Michter's 10 Year Old Single Barrel #LL21D1121 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (2021) 70cl
Michter's 10 Year Old Single Barrel #LL21D1121 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (2021) 70cl
An old bottle of Michter's 10-year-old Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon, the brand's flagship bourbon bottling. The modern era Michter's distilleries began distillation in 2015 and 2019, so this 2021 release 10-year-old edition is a sourced whiskey distilled to Michter's specifications by another Kentucky distillery.
This 2021 release of Michter's 10-year-old Single Barrel Kentucky Straight bourbon came from Single Barrel L21D1121 and was bottled at 94.4 US proof, equivalent to 47.2%. These aged Michter's from a mystery distillery are highly sought after and are always terrific, flavour-packed drams..
Mature in age and truly exceptional in quality, Michter’s 10 Year Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon has earned its place as an enduring favorite of the most discerning whiskey connoisseurs. The “Best American Whiskey” according to Food & Wine magazine, our 10 Year Single Barrel Bourbon represents the culmination of over a decade of patient aging in specially chosen, new charred American white oak barrels. When a private barrel selection bottling of this whiskey sold for £166,000 (US$ 209,462) at an auction in London on July 12th 2020, it shattered the previous $78,000 record for a barrel of bourbon that had been set at a Christie’s auction.
The 10 Year Rye, 10 Year Bourbon and 20-Year Bourbon expressions reflect the exceptional results of uncompromising craftsmanship and Kentucky’s unrivalled climate for aging outstanding whiskey. Often much older than the age statement on the label, only a select few barrels age with the elegance required for inclusion in these highly limited releases.
TASTING NOTES
On the nose, the first impression of Michter’s 10 Bourbon is of deep, old oak–charred and quite sweet, evoking deep underlying nutty cocoa and dark chocolate bar. Under that roasty sweetness I’m getting semi-burnt creme brulee and quite a bit of marshmallow, with vanilla buttercream and hints of underlying rye spice. After it sits out for a longer period, more flambeed banana and maple syrup are coming to the foreground. Ethanol is quite muted, which only makes sense for this combination of age statement and proof point. It smells fantastic; increasingly decadent every time you put your nose to the glass.
On the palate, the huge, sweet oak notes really shine through–this Michter’s 10 batch is just massively flavorful for the proof point. Rarely do you taste anything in the mid-90 proof range that can bring this kind of depth to bear. I’m getting tons of sweet oak and char, sweetened French roast coffee and lots of toasted marshmallow and vanilla buttercream. There are flashes of herbal rye, and more mature notes of leather and mild tobacco. The overall impression touches repeatedly on chocolate-covered espresso beans and some caramel chews, with brief dalliances into some very dark fruit, perhaps blackberry compote, and mild cinnamon. It’s the oakiness that really steals the show, however–this captures the sweetness you can find within “char” extraordinarily well. Over time, this sip increasingly closes with a lingering impression of maple syrup that is also quite enjoyable.
From start to finish, this is delicious–instantly one of my favorites of 2024 so far. It’s perhaps not quite as complex as some others, because of a lower strength and the fact that it hones in on the oaky dimension so well, but this profile in general is really speaking to me. At the very least, this is an exceptional barrel of Michter’s 10 Year Bourbon, and I hope that everyone else will get to taste something similar.
About Michter's
Michter’s is proud to honor a historical legacy tracing back to the founding of America’s first whiskey company in 1753.
The US ★1 expressions, so named to honor Michter’s heritage harkening back to America's first whiskey company, founded in 1753, consist of some of the finest single barrel and truly small batch whiskeys available.
Originally known as Shenk's and later as Bomberger's, the whiskey company which ultimately became known as Michter's was founded by John Shenk, a Swiss Mennonite farmer, in Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania in 1753. In its earliest days, Shenk's produced whiskey from rye grain, a favourite local crop in the Pennsylvania Blue Mountain Valley where the distillery was located.
According to Pennsylvania historical lore, commemorated by the Lebanon Valley Coin Club in 1978, this particular rye whiskey was so valued that when the Revolutionary War broke out, General George Washington visited the distillery and purchased whiskey to fortify his men as they hunkered down in their camp through the long, brutal winter at Valley Forge. Over 200 years later the Michter's Pennsylvania management would say Michter's was "the whiskey that warmed the American Revolution."
In the mid-1800s, Pennsylvania Dutchman Abraham Bomberger purchased the distillery and it became known for many decades as Bomberger's.
The passage of Prohibition in 1919 forced the distillery, along with other American spirits producers, to shut its doors to the public. Although the distillery did reopen after the repeal of Prohibition, it changed hands many times over the next few decades and frequently occupied a precarious financial position. During the 1950s, Lou Forman, one of the distillery's then-owners, created the modern Michter's brand name by combining portions of his sons' names - Michael and Peter.
In 1989, with the entire American whiskey industry suffering a prolonged downturn, Michter's then-owners declared bankruptcy and abandoned the premises, leaving its Pennsylvania operations in disrepair and the Michter's name - seemingly - lost to history... were it not for a fortuitous connection to two whiskey lovers with an abiding admiration for the old Michter's legacy and quality.
Modern Day Michter's
In the 1990s, Joseph J. Magliocco and his consultant and mentor Richard "Dick" Newman teamed up to resurrect Michter's. Magliocco, who entered the wine and spirits industry after attending Yale College and graduating from Harvard Law School, was intimately familiar with Michter's through his college days of imbibing, bartending, and selling Michter's.
Newman meanwhile, had followed up his service in the US Marine Corps (for which he earned a Purple Heart) with an illustrious career in the whiskey business, eventually running Old Grand-Dad, Old Crow, and Old Taylor for National Distillers before becoming President and CEO of Austin Nichols, the distiller of Wild Turkey.
Magliocco and Newman began with a simple strategy - to honor the Michter's legacy by producing the best whiskey possible, cost be damned! After filing for the unused and abandoned Michter's trademark, they made their first major strategic decision: to resurrect Michter's in Kentucky, in the heart of the modern American whiskey industry, to ensure access to the best whiskey talent and resources available.
Today, Michter's has three locations in Kentucky - a 78,000 square foot distillery in the Shively section of Louisville, the architecturally significant Fort Nelson Building on Louisville's Museum Row and 205 acres of farm land in SSpringfield.
47.2% ABV
70cl
