Taken: Neat in a Glencairn glass, rested for about 15 minutes.
Distillery: Heaven Hill Distillery, Bardstown, KY.
Proof: 117.76.
Age: 7 years, 2 months, 1 day. Barrel No. 71. Barreled on 12-17-18, Bottled on 2-18-26.
Mash bill: 78% Corn/10% Rye/12% Malted Barley.
Retail Price: $40.00
Appearance: Light copper.
Nose
Brown sugar, toffee, molasses, vanilla, baked apples, Luxardo cherries, orange peel, toasted oak, and allspice. With more sips, the profile becomes sweeter, with notes of butterscotch and a hint of stone fruit. This is a very good, well-balanced nose with a nice mix of oak, vanilla, and fruit with no proof heat.
Palate
With a medium-creamy mouthfeel, the palate leads with brown sugar, oak, caramel, and pralines, with moderate cherry, stone fruit, and orange peel. A white pepper spice kicks in that’s sharper than you’d expect from the nose but pulls back before overwhelming the sip. The palate leans more heavily on the oak, but there’s still a good mix of orchard fruit, orange peel, and a bit of cherry coming through.
Finish
Allspice lingers with dark caramel, leather, cherry, vanilla, cola, and pipe tobacco. This has a long, oak-forward finish with no bitter tannins but with a fair amount of dryness at the very end.
Conclusion
From the nose, I didn’t expect this to be as oak-forward as it is, but from the palate on, the barrel character becomes its main feature. Although not complex, this profile has some very good underlying fruit notes of cherry, baked apple, and orange peel that elevate it and keep it from being a one-note wonder. Single barrel releases vary, and I hope the other barrels in this series are at least in the same ballpark as this one. Evan Williams America 250 met my expectations, delivering a very good Kentucky bourbon profile you’d expect at this price point, and then some.
Rating: 6.5/10.
1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out.
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice.
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws.
4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but better exists.
5 | Good | Good, just fine.
6 | Very Good | A cut above.
7 | Great | Well above average.
8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional.
9 | Incredible | An all-time favorite.
10 | Perfect | Perfect.
