Our quest to help you find the best bourbons to drink is seemingly never-ending. There’s so much out there right now, it’d take anyone a lifetime to get to it all. But as Cliff Booth says to his pal Rick Dalton in Once Upon Time In Hollywood, “I try.”
To that end, I’m breaking down the seven single barrel bourbon whiskeys that took home the coveted Double Gold Medal at the prestigious San Francisco World Spirits Competition this year. This is an event some have likened to “the Oscars of booze,” and the Double Gold-winning single barrel bourbons are the elite of the elite.
There were only 35 single barrel straight bourbon whiskey entrants this year, out of more than a thousand whisk(e)ys submitted across all categories. Single barrel bourbon is a small category in general, and these bottles tend to represent the finest expression of that brand. These are the one-off “honey” barrels, which exist more as miracles than anything standard you’ll find in “barrel proof,” “small batch,” or “straight bourbon” offerings. Look at it this way: if a single barrel of whiskey is somehow amazing enough on its own to be bottled, it’s one of the rarest barrels in the rickhouse (also worth remembering: “single barrel” doesn’t mean “cask proof” or “barrel proof,” as plenty of single barrel expressions are proofed down for optimal drinkability, like most bourbon).
All of that means that the bottles on this list are going to be a little harder to come by, especially if you’re not in the Ohio Valley, or don’t have some serious cash laying around. Still, I’d argue that these whiskeys are always worth seeking out to both expand your whiskey palate and your bar cart collection of “the good stuff.” Let’s dive in and see what took home the double gold this year.
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
- The 50 Best Bourbon Whiskeys Of 2021, Ranked
- Every Winning Bourbon From Our 2021 Taste Tests, Blind Tasted And Re-Ranked
- The 100 Best Whiskeys Our Head Drinks Writer Tasted In 2021
- The Best Ten-Year-Old Bourbon Whiskeys, Tasted Blind And Ranked
- We Tasted Bourbon Whiskeys ‘Double-Blind’ And Tried To Guess Each Bottle
Uncle Nearest 1820 Premium Single Barrel
ABV: Varies
Average Price: $130
The Whiskey:
This yearly single barrel expression from Uncle Nearest Master Blender Victoria Eady Butler is one of the most beloved Tennessee whiskeys around. Eady Butler handpicks high-proof barrels that are aged a minimum of 11 years for this bottling. Each one is chosen to exemplify the beauty of Tennessee whiskey that’s drawn straight from the barrel.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, there’s a matrix of dried fruits, Christmas spices, malty oatcakes, oily vanilla pods, subtle maple sweetness, and a hint of dark chocolate cut with subtle orange oils. The palate delivers with the fruits leaning more towards candied cherries with worn leather, more dark cacao (especially with a little water to help it bloom), and plenty of sweet oak. There’s a long and fulfilling linger to this sip that ushers in a final note of buttery popcorn and a very distant billow of sweet tobacco pipe smoke.
Bottom Line:
If you can get your hands on this one, it’s a gem. A rock or a little water really helps it come to life in the glass (and calm down those higher ABVs). Overall, I’d be shocked if this wasn’t among the best in class/show when those awards are announced later this spring.
Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Single Barrel
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $132
The Whiskey:
These whiskeys for E.H. Taylor, Jr. are aged in the famed Warehouse C at Buffalo Trace from their mash bill no. 1. While the exact parameters of that bill are undisclosed, this is the same recipe as Eagle Rare, Buffalo Trace Bourbon, and Stagg. In this case, the barrels are picked for their Taylor flavor profile and bottled one at a time with a slight touch of water to bring them down to bottled-in-bond proof.
Tasting Notes:
Dried dark fruits and a hint of vanilla wafers mingle with fig fruit leather, a touch of orchard wood, and a deep caramel on the nose. The palate holds onto those notes while layering in dark berry tobacco with sharp winter spices, new leather, and a singed cotton candy next to a cedar box filled with that tobacco. The finish lingers on your senses a while and leaves the spice behind for that dark, almost savory fruit note with an echo of blackberry Hostess pies next to soft leather pouches that have held chewy tobacco for decades and a final hint of old porch wicker in the middle of summer.
Bottom Line:
Goddamn, this is good bourbon. While this isn’t as elite (and over-inflated) as Elmer T. Lee, Blanton’s, Weller, or Pappy, it 100 percent lives up to the quality of those sibling brands from Buffalo Trace’s stills and rickhouses. Get this one while you still can.
Doc Whiskey Single Barrel Cask Strength Bourbon
ABV: Varies
Average Price: $22
The Whiskey:
This sourced whiskey is a bit of an outlier. The mash bill (from MGP of Indiana) is 51 percent corn, 45 percent wheat, and four percent malted barley. That makes this a supercharged wheated bourbon (most wheated bourbons are closer to ten to 20 percent wheat). The juice then ages for only three years before it’s bottled as-is by the blenders at Doc Whiskey.
Tasting Notes (from the distiller):
“Tasting Notes: Fruit, cream, vanilla. Aroma: Fruit, cream, and vanilla. Sweet fruit notes of the corn add complexity, making it overly sweet and creamy.”
