Photo courtesy of Barton Distillery.

New from the Barton distillery in Bardstown, KY is 1792 Single Barrel bourbon.  Although I haven’t officially reviewed 1792 Small Batch on this blog, I consider it a solid pour.  Now we have a single barrel version of it.  Sazerac, Barton’s parent company, is calling this release a limited edition.  It’s bottled at 98.6 proof and retails for $39.99.

This is the distillery’s first new release since their tasty port-finished expression, which was released last fall.  The press release for this whiskey mentions more new releases of 1792 this year.  I’m curious to see (and taste) what they have cooked up for 2016.  Now, onto the tasting notes.

Lots of official tasting notes for bourbon mention “butterscotch.”  In the case of 1792 Single Barrel bourbon, they’re right.  The nose on this whiskey is full of rich butterscotch, toffee and figs, with just a touch of vanilla extract on the backend.  The entry is a bit spicy at first.  That butterscotch and creamy caramel found in the nose wrap around a roasted corn note, along with a small squeeze of citrus and that fig note.  It’s got a slightly viscous mouthfeel, which I’m attributing to the high-ish proof.  There’s very slight heat on the finish, which is medium-length and leaves behind slight barrel char and toffee.

This is just like the 1792 small batch, only with more character.  That’s the great thing about single barrel releases.  The unique qualities of each barrel of bourbon aren’t washed away in a blend.  You get the flavor profile of the brand delivered in a slightly varied manner.  Going under the assumption that barrel variation isn’t too extreme, this one comes highly recommended.