Redwood Empire Haystack Needle 14 Year Old Single Barrel Bourbon Review

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Back in 2020, the wave of well-aged MGP bourbon (I’m talking barrels aged at least 12 years) had come to an end. Enthusiasts had sought out and purchased every batched or single barrel bottle from Belle Meade, Boone County, Joseph Magnus, Smoke Wagon, Smooth Ambler and Blaum Bros. Redwood Empire had briefly joined the party in late 2019/early 2020 with some low-rye (LBSV – 21% rye) 12-year-old barrels sourced from that famous Indiana distillery. However these were all finished in various wine casks and weren’t highly regarded among enthusiasts.

I recall feeling sad as one producer after another declared they were selling their last MGP barrels before switching to something else. Belle Meade sold their last 12-year-old Single Barrel (in their gift shop), Boone County was wrapping up their last dozen-or-so 14-year-old releases. And Smoke Wagon had just a few 13-year-old barrels left (like this beauty picked by the New Jersey Bourbon and Yacht Club).

But Redwood Empire had a surprise in store the following year (Fall 2021) when they popped up with a handful of 14-year-old barrels they had been sitting on. This time around they elected to bottle them au naturel and not finish them in wine casks (actually, they would finish some of them in wine casks the following year). They were gone almost as soon as they hit the shelves.

Redwood Empire Haystack Needle 14-Year-Old Single Barrel Bourbon

These 14 year barrels (assumed to be the low-rye mash bill that were used in the 2020 release) were distilled in 2006 – around the same time that most of the other previously-mentioned Non-Distiller Producers (NDPs) obtained their barrels, too. The one thing that many of them had in common was their low barrel proof. This was (and still is) a common occurrence for any barrel matured in the giant brick warehouses in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Those barrels were filled with 120 proof bourbon and most ended up between 95 to 110 proof after a decade in wood.

This bottle I’m reviewing today was one of the higher-proofed single barrels for its age coming in at 112 proof. What’s interesting is that the rear label says it was bottled in the Fall of 2021; which makes this bottle either 15-years-old or incredibly close to it. In fact, Redwood Empire would release a very small amount of 15-year-old Haystack Needles in 2022 that used the remainder of their stocks.

Before I get into this bottle, I have to wonder about the quality of the bourbon. Were these the very last of the old 2006-stocks because they were the ratty leftovers that nobody knew what to do with? Or were they still getting better with age? I’m here to find out. Thanks to my friend Adam, I get to taste this barrel and let you know. I sampled it neat in a glencairn.

Tasting Notes

Nose: Scents of heavy oak, chocolate and even a slight smoke scent tell you that there is a heavy, aged bourbon down inside of the glass. Sweet notes like brown sugar, dates and vanilla frosting also reveal themselves. I’m surprised (and happy) to find some fruit notes in the mix like cherries and sweeten apricots.

Palate: The opening tastes are mostly focused on tannins with pipe tobacco, leather and oak. I even taste a bit of varnish which would make sense since this barrel is 14-years-old. Some rye notes pop up too with cinnamon spice, peppermint and some indistinct herbal notes. Cherries, vanilla beans and toffee add some sweetness and fruit resulting in the perfect balance.

Finish: Lingering notes of cinnamon spice, ground pepper, York Peppermint Patties and molasses hang on to your taste buds after the sip is complete. There’s a good amount of oak and caramel to balance things out as well. The finish is simple, but does a good job at everything it shows you.

Score: 8.3/10

MGP bourbon typically gets so much better with age and this single barrel was no exception. I’ve noticed that the distillate can withstand a lot of age without becoming over-oaked – it’s kind of a superpower at this point for MGP whiskies. In regards to this bottle, the oak, leather and tobacco were very elevated but never to the point where they covered up the beautiful rye spice and fruit notes. I even found a bit of chocolate – something that usually develops in these older barrels. Fun!

The only reason why this bottle didn’t score a higher rating was that there’s not much that separates it from the other producers who’ve bottled the same juice. Is it all delicious? Sure! Does this single barrel taste better than other similar MGP single barrels? Probably not. But they are all similar enough that I couldn’t tell them apart that much. Maybe Redwood Empire was onto something when they released the first iteration of these barrels in wine cask finishes? At least it made them somewhat different.

Final Thoughts

There are some enthusiasts who believe that MGP bourbon distilled before 2007 (when Pernod Ricard sold off the company) was superior in terms of quality to their modern stuff. If you’re one of them, you probably don’t care what I have to say about this bottle and would buy it anyway. But if you’re not a person who believes that, then let me tell you that these single barrels are nice to have, but they’re not something you necessarily have to spend the money on to seek out.

Instead, if you find yourself with a bottle like this, do what Adam did and bring it out to share with a group of friends. It’s unlikely that anyone who has the chance to sip on some well-aged MGP bourbon would pass it up. To borrow the Little Debbie tagline: “Nobody doesn’t like 14-year-old MGP Bourbon.”