This is the latest Bourbon produced by the McBrayer Family. They are contract-distilling this whiskey and it has some four, five and six year old barrels in the mix. It is quite good and was in the running for whiskey of the month for June, but lost out in a blind tasting. The competition was tough in June!
The McBrayer Family has a rich heritage in making whiskey. Judge McBrayer was said to have made the finest whiskey other than Old Crow in the 1870s and that is some praise. Col. E.H. Taylor, Jr. made it a point to purchase every barrel he could from Judge McBrayer. This whiskey lives up to that heritage. Bill McBrayer and his father, who revived the brand several years ago, have bought property near where the Old McBrayer Distillery stood and have plans to build a small distillery on the site and start making their own Bourbon, but that is in the future. For now, they are using their own contract distilled Bourbon, using their own recipe and barrel-entry proof. I received a bottle of this Bourbon last month and Matt and I sat down to taste it. Here are our tasting notes.
W.H. McBrayer Bourbon Batch Four
Proof: 106
Age: No Age Statement
Nose:
- Mike: Caramel and chocolate, plums, baking spices and sweet oak wood.
- Matt: Spun sugar, vanilla, raspberries and oak wood.
Taste:
- Mike: Caramel, plums, apricots, cardamom and sweet oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and it becomes very fruity with apricots and citrus with cinnamon spice. Tasted with a pecan and it becomes very candy-like with caramel, chocolate and dried fruits.
- Matt: Vanilla, raspberry sorbet, cardamom and oak wood. The dried cranberry enhanced the raspberry and vanilla. The pecan brought out dark chocolate notes.
Finish:
- Mike: Long with oak and cardamom spice. The dried cranberry added lingering citrus notes. The pecan made the finish very long with oak, chocolate and a hint of baking spices.
- Matt: Long with oak and cardamom spice. The dried cranberry added some lingering raspberry fruitiness. The pecan made the finish longer with oak and dark chocolate.
I would pair this fine Bourbon with a My Father The Judge cigar. I think the chocolate notes in the smoke would enhance the chocolate notes in the Bourbon.
Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller