.com Brackets: The Championship Rounds

Welcome back, folks! We are now at the end of the 2024 contest. Eight whiskeys entered the arena. Four have fallen by the wayside. There have been some delicious treats, with not a single stinker in the bunch. Let’s see how it all ends and see if we’ve learned anything along the way. First, we have the Round Two matchups.

Division 2: Whiskey A (Buffalo Trace) vs. Whiskey B (George Dickel Bourbon)

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: The noses are pretty similar. “A” is more vibrant, “B” is nuttier. In the mouth, “A” is very nicely balanced with a nice sweetness. “B” is spicier, also with a nice flavor.

Winner: “B” (George Dickel Bourbon) moves on to the Championship Round based on the nice spiciness.

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Division 1: Whiskey A (Old Forester 100 Proof) vs. Whiskey B (Old Grand-Dad 114 Proof)

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: The nose on “B” has more caramel and nuttiness. The nose on “A” is more muted with a faint medicinal note. “B” is very spicy on the month. “A” has notes of red fruit and marzipan.

Winner: “B” is spicier, but that spiciness overwhelms the other notes. “A” is more well-rounded, which I prefer. “A” (Old Forester 100 proof) moves on to the Championship Round

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Championship Round: Whiskey A (George Dickel Bourbon) vs. Whiskey B (Old Forester 100 Proof)

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: The nose on “A” shows more caramel and vanilla versus the fruit notes on “B.” The mouth on “A” is showing spice, caramel, and oak. “B” shows more fruit. It’s close, but I think “A” pulls ahead based on the oak and spice.

Winner: “A” (George Dickel Bourbon)

Congrats to George Dickel 8-Year-Old Bourbon, the 2024 BourbonGuy.com Bracket Champion!

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Lessons Learned:

This was an interesting contest for me. I like contests where I know I won’t need to brace myself before taking the first sip in a tasting. Every one of the bourbons was good. I don’t think I’d say there is anything in here that would warrant a “meh/neutral” rating if it were being tasted alone. That might be a first.

So, what did I learn about each of these?

Ok, right off the bat, I expected a little blowback on George Dickel Bourbon even being in the contest. I got it last year when I included their Bottled-in-Bond Whiskey, and I honestly expected the same this year. I am personally shocked that Dickel won the contest. I honestly expected Old Forester 100 proof to win based on what I thought my personal preferences were. That said, upon reflection, I’m not shocked that the only age-stated bourbon in the batch won the whole thing. It’s hard to beat time in a barrel for making good whiskey. Add in the fact that it was less than $25 and less than 100 proof, and the whole thing just makes me happy. I love an underdog story.

Moving over to the other Championship contender, as stated above, Old Forester 100 Proof would have been my favorite to win the contest at the outset. Not only does it sit in my favorite proof point, but it was also the most expensive of the bunch. Not that price always correlates to quality (that’s one of the reasons we run this contest each year), but it certainly correlates to how much a company thinks people would be willing to pay for something. And that has at least a passing relationship with how good something is, especially with a product that has been on the market for a long time like this. That said, it came in second and won its division. It’s a good bourbon and one that is often on my shelf.

Newcomer Wheel Horse Bourbon handled itself admirably. It didn’t quite have the gusto to knock off a competitor with lots of age on it, but it should hold its head up high. It lost to the eventual champion this year. That’s nothing to sneeze at. It’s good whiskey and a good value. It may have advanced if it had had a different matchup in the first round. I think I’ll be doing a full review of this one in the near future if I don’t drink it all first.

Elijah Craig is a great bourbon. It is more delicate than other bourbons in this list, having neither the age nor the proof of other contestants. Because of that, it doesn’t surprise me that it lost in the first round. But with no comparisons, I'm a happy camper if this is in my glass.

When I think of Buffalo Trace, the old chant from high school sports of “O-Ver-Rate-Ed clap clap clapclapclap.” That isn’t to say that it is a stinker or even a “meh” bourbon. No, it is very good. But when I get comments from people saying that it goes for $50 in their neck of the woods, it’s hard to take it seriously these days. Especially when contrasted with other comparable products. Sazerac won the PR lottery when they got the contract to have Pappy chosen from among their stocks oh-so-many years ago.

I’m just going to copy and paste what I said last year about Old Tub, as nothing has changed in my assessment: “Old Tub reminded me that Jim Beam makes good whiskey. It just needs some proof. Go below 100° proof, and it gets way too nutty for many folks, including me, when the mood isn’t right.”

I didn’t learn much from Old Grand-Dad 114 that I didn’t already know. I knew it was a great bourbon that didn’t cost much, and nothing about that has changed. The proof adds a nice spice to what might otherwise be a lackluster bourbon that would be too grain-forward for my personal tastes. That’s why I like Bonded and 114 so much better than the 80 proof.

Finally, Ezra Brooks 99 is right there with the other bourbons in this group. It was great as a 90° proof. And with that great base, the proof bump makes it an absolute winner. Sure, the price is higher than the now-discontinued 90, but I think the quality went up more. If I’m not buying for content, this is one that I pick up a lot.

Ok, so we have one further contest to take a look at before we put the brackets to bed this year. I retired Wild Turkey 101 from the yearly bracket contest a few years ago. It won every time it appeared until I paired it against other, more expensive, 100-ish proof bourbons during the pandemic. It is literally the GOAT when it comes to inexpensive bourbon. One of the guys I talk to at a local liquor store describes more expensive bourbons using Wild Turkey 101 as the measuring stick. “Is this worth four bottles of Wild Turkey 101?” And I love that. So, I decided to bring it out of retirement to see how this year’s winner stacked up against the old bird. (You may notice it hiding in the back of the photo above.)

Emeritus Round: Whiskey A (George Dickel Bourbon) vs. Whiskey B (Wild Turkey 101)

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: “A” has a lot of oak on both the nose and mouth, along with toffee on the mouth. “B” shows nice cinnamon on the nose and mouth along with some caramel on the mouth. Both have a nice spice.

Winner: Very close, but I'm leaning toward “B” (Wild Turkey) in the Emeritus Contest.

Now that we are done, it’s time to turn the page to the future. Next week, we will look at the samples that have been stacking up while the contest was going on. As much fun as this was, it’s fun to try new bourbons, too.

Once again, congrats to George Dickel 8-Year-Old Bourbon on their 2024 Championship!

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If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.

11TH ANNUAL BOURBONGUY.COM BRACKETS: ROUND 1: Old Forester 100 Proof vs. Elijah Craig

Hello again, my friends! Let’s continue with the brackets, shall we?

If you’ve been following along, you know that these were tasted in an order only known to my wife, which was another bit of obfuscation to hide what was being tasted. So Round 1 of the 2024 BourbonGuy.com Brackets continues with Division 1’s Number 1 seed, Old Forester 100 proof, taking on Number 4 seed Elijah Craig.

Old Forester 100 proof, one time known as Old Forester Signature, is probably my favorite Brown-Forman bourbon from a Quality-to-Price perspective. It is delicious, relatively inexpensive (at least when compared to its Whiskey Row brothers), and has enough proof to keep you interested. Did I mention that it is delicious? I was thrilled to include this one in the brackets this year. It is the number one overall seed due to the fact that it is at the high end of this contest’s price parameters and it’s proof. I bought this bottle at South Lyndale Liquors in Minneapolis, MN. It costs $27.99 for a 750 mL bottle or $1.87 per pour.

Their opponent is another bourbon that I buy quite often. In this case, it is because Heaven Hill’s flagship bourbon, Elijah Craig, is often on sale in the low $ 20 range near me. I’m a big fan of bottles that taste good but cost relatively little. Hence, the contest theme. This particular bottle was not on sale but was still priced well. It costs $24.96 for a 750 mL bottle or $1.66 per pour.

All of the competitions this year were tasted blind and we knew the winner of the competition prior to any reveal. Notes, thoughts, and conclusions were all from before we knew what was what. Needless to say, some of my conclusions were surprising to me. Tasting notes may be a little unusual since they were being tasted at the same time and probably influenced the perceptions of one another.

Whiskey A (Elijah Craig)

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $1.66

Details: 47% ABV.

Nose: Brown sugar, mint, cola, and baking spice.

Mouth: Caramel, cola, cinnamon, and oak.

Finish: Warm and on the shorter side of medium. Notes of brown sugar, mint, and oak.

Whiskey B (Old Forester 100 proof)

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $1.87

Details: 50% ABV.

Nose: Caramel, citrus zest, mint, and almond.

Mouth: Sweet and spicy with notes of caramel, cedar, mint, almond, and cinnamon.

Finish: Warm and of medium length—notes of toffee, chalk, mint, and cinnamon.

Thoughts:

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: We had a hard time with this one. Relatively, “A” is the more delicate of the two, which wouldn't matter if one of these was bad. I’ve chosen the more delicate bourbon in previous year’s contests because it happened to be the better one. But both of these were very good. So I'm left with which one made more of an impression. And in this case, that is the robust flavor of “B.”

Post-Reveal Thoughts: There are no surprises here. The proof won out. If this contest had happened ten years ago, it would have been a different story. Old Forester had fallen on hard times and, frankly, wasn’t very good. And Elijah Craig was a 12-year-old powerhouse of a bourbon. But these days, Old Forester 100 is delicious, and Elijah Craig, though delicious, is much more approachable than it once was.

Winner: Old Forester 100 is advancing to round 2.

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If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.

11th Annual BourbonGuy.com Brackets: The “Not Quite Bottom-Shelf” Edition

Welcome back, my friends, to my favorite posts of the year. It’s bracket time!

Historically, this has been a series where we take a look at the cheapest of the cheapest bourbons, pit them against each other, and decide which you should pick up and which you should leave down on that bottom shelf. The 2022 edition broke me; I dumped out about 7 liters of bourbon, so last year, I tossed out all pricing requirements and did a series of Bonded Bourbons. This year, I’m reinstating the price requirements, but I’ve decided to keep them a bit “relaxed.” My goal was to find readily available bourbons all at about the same price point, in this case, the $20 to $30 price range.

Here is how we set everything up. And it is an oh-so-simple process. I seed the whiskey in the bracket, in this case, by price. Then, I pour 200 mL bottles of each contestant whiskey and label them with a nonsense name. Finally, I make a separate bracket with the nonsense names and give that and the 200 mL bottles to my wife. After that, she takes care of everything. She has no idea what is in each bottle due to the nonsense name. She pours and keeps track of the winners while we do our tastings. And all I need to do is taste and write. It’s a pretty slick system.

So, who are the participants, and how did they get chosen?

Well, every year, I try to put in limitations that will force me to choose a new set of participants. Well, mostly new, anyway. We still have four this year that were in previous editions. Because the “bottom-shelf” ones have gotten so much worse than they used to be due to inflation and strategic price increases, this year, I limited myself to only bourbons priced between $20 and $30 for a 750 mL bottle. This allowed me to get some names that are familiar to the general public but that might be overlooked due to the general public’s idea that “more expensive equals better whiskey.” A while back, I also asked what you guys wanted to see included as part of a giveaway. I included as many of those as I could. Some weren’t available in my market. Others were quite expensive. Some had just been in so many contests that I looked for fresh faces. But I included what I could.

The contestants were seeded by price. If there was more than one at the same price, the tie was broken by proof.

• Division 1, Seed 1: Old Forester 100: This was purchased at South Lyndale Liquors in Minneapolis, MN, for $27.99 or $0.037 per milliliter.

• Division 2, Seed 1: Buffalo Trace: This was purchased at Total Wine in Burnsville, MN, for $27.99 or $0.037 per milliliter.

• Division 1, Seed 2: Old Grand-Dad 114: A reader suggested Old Grand-Dad Bonded, but since I saw this fit the price constraints, I upgraded. This was purchased at Total Wine in Burnsville, MN, for $26.99 or $0.036 per milliliter.

• Division 2, Seed 2: Wheel Horse Bourbon: This was a reader suggestion. It was purchased at Top Ten Liquors in Chanhassan, MN, for $25.96 or $0.035 per milliliter.

• Division 1, Seed 3: Ezra Brooks 99: This was purchased at South Lyndale Liquors in Minneapolis, MN, for $24.99 or $0.033 per milliliter.

• Division 2, Seed 3: George Dickel Bourbon: This was purchased at France 44 in Minneapolis, MN, for $24.99 or $0.033 per milliliter.

• Division 1, Seed 4: Elijah Craig: This was purchased at Top Ten Liquors in Chanhassen, MN, for $24.96 or $0.033 per milliliter.

• Division 2, Seed 4: Old Tub: This was a reader suggestion. It was purchased at France 44 in Minneapolis, MN, for $21.99 or $0.029 per milliliter.

I’m going to tell you right now, that there were some real surprises here. I was honestly shocked at the winner. But that is for the future. In the mean time, who you got? Let us know down in the comments.

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If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.

Old Forester 1924

Well, they did it. The sonnuva guns actually did it. Not a week after I mentioned in a comment on an older Old Forester post that Old Forester only has one mash bill, they went ahead and released a whiskey with a different mash bill. This is what I get for acting all high and mighty and like I know something: I get new 10-year-old bourbon…

Wait.

Ok, so that’s a good thing…I might need to act like I know everything more often.

Funny story about this one. I saw this sitting on the shelf when I was wandering through Total Wine, looking for a non-alcoholic beverage I could enjoy during Dry January. (Yes, just because I wasn't drinking alcohol for the month doesn’t mean I wasn't buying it.) So I picked up a bottle and stuck it into the closet. Well, the next week, my wife went to a different Total Wine. There was a sign informing customers that they were out of an entire list of Buffalo Trace products (we are pretty heavily allocated here, even for the standard Buffalo Trace). At the bottom, there was a handwritten addition to the list: Old Forester 1924. Of course, the Minnesota Whiskey Snobs™ were out in full force.

Now, this might happen everywhere, but in my almost 20 years of living in Minnesota, I’ve found that there is a particular brand of uppity snob that lives in the Twin Cities Metro. They are usually well-off professionals, often lawyers or upper management at a small company. I’ve had one or two of them for bosses over the years. They are the kind of people that like to get people looking at them. They think it is because others are jealous, but in reality, most people are ashamed for them. They loudly proclaim in stores things like “Oh honey, look! They are out of (some expensive thing)! Good thing we have one at home. Ha Ha Ha!”

So my wife was in Total Wine when this exact thing happened in front of that sign. Only in this case, the lady kept looking at my wife like she thought she would get a reaction. Now, I’d have walked past and whispered, “It’s good, I have two.” It would have been a lie, but sometimes, that’s what it takes to shut people up. But my wife is classier than I am. She just ignored the lady and picked up a box of Maker’s Mark 101 proof, which is pretty close to my favorite bourbon at the moment.

So, what is this new release that was causing the signs and the snobs to come out? Well, it is the latest release in Old Forester’s Whiskey Row Series. In this case, it commemorates a year when Old Forester was putting out whiskey that wasn’t entirely their own distillate. See, during Prohibition, a lot of distilleries closed. The list of those that survived is remarkably similar to the list of distilleries that were still in business in 2008. Well, the folks that still had licenses to sell bourbon medicinally bought up all the stocks of those that couldn't. And since those stocks were all that there was for the foreseeable future, folks didn’t worry too much about maintaining a consistent flavor profile. They just wanted whiskey that they could bottle and sell.

Old Forester was one of those surviving distilleries. And they were buying all the whiskey they could. This meant their mash bill wasn’t what it would have been pre-Prohibition. To commemorate this occurrence 100 years later, they have released Old Forester 1924, a bourbon that once again has a different mash bill from the rest of the Old Forester products. In this case, the mash bill is 79% corn, 11% rye, and 10% malted barley rather than their traditional 72% corn, 18% rye, and 10% malted barley.

Ok, now that I’ve given anecdotes and a brief rundown of the product, let’s get to the important part. How does it taste?

Old Forester 1924

Purchase Info: $119.99 for a 750 ml bottle at Total Wine in Burnsville, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $8.00

Details: 50% ABV. 10-years-old. 79% corn, 11% rye, and 10% malted barley

Nose: Nutmeg, allspice, caramel, vanilla, and oak.

Mouth: Oak, toasted nuts, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and caramel.

Finish: Long and warm. Notes of cinnamon, oak, vanilla, and spearmint.

Thoughts: Wow! This is delicious! Spicy on the tongue with a rich mouthfeel. I wouldn't have noticed the change in mashbill on this one if I hadn't read about it. This really isn't too surprising since by ten years in the barrel, you'll be getting a lot more barrel influence taking over. This gets a heart. I might just be in love.

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If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.

2023 BourbonGuy.com Bourbon of the Year: Old Forester Single Barrel Barrel Proof, Minnesota Selection #3

Last month, my wife and I decided that we were going to participate in Dry January this year. Not for any real reason, it just seemed like something to kick us out of our rut. Because of that, I needed to look ahead and see what I could find that I could taste ahead of time. I had a couple of things hanging around that I hadn’t gotten around to writing about yet, but that wasn’t enough for an entire month. So I went to the liquor store, set myself a price limit of $150, and bought everything I was going to taste for the coming month. What follows is one of those things that I had hanging around that I really needed to write about.

You know, I have a fondness for Bourbon. This might not be a revelation for most of you, considering I do tend to write about it twice a week. However, it's worth mentioning from time to time, especially when you play the role of a critic. I genuinely love bourbon, and everything I express on this site is rooted in that passion. Now, I won't go so far as to claim there's no such thing as bad bourbon—of course, there is. But, in general, I enjoy bourbon. That's why the majority of products I review receive a 'like' rating. I just genuinely enjoy the stuff.

Occasionally, I come across one that I strongly dislike. It's genuinely bad. And some bourbons simply don't resonate with me. It's not necessarily bad, but it's not my cup of bourbon. This doesn't happen too often because I make a conscious effort to only purchase things I'm confident I'll enjoy. After all, I'll have the rest of the bottle left after the review, and there's only so much prop bourbon I can go through.

However, every now and then, something surprises me. I've been at this long enough to know that when I encounter a private selection of Old Forester, I'm likely to enjoy it. I expect that and have rarely been disappointed. Old Forester is just exceptional whiskey. But this time, I was taken aback by just how outstanding it was. I believe this selection wasn't exclusive to the retailer I bought it from, given that I also found a Minnesota Selection #6 at another store. Unfortunately, #6 wasn't a barrel-proof one; otherwise, it would be residing in my house at the moment, patiently waiting for January to be over.

Old Forester Single Barrel Barrel Strength "Minnesota Selection #3"

Purchase Info: $99.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Village Liquor, Prior Lake, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $6.67

Details: 65.95% ABV. Warehouse I, Floor 8

Nose: Rich caramel, dark chocolate, baking spices, and oak.

Mouth: Dark chocolate, rich caramel, cinnamon, leather and oak.

Finish: Long and warm with notes of cocoa and leather.

Thoughts: I. Love. This. Full stop. It is thick and rich in the mouth. It is hot, but it takes water well to tame the heat. It has wonderful leather, chocolate, and oak notes from its time in the barrel. All in all, this is an excellent way to end a year. I wish the store had another bottle. I'd have gone back and bought it immediately.

In fact, I’m going to pull out a very seldom-used award. I declare that Old Forester Single Barrel Barrel Proof, Minnesota Selection #3, is joining an elite group as the third-ever recipient of the BourbonGuy.com Bourbon of the Year Award. I don’t give this out every year. This honor is reserved for bourbons that stand head and shoulders above everything else I've sampled throughout the year. The last time such an honor was bestowed was in 2021, with the one prior to that in 2017. I haven’t had a bourbon that was that much better than every other bourbon since. But this one qualifies. Nice job, Brown-Forman!

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10th Annual BourbonGuy.com Brackets: The Championship Rounds

Welcome back, folks! Can you believe we’ve done this for 10 years now? Crazy. We are now at the end of the 2023 contest. Eight whiskeys entered the arena. Four have fallen by the wayside. There have been some delicious treats, and contrary to years past, no stinkers. Let’s see how it all ends and see if we’ve learned anything along the way. First, we have the Round Two matchups.

Division 2: Whiskey A (New Riff Bourbon) vs. Whiskey B (Old Forester 1897)

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: "A" has a nicer nose. Sweet and fruity. "B" has a longer and warmer finish. They are both delicious, but in this case, "A" matches my preferred flavor profile a little better. I tend to like a sweet and lightly fruity bourbon, and "A" is exactly that.

Winner: New Riff Bourbon moves on to the Championship Round

Division 1: Whiskey A (George Dickel Bottled-in-Bond No. 4) vs. Whiskey B (Jack Daniel’s Bonded)

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: "B" has a nicer nose. "A" has a nicer finish with dark chocolate notes. In the mouth, "A" is a little fruitier, whereas "B" is got more "candy bar" notes. This one is tough. So tough that my wife and I are split. I prefer "A.” She prefers "B." But at the end of the day, it's my vote that gets published.

Winner: George Dickel Bottled-in-Bond (No. 4) moves on to the Championship Round

Championship Round: Whiskey A (New Riff Bourbon) vs. Whiskey B (George Dickel Bottled-in-Bond No. 4)

Pre-Reveal Thoughts: The nose is very nice on both of these. In the mouth and on the finish, “A” is a little fruitier and gets my vote for the nicer experience. Both are delicious, but "A" is the winner. That fruitiness is intoxicating (and not just because of the alcohol).

