michter's 10 year single barrel bourbon review
Michter's 10 Year Single Barrel Bourbon
Distillery: Michter’s (sourced)
Type & Region: Bourbon, USA
Alcohol: 47.2%
Composition: Unknown
Aged: 10 years in virgin white oak barrels
Color: 1.3/2.0 on the color scale (russet, muscat)
Price: $145 (purchased in Japan). $200+ secondary
From the company website:
“Mature in age and truly exceptional in quality, Michter’s 10 Year Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon has earned its place as an enduring favorite of the most discerning whiskey connoisseurs.”
Distillery: Michter’s (sourced)
Type & Region: Bourbon, USA
Alcohol: 47.2%
Composition: Unknown
Aged: 10 years in virgin white oak barrels
Color: 1.3/2.0 on the color scale (russet, muscat)
Price: $145 (purchased in Japan). $200+ secondary
From the company website:
“Mature in age and truly exceptional in quality, Michter’s 10 Year Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon has earned its place as an enduring favorite of the most discerning whiskey connoisseurs.”
michter's 10 year single barrel bourbon overview
Alright, I finally got my hands on a bottle of Michter’s 10 Year Single Barrel Bourbon (2019 release, 19H1432), because oh boy these are really tough to find in the US. You know the drill at this point – lines, markups, general despair over not being able to get one. It’s a bit easier to get in Japan, at least for now when tourists aren’t allowed to enter the country. And while it’s not everywhere like Evan Williams 12 Year or Wild Turkey 8 Year, it’s also not extremely difficult to get either.
For whatever reason, this 2019 release likely sat on the store shelf for at least 18 months, if not longer since I got this in October 2021. The wild thing is that I saw it, didn’t buy it, and went back a month later and it was still there, which would never happen in the US. I don’t know why exactly (best guess is most Japanese people don’t want to pay $150 for new bourbon), but regardless, I took the plunge and bought it.
For background and before starting the review, Michter’s 10 Year Single Barrel Bourbon, just like the 10 year single rye, is sourced from an undisclosed Kentucky Distiller. If it’s the same source as the rye, it could be Old Forester, but I can’t say for sure. And while it’s sourced for now, Michter’s is aging their own bourbon, so they’ll likely switch over at some point, but who really knows when.
Because none of this is ever done in a vacuum (unless you do these blind, which I don’t), yes I know people rave about it, think its amazing, so on and so forth. Now I finally have the chance to decide for myself, so let’s find out if it’s worth the purchase and meets the hype in this Michter’s 10 Year Single Barrel Bourbon review.
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michter's 10 year single barrel bourbon smell
Michter’s 10 Year Single Barrel Bourbon gives off slightly darker caramel, dried orange peel, vanilla, dried cherry, roasted oak, cinnamon, clove, dried licorice and fennel, rose, tobacco, and dark chocolate. The darker roasted oak, tobacco, and chocolate give it more maturity and depth.
But while this has some nicely nuanced scents, at the same time it doesn’t quite bring the heft or richness that higher ABV bourbons do, or even the lower ABV 10 year single barrel rye. And immediately, I can’t help but notice that this doesn’t smell as good as the rye, which was superbly expressive and rich…even at a lower ABV.
Swirling coaxes out a bit more must to the dark honey, darker licorice and fennel, dark cherry, vanilla, apple, dried orange peel, toasted oak, cinnamon, clove, tobacco, fresh coffee grounds, and chocolate. Michter’s 10 Year Single Barrel Bourbon has a surrounding darkness, oakiness, and oldness, but not in a burnt way, led by moderate roastiness, tobacco, dark chcoolate, and coffee grounds.
In my first review attempt, Micher’s 10 Year Bourbon was pretty herbal, more than expected and like the watered-down version of the 10 year rye, but that herbalness faded in my second go, replaced with more mature and developed oak and tobacco.
So overall, this has a nice mature oakiness with supporting sweetness, fruit, herbalness, and spice, but it also doesn’t quite bring anything that compelling to the table. There’s just no “oh whoa” or “wow” moment. There’s a lot to enjoy, but it’s diminished by the slightly thin and not-expressive-enough scents that just start to scratch the surface to the next level.
michter's 10 year single barrel bourbon taste and aftertaste
My first taste has a nice initial burst of caramel, toasted vanilla, roasted oak, licorice, fennel, ripe red apple, cherry, dried cherry, cocoa powder, cinnamon, clove, and freshly sawn oak. There’s a faint of tobacco in the back as well, which is always welcome, as well as a gentle bite.
