Eagle Rare 10y with Ryan

Eagle Rare 10y. It’s got eagles, and it’s rare. ‘Murica.

Eagle Rare is part of the Beam group, and is distilled in the same place as Buffalo Trace. We gave them crap about their web presence and marketing stuff the first time, but Eagle Rare is a little different. They have a lot of their website devoted to awards they offer and the charity work they do. Actually, most of their website is about that.

It would be easy to make a cynical joke at this point (here? on this website?) if they made bad bourbon. You could joke that maybe they lost the thread, getting distracted with giving money, etc etc. But as it turns out, they make a pretty damn good bourbon, and manage to help others at the same time. (Even if it’s not the most diverse crowd of winners)

This is a single barrel bourbon, meaning each bottle comes from just one barrel. This puts some variety in the line, and makes it a good one to come back to.  They also do a 17y bourbon that I’d love to try. Here’s what we thought:

colour
Ryan – dark amber
Simon – brass or rust

nose
Ryan – wood, sweet, sugary, pear
Simon – maple, nail polish, sweet, char

neat
Ryan – cotton candy, blood orange
Simon – sweet burn, syrup, sweet, caramel, licorice

finish
Ryan – even burn in the chest
Simon – throat burn but finishes clean

splash
Ryan – n/a
Simon – softer but not better

Eagle Rare 10y Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey – 45% 750ml – $49.95 – Kentucky

Try it? Yes! Buy it? Yes!