Forbidden Bourbon Batch 1

Forbidden Bourbon Batch 1

Cost: $114 at local liquor store (South Carolina)

Age: NAS

Proof: 95.2

Mash Bill: 73% white corn, 10% white wheat, 17% malted barley

Reviewed neat in a Glencairn.

Appearance: Light honey color with medium, fast legs. It looks rather thin.

Nose: Very delicate and light. I immediately get sweet, floral notes and a very faint woodsy/earthy undertone. Diving into it a bit further, I get a vanilla crème brulé, with some citrus zest and a background of grilled sweet corn. There is zero burn on the nose. The nose is very light and I wish it was a bit more bold because it is different and quite nice.

Palate: This has a thin but light, almost airy, mouthfeel. I don’t normally associate thin mouthfeel with good at coating the palate well, but this does it. It’s almost as if without much effort this just spreads to all taste buds. That said, the flavors on this palate are lacking a bit of depth in that they’re very faint and hard to really focus on. What I am picking up is pear, some citrus, a hint of clove, and a floral note. I think this could significantly benefit from higher proof to help the flavors pop a bit more.

Finish: There’s a light oakiness in the finish with a little bit of citrus and baking spice. There’s a very mild hug I get from this, and the finish is rather short and forgettable. There’s a strange sting that lingers from this longer than anything else which is rather disappointing considering this isn’t even 100 proof.

Rating: 5.4/10

Overall: This is rather disappointing for a bottle with a $130 MSRP. However, it has promise. There’s a lot of uniqueness here! The nose itself is probably the most unique aspect, but the fact that the nose, palate, and finish are all so different is quite intriguing. They almost seem all disconnected, however, they string together quite seamlessly. All that said, this really needs to be more robust. It’s just lacking so much depth.

Final Thoughts: This is the first bottle released by Marianne Eaves’ newest project, Forbidden Bourbon. I almost feel like the price and hype around this is based solely on Marianne’s name being associated with this (and a bottle that is beautiful, but clearly driving up the price $20-$30 alone). Mike over at Bourbon Culture has a great writeup about Marianne and her story associated with this expression. While I’m not a fan at all of paying for something just because of a name associated with it, I will say I somewhat got caught in on the hype around this. At least I can say this does have a lot of promise. There’s a ton of uniqueness here, and I think extra age and a higher proof could do wonders for it. If the magic is in the mash bill of using white corn and white wheat and a high percentage of malted barley, then I look forward to seeing where this can go in the next few years because it’s certainly different.

1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out.

2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice.

3 | Bad | Multiple flaws.

4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but many things I’d rather have.

5 | Good | Good, just fine.

6 | Very Good | A cut above.

7 | Great | Well above average

8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional.

9 | Incredible | An all time favorite

10 | Perfect | Perfect