Evan Williams White Label / Bottled in Bond

As I continue branching myself out into American whiskies, I was looking for decent, affordable bottles. As I did some research, bottled in bond whiskies have stricter standards than standard bourbons, and are distilled within one distillery season and can still be affordable. So, here we go. Evan Williams "Bottled in Bond." Fits the bill and this bottle was $14.99.

Fresh bottle, the dram has been sitting for about an hour.

Nose: On the inhale, I get a fresh cool minty sensation with some pine wood. On the exhale I get sweet dark cherries. Really changes from inhale to exhale. Very intruiging nose. Not overly complex but the stark change between inhale and exhale is interesting.

Palate: Not quite as interesting as the nose. It takes a while for the flavors to settle. Not a great balance. When it does settle down it is quite nice. Very smooth. Minty yet with a chocolate sweetness. Like a York patty. Not really much spice from wood or rye. The palate yeilds some sweeter, maraschino cheeries instead of the darker cherries on the nose. Quite sweet.

Finish: A nice, long finish. Minty, sweet. Still not much spice. Some sweet gingerbread as well with a little banana thrown in at the end. Distinct flavours that aren't muddy like on the palate. Nice finish.

Overall: You'll like this if you like sweet, smooth bourbons. It's not spicy, it's sweet. I wish the flavours on the palate were a bit more distinct. Maybe if I were more patient...but, I do feel this is a good value bourbon. It is definately sippable at $15, and there are other $15 bourbons that are only useful for mixing. So no complaints here.

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