BOTM 11/10: Eagle Rare Single Barrel

[fishnbowljoe]

Sorry I'm a bit late getting the BOTM posted this month. I've had a lot going on, and kinda spaced it.

Anyway.................... The bourbon of the month for this month is Eagle Rare Single Barrel 10 year old, 90 proof.

ERSB is somewhat of a gateway bourbon for me. When I first got interested in bourbon, I had MM, WR, and KC. ERSB was the first bourbon I bought after joining SB. I like this bourbon. It's a shame I don't have a pour of it more often.

The nose to me has that musty, earthy smell that BT is known for. In the background is a hint of acetone. The taste again, has that earthy quality. Grass/tobacco, leather, and a slight sweetness or fruitiness, that I wish there was a little more of. I know some people might disagree with me, but ERSB for some reason reminds me a little of a wheated bourbon. Oh well. :skep:

Happy posting! Joe

PS. I would like to thank Silverfish for sending me an alphabetized list of past BOTM's. It makes it a lot easier to see what has and hasn't been BOTM before.

[jburlowski]

Always been a good (if not great) pour for me. Seems like I'm seeing it more often in high-end bars and restaurants where it is a welcome change from the usual suspects.

[M14Shooter]

Hi Joe

When I first started drinking Bourbon.About a year ago.Eagle Rare 10 Year 90 was one of my top 5.I love its balance and Carmel flavors.In my neck of the woods I can buy this for $21.50 when on sale.This Bourbon is a great value for the money.I am amazed that this bottle always seems to hit the recycle bin more often then other bottles in my collection.

Regards,Mike

[SMOWK]

I've been slowly draining a 1.75L and it's mighty tasty. I really like the earthy dryness I get from it. It seems to have it's own thing going on. The more I have it the more I like it.

[T Comp]

Before transforming from wine to whiskey fanatic I twice brought home ERSB mostly on the recommendation of some of my favorite Binny's wine sales consultants. I recall feeling it was okay but really less than impressed and it certainly was not my gateway bourbon (but still went back for seconds:bigeyes:). I now realize it has been more than three years since I have had ERSB and need to have another visit soon and see what I think now. The BTAC and 101 iterations are some of my faves too.

[MissinER101]

As my name suggests I was a HUGE fan of the 10/101, if you like this one you should taste the original!

While on my Nov 09 vacation we stopped by BT and I got a 1.75, which I consumed largely sitting in a hot tub on the deck of a cabin in the Smokeys above Gatlinburg. The bottle I had (if I can remember that far back) had a bit of a bite on entry with the earthy/leather tones joe mentioned, slightly sweet mid way with a good slightly caramel after taste. A very pleasant drink without quite the UMPH of the original.

When coupled with one of the Cuban Cohiba maduro 5s that somehow followed me home there was a lingering taste that reminded me of the after taste of a good yest roll, which lasted for an hour or more, very pleasantly lingering in the back of the mouth.

While not quite measuring up to the original (at the price what could), I think ERSB could be a standard in the cabinet when I get home.

[kickert]

ERSB was the first "expensive" bourbon I ever bought. I got it after working my way through nearly all the $20-25 bottles at my local store.

I really like it, but find that there are many bourbons I like just as well for less money. I did however recently purchase a bottle while traveling in Wisconsin because it was priced about $5-10 cheaper than what I can get here. I was surprised at how flavorful it was upon coming back to it. I am like most people though, I would love it even more at a higher proof.

Here are my notes on the flavor:

Deep, rich flavor with nice woody notes without being tannic. The alcohol seems to disappear behind the caramel and dark vanilla notes. There is a slight musty note at the end, but I have grown to love that in BT products.

[DeanSheen]

Deep, rich flavor with nice woody notes without being tannic. The alcohol seems to disappear behind the caramel and dark vanilla notes. There is a slight musty note at the end, but I have grown to love that in BT products.

That's the best tasting notes I've read on ER 10/90.

I was on hiatus from ER 10/90 for a good 8 months and bought a bottle last month. It disappeared pretty quick. I love the flavors in this bottling and it's my favorite regular BT product.

I'm very happy to pay a few bucks more for this taste profile. The nose smells just like the distillery parking lot.

[fishnbowljoe]

ERSB 10/90 is one of the BT products that is often picked by a lot of liquor stores for their own private bottlings. I've been fortunate to try a few of these over the years. Here's the ones that I remember, and my opinion of them.

Binny's.

This was a pretty darn good bottling. Nice and full of flavor. Had that caramel, nutty flavor going on more so than a regular bottling. Not a lot of mustiness, but it did have the tobacco flavor going on IIRC.

Otto's in Milwaukee Wisconsin.

I was in Milwaukee a couple of years ago, and stopped at one of their stores. The had their bottling of ERSB on sale for $19.99. :bigeyes: If they would have given me a 10% discount, I would have bought a case. Since there was no discount because of the sale price, I only bought one bottle. Sure glad I only got one. This didn't taste anything like ERSB. It was very dry and had a harsh, bitter taste to it. No tobacco taste here. More like hay or grass. There was also a lingering taste of acetone on the finish that was very unpleasant.

Julio's

I think it was back in late 2007 or 2008 that I purchased a couple of different bottlings from them. The two bottles I purchased from Barrel 34 (?) were great. Rich with caramel/toffe, and just a slight hint of the tobacco/leather/mustiness BT is known for. The balance between the two flavors was amazing.

