Johnny Drum Black Label

The Johnny Drum whiskeys are products of Kentucky Bourbon Distillers. KBD has a large line of products including the Willett Family Estate bourbons and ryes, Willett Single Barrel Bourbon, small batch products Rowan's Creek, Noah's Mill, Pure Kentucky XO, and Kentucky Vintage, Vintage Bourbons and ryes, the Johnny Drum Line of bourbons, and the Old Bardstown line of bourbons. These distillates are currently procured and aged from other distillers, whose identity is not listed. This bottle of Johnny Drum Black Label has a 4 years old age statement. In the past Johnny Drum Black Label has had age statements of 12 years old. The reviewed bottle has been open 2 years, is 95% full and preserved with gas for the last 14 months. This bottle was a gift from my big sister Mary Anne. This review is of the bottle as it is now

Nose: Very pleasant sweet maple flavours from oak, including lots of natural caramel and vanilla. Spice from rye is there in a nice balance. This nose lacks the sophistication of greater wood aging, but is of quite a high quality for a 4 year old, especially after having taken a good bit of air, which has developed it and opened it

Taste: Wow! I put this bottle down 2 years ago and picked it up now...it has opened up enormously and is quite tasty, albeit with the younger flavours from wood. What I am seeing, now that I've tasted a couple of hundred bourbons, is that these particular barrels of 4 yo are the earliest maturing barrels. They are of decent, but not outstanding quality...and are at the very limit of their ability to keep from becoming bitter, even though they have only been used for 4 years. No doubt the slower maturing barrels are the ones which live on to become the 6, 8, 10, 15, 17, 21 YO bourbons and ryes. The net effect on the palate is of a VERY decent 4 yo bourbon, and, I might add, if you are lucky enough to have a good selection of KBD products available to you, one that is offered for sale, in the US, anyway, at a very inexpensive price

Finish: very decent, medium length, ends sweet with strong wood flavours; not a work of art, but enjoyable

Balance: I reiterate that this is the review of a long-opened bottle. This bottle would have rated at least 5 points lower at first, before it opened up. I have found that I like most products offered from KBD. This is a simple but good bourbon, with the usual rich elements of oak and rye being the highlights