Sunday Evening Review

On this special weekend that makes all pause and remember those that paid the ultimate price for the freedom that we enjoy in the United States. For this giving a toast to those that you remember mandates you pull out something special. Today I toast those heros with an E.H. Taylor Single Barrel. Let’s get into it.

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NAME – E. H. Taylor Single Barrel Bottled In Bond

PROOF – 100

AGE – non-age stated but at least 4 years due to the Bottled In Bond laws. Rumored to be 6-8 years

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

NOSE – Butterscotch, sweet caramel, vanilla sweet cream, orange peel, cinnamon sugar, newly tanned leather

TASTE – Sweet oak with caramel and vanilla and the beginning of the sip. Then the whiskey starts taking a journey with orange zest, vanilla pudding, cigar tobacco, leather but with a little more age than what I got on the nose. Also cinnamon, almond butter and dark honey. All of this delivered in one of the creamiest mouth feels you will ever get with a whiskey.

FINISH – I would call this a long finish. That creamy mouth feel coats your mouth and allows flavors to hang around for a long time. The orange note swirls through and then moves into a leather and tobacco ending.

REVIEW – Sometimes you wish the hype of a bottle is just that and note worth the effort to get certain bottles. I have had many that were hyped and that was all it was. This is not one of those as all the hype about this bottle is real. You won’t find a creamier whiskey at 100 proof than this one. It also has all the complexity yet a very easy drinking pour. This has something for everyone and that’s all you could ever ask.

FINAL COMMENTS – From the Buffalo Trace website:

Many of the barrels selected for the E.H. Taylor, Jr. Single Barrel are aged in Warehouse C, which was built by Taylor in 1881 and proven to be an excellent aging warehouse. Each barrel is hand-picked and Bottled in Bond at 100 proof to honor its namesake.

Other facts about E.H. Taylor that just adds to the lore is that he is a descendant of 2 U.S. Presidents James Madison and Zachary Taylor. Madison is considered the “Father of the Constitution” and Taylor is considered the “Father of the Modern Bourbon Industry.”

Taylor spent several years after the Civil War touring Europe and being educated in the latest distilling techniques, including the importance of keeping the liquids in copper kettles. When he returned to the United States in late 1867 he opened his first distillery called “The Hermitage.”

In one of the most important moves by Taylor, just two years later he purchased the Leestown Distillery, just outside Frankfort in 1869 and named it the, “O.F.C. Distillery (Old Fire Copper) Distillery.”

Among his inventions or improvements were using copper fermentation tanks, state-of-the-art grain equipment, column stills, modernized buildings, a more efficient sour mash technique and a first-of-its-kind steam heating system (which is still used in the warehouses today).

Obviously his most important contribution to bourbon was being the lead to passing the “Bottle-In-Bond Act of 1897.” It probably is the one thing that saved bourbon from being nothing more than a low quality liquor with a horrible reputation to match but because of the Bottled-In-Bond Act it is not only a high quality product with but the reputation of bourbon has people chasing it all over the world to be able to drink it.

Thanks again to all those that laid down their life for the freedom we enjoy as well as the families that also paid a price due to those that lost their life. I toast you and give you my never ending thanks.

To find out more you can check it out here – E.H. Taylor

You can look at all the past Sunday Evenings Reviews and I would still love to hear what your personal reviews are from each of the whiskies reviewed.