Eagle Rare 10 Year Old Single Barrel

Today I’ve got a bottle of Eagle Rare 10, a single barrel release from Buffalo Trace. This is a bottle that has only recently become available in Taiwan. It seems that this island is (very slowly) catching up with Japan. Aside from being an established scotch importer, I’m happy to see some quality single malts being produced here, as well as an increased interest in bourbon and world spirits. Lately a flood of previously unavailable American whiskeys have hit the shelves here, which makes me a happy man. Of course I’d love to see more Canadian products and a wider selection of rum, but beggars can’t be choosers. In the meantime I have this ER10, which has been open for over a month at the time of this review.

Nose: A very unique character from the get-go. Is this cognac? Very grapey. Beyond that we have wood chips, light caramel, touches of grain, honey, tree bark, cherries, and berry jam. A particularly fruity character here.

Palate: Medium bodied. Well, light-bodied by bourbon standards. Cherries, berry jam, brandy notes, bubblegum, apples, and caramel.

Finish: Medium finish. Oak, grapes, pepper, caramel, floral notes, brandy, grain, and bubblegum. Very nice flavours, but the finish seems somewhat unpolished and astringent until water is added.

This won’t suit some people, but it checks a lot of boxes for me. Neither cloying nor too thick, with a character that stands out. This would score higher still if the finish was more refined. But I love the grape notes (water brings them out), I love the bubblegum flavour, and I love the soft, grainy mouthfeel. This is a dynamic bourbon, and it’s hard to pin down its character. It doesn’t have a traditional mouthfeel or flavour profile, so depending on your tastes you might either love it or hate it. I’m a fan.

From Buffalo Trace comes the bigger brother Eagle Rare 10 yr single barrel. Just like its little brother (Buffalo Trace) it is made from Buffalo Rye Mash #1 which consists of 80% corn, 10% rye & 10% malted barley. Then it is aged for around 10 yrs in Virgin oak casks and each barrel is carefully selected and bottled.

In the glass it is rich, dark, golden caramel colour.

The nose is sweet, rich with grain and ripe cherries.

On the palate there is a punchy oak tang, sweet vanilla, allspice, dark fruits and grain.

It is well balanced and has a long spicy finish.

This is another great bottle from Buffalo Trace.

So this particular barrel was "hand selected" by the retailer I purchased this from. It is barrel 64 and was bottle for this store (which I rather not mention). I don't know if ER has a standard distillery bottling but I will be more diligent in the future and avoid any barrel that was selected by a retailer and is not a standard bottling.

Nose: Immediately a strong alcohol hit. I left it for 10 minutes so it could open up and got a very strong corn predominated nose. There are slight hints of brown sugar and toffee. The alcohol was so prevalent it prevented more smells from coming out.

Taste: Again more corn. A hell of a lot of rye. The kick on this is unreal, more intense than some of my rye whiskies. Hot alcoholic burn. It's the first I've experienced a bourbon of this proof with such a hot, pronounced, alcohol burn.

Finish: Resinous, Corn oil, slightly bitter, and that's it, nothing else.

What have I learned? Distilleries have a master distiller for a reason. So an expert can select what to bottle. This selection is amateur at best. No balance, never mellows out, I just didn't enjoy it. I took this bottle to a party so it could die a terrible death in cocktails. Hated it!

The Eagle Rare is one of owners Buffalo Trace long line of succesfull bourbons. The bourbon is manufactured by Sazerac. I am currently expanding my tastebuds along with my collection into bourbon territory. I feel i set sail a bit too late though since the Pappy Van W's and Sazeracs are all sold out and it feels as though bourbons, ryes and american whisky is the spirit of the moment. This means that purchase oppurtunities gets chocked, however it makes the journey more relevant to me and anyone else as far as reviews go. Mind you i still found 2 bottles of Elmer T Lee, also from Buffalo Trace ;)

Nose: Big charred oak note greets us to tell us that this is clearly bourbon territory. A little spice follows the wood, hickory in particular. Cherries, caramel and burnt toffee caps it off. Not the most complex nose but good depth, quality and tons of bourbon/charred character.

