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Michter’s has released their 2021 expression of their ten-year-old Bourbon. Michter’s started releasing a ten-year-old Bourbon not long after Chatham Imports acquired the brand in the 1990s. It was not an annual release at first, but as the brand grew, and they started contract distilling for their product, it became more frequent. It is now a yearly release.

This Bourbon is still some of their contract distilled product, as they have not been distilling at their Shively distillery for ten years yet, but it was made to their specifications such as a 103 barrel entry proof and aged in heated warehouses. In fact, the rumor is that this Bourbon may be as old as fourteen or fifteen years old. This is because Michter’s bottles more by taste than age. 

Andrea Wilson, the Master of Maturation at Michter’s, and her team of tasters, find barrels in their inventory that meet the flavor profile and have them bottled as a single barrel product. You can always depend upon the Michter’s ten-year-old Bourbon to have a very good flavor profile, but it will vary from year to year and even from barrel to barrel, as there are no two barrels that age exactly alike. That is why it may take more than ten years to reach their high standards.

Matt and I always look forward to tasting the new releases from Michter’s. Matt has always been a huge fan of the ten-year-old rye, as well as the Bourbon. We enjoyed this tasting quite a bit.

Michter’s Ten Year Old Single Barrel Bourbon, 2021 Release

Proof: 94.4

Age: Ten Years Old

Nose:

• Mike: Marshmallows, caramel and chocolate with a little orange zest, baking spices and oak.
• Matt: Vanilla, cotton candy, ripe pear fruit and oak.

Taste:

• Mike: Caramel and fruit – cherries, dates and raspberries with a little orange zest up front and then the baking spices and oak in the back. Tasted with a dried cranberry the citrus notes are enhanced with a little lemon joining the orange zest. Tasted with a pecan and the chocolate is increased and the baking spice definitely becomes cinnamon.
• Matt: Oak and black tea leaves with pears and vanilla. The dried cranberry brings out orange zest, cotton candy and cherries. The pecan makes it sweeter with maple syrup, chocolate and dates.

Finish:

• Mike: Long with oak and chocolate with lingering cherries and raspberries. The dried cranberry made it even longer with some lingering citrus as well as the cherries and raspberries. The pecan made the finish spicier with oak, chocolate and cinnamon spice.
• Matt: Long with oak, black tea leaves and white pepper. The dried cranberry made the finish fruity with cherries and lemon zest with some oak and cinnamon spice. The pecan brought out toasted oats, chocolate and oak – like a granola bar.

I would pair this Bourbon with a dark Maduro wrapper cigar. My first thought is a My Father “The Judge”, but I would also consider anything Maduro from Padron’s 1926 serie cigars.

Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller