​Old Evan Williams Distillery
Bardstown, Kentucky

​Shelf: Bottom
Price Range: $10 - 15
Proof: 86 proof
Age: Estimated 6 to 7 years
Mash Bill: 78% corn, 10% rye, 12% malted barley
Color:  Yellowish amber
Nose:  Orange citrus notes mixed with warm oak notes.  Hints of vanilla and butterscotch.
Taste:  Deep aged oak with black pepper and cinnamon.  Butterscotch and caramel finish. 
 
Value:  Outstanding value
Score:  89
Cut to The Chase:  Yes, buy. Adds variety to your bourbon collection.

​Evan Williams "Black Label" Kentucky Straight bourbon is a bold whiskey with edge and attitude.  At 86 proof it's full of heat and spice.  EW Black Label lands on the palate with deep rich oak flavors as well as notes of black pepper and cinnamon.   It starts big – stays big, but ends with a velvety soft finish of vanilla, butterscotch and caramel.  EW Black Label has a ton of barrel flavor.  It's rough around the edges but in a good way.  When drinking EV Black Label, I feel like standing in a rickhouse in Kentucky surrounded by hundreds of aging oak barrels, the air filled with the sweet bourbon fragrance of Angel's Share.  I taste the barrel and inhale the sweet bourbon fragrance.  Honest frontier rickhouse whiskey. 
 
Hard to believe I paid only $11.00 a bottle.  A lot of bourbon for the money.  Drinks like a $30 bourbon.  Proves the point that you don't need to spend a fortune to find great bourbon.  Don't let the low price scare you off.  This is the real deal and at 86 proof it's got attitude.  Most bourbons in this price range are released at 80 proof feel watered down -- thin.  So, in this price range, having an 86 proof bourbon is an added bonus.  EV Black Label transcends its price range by a mile.
 
If you're looking for a well-priced bourbon that delivers, then look no further than Evan Williams Kentucky Straight Bourbon.  If like bourbon with edge and oak, then you will enjoy Evan Williams Black Label.  If you're an ice person, a few cubes would smooth out the edges, but if you like oak and spice, drink it neat.  Eleven bucks – really?  Can't beat the price and the quality speaks for itself. 
 
Reviewed by: Jack Epps, Jr.
 
Send comments to: BourbonNotes@gmail.com

Non-chill Filtered
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
 
Distilled and Bottle by
James B. Beam Distilling Co.
Beam, Clermont, Frankfort, Kentucky, USA

Shelf: Bottom 
Price:   $15
Proof:  86
Age: While no age is given, as a straight whiskey with no age statement, must be at least 4 years in the barrel.  
Mash Bill:  Unknown
​Color:  Light Amber
Nose:  Thin nose with young oak notes and a bit of fresh field hay.  Overall, the nose is narrow and limited.
Taste:   Rye leaps out and spices the bourbon, but after that, not a lot of depth or roundness.  The rye overcompensates for the lack of balance.  

​Value:  Even at this price, you can do better.
Score:  69
Cut To The Chase:  There’s better out there.
 

​Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Distilled by Heaven Hills Distilleries, Inc.
D.S.P. -KY-1, Louisville, Kentucky 50% ALC (100 Proof)

Shelf: Bottom
Price Range:  Under $20
Proof: 100
​Age:  While no age is given, as a straight whiskey with no age statement, J.T.S. Brown must be at least 4 years in the barrel.  My guess is probably between 4 & 5 years, leaning more toward 4 years.
Mash Bill:
Color: Light amber
Nose: Warm citrus, orange, hints of oak. 
Taste:  Rye jumps out along with the high proof.  The glow is rich and bright.  Flavors of warm oak.  Just enough corn to round out the bourbon, but not a sweet or soft taste.  This is bottled in bond and proud of it.
 
Value:  A lot of bourbon for the price 
Score: 88
Cut To The Chase:

J.T.S. Brown was first introduced to me by a clerk at Toddy’s Liquors in Bardstown, Kentucky.  He mentioned it was the bourbon Paul Newman as Fast Eddie Felson asked for in the movie, The Hustler. “Preacher. Go down and get me a bottle of J.T.S Brown. No ice – no glass.”  I had to try it.  At the time it was $11.95, so not much to lose.  Love at first sip.
 
As it touches your lips you think it’s going to be lite, but then as it washes over your tongue, the 100 proof takes over and everything heats up.  The rye and the proof combine to invigorate your mouth and sinus, and then the storm passes as the wood notes rise and begin to smooth out.
 
J.T.S. Brown is a really satisfying bourbon – if you like 100 proof whiskey – which I do – and if you like your bourbon strong – which I also do.  Not for the faint at heart.   But for the proof, it’s remarkably smooth and goes down easy. 
 
Everyone is not going to like J.T.S. Brown. If you are new to spirits and bourbon, this will probably be overwhelming.  Since the 1800’s Bottled-In-Bond was the way bourbon was predominately drank, but that changed in the 1970’s and 80’s with the decline of bourbon sales and the weakening of the proof to appeal to a wider market.  Higher proof is back and not soon enough.
 
JTS Brown is further proof that you do not need to spend a lot of money to find good bourbon.  It is Bottom Shelf because of price and the age, but it’s a bourbon I keep going back to time and again. I also like to introduce it to friends and see their response.  It stands up next to bourbons at twice the price.
 
J.T.S. Brown can be hard to find.  Predominately found in the south and in the Chicago area. Not surprising since Chicago is a great bourbon city.  I also found a bottle in Washington State at The Wine Shed in Winthrop, Washington, but never in Los Angeles.  If you see one, buy it to enjoy and round out your collection.  At $15 a bottle, you can’t go wrong.  You can always add some water or drink it over ice.  But I like it neat and enjoy the heat.
 
It’s not going to hold up against high end bourbons like Old Forester Bottled-In-Bond or Four Roses Single Barrel, but it’s fun to try a bourbon that packs a punch and hearkens to the days old time Bottled-In Bond-bourbon.

Reviewed by: Jack Epps, Jr.
 
Send comments to: Bourbonnotes@gmail.com