The Kentucky Bourbon Affair saw Michter’s release their very first barrel strength Bourbon. They had done a barrel strength rye in the past, but never a Bourbon. It was released with much fanfare with people from the Kentucky Bourbon Affair receiving a tour of the distillery, an excellent lunch provided by Patrick Roney of Harvest, a farm to table restaurant in Louisville’s NuLu district. At the end of the event everyone received a bottle of the Bourbon for coming. It was a great event and the Bourbon is excellent.

One of the most impressive items of note with this Bourbon is the low strength of the product. Michter’s uses one of the lowest barrel entry proofs in the industry at 103. Even with the heat cycled warehouses it is coming out of the Barrel at only 110.6 proof. The complexity of flavor in this Bourbon shows that low entry proof adds flavors from the barrel you don’t always get at a higher entry proof. Fruit and caramel balances the wood tannins.

Michter’s Barrel Strength Bourbon

Proof: 110.6

Age: NAS

Nose: Ripe apples and pears with caramel and vanilla with a hint of baking spices. Leather and oak comes through as it breathes.

Taste: Crème Brule’ sweetness with that apple and pear fruitiness followed by some peppery spice. Tasting this with a dried cranberry brings out the vanilla and tames the pepper spice. A pecan brings out the oak and tobacco flavors and lessens the fruit.

Finish: Long and dry with oak and pepper. A cranberry makes the finish less peppery. A pecan makes the finish drier with oak and less pepper

Notes: I really like this Bourbon neat but it would also work well with any cocktail. It goes very well with my pipe filled with my favorite tobacco, Kremer’s Black Royal as it really brings out the fruit and chocolate in the smoke.