Barton 1792 Small Batch
Oak Candy
1 486
Review by @RianC
- Nose~
- Taste~
- Finish~
- Balance~
- Overall86
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Distribution of ratings for this:
- Brand: Barton
- ABV: 46.85%
This bottle was a gift from earlier in the year and I opened it a few months back now. It's getting down to the last fifth and it just occurred I hadn't reviewed it yet, so here goes.
This is from a 35 ml pour in a Taylor D Milestone (large Glencairn, basically) with just under half a tsp of water. And it's one of those rare sightings in the UK . . . a 750ml bottle. I feel like a Hobbit!
Nose: Sweetness and dry oak hit you. The sweetness has a touch of Parma Violet sweets but also some juicy Turkish Delight - with the icing dusting. Some toffee and caramel notes sit nicely with a dry, dusty oak, along with some soft barrel char. Cinnamon spice and maybe a hint of clove. There's a hint of the 'glue' note, which is fine, but water calms it and opens up the sweetness and wood - more balanced. There's a distinct sweety note that I can't quite place - a type of hard 'candy' that was purple and in a wrapper with a liquorice tasting center. Just had to Google and it's Blackcurrant and liqourice sweets . . . ahh, that's better!
Taste: Quite a soft arrival. Then the Turkish Delight and Blackcurrant sweets emerge. Good mouthfeel but this dram could maybe do with a touch less water, it doesn't need much, but some. Lots of cinnamon as it develops.
Finish - Medium. The spices become drying but a slight creamy vanilla and icing sugar sweetness linger for a while.
This, for me, is a bourbon whose profile sits somewhere in between Wild Turkey 101 and Four Roses Small Batch: It's not a real 'macho' type, rye punching wild boy, nor is it a soft, refined and graceful lady with a soothing touch. It seems to have a bit of everything but leans to the sweeter and less spicy end. It's got a great nose that I can happily spend a bit of time with (getting some distinct corn notes now - like BBQ'd corn on the cob) and is a good sipper. Also tried with ice over the hot weather (small chunk) and it worked well.
@RianC, thank you for your review.
I think that you are exactly on point by staking out the extremes of standard (viz. rye-containing) bourbon as being well-exemplified by the sharp-edged aggressive style of Wild Turkey 101 on the one hand and the soft rounded style of Four Roses Small Batch on the other. I have made that exact point myself several times in the last several years on Connosr. And you are right that 1792 small batch is not close to either extreme, though probably a little closer to the Wild Turkey.
Barton 1792 is a large distillery which does not get the same degree of attention as does its fellow Sazerac Company owned Kentucky sibling Buffalo Trace Distillery. Sazerac has owned Barton only since 2009, though, so there are probably some long-term projects still in the maturation phase before we see the long-term influence of Sazerac ownership.
Reference list for the size of US bourbon/Tennessee whiskey distilleries:
chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2017/09/…