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Eagle Rare 10 Year Old Single Barrel

Average score from 11 reviews and 45 ratings 84

Eagle Rare 10 Year Old Single Barrel

Product details

  • Brand: Eagle Rare
  • Bottler: Unknown
  • ABV: 45.0%
  • Age: 10 year old

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@OdysseusUnbound
Eagle Rare 10 Year Old Single Barrel

Eagle Rare 10 year is now a single barrel offering; I think that's a recent thing but I could be wrong. It's also a bourbon that causes mass panic and FOMO-inspired rage among Ontario bourbon customers. The online whiski world is awash with accusations of LCBO conspiracies, people with secret insider information plotting to deprive others of this nectar of the gods, etc. It's all a bit much, frankly. Some people need to take a step back. Of course, I'm not immune to this herd behaviour. When I happened to notice this was available for purchase online, I bought two bottles even though I'd never tried Eagle Rare. Well, let's see what the hype is about.

Tasting notes

From a compilation of notes tasting the whiskey neat using a Libbey Bourbon glass, a Glencairn, and a mini Laphroaig-branded Glencairn. I'm not sure if the branding affects the taste but I always aim for full disclosure.

  • Nose: dark fruit, oak, caramel, floral notes, some baking spices (cinnamon and clove), honey
  • Palate: rich arrival and full bodied despite the low-ish abv, dark oak notes, maple syrup, dark cherries, a touch of leather, vanilla, honey, some baking spices
  • Finish: long with oak lingering, more maple syrup and baking spices, dark fruits again, and a bit of strong black tea (I often get this on the very end of BT products like Stagg Jr and standard BT).
  • Thoughts: I like it. I like it a lot. I'm glad I bought two bottles. I hate to agree with the popular consensus, but $56 for a 10 year single barrel bourbon is a great value and Eagle Rare lives up to the hype. Well, at least this first bottle did. Who knows if my other bottle came from the same barrel? I should note, however, that screeching at LCBO employees is never justified, no matter how good a product is.

@OdysseusUnbound - nice review of one of my favourite bourbons! It is also less available here in the UK but the price is still decent for a 10 year single barrel bourbon.

As for the single barrel thing, I believe that has always been the case but, like you, only found this out recently so not 100% sure.

@RianC I had no idea about the SiB thing. Of course, you could fill many books with things about which I have no idea. Eagle Rare is, well, rarely available here in Ontario and when it is it sells out quickly. And people go RAGING MAD when they can't get a dozen bottles. I ordered mine through the LCBO's "deliver to a store near you" option and when I picked my two bottles up, the employee told me that people were calling the store asking for the two bottles since a glitch in the system shows "2 bottles in stock" even when those bottles are bought and paid for already. And according to the employee, people did not react well to this news. The world has truly gone mad. It's only whiski, people. It's a luxury item, not a life or death need. Sheesh.

@hunggar

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.

Notice, also, how your bottle of Eagle Rare 10 Single Barrel changes over time. It can be quite a lot.

Now you need a taste of Eagle Rare 17 yo. It is getting ridiculously hard to get a bottle of that even in the US now.

I have long noted that Eagle Rare 10 yo SB is usually very well-received as a first bourbon for malt lovers. You, of course, are now an old US whiskey hand...not many people have bottles of Willett Family Estate ryes and bourbons.

Yes this is on the delicate side for bourbon, which I think single malt lovers can appreciate. It’s very dynamic too, this one was difficult to pick apart because it evolves a great deal both in the bottle and the glass. I’d love to try the 17.

No, I’m not a bourbon guy. I do what I can to get my hands on ryes or some finer bourbons, but I have little to no authority on the subject. I believe you are the resident bourbon/rye expert, sir.

@tjb

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.

m

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!

I'm sorry you had a bad experience with that particular barrel. I actually have found the standard bottling that I've had to be quite pleasant. Everyone's pallet is different of course. If you ever decide to give it another chance I hope you enjoy it much more.

I appreciate your forthright review

L

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.

It's weird just after i wrote this review i topped up my glass (to a third glencairn glass, the old glencairn which is smaller). I then let the bourbon set 10 mins with no cap then i put the cap on for a few hours came back to it, and all i can say is you were right about it! The Bourbon has already improve significantly. I've come to know from experience with many whiskies over a relatively short time, how much air can change whisky and how "closed" some can be, making oxidization a very necessary process before making an assessement on the spirit. I am going to continue sipping this but when i am at a third down i am going to decant half of it ( a sixth) into a small flask and let the rest oxidize in the bottle for a few weeks, then do a final tasting. But i am impressed by how fast and by how much this has improved, it shows you've done this before, i was very surprised (noting i already had quite a bit of practice with oxidization with a many whiskies) i am bumping the mark up a tad now, and maybe more later we'll see! cheers!

I haven't yet had any Eagle Rare 10 SB with heavy char. That seems like a pretty delicate bourbon to have heavy char. For me heavy char is usually not a good idea, and becomes too much for a lot of whiskeys. The grades of char go, I understand, from No 1 to No 5, the heaviest. I probably prefer all products have no more than No 3 char, middle of the road. The microdistilleries often use the heavy charring to try to kick-start getting the maximum wood into a spirit only aged maybe a few months to, say, one year. I do not think that it works well, most of the time, because heavy char can be very distracting when you can taste it.

@main

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.

@main, is this from a new bottle? You will probably find that ER10 grows and develops very nicely with oxidation. With my bottle of it I would probably have rated it 82-84 in the early going, but later it tasted more like 88 to me.

Beat me to it @Victor. For whatever reason most Bourbons I have encountered are better halfway thru the bottle then they are when u first crack them open. I guess they just need to breathe a bit. I think 82 is a fair first pour score, but I believe this whiskey scores several points higher once it has opened up after being open a while.

@SquidgyAsh

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.

@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.

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.

@valuewhisky

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.

A good review. I have recently sampled a bottle and agree with you. It's nearly twice the price of the Buffalo Trace here so whilst it is nice I would buy the Buffalo Trace. You scored this the same as the Wild Turkey Rare Breed, if you had to choose which bottle would you have?

Your reviews are in alignment with my tastings. You and Victor in my opinions give the best reviews! I appreciate it! I am waiting anxiously for you review of E.H. Taylor Small Batch as I found it to be a fantastic bourbon for $40.

@TallBoy

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!

@OJK

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

@LeFrog: Many thanks for that, very much appreciated! I also want to complement you on your name - embarrassingly the wordplay only dawned on me after a few weeks (not my finest hour). Are you actually french?

@dbk: Many thanks to you as well - and I totally agree that the Eagle Rare 10 presents potentially the best quality to value ratio for a premium bourbon. I in fact just read your review of it, and can't believe we both got exactly the same note of caramelised orange peel! Always great when you find other people picking up the same smells and flavours.

I always look forward to your reviews @OJK - they are very well balanced in their own right.

@dbk

Reviewed by @dbk

0 1587/100

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.

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... :)

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.

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