Evan Williams BIB

[jeff]

While in Virginia this afternoon I picked up a bottle of Evan Williams BIB. It is in the typical EW7 bottle but with a white label. Nothing came up on a sb.com search, so I'll ask now if anyone has tried this and if so what are your impressions? I plan on opening it tonight for an obscure 4-way shootout between EWBIB, Virginia Gentleman 80 proof, Jacob's Well and Old Pouge. I know that is a strange lineup, but It's all we've got back here in Whitesburg

[angelshare]

We've had the EW BIB, though it's been some time since it was on the bar here. I can't recall specifics, only that it reminded me of Fighting Cock (which I like) but not quite as good.

VG standard 80 proof expression? Hmmm...I may be wrong, but I would suggest you not get your hopes up.

My prediction for your shoot out is (from most to least favorite) is OP, JW, EW BIB, VG 80, although it's been a while, probably 6 years, since I've tasted JW. I'm curious to hear the results!

Where in VA were you?

[jeff]

Dave,

I was in Norton, VA - about 20 miles across the border from Whitesburg KY. Maybe "Shootout" was too stong a word. It was more like, this is all we got, so we'll taste them All of them, except the JW, were new to Brian, so I guess it was sort of a comparative tasting.

Anyway, the EWBIB was rather young tasting with a strong grainy "green corn" flavor. A little water helped to mellow the harsher notes. I'll try this again in a bourbon sour. I picked it up for $9.

The VG 80 was suprisingly unoffensive. Almost tasteless with a very short finish. I would compare it to Ten High in that regard. I paid $11 for it, which I think was too much. Maybe $7 would be a better price.

In the end we ranked them in the following order:

Old Pouge

Jacob's Well

Virginia Gentleman

Evan Williams BIB

[angelshare]

At least the highest price bourbon came out on top! That always gives the impression that you're correctly paying for quality.

Interesting that you compared VG 80 to Ten High. I have such a negative impression of VG 80 that we haven't bought it for years, but not so with Ten High, which I find very much like you describe it - not so much offensive, just a very fleeting, simple flavor.

So, VG 80 beats EW BIB in your duel. Obviously, I'm surprised. Of course, memory is a fallible thing, and taste changes from day to day. I guess that's one of the advantages of real time comparisons - at least it addresses the flaw of memory.

It would be interesting to do a Battle of the Bottom Shelf Bourbons sometime. Obviously, there are some ringers that I would remove - AAA, EW 1783. But who knows? Maybe there's another diamond in the rough out there.