Eagle Rare 10 Year old Single Barrel
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Tasting Notes by dbk
This is simply a stunning drink, and my favourite bourbon to date. The colour is a spectacular shade of caramel, whilst the nose is predominantly—insistently, even—vanilla spice, with hints of candied orange peel. The nose does not mislead, as I taste powerful vanilla notes and a rich, lingering butterscotch finish on the palate. It is sweet, yes, but not at all cloying. And though bottled at 45% abv, it drinks exceptionally smoothly. I would do nothing but drink this prized bourbon straight, accompanied perhaps by some dark chocolate.
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Comments
AboutChoice wrote:
Nice to see a bourbon review now and then. My first taste of this last year is consistent with your review, but I have had mixed opinions from later tastings. Because it is a single barrel, every batch will likely be different. The 375 ml size is attractive and makes a lovely gift.
LeFrog wrote:
Sounds nice.
dbk wrote:
AboutChoice: You make a very good point about potential inconsistencies stemming from the single barrel approach. I've only consumed one bottle of Eagle Rare Single Barrel so far, so I can't yet say whether I'll have the same disappointing experience you had. I hope not, in any case!
jdcook wrote:
Yeah, with small batch releases, it will be good to throw in a batch number. We have a distillery down here in Tas, Australia called The Lark, which bottles by the barrel, but they number each release as a part of the name, so you can tell which ones are the really good ones.
Does Eagle Rare contain any such information, or even a date of bottling in its labelling?
dbk wrote:
jdcook: I found no date, but there was a small stamp on the bottle I reviewed that would have been easy to miss had you not suggested I look for it. The number reads K1700911:21. I can't say for certain that this is the batch number, but I did recently buy two more bottles together, and they bear one another's stamp (K0261009:50). This sounds like a good sign, to me.
Victor wrote:
This is certainly a high quality bourbon, and I have been very happy with the bottle of it that I have. That said I would echo the comments about the variations possible in single barrel offerings. My sister, for example, has a bottle of Four Roses Single Barrel which is not bad, but which has nothing at all interesting going on. In the USA Eagle Rare 10 yr Single Barrel is also very attractively priced relative to its quality. This is a low-rye mashbill bourbon, which is not my personal preference, but there is no denying that there is excellent quality here, unless you get the relatively infrequent not-so-good barrel. Of course, as has been said in other reviews, the only way to gauge in advance about the choice of barrels is to know barrel numbers.
dbk wrote:
New glass, new note: green apples on the nose!
Pudge72 wrote:
After a very interesting thread regarding date stamps following '@victor's review of his Ardbeg Uigeadail, courtesy of @Nock, I think (?) I could take a stab at the stamp that @dbk mentions for this reviewed bottle.
The stamp reads 'K1700911:21'. My interpretation (for what it's worth) is that the stamp reveals the following 'K (possibly the warehouse where the barrel had been stored...is there a 'K' warehouse at Buffalo Trace that is dedicated to the Eagle Rare line?) / 170 (the 170th day of the year, June 19th if my math is right, for the day of bottling) / 09 (2009, year of bottling) / 11:21 (time of day on 24 hr clock when bottling occured).
If this humble guess is anywhere close to being correct, the above noted bottle was finished on June 19, 2009 at 11:21 am, while the other two bottles mentioned would have been bottled on January 26, 2010 at 9:50 am. If anybody knows how Buffalo Trace distillery stamps their bottles, please feel free to correct me if out in left field on this one... :)
dbk wrote:
Good detective work, @Pudge72! Buffalo Trace does indeed have a Warehouse K, which does house some of the Eagle Rare stock, though not exclusively: Eagle Rare, Buffalo Trace, and George T Stagg (among others) all share the same mash bill and are stored in multiple warehouses, including K; conversely, Sazerac rye is also stored in the K warehouse (and possibly elsewhere). In any case, if your thinking is correct, then we can at least narrow things down considerably. Unfortunately, it is possible that two or more barrels could be dumped on the same day, though I doubt at precisely the same time, so perhaps the stamp is all we need to know.
AboutChoice wrote:
Got a new bottle of Eagle Rare 10. My previous bottle (now on fumes) was somewhat harse and young-tasting, but this new bottle is deep, complex, brown sugary and delicious ! So watch those "single barrels" ... they are one-of-a-kind, and you don't know what to expect !
dbk wrote:
@AboutChoice, it's good to know that: (1) you can still find a way to drink down a somewhat harsh and young-tasting whiskey; (2) having done that, you're still inclined to buy another bottle; and (3) the new bottle is a substantial improvement over the old one!
For what it's worth, I have yet to come across a bottle of Eagle Rare 10 year-old Single Barrel that I didn't like (though, yes, some are better than others).
Victor wrote:
I have just grown to love my bottle of Eagle Rare 10 more and more as it as progressively oxidised. I have recently recommended it to a couple of my Connosr buddies, who are very pleased with their bottles of it as well.
AboutChoice wrote:
Hi dbk and Victor ... good to connect again !
dbk, it's very interesting to learn that BuffaloTrace, EagleRare and GeorgeTStagg share the same mash bill !
One way to finish up a bottle quickly, is to take it to social gathering; but unfortunately almost everyone uses ice and various mixes.
One thing I like about Eagle Rare 10, is that it is available in a pint, allowing a faster turnover. A few months ago I compared Eagle Rare 10 to the 17-year, and I found them similar; but of course the 17-year is superb, and that's why it is rationed to about one drop per month :)
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