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The sole survivor of a distiller from 1885, this bottle named for J.T.S. Brown is currently produced by Heaven Hill and is part of its large stable of bottled-in-bond products, targeted at the low end of the price spectrum. John Thompson Street Brown, Jr and George Garvin Brown, his half brother, continued the family liquor business started by J.T.S Brown Sr. - expanding it into into company that would eventually become legendary whiskey giant Brown-Foreman. Their flagship brand was the now defunct Old Prentice label though they also distributed whiskey under the J.T.S. Brown, Old Lebanon Club, and Vine Spring Malt labels. The brothers were some of the first to pioneer sealed glass bottles, and George was known for being one of the early champions of quality bourbon. Eventually the old McBrayer Distillery that they used would change ownership a few times until Austin Nichols & Company purchased the facility (to this day the home of Wild Turkey).
The bottle design is their "throwback" pattern, featuring a solid glass body and plastic screwcap top, which is shared by a few other brands including Mellow Corn and J.W. Dant.
🛒Sourced: $19.99 from the Heaven Hill gift shop, also available in 1.75L for around $30 - Though rumored as Kentucky Only, you can find it at a few major retailers in specific markets. This is up about $5 over the past three years and you may still find it for the $15 in slower shops where it sat for almost 20-years.
🧪Proof: 100 proof, 50% ABV - per bottled-in-bond regulations
🎨Color: R3 - A honey yellow sunset with a little bit of orange glare
🥔Mash Bill: 78% Corn, 10% Rye, 12% Malted Barley - The same mash bill as most other Heaven Hill products like Evan Williams, Henry McKenna, Elijah Craig, and J.W. Dant. Barrels have a 3# char and are not mapped to a specific brand at first, being selected based on flavor profile at various testing and tasting stages. They use gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to measure compounds like esters (fruity notes), phenols (smoky/spicy), and lactones (woody/caramel), assigning barrels to profiles which then go into the various brands. Barrel entry proof is the pervasive 125.
👃Nose: A little hot and astringent, an oak stump with a dusty vanilla smolder. Woodier than I would have expected.
😜Palate: Surprisingly creamy, thicker than Evan BiB and Dant. It is drier than the other two. Instead of sweetness there is a more solid young oak plank that turns into a mild caramel, nougat, and cream corn.
💦Finish: Short, with sweet corn bread and a bit of sawdust.
🏆 Overall: 5/10 - Good, Drinkable Neat - J.T.S. Brown is interesting and serves as a great bookend for the Evan, Dant, Brown trio. I would put it as the least sweet and most woody of the three, likely showing a higher percentage of top floor or exterior rick located barrels for some accelerated aging. It does taste a little bit over-oaked to me, though I could see this varying season to season. That being said, the overall experience is pretty interesting and not unpleasant. This bottle is worth trying even if it is only for the purpose of foiling the other two bottles. I would put it just below Evan Williams Bottled-in-Bond in the rankings.
💵Would buy again? No, I've tried the experiment and enjoyed it, but I wouldn't buy it outside of a sale.
⚖️Rating Scale:
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume it by choice.
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws | Struggle to get through the bottle
4 | Serviceable | Mixing or ice recommended.
5 | Good | Drinkable Neat | An agreeable dram indeed.
6 | Very Good | Any flaws offset by interesting flavors | A cut above.
7 | Great | You find yourself reaching for this one often | Well above average.
8 | Excellent | Serve to Impress Guests | Really quite exceptional.
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite | You guard this bottle jealously.