Going into this review, I was under the impression that Michter’s simply sourced their whiskey.  For clarification, I reached out to Joe Magliocco, Michter’s president, earlier this week.  Here’s what he had to say about the subject:

“…you have been tasting our distillate. We have been producing our own whiskey (our mashbills, our yeast selection, our barreling strength, etc.) for over a decade at a Kentucky distillery that had excess capacity. Effectively we were a chef cooking in someone else’s restaurant kitchen before he could afford his own. Now that we have our own distillery in the Shively section of Louisville, we are continuing to use the same recipes to make the same distillate.”

Michter’s has recently filled their first barrel with distillate produced at their new distillery.  Theoretically, we shouldn’t see much, if any, change between what’s being bottled now and whiskey distilled at their distillery in Shively.

My sample bottle is from batch #15F545.  This expression is bottled at 91.4 proof, which is stronger than all the whiskies in their standard lineup.  There’s no age statement provided, so it’s at least four years old.  The label also states this whisky is a small batch.  That’s a term with no real definition.  However, according to their website, Michter’s states their batches of bourbon are comprised of no more than 24 barrels.  

An initial blast of burnt caramel starts things off here.  Beyond is a dab of rye spice and a very slight herbal note.  The entry is sweet, with creamy caramel and vanilla icing taking charge, while some rye and cinnamon play underneath.  The filtration Michter’s utilizes does keep this bourbon on the mellow side of things, all the while maintaining a medium body.  Slight barrel char and sweet grain finish things off, with a little spice on the finish.

All things considered, Michter’s bourbon is probably my favorite of their standard lineup.  This is a solid pour, especially at the $40 asking price.  It’s not overly sweet, not too spicy and, dare I say it, a pretty balanced whiskey.  A tip of the hat to Michter’s for this release.