The Angels Share bottling was downright fantastic. No mustiness in this bottling at all. Caramel, toffe, and nuts (pecan maybe?). There was also a sweetness there that I couldn't place. IIRC, it wasn't fruity, but a bit floral. This bottle went down very, very easy, and didn't last very long. :grin:

I also seem to remember that I picked up another private bottling a year or so ago, but right now the who and where escapes me. Must have been pretty close to a regular bottling, because I was neither impressed, nor disappointed. :grin: Cheers! Joe

[Luna56]

ERSB has been my ol' reliable since I got into bourbon a handful of years ago and I've only had one bottle that disappointed. It used to be amazingly consistent but in the last year or so I've noticed a great degree of variability. But I'm usually pleasantly surprised and intrigued.

I like a bit of that mustiness and have found that, as far as ERSB is concerned, the mustier bottles are also the most rich and complex ones.

Damn good hooch!

Cheers!

[MissinER101]

I have seen on Binny's site they have a select barrel bottling, I'll be in the Chicago area first of the year, I'll have to wait till then to snag a couple bottles.

SOOO many bourbons; so little trunk space on a road trip!!!

[ODaniel]

I've always heard mixed reviews on this so I've yet to pick a bottle up. It's still on the list though, with some others in front of it. It's nice to see some good reviews of it here though.

[ErichPryde]

Eagle Rare Single Barrel was, for a long time, my go-to bourbon. I've had bottles that were okay, and I've had bottles that were great. I once had a bottle that was so freaking good that I wrote down the number code in the hopes the place I bought it had more with similar numbers- and they didn't.

Then I had a run of bottles I just didn't care for. I have not revisited ERSB since, which is probably a shame.... If I had the opportunity to taste a barrel before purchasing a bottle from that barrel, I'd be all over it. but that has not happened yet...

[PaulO]

I visited Chicago recently and came home with several 375ml bottles of the Binny's single barrel version of ER. I haven't opened any yet, but was glad to read Fishnbowljoe's positive review. I allways liked the regular version. When I first tried it, I also thought it was wheated. Later I found out it wasn't. I guess I've been on the quest to try new (to me) stuff and haven't had any ER for a year or so.

[foxflyer5]

ERSB is pretty good. ill grab it every now and then. i first had it when my brother showed up with it for Christmas. it was in the trunk of his car, and was quite chilled. i hate my bourbon chilled, but the flavor still held up really well. ive been a fan ever since.

[MJL]

I've had my fair share of Eagle Rare 10 year old, 17 year old and the older 101 proof versions (from both facilities that made it). I will re-examine a bottle soon to make a proper review but prior to that let me make a few comments from memory.

I got a memorable sweetness to this bourbon all the way through the tasting; from first taste to aftertaste. I do not find this sweetness to be disturbing or to be so overwhelming that it masks other, more complex flavors. I recognize some feel a liquor, especially a whiskey, with overwhelming sweetness is using that flavor to mask monotone flavor expressions. I do not feel this is the case with Eagle Rare. I recall somewhat complex flavors emerging (I'm going to have to resample to fill in the blank of what these complexities are) and an overall excellent bourbon that will stand its own when sampled straight or with some water.

[OscarV]

ER1B is very boring and I'd even say flat. IMHO.

I gave away my 2nd bottle of it after trying to like it, it's just bland.

But it doesn't have the pine/grass notes of the other bourbons from BT so that's a positive.

[p_elliott]

I have had like others have said have had good bottles of ERSB and some not so good bottles of ERSB but I have had some outstanding bottles of ERSB. This is where the bad part comes in they don't tell you the the barrel # so you can't go back and get more bottles of the outstanding ones. I like the ERSB better that the BTAC ER 17.

[White Dog]

ER1B is very boring and I'd even say flat. IMHO.

I gave away my 2nd bottle of it after trying to like it, it's just bland.

But it doesn't have the pine/grass notes of the other bourbons from BT so that's a positive.

My thoughts exactly. It's not poorly made, it's simply a dull experience, IMHO.

[RickF]

I think ERSB is one of the better values from BT. As a SB, there will be some differences between barrels. Maybe I have just been lucky, but I have yet to have one I did not like. While I prefer RHF and Hancock's Reserve over ERSB, I like ESRB as well as Blanton's and better than ETL (maybe the bottle I have is not representative of the brand) or BT.

[SMOWK]

I've had best luck with the 1.75L bottles.

[marco246]

I've been working on a bottle of ERSB for some time now, alongside a bottle of Old Charter 10/86. Both are pleasant enough, with the ERSB being a little richer in flavor. I doubt whether I'll go to much trouble to buy any more, inasmuch as I prefer plain ole Buffalo Trace to either.

[McSmokey]

I had a pour of ERSB last night neat. I found it to have that mustiness to the nose, a mild honey at the start and it had a very strong oak flavor on the finish. Pouring it again tonight this time with a cube to see if there is a change.

[PaulO]

I finally opened the ER Binny's selection. I guess I'd describe it saying its chief virtue is being mild and almost no burn. This would be a good gateway bourbon for those that like Crown. It's near the opposite end of the bourbon spectrum compared to WT Rare Breed, but they're both good.

[OscarV]

ER

This would be a good gateway bourbon for those that like Crown.

I always suggest ER1B to someone who isn't into bourbons when they ask me what they should start with.