750mL Bottle - $13.99
- Purchased at Riley’s Wine & Spirits, Hixson, TN
Background
A couple months back I got to thinking about all the times some website or other had said, “Hey, this cheap Bourbon is really great!” I decided to look up some lists of cheap (or cheaper) Bourbons that were still rated highly and see if I could find them. Turns out many of the best cheap whiskies are limited in distribution…some to Kentucky…some to other countries entirely. And it turns out that a lot of stores that are trying to position themselves as “higher end” won’t carry the drams on my list. That being said, I’m going to advise you to look out for a couple things…
First, look for stores that aren’t concerned with looking great on the outside. These shops may have been beautiful or in a great neighborhood 20 years ago, but time has passed and the owners didn’t have the money to spend on renovations or maybe the parking lot needs fixing…or maybe higher end stores opened up a couple miles away and took business. Bottom line: the type of store you might easily overlook. That’s the kind of store I found this whiskey in.
Second, look for the words “Bottled in Bond.” To some this might have negative connotations, but if you know the real meaning behind the words, you’ll see that it can be a good thing. The Bottled in Bond Act of 1897 was a reaction to the “widespread adulteration of American whiskey.” It set forth some basic rules governed by the federal government to ensure a certain amount of quality in whiskey. Bonded spirits must be produced by one distiller in one distillation season, aged in a bonded warehouse for at least 4 years, and bottled at exactly 100 proof. (Check Wikipedia if you want to know the whole story about the BIB Act.)
Very Old Barton Bottled in Bond (also referred to as VOB BIB) is one of those whiskies that remains very inexpensive and yet is usually very highly rated. Very Old Barton is owned by Sazerac, the same folks that own Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, George T. Stagg and Pappy Van Winkle. VOB BIB is distilled at the Barton Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky, and bottled by Barton Distilling Company in Frankfort, Kentucky. According to a list I found at liquor.com, the mash bill for this whiskey is 75% corn, 15% rye and 10% malted barley
I paid $13.99 for a bottle of Very Old Barton Bottled in Bond.
Notes
VOB BIB is a medium amber color in the glass. When I swirled it in the glass, it produced long, very thin legs that were extra slow to even get started in dripping down the inside of the glass. Giving it a good sniff, I got notes of cinnamon and oak up front, with lesser aromas of vanilla and honey coming through behind.
This isn’t considered a “high rye” whiskey (at least one person I read considers high rye to start at 18% rye in the mash bill), so it doesn’t produce a tremendous amount of spice up front. Instead, initial flavors on the first sip were smooth and sweet. I got a good amount of vanilla and wood, but the high alcohol content did make the finish quite hot and spicy.
I decided that with a cheap whiskey, I was going to go with an expensive cigar. I selected a Davidoff Limited Edition 2011, a re-released blend as part of the company’s Vault selection…a cigar that retailed for almost double the price of the entire bottle of Bourbon. The cigar started off musty and earthy, with little in the way of spice or sweetness. The VOB brought a little more sweetness to the party, though having the cigar and whiskey together seemed to mute some of the spiciness of the Bourbon.
The VOB and Davidoff paired together reasonably well, although I think this may be one of those sticks that calls more for a peaty Islay Scotch. The bottom line, though, is that the Very Old Barton Bottled In Bond is an excellent Bourbon that competes reasonably well with whiskies in the $20 to $30 price range, while costing less than $15.
As a proof of that, a few weeks back I took the VOB to a gathering of friends at a cigar shop. One had purchased some Four Roses Small Batch Cask Strength for somewhere in the range of $65 per bottle. I won’t lie…it was flat-out amazing. Everyone also got to try them VOB without knowing what it was (I hid the bottle) and they all agreed it was really good…leaving them to be floored when I told them how much I paid. It’s not going to have the complexity and “fantastic” nature of the Four Roses we sipped that night…but it costs less than 1/4 of the price.
Next time I have another BIB Bourbon that I stumbled across at a different Chattanooga liquor store.
