Last month I had another visit from Bill McBrayer. He was in Louisville and wanted to bring me a bottle of his third batch of W.H. McBrayer Bourbon. We sat on the porch and had a few drinks, talked history and whiskey and enjoyed the nice, spring weather.
The third batch of W. H. McBrayer has a different flavor profile from the first two batches. The good news is it is a larger batch consisting of ten barrels of whiskey. Six barrels of five year old whiskey; Two barrels of six year old; and two barrels of four year old whiskey. This gives it a flavor profile somewhere between the first two batches. Matt and I sat down and tasted this Bourbon and decided to make it our Whiskey Of The Month for July 2023. Here are our tasting notes for Batch Three.
W.H. McBrayer Kentucky Straight Bourbon Batch Three
Proof: 103.5
Age: Four years old: Six barrels of five year old; Two barrels of six year old; and two barrels of four year old
Nose:
- Mike: Vanilla, apricots, cinnamon and oak wood.
- Matt: Strawberry, vanilla, cream and tangerine.
Taste:
- Mike: Caramel, apricots, cinnamon, nutmeg and oak. Tasting a dried cranberry makes the taste caramel apple—tart green apple, and brings out the cinnamon and oak with a hint of chocolate. Tasting with a pecan brings out buttered toffee and red hot cinnamon candy.
- Matt: Cinnamon, vanilla, cherry and powdered sugar. The dried cranberry brought out vanilla, cinnamon and strawberry pie. The pecan brought out notes of cherry, cayenne pepper, oak and cinnamon.
Finish:
- Mike: Very long with oak, cinnamon and lingering apricot flavor. Tasted with a dried cranberry brought a long finish with oak, cinnamon and lingering apple notes. The pecan lengthened the finish with oak, cinnamon and a hint of chocolate.
- Matt: Oak and cinnamon. The dried cranberry produced a buttery oak and cinnamon flavor. The pecan enhanced the oak and cinnamon with cayenne pepper notes.
I would select the same cigar that I selected for Batch Two: a My Father The Judge, in honor of the “The Judge” W. H. McBrayer. The smooth sweet chocolate of the smoke will complement the caramel, apricots and spice of this fine whiskey.
Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller