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Buckner’s Single Barrel 13 Year Review

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Sunday Evening Review

 

This week’s bottle came on the market like a storm but has since seemed to no longer be the must have bottle. Is it the juice or is it just the $200 price tag. We will find out his week on the Sunday Evening Review as I go through Augusta Distiller’s Buckner’s Single Barrel.

 

Make sure you put in the comments any bottles that you would like me to review.

 

NAME – Buckner’s Single Barrel

 

PROOF – 118.2

 

AGE – 13 years

 

COLOR – copper wire (1.4 tawny on the Whiskey Magazine Color Chart)

 

NOSE – Honeycrisp apple, butterscotch, amber honey, vanilla wafers, toasted pecan, and aged oak.

 

TASTE – Cinnamon rolls, cooked caramel, stewed apples, vanilla, toasted oak

 

FINISH – I would call this a medium finish. The caramel, along with some raisins and oak finish this up.

 

REVIEW – Will start this by saying this is a very good pour and very enjoyable to drink but its not $200 good. As soon as I put my nose on this I knew that smell immediately. Though its not official there is a high probability of being a Barton sourced juice and it smelled exactly like 1792 Full Proof. The 13-year age statement along with a single barrel and barrel proof entices buyers that they are going to get something that is more than a standard 1792 Full Proof. To me it is not and dare I say it may not be as good. It should have a better mouth feel and a longer finish for the age and the price. In the $60 to $80 price range this is a buy but no way at $200 which is MSRP.

 

FINAL COMMENTS – Like I said in the review that this is a highly likely sourced juice from Barton and the mash bill all but confirms it as it is a 74% corn, 18% rye, and 8% barley which is the exact mash bill of 1792.

 

There always has to be a story and Buckner’s is no different. Here it is from the website:

 

Buckner’s Single-Barrel Bourbon is a tribute to the lasting legacy of Revolutionary War Hero Captain Philip Buckner.  Following his years of service in the Virginia Militia, Buckner was awarded 7,000 acres along the Ohio River that would ultimately give rise the city of Augusta, Kentucky.  The civic minded Buckner would go on to establish the first school, courthouse and jail, setting the roots of prosperity still visible in the community today.

 

I want to say again that his was a very good pour and if your friends of family offer it to you don’t hesitate but when the cashier ask you for $200 plus tax our of your wallet, you may want to look down the bourbon aisle again.

 

1792 Small Batch Review

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Listen I’m like everyone else that likes to find a bottle that has been aged for 99 years in the arms of the virgin Mary and only uses the tears of E.H. Taylor, Pappy Van Winkle and Elijah Craig as the water used to make this bourbon. It also will cost as much as the national debt. So, the next most exciting thing is to find a bargain whiskey that punches over it’s price tag. Let’s find out if 1792 small batch can do that.

 

Make sure you put in the comments any bottles that you would like me to review.

 

NAME – 1792 Small Batch

 

PROOF – 93.7

 

AGE – non-age stated

 

COLOR – auburn hair (1.5 auburn, polished mahogany on the Whiskey Magazine Color Chart)

 

NOSE – Vanilla custard, raisin, caramel, cinnamon, oak and a slight bread yeast.

 

TASTE – The nose doesn’t lead you astray. Same things come through with vanilla custard, raisin, caramel/brown sugar, baking spices and that yeasty note. Oak plays a stronger role on the palate than it did on the nose. The noticeable thing is the creamy mouth feel that is not usually found in sub-100 proof bourbons. Very pleasant.

 

FINISH – I would call this a medium to long finish. A toasted oak stave with vanilla and cinnamon slide to the very end.

 

REVIEW – The thing I always have liked about this bourbon is the way it is able to do a three-way balance of sweetness, spice and wood notes. None overpowers the others, but I would say that the sweetness may slightly tip the scale more than the others. It’s a straightforward bourbon that is anything but boring. Obviously, it doesn’t get much shine compared to its siblings Full Proof, Bottled-In-Bond, Single Barrel or even Sweet Wheat but if you would do a blind lineup of all of those, I know for sure it would beat out some of those that you wouldn’t think it would.

 

FINAL COMMENTS – The sad part these days is it is increasing difficult to find a $30 or less bourbon that is more than a one trick pony. The whiskey craze has driven up prices and driven down age and quality just to meet demand (by the way, my contacts with the various distilleries tell me prices are getting ready to go up again). To find a bourbon that has really good balance, not an overwhelming complexity but certainly no one trick pony, pleasant sweetness and mouth feel for $30, in these days it is punching over its weight. Now add that it comes in a pretty sharp bottle and stopper and it certainly is one that can easily find a space on your shelf.