Palate: Big charred oak arrival with the company of burnt toffee, caramel and vanilla. The developement goes into spicy areas with a big cinammon note that goes to cardamom and nutmeg. A green gauge and apple note takes makes a swift appearance before the charred oak comes back with toffee and caramel.

Finish: Spices make a comeback with the hickory and almost a soft curry note on the tail end. Woodspices, and finally a prolonged vanilla pod note.

This decent stuff, of which i didn't expect anything less from considering it is the same people making Sazerac, and Buffalo Trace generally seems to have one of the best standards for quality checks out of any of the big owners, in my opinion. This isn't a baby sazerac although the big bourbon-y nose & taste can define a link there, the link is in fact quality, and unfortunately beyond quality this doesn't really touch it's in-house sazerac "big brother's" in pure flavour.

But a very decent entry level bourbon indeed. Although i would still probably recommend the Buffalo trace standard bottling considering the price difference, since the two rate equally for meand the Eagle is 10+ dollars more. Still very decent stuff though, and some might find a bigger flavour connection that i could percieve.

My first review, while these are public they are made mostly for my own reference. So excuse my brevity.

Nose: wave of vanilla, some banana, honey and orange zest.

Palate: Sweet, strong notes of vanilla, honey and butterscotch.

Finish: The butterscotch really lingers for a while, and I finally start to get the rye.

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.

This is an every-occasion bourbon both because of the price and the style of whiskey. It has a good, affordable price, and it is well balanced between sweet and oaky and spicy. Some might call it too oaky, but I like oak, and the rich brown-sugar sweetness is big enough to carry the oak. The main fault of Eagle Rare is that it lacks any sort of complexity. That makes it simple enough to drink-and-forget, but it's still delicious enough to pour a glass on a special occasion.

The nose is a decent but average bourbon nose. Smells delicious, as most bourbons do, but doesn't offer anything new or exciting. The body is medium (on the lighter side of medium, probably), but has good presence and appropriate "burn" level despite the not-too-high ABV level.

This is an older sibling of Buffalo Trace bourbon. Eagle Rare has more sweetness and more oak than Buffalo Trace, while still being less astringent than Buffalo Trace despite the higher oak. In short, all-around better than Buffalo Trace. Around here, Eagle Rare is less than $5 more than Buffalo Trace, making it an easy choice to purchase Eagle Rare. If, however, Eagle Rare is about $10 more than Buffalo Trace, I'd consider saving my money and buying the similar but cheaper Buffalo Trace.

For an upper end single barrel bourbon I believe this one can not be beat. For about $30 a bottle it cannot be beat! With its subtle caramel and toffee notes to the just right length of finish I don't know a better bourbon till you get over the $50 bottles and still there are only a few that can fly with this one. The bottle looks damn good in your bar as well!

Nose, Taste, Finish and Balance are graded out of 2.5 each:

Nose: A restrained depth immediately hits you upon first nosing of this bourbon, an enveloping aroma of honeycomb, banana and vanillas, with even a hint of caramelised orange peel and fortified flowers. Mesmerising. 2.5

Taste: The delivery is full and weighty, enticing you to just chew away to your heart's content. Voluptuous vanillas and deluxe candy floss are serenaded by a sumptuous spice from the rye, while the oak offers an earthy balance from which a few more subtle banana notes can still work their magic. 2.5

Finish: A lingering spice explosion is delivered in gradual instalments, slowly expanding until your whole palate is submerged in rye. As the dust settles we can start to make out hints of dried banana and a marmalade made from the caramelised orange peel encountered on the nose. 2.0

Balance: This bourbon has all the allure of a svelte thoroughbred racehorse, an intoxicating combination of power and grace, delivered with impeccable precision and restraint. This certainly ranks amongst the finest bourbons I have had the pleasure of tasting. 2.0

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.