This is the latest bonded version of the Old McBrayer brand. Old McBrayer is a brand that dates back to the late 19th century that has been brought back by the McBrayer family. The whiskey is sourced from Wilderness Trail, as is shown by the DSP number on the bottle. Wilderness Trail has been contract distilling for the McBrayer family since they started back into the whiskey industry six years ago. It only makes sense that they would source barrels from the distillery where they are contract distilling. The family decided that they would use their limited supply of contract distilled whiskey for their flagship brand, Judge William McBrayer, but they wanted to bring back the Old McBrayer brand, as well as a bonded whiskey, so they have purchased barrels to create the brand. It will be interesting to see if they will be able to continue to source barrels from the new owners of Wilderness Trail in the future.
This bottle is the second release of the Old McBrayer Bottled-in-Bond. It is very good Bourbon. Matt and I sat down and tasted the Bourbon the other day and here are our notes.
Old McBrayer Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon 2022 Release
Proof:100
Age: Four Years Old
Nose:
- Mike: Vanilla, ripe apples, baking spices and oak wood.
- Matt: Caramel, dark fruit, baking spices and oak wood.
Taste:
- Mike: Green apple tartness, vanilla, nutmeg, ginger and sweet oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and the apple is reduced and the spices are enhanced. Tasted with a pecan and the vanilla becomes a caramel and the oak becomes a dry oak wood.
- Matt: Caramel, dark fruit, pumpernickel bread, ginger spice and oak wood. The dried cranberry brought out a definite plum flavor in the fruit and enhanced the ginger spice. The pecan made it very buttery with chocolate, caramel and oak wood.
Finish:
- Mike: A long finish with sweet oak wood and ginger spice. The dried cranberry made the finish very spicy with lots of nutmeg and ginger spices. The pecan added a lingering caramel sweetness.
- Matt: Long with oak wood, and ginger with a lingering molasses sweetness. The dried cranberry enhanced the ginger in the finish. The pecan brought out a note of cocoa with molasses, oak wood and ginger spice.
I would pair this fine Bourbon with a Fuente 8-5-8 maduro cigar. The cigar has a nice chocolate and vanilla note that would pair well with the Bourbon.
Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller