Bourbon box 2019 report

In the summer of 2017 I found myself acquiring a bourbon habit and, even better, a friend who shared it and has been leading me happily astray. She's very kindly sent me a bourbon advent calendar two years in a row now which has been quite an eye-opener. Last year I failed to make systematic notes, but this year G and I approached it in a more methodical fashion and I'm now in a position to report back on our findings. I've also been doing some price-checking as my plan is to bring back a bottle of bourbon each time I visit the US.

There were 24 miniatures in the box and our top 10 were as follows:

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof. At 62.1% this needed some dilution to overcome the fieriness but this was high quality stuff and I intend to seek out a bottle next time I'm in the US. It seems to cost $65 over there but £95 over here, so that's got to be worth a look.

Koval 47%. "It's real aromatic," said G, possibly channelling his inner cowboy. I tried to figure out what we were getting on the nose - smoke? honey? It was light and dry, and we liked it. £49 over here, $51 in the booze store.

Few Spirits. 46.5% This was light, dry and clean, with a decent flavour and some interest. £52 over here, $50 over there.

Kentucky Vintage. This was different from your run-of-the-mill bourbon. It was much drier than usual and lacked the usual vanilla notes. It had a kick to it and reminded G of a Highland malt.
Interesting stuff. £46 over here, can't find it in the Pennsylvanian booze store.

Michters US*1 45.7% had a pleasant nose of toasted vanilla and was smooth. It's £54 over here but a mere $38 over there, so I may investigate further in due course.

Distillery 291 single barrel. This is apparently from Colorado. It was on the dry side which we liked. "Worth a detour," said G. I can't find it in the booze store in the US and it's £87 over here, so not sure that detour will be happening any time soon.

Yellowstone Select 46.5%. This was at the light, dry and fruity end and had some grip. I got a hint of beeswax. We liked it. £49 here, $40 in the booze store.

David Nicholson 1843 50%. We thought this was really quite good, more woody and powerful and less bland than some. I brought a bottle back with me on my recent travels - at $28 it seemed a bargain compared to the £40 being charged over here.

Eagle Rare 10 year old, 45%. This had an interesting nose and with some wood shavings going on. It was quite dry, congruent and had some backbone to it, with a really great finish. G compared it to a lowland malt whisky. £36 here, $30 in the booze store, so at the lower end.

Impressive that they managed to find room for all that waffle on the label

Woodford Reserve Masters Collection Sonoma-Cutrer Finish, 45.2%. I found out afterwards that this is finished off in some fancy pinot noir casks from the Sonoma-Cutrer winery. This had a lot of vanilla on the nose and G found it too sweet. I enjoyed it more. Probably not at £130 a bottle though, which is what it costs over here!

The also-rans can be divided into those we'd have again and those we wouldn't bother with.

Would have again:

• Hudson Baby Bourbon. We actually had this in 2017 and I liked it so much then that G got me some for Christmas. We still liked it this time round but it's £50 a pop ($50 in the US) and I'm more interested in the others above right now
• James E Pepper 1776 Bourbon 46%. We found this enjoyable, light and pleasant but not serious. I stated that I wouldn't kick it out of bed. £40 here, $28 over there.
• Makers Mark 46. This was aromatic, decent and had a good finish
• Elijah Craig 47% was at the sweeter and more commercial end, not bad but a little obvious. 
• Old Forester 43% had a bit more going on but still didn't excite us.

Wouldn't bother:

• Bulleit 10 year old. Normal Bulleit is my house bourbon, costs about £25 a bottle and hits the spot. The 10 year old is fine but is £45 and not worth the price differential, in my opinion 
• Buffalo Trace. I've had a bottle of this before (when the price of Bulleit had weirdly gone up by 50%) and it's pleasant enough, but not thrilling. Cheap and cheerful. 

The total duds were:

That Boutique-y Bourbon Company Reservoir Bourbon 2 year old batch 1 46.6%. We were probably already irritated by the cutesy name but this did not go down well. It was a dark colour and very sweet. G didn't like it and I found it rough and obvious. However, it was eclipsed by...

Benchmark Bourbon Old Number 8. "Comfortably the worst we've had" pronounced G. For me, it didn't smell of anything and it didn't taste of anything. (Did I actually pour any onto my ice cubes, I wonder now...) G however detected some synthetic rubbery quality. Oh dear. Looking it up just now, I see it costs £20. I guess you get what you pay for...

And finally, there was an unlabelled mystery bottle! Fortunately it turned out to be unexciting, or I would have been quite annoyed. We'll never know what it was, but it's ok, we don't really care.

Enormous thanks to J for sending me this box - it really has been great fun to work our way through them. I look forward to doing the Kentucky Bourbon Trail together one day...

All gone :(