Winner: New Riff Bourbon

Congrats to New Riff Bourbon, the 2023 BourbonGuy.com Bracket Champion!

Lessons Learned:

This was an interesting contest for me. When I was reminded that I only had a few days to find a theme, buy, seed, and taste the entire competition full of whiskeys. I had a moment of panic. I actually considered not doing it this year. But I’m not going to lie. This is my favorite post series each year. And once I decided to drop the price requirement as an overreaction to last year’s stinkers, it got even easier. Thankfully my local store had over eight bonded whiskeys, so I had my choice without running all over the metro the night before a big snowstorm.

So what did I learn about each of these?

With George Dickel Bottled-in-Bond (No. 4) competing for the Championship in what is, ostensibly, a bourbon contest, there may be cries of foul play since they don’t call themselves “bourbon.” But, as I told a reader in a comment on the first post in this year’s contest: if you show me a bonded whiskey (in the bourbon style) that is 13 years old for right around $50? I’m going buy that every time. It was no surprise to me that 13 years in a barrel allowed Dickel to stand up tall with the best of the best this year.

Moving on to the other Tennessee Whiskey in the competition, you get the only first-round upset. Jack Daniel’s Bonded knocked out a bourbon from Barton 1792 in the first round and almost made it to the Championship in a split decision in Round 2. That was a surprise to me. Though having had it before, I shouldn’t have been surprised. 100° proof is probably the sweet spot for Jack Daniel’s, as far as I’m concerned. It is delicious at higher proofs but gets really hot real quick. Below that, it is really mellow. Bonded just hits right for me. I was actually shocked that it went blow to blow with a 13-year-old and didn’t embarrass itself, honestly. That’s a lot of age to overcome.

Evan Williams Bottled in Bond handled itself admirably. It didn’t quite have the gusto to knock off a competitor with lots of age on it, but it should hold its head up high. It won last year and lost to the eventual number 2 this year. That’s nothing to sneeze at. It’s good whiskey and an even better value. It should be on everyone’s back bar, even if you just use it for cocktails.

Wolcott Bottled-in-Bond was interesting to me. But probably not for the reasons that Total Wine would have liked. It was the only contestant that I would describe as “meh.” It just goes to show that even a producer of great whiskey like Sazerac isn’t going to put their best stuff into somebody else’s bottle.

Moving to the other division. Our Champion New Riff was so delicious that my wife wrote, “I can’t wait to find out what this is” on the sheet she was using to keep track of the contest. It won a squeaker in the first round but easily handled two whiskeys that were either a limited edition or part of a “high-end” brand extension. I was shocked because as I was tasting it, I kept thinking, “we don’t have a Four Roses product in the line-up, but if I didn’t know better, I’d think this was one.” It had been a long time since I’d purchased the standard New Riff Bourbon. I need to change that.

I didn’t learn much from Old Grand-Dad Bonded that I didn’t already know. I knew it was a great bourbon that didn’t cost much. It is the second former champion in the mix. Nothing about that has changed.

Old Tub reminded me that Jim Beam makes good whiskey. It just needs some proof on it. Go down below 100° proof, and it gets way too nutty for a lot of folks, including me when the mood isn’t right.

Finally, Old Forester 1897 is much better than I remember it being. I love the 1920 expression. But when 1897 first came out, I thought it was a little muddy and flat. No more. This is a really good bourbon for a pretty good price. It’s going on the list of things I need to buy much more often.

This was such a fun contest this year. Not once did I have to brace myself before taking an initial sip. I knew there were no stinkers in the mix. And the champ was one that I would have never guessed. Honestly, if I was going to guess the outcome beforehand, I would have put my money on Old Forester 1897 to win it all. I also didn’t think that Dickel would make it all the way to the Championship match. I’ve liked all of the releases of Dickel Bottled-in-Bond that I’ve had. But I liked this one the least of the four. That said, it’s still good whiskey when not compared to its earlier brothers. Next week we take a look at the samples that have been stacking up while the contest was going on. As much fun as this was, it’s fun to try new bourbons too.

Once again, congrats to New Riff Bourbon on their 2023 Championship!

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