This is a release from Exra Brooks, sourced from Heaven Hill. Its a bourbon bottled after 7 years of aging at an abv of 50.5% ABV (or 101 proof). It comfortably occupies shelves in the $22-$29 space, and is generally available.
Its 7 years in the barrel helps give it a hearty caramel, vanilla, and oak backbone that often defines a quintessential bourbon profile, but it doesn’t offer much beyond that. Of course this is also true of the majority of bourbons in its price range.
If a younger, sweeter, hotter bourbon is in your wheelhouse and you're balling on a budget, this is a really good option. It's not incredible, and I'd probably take Buffalo Trace over it most days, but its certainly not bad either.
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House Review
Nose:
Sweet honey, corn, light peanuts, toffee and some faint oak. Leaning towards the sweeter end of the spectrum, with lots of dessert notes. Not a lot of oak here, but no youth or must, either.
Taste:
Medium mouth feel. Mild heat. A little younger and mustier. Sweet corn, toffee, pralines and faint oak presence here as well. Good body, and more complexity than I expected. Plenty of vanilla as well.
Finish:
Long, rich and loaded with ethanol. Sweet honey, corn, toffee and vanilla bean. No oak to be found here. Really sweet.
Overall:
If a younger, sweeter, hotter bourbon is in your wheelhouse and you're balling on a budget, this is a really good option. It's not incredible, and I'd probably take Buffalo Trace over it most days, but its certainly not bad either.
Score:
75
By t8ke
Our in house critic rates spirits on a scale of 0-10 (10 best) and is aggregated the same as external sources