It has been two thousand nine hundred and eighty-three days since I last reviewed Evan Williams Single Barrel. That one was the 2009 vintage, reviewed back in 2017 — over eight years ago. It used to be a product I bought and reviewed without fail every year. Somewhere along the line, though, I had a string of forgettable ones and just… stopped. I forgot about it. Since then, the brand has lost its ten-year age statement but seems to hover around the seven-to-eight-year range, and the price has increased by about 150%.
I picked this guy up after cleaning out my closet and finding an old sample of the 2003 vintage that I’d put away years ago. That would have been purchased in 2013 or 2014. I thought it might be fun to compare the one from early in the site’s history to one from today since I had the rare opportunity to do so. So before we get into it, here’s what I had to say about Evan Williams Single Barrel (2009 vintage) the last time I reviewed it:
I like this one a lot. It's very tasty, especially for the price. I may have inadvertently taken a break from this product, but that will have to stop. Good solid bourbon at a good price is nothing to take for granted these days.
And now, since it’s pertinent to what we’ll be discussing later, here’s what I had to say about two separate bottles of the 2003 vintage back in 2014:
In my opinion, neither of these are as good as I remember previous releases to be. They both hit me with a sharpness I didn’t expect and that I found it hard to get past. Barrel 16, which I bought as a birthday present to myself was like drinking perfume. I just couldn’t get behind it. Barrel 642 from my friend DP was better. It was sweeter and had a nicer finish. All that said, if you handed me one without the other, they are similar enough that I wouldn’t know which you had handed me. And in my opinion, that’s not a good thing. I wanted to like these. I thought I would, but I don’t.
Ok, first let’s take a look at the current release, and then we’ll compare it to the sample that inspired this post.
Evan Williams Single Barrel, vintage 2016
Purchase Info: $33.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN
Price per Drink (50 mL): $2.27
Details: 8 years old. 43.3 % ABV.
Nose: Vanilla sugar, red fruits, and oak.
Mouth: Vanilla, caramel, baking spice, and dusty oak.
Finish: Medium length and medium warmth with notes of caramel, cinnamon, and oak.
Thoughts: This isn't a complicated bourbon, but it is delicious. I haven’t had it in a long time — years, in fact. But if I see it on a shelf, I may have to pick it up (though, to be fair, I said that back in 2017 too, so who knows). It’s got those stereotypical bourbon notes, so if you just want “bourbon,” this should fit the bill.
Comparison to Vintage 2003: Back in 2013/14, this was an age-stated 10-year-old bourbon. Today it varies, but our 2016 is about eight and a half years old. The 2003 is much more oak-forward, but not in a good way. The oak note is sharp and a little off-putting. It does have a nicer mouthfeel, though, being more syrupy in texture. In the mouth, 2003 has an odd fermented fruit note that I’m not fond of. Looking back, I was neutral on that one, leaning toward dislike, and I can see why. The 2016 is a much better bourbon. Or at least my bottle is.