Another quick and dirty bourbon review. There will be a couple more of these over the next fortnight – turn away if this offends thee!
So, the Evan Williams Single Barrel 2002. Evan Williams, the dude, was reckoned to be Kentucky’s first distiller. Today his brand is probably second only to Jim Beam in terms of big sales for bourbon. This single barrel was been matured on the “south side” of Heaven Hill’s Rickhouse R, and bottled at 43.3% ABV.
Colour: light amber, a little yellowy. On the nose: a curiously sherried note for a bourbon, and pretty nice to boot. Sweet, almost sweet-pea-like, and yet not. Gingery.
A cool, menthol, aniseed note tends to dominate the palette at first, and not as sweet as the nose suggested. Yet there’s plenty of summer pudding here: light, stewed fruits, a little grapefruit amidst the apples, gooseberries. A little bitter oak, but not much. Thin texture. Quite a short finish – a bit abrupt to be honest, like it’s just got up and left the table without so much as a goodbye.
Probably what you’d expect for 30 quid, I guess…
