J.T.S. Brown Bottled In Bond

I'm fairly certain I did not know this product even existed up until a few weeks ago when I saw it specifically listed as the spirit in a cocktail. The name is intriguing enough that I had to ask what it was, where I then learned about the Heaven Hill product with an fun film history. A few days later, when stocking up a liquor store, I found this accidentally, mostly because the label looks nothing like how I pictured it in my head. It's bland, dull, unattractive, and simple in a bad way, which made me think that was why I found it on the bottom shelf. The extremely cheap price tag almost turned me away (you get what you pay for), but I remembered the bartender from before telling me this was one of the best bonded bourbons for the price, so here we are. Interestingly enough, this same recommendation was echoed by the cashier at the store, so I'm hoping I'm in for a treat here. The color is simple and fairly light, but as expected for 4 years aged; given the cheap price and availability almost anywhere, I would be astonished to find out this was aged a day over 4 years. From a distance, the ethanol jumps from the glass, but smells raw with a hint of young corn. Up close, the same scent is amplified and slightly off-putting, with a touch of mid-aged rye behind that. The oak is present in several different ways: buttery and sweet up front, but eventually turns into dry and bitter. Very little ethanol burn; this hits the nose like more of a 90 proof. The initial body is light and dry, with a bitterness from what tastes like charcoal filtering following. The body warms a bit more, with tasted flavors of slightly spicy and grassy rye as a separate note. This same rye hits the front of the gums pretty hard, but lingers only in heat and not necessarily flavor. The finish is a little less hot, and becomes dry and more easily approachable and dissectable the longer time goes on. This is also when a nutty flavor comes into play, which is another common flavor component of charcoal filtering. I'm definitely pretty ignorant when it comes to the reason why American whiskey is filtered at all, let alone through charcoal as a common source. I know of charcoal's filtering properties, so that's not that unusual, but with so many unfiltered or less intrusive filtering methods and products out there that show incredible success, why is this method still being practiced so much? Tennessee whiskey is one thing, but other American whiskey with this charcoal flavor seem to be correlated with cheap and mass-produced mega-brands, and I have to wonder who's buying enough of these products to keep them in production. Unfortunately with the extreme price hikes in the whiskey market right now, it stands to reason that the incredibly low prices of this and similar whiskies may be attracting buyers simply because of the affordability, with a sacrifice on taste just to save a little money. It's all speculation, of course, but it seems like a specific product that incites this type of questioning may not be the best spend for those with this line of thinking.

Rating: 6/23 I know that this is a cheap bourbon, but I've read comparatively favorable things and considering that it's bottled in bond from Kentucky (i.e. not a really cold state), I have hopes. N: Oof. Thin and light with minerality and sugar water. Hints of corn sweetness. Maybe a touch of banana. An odd note of bitterness as well, but the alcohol doesn't particularly stand out. P: Oof again. The alcohol comes right our and burns. It's mixed in with sugar water and bold barrel spices. I do get hints of grass and banana as well. A hint of cherry, even. Maybe a faint caramel. F: Some sweetness lingers and the sugar water aspect of it is downplayed. There are spices as well. I get heat, but not as much burn as I'd expected. Hints of floral vanilla. Honestly, this is the best part of this dram by a large margin. - Conclusion - This is aggressive and hard to drink. It isn't balanced or mature, though I suppose there is some complexity. It's challenging and unpleasant, though not the worst bourbon I've tasted. King's Creek 4 (9/23) crushes this with its maturity, floral fruitiness, complexity, and delicacy. This is painful. As a double check, Early Settler (10/23) is way richer, fuller, tastier, and less fiery than this is. There's no contest. This is tragically going to be at most a 7. I think a 4 would be too harsh, but this is bad. I'm leaning toward a 6. Coming back to this a few days later, a 6 seems about right. A 4 still does seem on the harsh side, but I can imagine it. This is certainly not as high as an 8 because it burns so much.

On the nose this bourbon is light with a touch of honey and candied cherry. For being a 100 proof the nose is incredibly mild. Upon your first sip there is a light sweetness that is in tune with the nose of honey and and continues with the hard candied cherry. All of which are somewhat thin. The cherry note reminds me of sweet cherry cough drops I used to eat when I was a kid because I could get away with it by my mom. Not fantastic but not bad either. That fades quickly and a little spice shows up but just hints at the fact that it exists. While others have mentioned "plenty of Kentucky hug " I think the finish seems longer than it is just because of the heat but when it fades it makes you feel like you need another sip to make sure. There is the rub. So easy you keep pouring the next one. This drink is an easy bottled in bond to drink neat and could make an easy stealthy cocktail but it's nothing to write home about. Solid, priced right, easy to drink, and bottled in bond. Can't knock it. Won't knock it. This is a bottle that is worth the money that's charged for it and I will be able to easily convince myself to keep a bottle on the shelf for gits and shiggles.

Recently I’ve become quite the Heaven Hill fan. Not only for their flavor profile, but also their many quality “bottom shelf” offerings that are often overlooked. After learning of some mostly Kentucky only expressions, like this one, I was on the hunt. Now that I have one, let’s check it out! The nose is sweet with confectioners sugar, corn, cooked plumbs, baking spices along with a little rye which brings out a ginger bread note, chocolate and light leather. A very pleasant and sweet nose with some spices, that are reminiscent of other Heaven Hill offerings, and yet still unique. The palate is sweet and slightly coating with baking spices, a little rye, some mint, a little cut grass, corn, cooked plumbs and vanilla frosting. The finish is medium in length with the front of your palate tingling which is followed by lingering sweet vanilla, spices and nutty barrel char. Wow, this is a very good bourbon and at an exceptional value! This is one of my favorite Heaven Hill expressions, it’s a shame you can’t really find it outside of Kentucky.

JTS Brown BIB (New to NC ABC's) NOSE: A little heat at first. Then typical Heaven Hill Peanut, Vanilla, Oak, Clove. Maybe a hint of Cocoa. NEAT: Mirrors the nose. Enters Sweet with Vanilla, Maple, Clove and Slightly Tannic Oak. The Roasted Peanut shows up on the Slightly Hot Finish with the Peanut and Vanilla coating and lingering on the palate. Nice KY Hug. SPLASH: Not much change to the nose, but the Peanut note dominates the palate start to finish. Maybe just a hint of Bitterness on the Finish? VERDICT: I went in search of MM101 (BINGO! Picked up two of those) and just happened to look down and see this one. Not widely distributed it is brand new here in NC. I didn't have any to try a Side by Side, but I assume this is very similar to EW White Label BIB. However, it's about $5 cheaper (it was $13.27 out the door). Maybe this gets some lower graded barrels in the mix? Either way, a solid one to keep around to pour in Coke/Ginger Ale, a Cheap Old Fashioned, or Neat in a pinch.

Another lovely, no-frills, old-school bottle. Priced right and widely available, this is worth a try at least once. It pours a light golden color with medium legs, not unexpected for the age and proof of a bottom shelf BiB. The nose is not robust per se but there are very pleasant notes of cherry, oak, pecans and faint ethanol. It comes across the palate feeling thin but again pleasant with balanced cinnamon, pear, banana, vanilla and bubble gum. The finish is gone in an instant but not unpleasant. This hangs below WT 101, EW BiB and for a few more dollars EC small batch (but definitely above the likes of JW Dant, Jim Beam white label and light years beyond Kentucky Tavern and Kentucky Gentleman). If you are rotating mixers and appreciate the likes of EW BiB and WT 101 I would highly recommend bring this home at least once.