A little background

Woodford Reserve Batch Proof is part of the annual Master’s Collection series, which according to Woodford Reserve celebrates Master Distiller Chris Morris’ vision and Woodford Reserve’s commitment to innovation and craftsmanship within the bourbon and whiskey category and a celebration of Woodford Reserve’s proprietary batching process – A celebration of Woodford Reserve’s proprietary batching process – blending barrels into a batch and bottling the whiskey at its actual proof, straight from the barrel – Batch Proof is crafted using the same grain bill and process as Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon. This release of Woodford Reserve Batch Proof is bottled at 123.6 proof and has a MSRP of $130.

(Tasted neat from a Glencairn Glass)

Color

Dark Copper

Nose

Initial burst of raspberry cobbler and pecan pie with vanilla ice cream. This quickly gives way to oak, clove, and ginger snaps.

Palate

Uber unctuous, I man seriously oily! Raspberry preserves on the tip of the tongue balanced with herbal notes of clove, ginger, and licorice root.

Finish

Minty freshness lingers at the back of the palate and on the inside of the cheeks. Almost all of the sweetness is gone leaving behind the herbal notes with slightly tannic oak.

In closing

I personally find Woodford Reserve too sweet so when I heard they were releasing it at batch proof I was very excited to see if the extra ethanol would balance out the cloying sweetness. Well, excited until I saw the price…$130 for a non-age stated bourbon has kept me from taking the plunge and purchasing a bottle. With this being the first opportunity for Whiskey Consensus to give this a try, I jumped at the chance! I must say, it really is a good whiskey. But is it $130 good? Probably not for me.

(NOTE: The sample used for this review was provided at no cost courtesy of Brown-Foreman. We thank them for the sample and for allowing us to review it with no strings attached.)