About nine years ago, I met Bill McBrayer and his father when I spoke at a meeting of the Cincinnati Bourbon Society. They asked me if they should get back into the distilling business and I told them with their heritage, they should. They contract-distilled some whiskey with a distillery in Danville, Kentucky and four years later, they introduced their W.H. McBrayer brand. It sold out almost immediately and they have not looked back since that time. Bill has been kind enough to give me a bottle of each year’s release and the other day, he brought by a bottle of his latest release, batch five. Matt and I always like the McBrayer releases of Bourbon and we looked forward to trying this latest expression. I could be wrong, but I think I remember Bill telling me this is four, five and six year old Bourbon, but the bottle does not have an age statement. Here are our tasting notes.
W.H. McBrayer Bourbon Batch Five
Proof: 106.8
Age: No Age Statement
Nose:
- Mike: Vanilla, marshmallows, dates, wild berries, allspice and oak wood.
- Matt: Caramel, dates, wild berries, cedar and oak woods.
Taste:
- Mike: Vanilla, raspberries, dates, cinnamon and oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and the cinnamon comes forward and the oak wood becomes a sweet oak wood. Tasted with a pecan and the vanilla becomes a rich caramel and the raspberry comes forward.
- Matt: Caramel, dates, wild berries, cinnamon and oak wood. The dried cranberry enhanced the cinnamon and dates. The pecan enhanced the cedar and oak woods.
Finish:
- Mike: Medium long with oak wood and cinnamon. The dried cranberry made the finish longer and added lingering raspberry to the finish. The pecan added lingering caramel to the finish.
- Matt: Medium long with oak wood and wild berries. The dried cranberry brought out dates in the finish. The pecan made the finish long with oak and cedar woods with lingering caramel.
I would pair this fine Bourbon with a Padron 1964 Anniversary Series Maduro cigar. I think the rich vanilla and dried fruit notes in the smoke would pair well with the vanilla and fruit of the Bourbon.
Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller