Eagle Rare Warehouse Liquors Single Barrel Select "Wing" Kentucky Straight Bourbon - Barrel No. 001

VITALS:

- $28 (375 ml)

- 90 Proof

- 10 Years

- Barrel No. 001

- Kentucky

I have to say, I really to like the 375 ml bottles. I'm constantly buying something new, very rarely picking something up I've had before. The smaller 375 bottles allow me to try something new, even something like a private pick of something I've had a thousand times before, but at less of a cost. It also allows me to finish a bottle that much faster to allow me to write my review on it. So, for me, the 375 has plenty of perks.

Now granted, the only reason I ended up with this 375 ml bottle is because by the time I got there, Warehouse had already sold out of all their regular-sized bottles. So this was more of a consolation price, but my love for the smaller bottle remains. It seems like it's been a while since I've gotten my hands on a Warehouse Eagle Rare pick, and I've loved every one I've had so far.  But now these things are gone from Warehouse's shelves as soon as they hit. So, I find myself cherishing the few I've managed to accumulate.

The nose was soft, somewhat light and hard to find. Perhaps I've been drinking too much of the cask strength bourbon lately, but I was a bit surprised. What was there was, as expected, pretty vanilla forward. It also had a light bitter cocoa powder note to it, as well as something almost tart, like candied cherries. I did get a nice black pepper spice off the nose as well.

As to flavor, I got those expected notes of caramel and vanilla and the back end tingle of a nice cinnamon spice--all of which I've always associated with Eagle Rare. However, this one hit a little different, which is what I typically hope to get in a store pick, as long as that "different" is a good different and not a gross different.

The candied cherry that I got off the nose really carried forward to the flavor profile. It paired really well with the strong toffee note that I was getting to provide a nice balance of flavor, while at the same time never getting too sweet. It was almost more on the dry end, actually, like it was teasing with the sweetness of toffee and cherry, but it just never quite got there.

Perhaps aiding in that effort, there was a distinct nutty quality, like unsalted peanuts and maybe a little bit of pecan, that added a bit of earthiness to the whiskey. This was most noticeable on the finish, where the pecan really came through along with a spicy cinnamon note.

This was, quite frankly, what I look for in a good store pick, something that takes the standard profile and adds to it or does something a bit different, but in a good way. This had all the traditional hallmarks of standard Eagle Rare, but there was something more to it that added to its complexity and uniqueness. I love standard Eagle Rare, and I liked this particular bottle even more. 

Grade: A-