JDSB vertical tasting

Since the Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel came out in 1997 I’ve been buying an extra bottle each year and stashing it away to eventually do a vertical tasting. Well, now that I have bottles from 15 years I figured its time to actually do it. I’ll probably do 3-4 bottles a month and compare them with a 2012 bottle. I realize these being single barrels the results may not be completely indicative of the whole year but what the heck, its fun anyway.

Bottled on 1-21-97
A little thin on the mouth feel. I taste a hint of black cherries. A nice sweetness to it. The oak and char is there but isn’t huge. Pretty good sipper but not as big as the newer ones

Bottled on 3-10-98
This was the thinnest and flattest of the four sampled. Not a whole lot going on with this one. A little oak and char on the finish and a little bitterness comes through, but that’s about it

Bottled on 3-15-99
A little thicker mouth feel on this one. A touch more of the oak and char. Easy drinking, sweet and smooth.

Bottled on 5-21-12
Thick mouth feel, some nuttiness comes through. Much more pronounced oak and char. The biggest one of the bunch. Love this one.

So far I’d say they are all the same general taste profile but it seems the JDSB has gotten fuller and more oaky with more char flavor since it started out. After I finish these bottles I’ll do another round of tasting

I'm very interested to see your final results, I often keep a bottle of JDSB on hand these days, I've really grown to appreciate the whiskey (especially when I can get it at costco for under 40!). One of my favorite whiskeys is Silver Select. Man, is it unfortunate we can't get that stuff easily stateside.

Excellent work and fully consistent with my own impressions in this period.

Gary

I've got about 8 different years of silver select that I'll do a vertical tasting of after the regular single barrel

Last year my friend found a 2005 bottle at an estate sale for $4. Apparently the old guy who owned the home was a real bourbon/Tennessee whiskey fan and had an extremely large collection that flew out the door as soon as the sale opened. We were lucky to get the one bottle and thoroughly enjoyed it. Especially for $4!

Excellent, interesting and valued information VAGentleman. Looking forward to your next monthly already. A '12 private restaurant pick I recently tasted was certainly big too.

Time for round 2 of my JDSB vertical tasting. This time its year 2000-2004

Bottling date 10-20-2000 More Oak than the earlier bottlings with some more alcohol heat as well. This one has a medium mouth feel with a medium finish. Pretty good

Bottling date 3-1-01 Longer finish on this one than the 2000 though not as long as the 2012. Good amount of Oak coming through, tasting a little char as well

Bottling date 1-18-02 Good oaky flavor medium finish, medium mouth feel. This one is similar to the 2000.

Bottling date 8-13-03 This was the driest out of all of the ones tasted. A burst of Oak and char that finished off quickly

Bottling date 4-12-04 Thicker mouth feel with a long finish. A little char with a bunch of oak. A little maple syrup coming through. This is getting closer to the taste of the recent ones but not quite there yet

Bottling date 7-20-12 Big flavors of nut, oak and char. Long finish with the maple syrup sweetness peeking through, big mouth feel.

The 00-04 bottles are all pretty good pours, not quite up to the 2012 but are starting to get closer to the current flavors.