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One of the biggest draws to the Michter’s Fort Nelson Distillery site has been their tour experience that comes with filling your own bottle of whiskey. Specifically, they were only allowing their coveted barrel strength rye whiskey to be filled. Every so many days, a fresh “barrel” would be brought to Fort Nelson to refill the contraption they used to allow customers this experience. I always thought it was odd that the barrel they had on a makeshift rick was obviously only there for show. I had heard that the inside of this barrel was a stainless steel vat of sorts that would hold the whiskey before it would pass through the clear glass plumbing system and into your bottle.
My main question with this practice was if the single barrel designation was truly authentic (I just want to point out that “single barrel” has no legal definition by the TTB). Suppose a person was getting ready to fill their bottle and there was only enough liquid left in the “barrel” to fill a portion of the bottle. What would they do? Do they top off that barrel? Do they fully empty it whenever it gets to a certain point? And if that’s the case, what do they do with the whiskey? Let me know if you have ever heard how this process works.
I can’t pinpoint the exact year they started to allow barrel strength bourbon as an option for the “Fill Your Own Bottle” experience, but I know it was at least a couple years after the distillery originally opened. At that point, Michter’s Barrel Strength Bourbon was still a very rare sight to see anywhere. Finally, enthusiasts had the option to buy their own and all they had to do was pay for the price of that special tour.
This is how I came into possession of this bottle. I spent a weekend with the guys from the Neat Drinkers Association (NDA for short) last August when they came into town. The Michter’s tour was one of the first ones we did and everyone had a great time. A key thing I remembered about the experience was just how strict the staff was with the personalized label you attached to your bottle. They were guarding the labels like their life depended on it and had to personally check off the “Hand Bottled By” section to make sure we were only putting our real names or a company name. I don’t know what kind of shenanigans were done by other visitors in the past, but it must have been serious. As an aside, even Heaven Hill doesn’t have any controls over what you put on the label. You can grab as many as you want, actually.
What is Michter’s Barrel Strength Bourbon anyway?
For the unimitated, Michter’s Barrel Strength Bourbon is unique in a few different regards. It uses Brown-Forman’s King of Kentucky mash bill (formerly known as the Early Times mash bill) of 79% corn, 11% rye and 10% malted barley. The yeast is going to be roughly the same as that one, too. So expect a good amount of fruit. Secondly, it differs from the KoK MB because Michter’s puts it into the barrel at 103 proof, not 125 like Brown-Forman.
The cooperage is also different in the sense that Brown-Forman uses uniform barrels made from staves that were air dried for about 6 months before being given a Level 4 Char. Michter’s, on the other hand, sources their barrels with the specs that they must be air dried for at least 24 months followed by a toasting treatment and then a Level 2, 3 or 4 char. That last point struck me as odd, but Joe Magglioco has gone on the record to say that their barrels don’t always have consistent char level. This is apparently to allow more flexibility when it comes to blending them together to create similar tasting batches.
The last time I reviewed a Michter’s Barrel Strength Bourbon was back in 2018 when it first came out. If we apply the knowledge that Brown-Forman stopped distilling for Michter’s in 2011, that would have made that particular release a minimum of 7-years-old (unless they tanked it prior to its release?). That’s pretty impressive for bourbon aged in heat-cycled warehouses. This 2024 release I’m reviewing today is likely not that old. Michter’s always matures their stocks according to a wide variety of benchmarks including taste, smell and color, but they still don’t put age statements on anything except their 10, 20 and 25-year-old releases.
So how is their more modern version of barrel strength bourbon? Let’s find out. I sampled this neat in a glencairn.
Tasting Notes
Nose: I like the nose because of the oak, but it’s not the mature, antique, oxidized kind. I’d describe it as more of a new-smelling, punchy oak. There is plenty of chocolate, vanilla and toffee in the scents as well. I kind of expect this with Michter’s bourbon, Additional mature notes of tobacco leaf, cherry cough syrup, lemon Pledge wood cleaner are also detectable.
Palate: Cherry cough syrup and a bit of orange zest collides with Andes after-dinner mints. The rye content shows itself through flavors of anise/licorice, allspice and cinnamon. A hint of chili powder gives each sip a bit of heat. Oddly, I find a few floral flavors which don’t seem to belong, but I’m not going to complain about it. As far as tannins go, oak and cigar box notes show off a seemingly well-aged profile. On a final note, the mouthfeel was great the whole time with a very viscous and satisfying feeling. I’m a fan.
Finish: At the end I find slowly fading sweetness and oak. The spice lingers in my jowls. The cinnamon and oak spice keep the finish interesting. Residual fruit notes of cherry, strawberry and some citrus rind balance it all out
Score: 8.1/10
Overall, this is still a very delicious and well-rounded bourbon. It is certainly on par with something like a low-proof Old Forester Barrel Strength Single Barrel – not that they share many similarities. The tannins like oak and tobacco certainly bring a mature note to the bourbon, but I still find telltale signs that this has been aged in a heat-cycled environment because it always brings tannic-adjacent notes that are always a little bit strange. For instance, the nosing note of “Pledge Wood Cleaner” is something I find often in Brown-Forman (Kentucky) whiskies for some reason. It’s slightly astringent-like, but almost unmistakable when I do detect it.
Final Thoughts
I did a quick comparison to what little bit I have remaining from my 2018 bottle and I would give the edge to the 2018. Many fans of Michter’s would agree that the stuff that Brown-Forman made before was simply superior. I don’t like to jump on a bandwagon just because it’s a popular opinion, but I would agree with their sentiment here.
I’m still happy I was able to buy a bottle and get a chance to see how their own distillate is shaping up. I would also still recommend for anyone who is a fan of Michter’s (or Brown-Forman) to pick up a bottle if they are in town and can take time for a tour. It’s not every day you see these on your local store’s shelf, so why not? But if you’re a fan of the brand and live nowhere near Kentucky, then I’d suggest getting a bottle of Old Forester 1924, Woodford Batch Proof or an Old Forester Single Barrel (100 proof or Barrel Strength). Those will give you about 60% of the experience of this bottle and are probably a lot easier to find.
