Heaven Hill Bottled-in-Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon

VITALS:
- $12.00
- 100 Proof
- 6 years old

This is another bottle I brought home from my recent trip to Louisville. In fact, this was one of the bottles that I was specifically searching out while I was there. For some reason I just can't find this stuff in Illinois, which is a shame considering how cheap it is and the fact that it gets positive reviews across the board.

Interestingly, the first liquor store I went into was all out, and the guy behind the counter told me it's become very hard to find, even in Louisville. But then I walked a block and a half to the next liquor store where they not only had a bunch of bottles on the shelf, but even a display up front by the register. I told this clerk what the guy at the other liquor store told me and he just laughed.

I brought a number of bottles home with me from that trip, so it took a bit to crack into this one, but when I did, I was more than pleasantly surprised. The nose on this bourbon is great! It was a nice  blend of caramel and vanilla, which I would certainly expect, but also tobacco leaf, reminiscent of good Irish single malts. I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed the nose!

On my first sip, I primarily noticed a nice, mellow rye spice, complemented by the expected vanilla and caramel notes. That sweetness counter-balanced by the rye spice stayed consistent throughout, making this a very solid, traditional rye-based bourbon. There was nothing overly complex about this bourbon. It's not trying to be anything more than just a good bourbon, and it does a good job of that.

On the back end I got some oak flavors which I didn't anticipate from a 6 year old bourbon. The cinnamon spice from the rye seemed to tickle the back of my throat, but the caramel seemed to coat it after a bit, sticking around a bit longer.

It's a thin, watery bourbon, yet it doesn't lack for flavor. While watery bourbons tend to be more of mixers than sippers, I really enjoyed drinking this one straight from the glass. At only $12 a bottle, this is an incredible value, certainly an above-average bourbon at an incredibly affordable price.

Grade: B