🥃Review #23 Henry McKenna 10 Year Single Barrel Bourbon

 

📚Background:  Crafted by Heaven Hill from a pervasive mash bill, this 10-year old bonded bourbon is distinguished by being one of the few bonded single barrels in circulation. In 2019, it won "Best in Show Whiskey" at the San Francisco World spirits competition, catapulting a $30ish dollar bottle into the stratosphere. Double H had this to say in response:

“Quality and consistency are two values that have persisted across Heaven Hill since our company began distilling American Whiskey in 1935,” said Heaven Hill's President Max L. Shapira. “Henry McKenna, and our entire American Whiskey portfolio, is a shining example of the tradition instilled by our late Master Distiller Parker Beam and carried forth by our unrivaled team at Heaven Hill Distillery. While we certainly enjoy the recognition of our passion, it is the commitment of our people who bring these products to life that gives us the most satisfaction.”

As with all single barrel bourbons, there will likely be some variance between the bottle I am drinking today and the one that won the show. The plain Henry McKenna, named for an Irish immigrant who adapted his family's whiskey recipe to work with ingredients found in Kentucky, can be still be had in a 1.75L bottle for a piddling $22.99. The bottle we're reviewing today adds six years and the master distiller's selective hand of blessing to that four year baseline at the cost of about $45 (adjusted for volume). Is it worth it?

🛒Sourced: $57.99 Tower Wine & Spirits, GA 750ml. This is an allocated bottle in my neck of the woods and I had to grab it since this is the first time I've seen it on a shelf at a reasonable price. Obviously, this price point is elevated from before the award shows, but it is still a good deal less than the $80-$150 Scotch and Japanese whiskey bottles that it beat out for best in show. Less than $6 a year!

🧪Proof: 100 proof, 50% ABV in accordance with the requirements of bonded whiskey. 

🎨Color: R8- DARK and lovely brown. One of the darker bottles in my cabinet! The bottle is squat, surprisingly a slightly different shape than that of Evan Williams Single Barrel. It bears the traditional bottled-in-bond green seal atop its stopper and is inscribed with the barrel number and barreling date. 

🥔Mash Bill: 78% corn, 10% rye, and 12% barley - A low rye mash bill shared by this bottle, regular Henry McKenna, Heaven Hill (Green and BiB), Evan Williams, and Elijah Craig. During a barrel hunt for Henry McKenna 10-Year-Old Bottled-In-Bond, about 30 barrels are identified and segregated for further taste testing as single barrels. With more than 1.2 million barrels being aged, Heaven Hill has to leverage it's Barrel Inventory Control tech extensively before the rickhouse teams further refine potential selections by tasting panel. 

Barrel char level is noted at the standard level 3. This bottle comes from barrel number 16392 which was barreled on 8/14/13 for a likely age of about 10.5 years in the wood.

👃Nose: Lots of sweetness and very light alcohol. I crept up on this one for a tiny whiff but doubled down when it was easy bliss. Oak, vanilla, orange, and sweet-sticky syrup. Some baking spice and nutmeg, festive and inviting. This is a ribbon sealed, classy invitation to a party. I should have dressed up!

😜Palate: Not overly thick, oak in spades. Wow-wee this is one of the few bottles where I get a plant-like leafiness beyond the wood character. This green character sharpens into mint. Before the shift from wood to leaf, I do get a peppery spurt of nutmeg and cumin. The shift between these flavor profiles is enormous, highly dynamic. I'm reminded of some Booker's iterations from pre-COVID. Pine and molasses surge into the finish.  

💦Finish: Loooong new wood and some sweet vanilla that hangs in the back of your throat. It stays warm for quite some time, but not unpleasantly so. I continue to be surprised by the new wood character for a bourbon that has seen forty-plus seasons come and go. 

🏆 Overall:  8 - Excellent - Really Quite Exceptional - Enormous range of flavor with such clarity in those tastes. Some buddies of mine were easily able to pick this one apart in an evening where some more complex pours left them stumped. That excellence is tempered by a little unexpected heat, the elevated bottle price, and abundant pine.

The tough thing here is that Evan Williams Single Barrel is close to nine years old and both easier to find and about $30 cheaper (40%). For the extra cash, you get the extra proof and bonded moniker. I find most of the same flavors in the Evan Williams bottle, though it is a good bit less dynamic on the palate than Henry McKenna. I am very glad to have reviewed the EWSB first since my first tasting I was struggling to understand it's nuance. In subsequent sessions, I've come to realize it is one of my absolutely favorite bottles. Since McKenna has so much in common, I was able to more quickly come to grips with what distinguishes the two. 

Blinded vs the Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage (2015) - Not much point in this being a blind... it is immediately apparent what is what. After a warm up of Evan Williams Bottled-in-Bond, both of these bottles blossom with more flavor and complexity. Notes were as presented elsewhere. Though I usually prefer the higher proof bottle, I was actually tempted to take the Evan Single Barrel.  Definitely a more muted flavor experience, but without any of the McKenna's rough edges. Ultimately, the Henry convinced me with the sheet strength of flavors it provides. Could still do with less pine but "Wow" what a bottle.  Caveats and disclaimers around variability within single barrels etc... but I'm excited to try this matchup again with future iterations of these bottles. 

Initial Score - Fresh Crack - 7/10 - This bottle is crazy. I feel like my tongue gets thoroughly twisted in a way that bourbons seldom put on display. I like a lot about the general mouthfeel and the nuance of plant flavors, but I can't see myself casually sipping this. Exited to see how it changes with a little bit of air over the next few weeks. 

75% Bottle Fill - 7.5/10 - Some of the weird pine/molasses has subsided with a bit of air in the headspace. Compelling through and through.

50% Bottle Fill - 8/10 - Fantastic, a pine forest in spring.  Comparing this to most others in my cabinets shows the truth. This is good Whiskey.

Heaven Hill's Bonded Lineup - credit: heavenhilldistillery.com

💵Would buy again? Yes, though I will look for a better buy on it now that I've had a recent bottle. 

⚖️Rating Scale: 

1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out 
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume it by choice. 
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws. 
4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but many things I'd rather have.
5 | Good | Good, an agreeable dram indeed
6 | Very Good | A cut above.
7 | Great | Well above average.
8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional.
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite.
10 | Perfect | Perfect.