The Bottle Facts

  Distillery : Heaven Hill Distiller Owner : Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc. Proof/ABV : 100°/50% Variety : Bourbon - Bottled in Bond Country : USA Region : Kentucky Nose : Classic bourbon nose with deep vanilla, caramel and dark fruits. Hints of orange peel in the background.  Nose score : 2.5 pts Palate : At 50% ABV, this has very little heat with dominant notes of citrus on top of vanilla & black pepper. Mouthfeel is medium bodied.  Palate score : 3 pts Finish : Medium length. This is where the proof shines. It is not sharp like some whiskies that have an intense alcohol burst. The heat from the alcohol here is soothing as it is layered with subdued notes of vanilla and pepper.  Finish score: 2.5 pts Overall : This is a good solid Bourbon and it is Bottled in Bond. Bottled in Bond is probably one of the most important term you should know about American Whiskey. A Bourbon has to meet a lot of very strict regulatory requirements in order to earn the designation...

Evan Williams white label was my first introduction to the world of bottled in bond whisky. I did not know what bottled in bond meant and I thought it was just another marketing gimmick used to trick consumers into buying a product. What really attracted me to the bottle was its bottle design and the fact that it was 100 proof. I was at a point in my whisky drinking journey where I wanted to try some of the higher proof whiskies. I felt I was ready to move on to the next step after spending much time in the 80-90 proof range. So I took the risk and bought a bottle.  There were other 100 proof whiskies on the shelves but I grabbed this particular bottle because it looked cool. Then I opened it, drank it, read all about the bottle facts and my world changed.  I expected the whisky to burn my palate knowing it was 100 proof but I was surprised at how much flavour and complexity it had. The alcohol is almost like an after thought when drinking this whisky.  Befor...

With the popularity of whisky today one can easily be overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices available in the whisky section of the liquor store. A person new to whisky can easily be swayed to buy one bottle over another solely based on its label. This often leads to people getting disappointed with whisky in general because a lot of things written on bottle labels are just marketing terms that say nothing about the quality of the product. This series of posts seeks to help you make an informed decision by identifying popular whisky terms that matter and those to avoid. Hopefully at the end of the post, you are able to make informed purchase decisions based on the bottle facts. Whisk(e)y. Source: crownroyal.com Let us start with the basics - what is Whisk(e)y? When a bottle carries the word Whisk(e)y that means it is a s pirit distilled from a fermented  mash of grain at less than 95%  alcohol by volume (190 proof) having  the taste, aroma and characteris...