E.H. Taylor, Jr. Barrel Proof Bourbon

I first had a taste of Taylor Barrel Proof at a fancy steakhouse last year but the unfortunate thing about tasting whiskey in that setting is... the smell of delicious food overruns the nose, it wasn't served in a Glencairn and honestly, my date was very distracting ( in a good way ). So... I didn't bother with a review. Yikes... that made me sound awfully pretentious didn't it? Ick. My neighbor was gracious enough to give me a sample of this stuff and mentioned it was this year's batch. I didn't even realize a new batch comes out yearly but man... this stuff is already hard to find at RRP but to know a new batch comes out every year? My poor bank account. The nose is dark, sweet and tannic. Dark cocoa powder with tannic charred oak make for quite a dry nose. Brown sugar is a bit muted from the ethanol hit due to the proof. Salted caramel opens up the taste as you hang on to it for a moment. But as that taste goes down, black peppercorn and heat from the proof light up your tongue. There's some brown sugar in there from the nose. As I'm tasting this I suspect there would be more complexity with a pip or two of water but as mentioned prior, I'm rather stubborn and insist on tasting all whiskey and bourbons neat. The back half of taste has a bit of sweet and tart cherry, its quite reminiscent of more than a few Stagg releases. The proof from this release does that thing that makes your tongue and roof of mouth feel a bit powdery but that plays in with the tannic nature of the finish. Bitter, dark chocolate powder is joined with oak and the finish is of medium length although not very viscous. When the fire dies down you catch the tail end of some of that tart cherry that was present on the back of the taste. This release really does remind me of some of the Stagg releases I've had in years past but contains its own E.H. Taylor sweetness. It's good but hard to imagine shelling out secondary prices for this bottle. I'd gladly have it at RRP though.

Nose: Fruits, honey, oak, spices, burnt caramel, kiwi. Palate: maple syrup, prunes,fig, hints of oak, dark cherry, salt water toffee after taste, whisps of vanilla on the incredibly long finish. [Rant Below] I have had everything from Buffalo Trace's core range and have been disappointed with all of it. They all semed to fit into the bland spicey oak water category of bourbon. My personal disdain for the distillery grew day by day as I worked in a liqour store and had about 10 people a day ask me if we had some variation of their Bourbon in stock. Each customer coming in with the same dull look in their eye's. They always found a way to tell me how wonderful the bourbon is and how I havent had real bourbon until I've had (insert buffalo trace product here). When compared to the many other options out there Buffalo Trace, Blanton's, and Eagle Rare are really nothing special and mediocre at best. But as a whisk(e)y enthusiast I kept my mind open to the thought of something quality coming out of the distillery to still be out there. I heard from many other customers that have been disillusioned in regards to Buffalo trace's false sense of grandure, that the E.H Taylor line may actually be worth the hype. A few bottles came into the store I work at about 8 months ago, and I bought myself a bottle of the Small Batch B.I.B. I have yet to open it, while I was out with friends I was lucky enough to find this at a local bar for a decent price for a pour, and my god was I surprised! There haven't been any bourbons I've had that have amazed me but this is the one. The Barrel proof from E.H Taylor is now my absolute favorite bourbon! Such incredible nuance and flavor, it really is a step above the rest. I never thought that such interesting flavors could come from a bourbon, but here I am, part of the crowd attempting to hunt down a bottle from the Buffalo Trace distillery.

Got lucky and picked this up for $80 at the Logan Utah DABS store in a statewide drop of allocated liquor in Dec 2025. Laser etched numbers are hard to read but looks like this is Batch 14, 2025, bottled at 63.6 ABV, 127.2 proof. Tasting neat. Bright copper color and average coating legs in the glass. The nose is sweet grain and vanilla, grassy, with a whiff of spice in the far back. On the palate, brown sugar and then a whoosh of ethanol and mint. Ethanol lessens on later sips and sweet tannic vanilla oak takes over, some dark fruit, dark chocolate, and then baking spices and a mint tingle. Full mouthfeel, lightly oily and chewy. The finish is long, carrying on with tannic, spicy, pepper, tingling mint. Dry sweet, not sour. Very pleasant. An ice cube tames the ethanol and oak tannins, leaving a silky sweet/spicy feel. It's got some bite at 127 proof, more so than some other barrel proof whiskies that are sweeter and less astringent. A 4.25, but this is still a "unicorn" out here in the West, so 4.5. It's great to find out how all the other Taylors taste at full proof. I'm happy to drink and enjoy this today and hope I get lucky in Utah's "allocated lottery" next year. Here's how!

Cracking this bottle because I deserve it after a rough 12 hour shift working on Christmas Day. Tried neat. On the nares I get strong oak and slight cinnamon and vanilla. First sip slaps you in the face with heat and spice. The kentucky hug leaves your tongue and cheeks numb and paralyzed like you swished viscous lidocaine in your mouth for 5 mins. And the Kentucky hug…. That is real also! Wow I can’t get much more through this heat. 6 drops of water added to my rather large pour adding notes of maple syrup to the nares and pears, apples, and stronger vanilla. The the palate it surprisingly gets sweeter to the palate, although still hot and spicy, with notes of brown sugar, toast. This hits likes a rye to me. Also… I added one ice cube to see if it uncovered anything else I may be missing and I think it actually negatively affected it. Definitely a rather interesting and complex bourbon that I am already interested to try again soon.

The nose went through multiple changes starting with butterscotch, vanilla and caramel. After sitting, a nice floral note became abundant then the oaky, leather tannins and tobacco rounded out the nose after 30-45 min The palette was very similar to the nose with a journey to match. The first sip was spicy as expected from the proof. When chewing for a while, a slight mineral influence appeared on the back of the tongue The finish was all tobacco, tannins and oak. Evidence that this particular bottling had some decent age. This pour was while at Acre 41 in the Otis Hotel while visiting Austin

Immediately hit with immense notes of oak, anise, light coffee, molasses, and hay. Theres some fig and caramel in the body, but the finish overtakes everything. Its almost hard to remember you are drinking a bourbon, as the finish is very heavy on rye spice. Just an intense prickly spice that follows along with some hay and dashes of honey. this is a bad ass bottle, a whiskey thats robust and not for the faint of heart. for its proof it drinks much smoother, but its nothing to laugh at. very much enjoyed