The old saying of 2 heads are better than 1 takes a twist and we will see if 2 distilleries are better than 1. This week I will review John J. Bowman Single Barrel where 2 distilleries are involved to make this juice happen. We will get into that later. Now let’s see how good this is.

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NAME – John J. Bowman Virginia Straight Bourbon Whiskey Single Barrel

PROOF – 100

AGE – non-age stated (rumored at between 9 to 10 years old)

COLOR –toasted almonds (1.4, tawny on the Whiskey Magazine Color Chart)

NOSE – Chocolate, vanilla, oak, tobacco leaf, butterscotch, and praline pecans.

TASTE – The palate matches with the nose. Milk chocolate, creamy vanilla, toasted oak, tobacco leaf, butterscotch and praline pecans. Very nice creamy mouth feel.

FINISH – I would call this a medium to long finish. The finish keeps that praline pecan, vanilla, chocolate and tobacco until the end. A slight leather note at the very end.

REVIEW – Wow! This hits all the marks and has a ton of robust flavor especially for a 100 proofer. The only complaint you can give to this is the lack of any real fruit notes but the other flavors are so pleasant and the mouth feel so good that you really don’t mind. This is a home run of a bottle and for around $60 it is worth every cent.

FINAL COMMENTS – The fairly good and supported rumor is that John J Bowman is a blend of Buffalo Trace Mash Bill #1 and Mash Bill #2 where the distillate is sent to the A. Smith Bowman Distillery where it is distilled again and then aged in Virginia.

I do think this carries more of Mash Bill #1 than #2 as the closest comparison would be a combination of Eagle Rare and E.H. Taylor Single Barrel. If you don’t have this bottle, I highly suggest that you find a way to acquire one. You won’t be disappointed and in this case 2 distilleries is better than 1.