Review #1: Ben Holladay 8 Year One Barrel Bourbon

Review #1 Ben Holladay 8 Year One Barrel Bourbon RICKHOUSE C FLOOR 5 RICK 13 / TIER 3

Price: $89.99 Proof: 125.2 Mash Bill: 73% Corn | 15% Rye | 12% Malted Barley Age: 8 years, 5 months Rested for a half hour or so

My parents were in the Kansas City area over the holladays and stopped by the distillery to pick me up one of these bad boys. They had posted these on their Instagram a few weeks prior and I was honestly a little shocked they still had some left. They’re apparently offering a tasting of this release at the distillery bar where they give you 5 samples - one from each floor of the rickhouse. My parents did the tasting and preferred the 5th floor. Needless to say, I was proud of their choice considering that they are both non-whisky enthusiasts. Super excited for this one. Let get to it.

Nose: Powdered sugar, sweet apple, raspberry, cotton candy. A very sweet forward and pleasant aroma.

Palate: Caramel apple, raspberry, brown sugar cinnamon oatmeal, mild sweet oak

Finish: Long. That caramel apple is what sits and lingers the longest along with some sweet oak.

I admittedly have not had the standard 1856 Bib release, so I don’t have that to reference here. I have had the SRW and SRW RP though, and I can tell this bottle came from the same distillery as there are some familiar notes I get in this one - particularly the rich caramel and red fruit forward flavors I also get from the SRW RP. This is a really great pour. It drinks more like ~115 proof to me and has a really nice bright and sweet flavor profile. I really love the caramel apple thing going on here.

This is really good! I’m really stoked about snagging one of these and would highly recommend grabbing one yourself if you happen to find yourself in the KC area in the near future. BH is putting out some absolutely fantastic whiskey and I’d have to say it’s my favorite craft distiller of those I’ve tried to this point.

I give this an 87/100