Named after Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor, a legendary figure in the history of bourbon, from the 1800s who owned a number of distilleries and pioneered production methods which are still used today. He was also instrumental in bringing about the Bottle in Bond (BIB) act of 1897.
Small Batch is aged inside warehouses which Taylor built.
Appearance: Beautiful deep oak, with and tangerine hue. Luxuriously oily coating with clear thick legs.
Nose: Good amount of alcohol from that higher ABV, nice spicy/corn sweet aromas. Oak, honey and butter, followed by cherries and dessert wine’esque richness.
There are malty and herbal notes too, very much reminiscent of rolling cornfields and warm sunny evenings.
Palate: Lovely oily mouthfeel. Rich butterscotch soaked dried fruits hit the palate burst, almost bursting with flavour. Then there is the oak, tobacco and caramel.
A lovely confectionary sugar-coated corn sweetness coats the flavours in the foreground: cinnamon, clove, a touch of white pepper and expressed orange. A Christmas treat for sure!
Sipping when breathing through the nose also introduces the ethanol hit to the palate experience too, for an extra kick!
The sweetness lingers at the back of the throat, accompanied by the spiciness, it’s a superb balance.
Finish: Very slightly drying, spicy and sweet, like black pepper on strawberries in reverse.
Butterscotch and that slightly bitter orange note (almost a liqueur concentration) that I’m getting a lot with bourbon recently too.
Overall: I love this. It’s not cheap and it’s getting more expensive, but for me at least, it’s worth the money.
It’s a beautiful balance of flavours, just the right ABV and satisfyingly oily on the palate.
The SiB is even better!
