1792 Single Barrel Bourbon (Sigman’s) Review

1792’s lineup is one of the least diverse lineups from all the major Kentucky distillers. If we disregard the Sweet Wheat and High Rye labels, what we’re really looking at is various labels that are all the same mashbill and are separated by 7 proof points (with the exception of Full Proof). Most people would argue age separates them as well but if you sift through various online reviews, it’s been talked about how these bottles are all around the 6 to 8 year old range. The only exception to this is the “Aged Twelve Years” label.

Single Barrel

Knowing this now, it’s a strange proposition for Barton to devote a full label just to the term “Single Barrel.” The fact remains that basically all 1792 labels can be had in single barrel form (except the aforementioned Sweet Wheat and High Rye) with Bottled-In-Bond and Full Proof being the most prominent. So whenever I see a store that has picked a barrel of “Single Barrel,” I just have wonder why that is. It sells for essentially the same price as a single barrel of Bottled in Bond, is likely around the same age and is bottled at 1.4 proof points less.

Today, I have a bottle of 1792 Single Barrel that was picked by the liquor store Sigman Bottle Shop in Conyers, Georgia. My goal is to try and see if maybe the barrels set aside for bottling as a “single barrel” Single Barrel are much different. Not much is known about this bottle or the store in particular because I actually traded a bottle of Bird Dog 10 Year (ironically, another product that uses Barton distillate) for it. I’ve typically enjoyed 1792 BiB and Yellowstone Hand Picked Selections a lot, so I had a pretty good feeling at what to expect here. Let’s find out.

Tasting Notes

Nose: The nose starts off with some nice fruit flavors that I usually find in standard Barton bourbon. Cherry Cobbler dominates and I find a hint of banana as well (not uncommon to for me to find with Barton, but it’s not as strong as a Jack Daniels product). Caramel sauce, vanilla cake and cinnamon round out the standard scents while a fun and fresh scent much like Kings Hawaiian Bread can be detected. I’ve never really experienced that before.

Palate: Interestingly, my tongue tells my brain that this distillate is a bit on the youthful side. It’s also got some heavy rye-forward traits with pops of mint, clove and peppercorns. There’s some oak and worn leather that give this dram a proper tannic punch, but the low proof keeps it from being too much. The whole profile seems to be missing a bit of sweetness that I can normally find in Barton products, but there is just a tiny amount of caramel sauce present. The fruits aren’t particularly sweet either as stone fruits dominate the rest of the palate..

Finish: Some lighter leather and oak notes start the finish off while sour cherries, apricots and some cherry Robitussum offer some additional layers. It’s still lacking in sweetness which lets some spicier notes take over in the end. Overall it’s pleasant, but leaves you wanting for more depth and variety.

Score: 5.9/10

The vanilla and sweet aromas on the nose remind you that this is a Sazerac product because of how close it is to Buffalo Trace, but upon tasting it, the sweetness that I’d normally associate with it begins to fade away. What’s strange is that I generally like higher proofed Barton products because of the fruity sweetness they seem to carry, but the lower proof here took it away.

It’s disappointing that I did not enjoy this bottle that much. The guy I traded this bottle for claimed he did not like it either. But I thought the joke was on him because I was trading him a bottle of Bird Dog that I also didn’t like. The universe sorted everything out in the end because it turns out that we both probably traded equally unsatisfying bottles.

This isn’t to say that every bottle of 1792 Single Barrel will be bad, but it also goes to show a point that I continually harp on towards my readers: try these single barrels before you buy them. And if you absolutely cannot, then at least buy from stores that you typically trust for picking a great barrel.

Ratings Breakdown

1 | Disgusting | Drain pour (Example: Jeffers Creek)

2 | Poor | Forced myself to drink it

3 | Bad | Flawed (AD Laws 4 Grain BiB, Clyde Mays anything)

4 | Sub-par | Many things I’d rather have (Tincup 10 year)

5 | Good | Good, solid, ordinary (Larceny, Sazerac Rye)

6 | Very Good | Better than average (Buffalo Trace, OGD BiB)

7 | Great | Well above average (Old Ezra Barrel Proof, Old Weller Antique)

8 | Excellent | Exceptional (Michter’s Barrel Proof Rye, Four Roses Barrel Strength)

9 | Incredible | Extraordinary (GTS, 13 Year MGP or Canadian Rye)

10 | Insurpassable | Nothing Else Comes Close (William Larue Weller)