Very Old Barton 100 Proof Bourbon Whiskey 750ml

Barton 1792 Distillery traces back to 1879, when it opened in Bardstown, Kentucky as the Tom Moore Distillery, making it the oldest continuously operating distillery in town. The property changed hands and names several times over the following decades, becoming Barton Distillery in 1944 under new owner Oscar Getz, before passing to Constellation Brands in 1999 and then to the Sazerac Company in 2009, which gave the site its current name honoring the year Kentucky joined the Union. Very Old Barton has remained a mainstay of the distillery's lineup throughout these changes in ownership, prized for its value at the everyday end of the bourbon shelf.

This bourbon is made from a mash bill of 75 percent corn, 15 percent rye, and 10 percent malted barley, giving it a bit more rye presence than many budget-friendly bourbons carry. It's aged an average of four to six years in charred American oak before bottling, and while earlier versions of Very Old Barton carried a Bottled in Bond designation and a firm age statement, the current 100 proof release dropped both in 2018, though it kept its signature 50 percent ABV strength.

The nose brings vanilla bean and berry cobbler, with a touch of peppermint and chewy leather underneath. On the palate, caramel and vanilla lead into snickerdoodle cookie and warm rye spice, with cinnamon and a hint of tobacco rounding things out. The finish turns moderately dry, closing on clove, mint, and oak that lingers a while after the sip.