Michter’s recently released this year’s 10 year old Bourbon and I received a bottle from the distillery. As Michter’s always does, the whiskey was aged for flavor and not just age. This whiskey is older than the 10 year old age statement. It is a quality Bourbon that we have come to expect from Michter’s Distillery. The whiskey in this bottle is still their contract-distilled whiskey as they have not been distilling in Shively, Kentucky for ten years yet, but they have made this Bourbon to their own specifications, including the low barrel entry proof of 103. Matt and I picked this whiskey in a blind tasting and we agreed that it is the Whiskey of the Month for May 2024. Here are our tasting notes.
Michter’s Ten Year Old Bourbon 2024
Proof: 94.4
Age: Ten Years Old
Nose:
- Mike: Caramel, chocolate, a hint of citrus and apricots, baking spices and oak wood.
- Matt: Caramel, marshmallows, dates, currants, baking spices and oak wood.
Taste:
- Mike: Caramel, chocolate, apricots, cinnamon, nutmeg and oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and the spices and oak wood are enhanced and the caramel moves back a notch. Tasted with a pecan and ginger spice comes out to join the party and the oak wood is enhanced.
- Matt: Caramel, marshmallows, citrus, baking spices and oak wood. The dried cranberry added a buttered popcorn note to the flavor. The pecan gave it the flavor of a rich sponge cake with caramel and baking spices.
Finish:
- Mike: Long with oak wood, cinnamon spice and lingering chocolate. The cranberry made the finish long and spicy with oak and cinnamon. The pecan made the finish very long and dry with oak and ginger.
- Matt: Medium long with oak and baking spices. The dried cranberry added some citrus notes to the finish. The pecan made the finish very long and dry with oak and baking spices.
I would pair this fine Bourbon with a Padron 1964 Anniversary Series Toro cigar. It is one of my favorite cigars with rich vanilla, cedar spice and tobacco notes in the smoke that would pair well with the caramel and spice of the Bourbon.
Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller