My friends! Today, I come to you with a product that has been sitting in my Whiskey Closet since September 2024. After driving for about 10 hours that day, I picked it up in Bangor, ME. I know it was a liquor store we stopped at between a visit to a dispensary and the BBQ place where we were having supper. It had been a rough day in the car to wrap up a long drive—one that ultimately took us from Minnesota to our vacation destination in Maine. All I wanted at that point was to collapse on the hotel bed and watch my Green Bay Packers play in Brazil.
Because it had been a very long drive over the course of three days, I promptly lost the receipt. And then promptly forgot almost everything about where I bought it. I have a vague recollection that the shelf tag listed it around $125, but that’s about it. I do remember being extremely happy to pick this guy up as a vacation souvenir. I mean, it had always been good in the past, so I didn’t figure I had much to worry about.
So what is it? Well, it’s the Batch Proof version of Woodford Reserve, silly. I mean, it’s right there in the name. As far as I can tell, this particular batch came out in early 2024—the press release listing one with this proof has a February 2024 date on it. Beyond that, there’s not much more to say. I just finally stumbled upon it in the closet and decided to bring it out.
Let’s see how it tastes.
Woodford Reserve Master's Collection: Batch Proof, 2024
Purchase Info: This was purchased in September in Bangor, ME, for somewhere around $125. I’ve lost the receipt and can’t remember the store—or most of the details—other than it was in Bangor. The suggested retail price is $149.99 for a 700 mL bottle.
Price per Drink (50 mL): $10.71 (at MSRP)
Details: 60. 6% ABV
Nose: Maple syrup, almond, caramel, vanilla, and oak.
Mouth: Caramel, cherry, baking spice, cocoa, and oak.
Finish: Hot and long with notes of cinnamon, cocoa, cherry, honey, and oak.
Thoughts: This is a hot one! Hot in the mouth, hot on the finish. Luckily, it takes a splash of water well. The mouthfeel is thick and rich. It’s sweet, spicy, and full of nice fruit and oak notes. What’s not to like? I mean… the price, but that’s everything these days. Oh—and the fact that they dropped the bottle size down to 700 mL from 750 mL since the last time I got my hands on one. Not a huge fan of folks doing a sneaky price increase like that. That said, I like the bourbon a lot! It’s really, really tasty.
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