Belle Meade Single Barrel, Barrel #3169

COST: I’m reviewing a sample (price variance is wild online for these cask strength SiB bottles, from $65 up to $600)

AGE: 10 yrs

MASH BILL: Undisclosed (MGP bourbon sourced by Nelson’s Green Brier Distilling)

PROOF: 108.8

This sample is from bottle 42 of barrel 3169.

Reviewed neat in a Glencairn (unless otherwise noted).

APPEARANCE: Orangish, brown (1.6), syrupy looking on the side of the glass.

NOSE: I get a sweet fruit note right away but struggle to get a bead on it. After the first sip, I identify it as a slightly medicinal cherry note. Along with a note of baked graham cracker pie crust, the combination of these first two notes makes for a slightly sweet cherry pie vibe with an ethanol note. Sweet oak and cinnamon provide some depth. (With a few drops of water: This really toned down the astringentness and makes it more palpable (noseable?). The nose is even sweeter and I get a slight orange zest note along with a toastiness to the oak note.)

PALATE: Caramel, cherry, and oak are most prominent on the palate. With a good chew, that cherry note is a very defined cherry Jolly Rancher and I also get a little nutmeg. This is surprisingly light on the palate. I expected a little more heft from this one based on the syrupy look in the glass. Most of the flavor is focused on the center of the tongue and sides of the mouth. (With a few drops of water: While the nose and the finish benefited from the water, the palate…not as much. While the cherry is a bit more dominate, making it overall sweeter, the other notes are more muted.)

FINISH: A medium to long length finish and rather dry with no hug. The oak really dominates here with a heavily tannic oak profile and a light caramelized sugar note. The cherry note occasionally returns after the swallow as well. There is a spiciness but it's hard to place, so I'll generically call it baking spice. There's a definite astringent note that's left accentuating the tannic dryness. (With a few drops of water: The astringent note has been all but eliminated, and the spice is more pronounced as candied cinnamon, almost like Red Hots. There’s also a slight orange zest that lingers as well. This is still a very dry finish.)

RATING: 6.0/10

VALUE: 8.1/10 (this value is based on a ratio of the $/mL to the rating above compared to this same ratio for all other r/Bourbon reviews I’ve made and normalized to 10)

OVERALL: I love the cherry note of this, but it drinks a little hot for 108.8 proof and is a bit monotone. I wish it had a little more depth and complexity across the board, but the finish in particular isn't hitting right with me being overly dry and hot. The few drops of water did this dram quite well. It really helped break the ethanol and astringent notes and allowed the notes we’re all looking for shine through a bit more. Overall though, I think this will be a fairly unmemorable sip for me, which is a shame considering Belle Meade is no longer being produced. That said, there’s a bunch of Belle Meade expressions out there that are more renowned if I can manage to get my hands on them. (Stay tuned for a Madeira cask finished Bell Meade review soon…)

1 | Disgusting | ...I've not subjected myself to this level

2 | Poor | Balcones Lineage

3 | Bad | High West Double Rye, Jefferson's Ocean 28

4 | Sub-par | Weller's SR, Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select

5 | Good | Buffalo Trace, Sazerac Rye, Green River Wheated

6 | Very Good | Blanton's, Holladay Bourbons, Eagle Rare

7 | Great | Baker's 7yr SiB, WhistlePig PiggyBack SiB, 1792 BiB

8 | Excellent | Most ECBP batches, JD SiB BiB, High West MWND Act 11

9 | Incredible | Barrel Bourbon Batch T8ke, BBC DS #7, Four Roses OESQ

10 | Perfect | Found North Batch 08