🥃Review #64: E.H. Taylor Small Batch Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon

🥃Review #64: E.H. Taylor Small Batch Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon - 2025

Named for Colonel E.H. Taylor JR (Kentucky Colonel - not a military man), this entry level offering honor's Taylor's commitment to quality as an early promoter of the bottled-in-bond act and designation. Relatively new to Buffalo Trace's portfolio, the brand was launched in 2011. Born in Kentucky, Taylor initially worked in banking, financing distilleries before acquiring the Old Fire Copper (O.F.C.) Distillery in 1869, named for expansive copper piping which Taylor believed would assist in eliminating impurities (stills are made of copper because it removes sulfur compounds and is naturally antimicrobial, though the time spent in transition lines is usually pretty minimal). After facing financial ruin on a number of occasions, he eventually sold a fairly successful operation to George T. Stagg in 1879 which would go on to be known as the Buffalo Trace of today. The E.H. Taylor lineup features this Small Batch, Single Barrel, Barrel Proof, Straight Rye, Barrel Proof Rye, and a number of limited smaller releases including one "Tornado Survivor" from when a storm ripped the roof off of the rickhouse.

🛒Sourced: $68.99 9 - Buffalo Trace Distillery, KY 750ml. Originally a $35-$40 bottle, the price has ballooned in recent years. This is an allocated product, but don't pay secondary market prices for it!

🧪Proof: 100 proof, 50% ABV per bottled-in-bond regulations

🎨Color: Y5 - Hay bale sun reflection. The bottle is distinctive, featuring the bottled in bond ribbon seal, large signature, and catchy yellow labeling, and many people will collect the cardboard cannisters as part of their home bar back decoration.

🥔Mash Bill: Undisclosed - Buffalo Trace Mash Bill #1 - "Low Rye" with <10% of rye content 75-80% corn and the remainder being malted barley for process. Entry proof is 125 and a #4 barrel char is used. NAS though all bonded whiskey is at least four years old and Buffalo Trace tends towards 6-8 years in brand quality guidelines though all bottlings are "selected for taste".

👃Nose: Cherry wood, cereal, and corn syrup in a bit of a slurry. Mild alcohol on the approach that stays throughout.

😜Palate: Field grass, brown sugar, and toffee chunks. A little bit of red stone fruit drifts in an out at the edge of my senses. Mouthfeel is medium thin and a little on the hotter side for the proof. I thought it was a bit warm on the neck pour and it still seems to be a comparatively rambunctious. Deeper into the glass I can pick out some butterscotch at the fore and candied fruit in transition to the finish.

💦Finish: Decent hug provided you've taken a good chew, predominantly a monotone woody sweetness. True to palate though a bit muted like the nose.

🏆 Overall: 5.75/10 - Good Enough - We'll see how it develops with some air, but at first brush I like it less than the standard Buffalo Trace and much less than Benchmark full proof, both substantially cheaper. My main issue is that the flavors seem to be in a bit of a haze. It is hotter than I'm used to for a bonded but not so much that it gets in the way of the flavor, so I'm attributing the flavor impacts to weirdness with the aging/batching. It's good workable whiskey with some nice sweetness and candy fruit flavors, but there are many bonded bourbons I prefer more.

💵Would buy again? No, terrible value. Even if this opens up when a good deal with air I can't see it justifying the price. Bardstown, New Riff, Chattanooga, and many more have great bondeds for less. Benchmark BiB isn't that much a step down and Full Proof is great.

⚖️Rating Scale:

🍺 Costco's Kirkland Vintage Ale 2025 - Review & Tasting Notes

Fall is in the air, and that means we have yet another year of Kirkland's Vintage Ale! Brewed proudly by Deschutes (pronounced "Da-Shootz") in Bend, Oregon, this Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout spends nine months in the wood, picking up what the whiskey left behind (mostly vanillin and tannins). Bottled over the summer, this particular beer is from Lot B. Neither Costco nor the packaging give us much additional detail beyond the ABV and style. I remember finding last year 's edition to be solid but nothing to write home about, fairly dry but a pleasant pour. The use of the work "vintage" to me implies that some changes may be made year-to-year but we'll have to see if our taste buds can help us validate. How does the 2025 vintage fair? 💅Style: Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout 🛒Sourced: $7.99 Costco, GA for a 22oz bottle. $2 cheaper than the 2024 edition! 💥Hops: Not Mentioned sadly. Other ingredients include chocolate malt, milled oats and Dutc...

