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Eagle Rare 10 Year Old Single Barrel

An Eagle Flies!

0 1289

@SquidgyAshReview by @SquidgyAsh

26th Aug 2012

0

  • Nose
    23
  • Taste
    22
  • Finish
    22
  • Balance
    22
  • Overall
    89

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Distribution of ratings for this: brand user

I recently decided to pick up a bottle of Buffalo Trace's Eagle Rare 10 Year Old Single Barrel. As many people know I'm a big bourbon man. I've always got at least one bottle, usually two and oftentimes three or four.

I'd been over at my sister store, hanging out, talking beer and whisky, when I noticed that they'd brought in some new whiskies, specifically bourbons from Buffalo Trace.

Pardon me while I drool over a George T. Stagg, Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Rye and William L. Weller Wheat.

For the record I'm picking up bottles of all of these in the near future.

Even more amusing I wound up having all of those whiskies the same night that I bought this bottle.

Mmmmm Thomas H Handy Sazerac and William L. Weller.....

FOCUS MAN FOCUS!

Sorry about that folks.

Anyway I was very excited especially since my wife had just a few days before killed one of my open bottles of bourbon for a rib marinade.

God that was delicious.

Bourbon ribs....

/drool.

Bloody hell!

Anyway back the Eagle Rare. So my wife had killed one of my bourbons, which meant that I needed a new bottle.

Having never had the Eagle Rare and always being happy to try a new I decided to pick up the bottle that they had.

It didn't hurt that it had a very pretty glass bottle with an eagle on it.

So hear I now sit with a glencairn full of this lovely, the bottle has been open for about two weeks now, Friends is in the background (yeah I know, not the world's greatest show, but I don't need to pay ANY sort of attention to it and can instead focus on my lovely bourbon)

Some lovely aromas are coming off this glass right now.

Hints of cherries, coconut, spices and cocoa are coming of this glass and making me drool.

Very very enticing!

Finally I take a drink.

Yum!

Oak, spices, cocoa, and a bit of vanilla hit my palate, spreading throughout my mouth and slowly sliding down my throat.

Bit of a oaky finish with spices and a hint of cocoa at the finale ends the sip.

45% ABV is MUCH better then the majority of 40% I've had lately, but still feels a wee bit weak, not as intense as I'd like.

Not bad, but not as awesome as I was hoping.

That being said it's a much better bourbon then the Four Roses Single Barrel that I recently had, which sadly was sitting at 50% and was $30 AUS+ then the Eagle Rare.

The Eagle Rare Single Barrel can be difficult to find in Australia as I've only seen it in two different bottle shops, one of them online. However as entry level bourbons go, especially at that price which is $10 to $20 cheaper then Knob Creek, is an AWESOME whisky to drink.

It should run you around $75 to $90 AUS and if you can find it, buy it.

That simple.

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12 comments

@Victor
Victor commented

I call Eagle Rare 10 Single Barrel "The bourbon for Scottish malt drinkers". Nice refined flavours here, and nothing too intense for the aesthete.

11 years ago 0

@SquidgyAsh
SquidgyAsh commented

It really is a very nice bourbon Victor. Probably the best introductory bourbon that I've tasted. Good price point, especially for what you're getting!

11 years ago 0

@Victor
Victor commented

I would not call Eagle Rare 10 "introductory" at all, except that it is not too expensive. Over here in bourbon land there is ZERO correlation between price and quality, except that some of the best stuff is among the more expensive. We have plenty of GREAT under $ 25 bourbons and ryes in some parts of the USA.

11 years ago 0

@SquidgyAsh
SquidgyAsh commented

Hahah sorry that's a my bad Victor!

Over here it seems to sit at Blantons, Jim Beam and Hogs 3 at the roughly $30-$40 mark, then Buffalo Trace and Wild Turkey at $50 to $60 then it's Bookers and Eagle Creek at $80ish in my experience :(

Knob Creek over here sits at roughly $100-110 when you can find it haha. Makes me so jealous that I left the land of yummy bourbons and ryes.

11 years ago 0

@Victor
Victor commented

I do hope that pricing gets better for whisk(e)ys in Australia, @Ash! There is no doubt that having to pay a lot more for a product makes one more expectant and demanding that there will be a lot delivered for the steep price.

One other comment on the Eagle Rare 10: for what it's worth, I liked my bottle of it a lot better after it had oxidised for quite a few months...if yours lasts that long, that is...

11 years ago 0

@SquidgyAsh
SquidgyAsh commented

Agreed @Victor!

You know I'll be honest that when I first cracked open the bottle I was a little disappointed, but I'll have to agree that as time goes by it's getting better (Now I just gotta stop drinking it for a few weeks hahaha)

11 years ago 0

@JeffC
JeffC commented

The few bottles I have tried of it have been real varied in quality, guess that is to be expected in single barrels. At roughly the same price and same age, I find the Evan Williams Single Barrel more approachable and consistent. You know Squidgy, there is an easy way around the "bourbon gets better after it has been opened for a few months" problem, just get more bottles, open them and have a few drinks and then get some more, have to keep a laddering system going on with your aging approach. Those prices would make me cry.

11 years ago 0

@SquidgyAsh
SquidgyAsh commented

@JeffC hahaha I love your system! Problem is that again alcohol is so bloody expensive over here and with an upcoming trip to Scotland where I am sure I'll be purchasing a quanity that is nothing less then stupid of awesome whiskies I'm sadly on a whisky embargo.

I've got 3 more bottles I can purchase before I must wait until Scotland. And those bottles amusingly enough are all bourbons.

Thomas H Handy Sazerac Rye, William L. Weller Wheat and George T. Stagg 2012.

Sad thing is each bottle will run me (After my discount mind you) $250 AUS. And yes the prices here make me want to cry. I miss the states at times like this hahaha.

11 years ago 0

bm79 commented

You poor thing. Oh, and thanks for killing any ideas I might have had to relocate Down Under...

At my store here in suburban New Orleans, Jim Bean goes for $12.99, Weller goes for $16.99, Wild Turkey 101 $18.99, Buffalo Trace $19.99, Sazerac $21.99, Eagle Rare $24.99, and Knob Creek at a budget-busting $27.99.

And for all you guys who didn't know, the US and Ozzie dollars are basically at parity lately, so Mr. Squidgy is really getting shafted.

11 years ago 0

@SquidgyAsh
SquidgyAsh commented

@Bm79 Hahahaha yeah Australia and Canada REALLY suck for alcohol prices. However sooon I get to go to the Promised Land of Scotland for oh so much sexy single malts and blended scotch!!

If you ever decide to relocate to Australia DONT move to Perth. Americans are so very unpopular over here!

11 years ago 0

@Wills
Wills commented

Always a pity to see your ridiculous pricing in Australia. Well bourbons are in Europe expensive too, compared to the prices in the US. But not THAT expensive. But maybe it's not that bad, living in the US with all that great and cheap bottles I maybe would drink too much ;)

Btw. how was your Scotland visit Ash?

11 years ago 0

@SquidgyAsh
SquidgyAsh commented

I agree Wills! It would be tempting at times to drink too much, however nice thing is though the bottles are cheaper, so are the wages so it sorta evens out in the end (or at least this is what I tell myself to stay happy when I pay $280 for a bottle of Handy or Stagg hahaha)

We haven't done the Scotland trip yet :D It happens in a wee under 4.5 months time, so it's getting close! I'll be posting tons of pictures on Facebook and my blog though!!

11 years ago 0

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