Bottom Line:
Easily the most affordable entry on the list, not to mention the most wheat-forward, for any lover of wheated-bourbon (a category that includes such notables as Pappy, Maker’s Mark, and W.L. Weller), you almost can’t afford not to check this one out (provided you can get your hands on it).
John J. Bowman Single Barrel Straight Bourbon
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $50
The Whiskey:
A. Smith Bowman Distillery — a sibling distillery to Buffalo Trace in Virginia — is renowned for bottling some of the boldest bourbons in the game. This release is a no-age-statement and undisclosed mash bill of Virginia whiskey that’s around 10 years old. The whiskey is just proofed to 100 proof with local spring water before bottling as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Pain au chocolate leads the way on the nose with chewy toffee candies, Granny Smith apple skins, rich vanilla pods, and a hint of sweet cedar planks rubbed with apple-cinnamon tobacco leaves. The palate is sweet and classic as dark Karo syrup leads toward heavy doses of vanilla in a crispy pecan waffle with a side of chocolate milkshake, dark fruit leather, figs, dates, and a hint of marzipan. The mid-palate amps up the leathery dark fruit sweetness then tumbles toward an almond-chocolate-toffee vibe on the end with a hint of oak, old leather, and figgy tobacco on the finish.
Bottom Line:
This is some good damn whiskey. It’s also so well priced that you can mix this into one hell of a Manhattan, Sazerac, or old fashioned.
Kirkland Signature Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon
ABV: 60%
Average Price: $34
The Whiskey:
This Costco release is sourced from Sazerac’s other Kentucky distillery, Barton 1792 Distillery down in Bardstown, Kentucky. The whiskey in the bottle is very likely the same distillate/barrels as 1792 Full Proof, which won double gold as well from San Francisco this year. However, this is proofed down a tiny bit below that at 120 proof instead of 125 proof, adding some nuance to this release.
Tasting Notes:
This is, again, classic from top to bottom with a nose full of oily vanilla, thick caramel sauce, and a sense of almond shells by way of sweet oak with some dark fruit lingering in the background. The palate builds upon those promises with mulled wine-soaked cinnamon sticks, corn husks, nutmeg-heavy eggnog, creamy vanilla, a touch of dark cherry tobacco, and a dusting of dark chocolate powder. The finish brings it all together with a spicy/hot finish that’s part spicy chocolate pipe tobacco and part brandied cherry with an oaky base.
Bottom Line:
These are pretty fleeting but worth snagging (if you can). For one, it’s priced so well, especially since this is a one-liter bottle (instead of a standard 750ml bottle). Moreover, this is a just damn fine bourbon that works as well as a sipper as it does in cocktails.
Nashville Barrel Co. Single Barrel Bourbon
ABV: Varies
Average Price: $90
The Whiskey:
Nashville Barrel Co. is doing some of the best work in the bottling game, full stop. They’re sourcing incredible barrels (a lot from MGP) and bottling them as-is without any cutting, filtering, or fussing — they let the whiskey speak for itself and it’s kind of magical. This expression tends to be five to eight-year-old barrels that will vary slightly in the flavor profile while always leaning into bold and distinct flavors.
Tasting Notes:
Depending on which bottle you come across, expect a nose full of cotton candy, buttered popcorn, vanilla beans, freshly baked cherry pie with a lard crust, and plenty of caramel sauce, mild leather, hints of oak, and a dollop of orange oil. The palate will lean into the spice with plenty of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and allspice with maybe a hint of anise and sweetgrass before a mid-palate of Almond Joy and salted caramel candies take over. That sweet mid-point will give way to a finish with nutty dark chocolate clusters with hints of dried fruits, old leather, sweet oak, and plenty of wintry spices.
Bottom Line:
I’ve maybe tasted 20 of these over the last nine months from various sources (including barrels at the dope tasting room in Nashville) and I’ve never had a bad sip. Nashville Barrel Co. is batting a 1,000 right now. Don’t sleep on these, they really are that special and might just win a best in show/class this year.
W.L. Weller Single Barrel
ABV: 48.5%
Average Price: $900
The Whiskey:
The whiskey is basically one step away from being a Pappy single barrel. The juice is the same wheated bourbon distillate that’s loaded into the same barrels. The main difference is the flavor profile these single barrels hit because they’re all under eight years old (Pappy is 10 years and older). These barrels are picked for their “Weller” flavor profile and then the juice is cut down very slightly with that famously soft Kentucky limestone water.
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with a mix of fresh mint next to ripe red cherries with a vanilla backbone and a shaving of dry wood. The taste holds onto that vanilla while building towards eggnog spiciness with hints of dark chocolate, salted caramel corn balls, espresso bean bitterness, and this small flourish of white pepper. That powdery pepper lingers and warms as the sip slowly fades away, leaving you with those creamy eggnog spices, woody vanilla husks, and a mild tobacco buzz and warmth by way of a pine humidor.
Bottom Line:
What can I say about Weller that hasn’t already been said? While it’s no longer the “poor man’s Pappy,” this is still pretty stellar whiskey. It’s just a shame you can’t find this nearer its MSRP of $50. If that were the case, this would be one of the best cocktail bourbons around.