🍺🍷🥃 Beer, Wine, and Spirits Rebate Website Master List

If there is anything I love more than a good drink, it's saving money buying that good drink! The rules for providing discounts on alcohol differ substantially between states with some allowing outright discounts or coupons and others entirely disallowing any sort of purchase incentive. Thankfully though, in my native Georgia as well as most states, a simple reimbursement approach is permissible. Alcohol Rebate Site Master List The following sites are relatively stable for each manufacturer. New offers usually come out every few months. None of these are affiliate links and I provide no assurance as to the process. I have saved so much money using rebates and hope you have similar success. Best practices and general process advice will be presented at the bottom. New sites will be added as I uncover them. Beer Rebates Boston Beer Company Brands - Angry Orchard, Dogfish head, Hard Mountain Dew, Samuel Adams, Sun Crusher, Truly, and Twisted Tea. Some brands may not have active...

☕ All Java Monster Flavors Tasted & Ranked

As a habitual caffeine abuser, I have a soft spot for Monster, both for their expansive lineup of flavors as well as their support for Sports and E-sports. Coffee is my standard caffeination vector, so the Java Monster suite of products is the perfect mix of bean flavor and energy boost. In this post, I'll provide my personal rankings and rationale for what is a very strong lineup. Note that I have not been compensated in any way for this write-up... I just like them. Currently, Monster Energy 's Java Monster lineup has five available flavors: Mean Bean - Vanilla Irish Crème Loca Mocha - Chocolate Salted Caramel Café Latte There are two "triple shot" versions of the Vanilla and Mocha which contain 300mg of caffeine though their flavors are very similar to the base versions above. At this point, we should also take a moment of silence for the two cold brew flavors, sweet black and nitro latte. The nitro latte was a personal favorite and I quite liked the sweet black,...

🥃Review #53: Costco's Kirkland 15YR Highland Single Malt Scotch - 2025

The 2025 release of Costco's Kirkland 15-year Highland Scotch hit shelves in late January and is a recurring installment on an annual cadence. The first pallet to hit my local store sold out almost immediately. Thankfully, we got two more shipments at one pallet each that hung around a bit longer and I was able to snag a bottle. Like in previous years, this Highland Scotch is finished in sherry casks. Alexander Murray & Co. is the bottler with MISA imports out of Texas bringing it to the States for consumption (Costco's standard sourcing pattern for Scotch). The bottle has a nice heft to it and there is an ensconced Alexander Murray Lion adding some nice texture to the front of the bottle. Steve Lipp, CEO of Alexander Murray, calls it "Perfect for after dinner drinking." All-in-all, this shows an attempt to elevate the product and presentation from the ubiquitous blends and non-age stated iterations you'll sometimes find under the Kirkland label. Neither Alex...

🥃Review #20 Elijah Craig Barrel Proof - Private Barrel Distiller's Selection

📚 Background: Released in three batches per year, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Straight Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey is almost always a hit with aficionados. Barrel proof means that, of course, the whiskey is not cut with water after being dumped from the barrel. The "Private Barrel" moniker further tells you that not the barrel was specially selected and not batched or blended. This can cut both ways as single barrel whiskies sometimes differ significantly from their batched counterparts which have the benefit of distiller curation to even out any off notes. If your local store owner's tastes align with yours, their barrel picks may be better than anything else you can find. On the other hand, a less conscientious selector may pick you a big loser of a barrel. This bottle comes from Costco which means that the private barrel is a "distiller's selection" and not picked by a Costco employee specifically. Typically for these big releases the manufacturer will try...

Castle & Cairn

Search This Blog