“Chewing” gives me slightly herbal caramel and honey, dark chocolate, vanilla, licorice, fennel, dried berries, roasted oak, cinnamon, clove, orange, pineapple, and guava. There’s a little bit more chocolate this time around, as well as some extra cinnamon, oak, and clove zing as the bourbon sits in my mouth longer.
Just like in the scents, this Michter’s 10 Year Single Barrel Bourbon was a bit more herbal and tropical fruit-forward the first time around, but after about 10 more days became more dark, oaky, spicy, and chocolatey. It’s wild how much it changed in a short period of time.
While drinking this, I again can’t help but think that while Michter’s 10 Year Single Barrel Bourbon is tasty, nothing quite stands out to me and I’m not particularly wowed. I definitely like the dark, oaky, spicy, and chocolatey mature backbone with dried fruit sprinkled in there, but nothing ever ends up popping to really seal the deal as a “Top Shelf” bourbon.
Surface level isn’t quite the right word, it just doesn’t have the density, richness, or evolving layers that the lower ABV 10 year single barrel rye had up, down, and all around. It’s too subtle and subdued for its own good. I’ll reiterate the point here, lower ABV does not have to mean less flavor if the bourbon is great and the barrel is picked well.
The aftertaste leans a bit more oaky and dry with roasted oak, coffee grounds, and toasted cinnamon, then honey, licorice, fennel, and dried apple and orange. Over time it transforms into a longer-lasting and slightly herbal, dry, and sweet end.
After “chewing” it becomes a bit more herbal and slightly earthy with honey, licorice, fennel, clove, dried oak, coffee grounds, dried orange peel, and vanilla. The roasty oak, licorice, clove, and honey linger around for a while longer. This probably would pair well with a cigar, if I knew anything about cigars.
Check out the Knob Creek 12 Year Bourbon review.
Michter's 10 Year Single Barrel Bourbon Rating
Michter’s 10 Year Single Barrel leaves me conflicted because it has some very good and nearly great moments, but overall is a letdown and one of the most disappointing whiskeys I’ve had in a while (price is not a factor in the rating). It teeters at that borderline of “Top Shelf”, but there’s not nearly enough here regardless of price or hype. It pains me because I really wanted Michter’s to nail Michter’s 10 Year Single Barrel Bourbon like they did the 10 Year Single Barrel Rye.
The good is that it brings a somewhat rich, mature, and layered blend of caramel, mature sweet oak, tobacco, chocolate, licorice, fennel, dark fruit, and spice that suggest it’s well-aged. Some of the best bourbons I’ve ever had have similar traits.
The not so great is that it all comes together a bit watered-down without the richness, viscosity, depth, or impact of other bourbons that I think are far better, regardless of ABV. Flat and one-dimensional are definitely the wrong words…it just doesn’t offer anything that’s so memorable or attention-grabbing. In this case maybe it’s partially due to the ABV, but it’s tough to say because the lower ABV 10 year rye was incredible and full of character. Maybe it’s the distillate itself, not a great barrel, or something else.
For what it’s worth, it did improve in the ~2 weeks between my first and second review attempt. It initially was more herbal and earthy, and less oaky and mature. The air-time opened up more of those sweet oak, tobacco, chocolate, and oak spice notes that upgraded the experience a bit.
I haven’t had any other barrels, so it’s not fair to say that it’s never worth buying. Maybe I got one of the duds and on average they’re worthy of a “Top Shelf” rating. I can and will say that this experience, although overall pleasant, gives me great pause for getting other 10 year bourbon releases. Maybe Michter’s will send me a sample at some point to change my mind, but until then, I’m sticking with the 10 year rye or just going elsewhere entirely.
I have far too much fun writing about whiskey and singlehandedly running The Whiskey Shelf to bring you independent, honest, and useful reviews, comparisons, and more. I’m proudly Asian American and can speak Cantonese, Mandarin, and some Japanese.
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