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Eagle Rare 10 Year — Tasting Note
Eagle Rare 10 Year — Tasting Note
The Quick Take: A perfectly fine 10-year bourbon that the bourbon internet has decided is a holy grail. It isn't. Not bad — just not worth the hype it gets.
🥃🥃🥃 — Better than the price suggests (at MSRP)
The Stats
Distillery: Buffalo Trace (Frankfort, KY) — Sazerac Company
Proof: 90
Age: 10 years
Mash Bill: Buffalo Trace Mash Bill #1 (low-rye, exact recipe undisclosed)
Price Paid: $55 (at MSRP — secondary chases $90+)
The Verdict
Worth Buying At: MSRP, around $40-50 where you can still find it. Anything above $60 is the hype tax.
Worth Hunting For: No. Buffalo Trace standard at half the price drinks nearly as well.
Pair It With: A simple steak. A nice cigar. Nothing this bottle does better than a regular Buffalo Trace.
Compare To: Buffalo Trace standard ($25-30) drinks 90% as well for 50% of the price. Knob Creek 9 ($35-40) at higher proof gives you more bourbon. Eagle Rare's age statement is real, but the pour doesn't stand apart enough to earn the secondary prices people pay.
Who's This For: Drinkers who find one at MSRP. Collectors who want the label. Not for anyone paying secondary.
The take: I'll say what most reviewers won't: Eagle Rare is good, not great. The cult around this bottle is what happens when allocation, marketing, and bourbon-tok decide a label deserves more than the juice in it. If you find one for $55, grab it and enjoy it. Don't pay $90 to a flipper for the privilege.
Whistlepig Old World Rye — Tasting Note
Whistlepig Old World Rye — Tasting Note
The Quick Take: Not a fan. The triple-cask wine finishing pulls the rye in directions I don't want it to go — and at the price Whistlepig charges, "not a fan" means hard pass.
🥃🥃 — Special occasion (or someone else's bottle)
The Stats
Distillery: Whistlepig (Shoreham, VT) — though sourced rye, not distilled there
Proof: 86
Type: 12-year rye finished in three casks — Madeira, port, and Sauternes
The Verdict
Worth Buying At: Skip it for me. If you love wine-finished spirits, maybe MSRP.
Worth Hunting For: No.
Pair It With: Hard to recommend a pairing for a bottle I don't reach for.
Compare To: If you want a finished rye that works, look at Sagamore Spirit's port-finished rye (and bonus — it's Maryland). If you want a great rye at this proof, Pikesville or High West Double Rye both deliver more for less.
Who's This For: Drinkers who specifically love wine-influenced whiskey. People who like the Whistlepig branding. Not me.
The take: I respect the craft Whistlepig puts into their finishing program — but the Old World profile reads more like dessert wine than rye whiskey. If I'm spending real money on a rye, I want the rye to lead, not the cask. Hard pass.
Elijah Craig Toasted Small Batch — Tasting Note
Elijah Craig Toasted Small Batch — Tasting Note
The Quick Take: Decent toasted-barrel bourbon. Solid execution of the "second barrel" play, but doesn't hit hard enough to make me reach for it over the standard Elijah Craig Small Batch.
🥃🥃🥃 — Better than the price suggests (if you find it on shelf)
The Stats
Distillery: Heaven Hill (Bardstown, KY)
Mash Bill: 78% corn / 12% rye / 10% malted barley
Proof: 94
Type: Standard Elijah Craig finished in a custom toasted barrel
Price Range: Around MSRP at Maryland retail when you find it
The Verdict
Worth Buying At: MSRP. Don't chase secondary on this one.
Worth Hunting For: No — and it's been getting harder to find anyway.
Pair It With: A cigar. Dark chocolate. The toasted character does its best work alongside something with weight.
Compare To: Plays in the same space as Woodford Double Oak — bourbon plus a toasted finish — but at a slightly lower proof. Peerless Toasted does the same trick with more conviction at twice the price.
Who's This For: Heaven Hill fans wanting to taste what a toasted finish does to a familiar mash bill. Not a starter bottle.
The take: Not bad — Heaven Hill doesn't make bad bourbon. But "decent" is all this one earns from me. Standard Elijah Craig Small Batch at half the price is the smarter cabinet choice.
Wild Turkey Longbranch — Tasting Note
Wild Turkey Longbranch — Tasting Note
The Quick Take: A Wild Turkey collaboration with Matthew McConaughey that ends up being more interesting on the label than in the glass. Decent old fashioned bourbon, not much more.
🥃🥃🥃 — Better than the price suggests (in cocktails)
The Stats
Distillery: Wild Turkey (Lawrenceburg, KY)
Proof: 86
Type: Eight-year-old bourbon refined with Texas mesquite and oak charcoals
Background: Created with Matthew McConaughey, who has served as Wild Turkey's creative director since 2016
The Verdict
Worth Buying At: $35-40. Wouldn't go much higher for an 86-proof pour.
Worth Hunting For: No — find Wild Turkey 101 instead.
Pair It With: An old fashioned. A whiskey sour. The mellow profile gets pushed around by bitters in a good way.
Compare To: A softer, smoother sibling to Wild Turkey 101 at almost double the price for less proof and less character. The 101 wins on every metric except marketing.
Who's This For: Wild Turkey fans who want to try the lineup. Cocktail drinkers who want a smoother, lower-proof base.
The take: Drinkable, easy, fine. But for the price, you can buy two bottles of Wild Turkey 101 — and the 101 is the better bourbon. The McConaughey label sells the bottle, not the juice.
Woodford Reserve Double Oak — Tasting Note
Woodford Reserve Double Oak — Tasting Note
The Quick Take: Solid old fashioned bourbon. As a sipper at $60, it doesn't quite earn the shelf space — but as a cocktail base, it's a workhorse.
🥃🥃🥃 — Better than the price suggests (in cocktails)
The Stats
Distillery: Woodford Reserve / Brown-Forman (Versailles, KY)
Mash Bill: 72% corn / 18% rye / 10% malted barley
Proof: 90.4
Type: Bourbon aged in new charred oak, then finished in a second deeply toasted, lightly charred barrel
Price Paid: $60
The Verdict
Worth Buying At: $60 is right for the cocktail role I use it in. Wouldn't pay more.
Worth Hunting For: No — it's everywhere.
Pair It With: An old fashioned. A Manhattan. The double oak adds depth that holds up against bitters and citrus.
Compare To: Maker's Mark 46 plays the same "extra wood" game at a similar price — different flavor profile, similar idea. Peerless Toasted does the same thing better but costs twice as much.
Who's This For: Cocktail drinkers who want a bourbon with enough oak character to push through bitters and a sugar cube.
The take: Better in a glass with ice and an orange peel than neat. Not every bourbon needs to be a contemplative sipper — sometimes you just need a reliable old fashioned base, and this one delivers.
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