American Whiskey Review #98: Kirkland Barton 1792 Bottled-in-Bond

Distillery: Barton 1792.

Bottler: Kirkland.

Region: Kentucky.

Age: NAS, at least 4 years of age.

ABV: 50.0%.

Price: $24 for 1L.

Color: 1.5, Auburn/Polished Mahogany.

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Nose: (according to the wife) There’s a lot of ethanol. Other than that though, a ton of bananas come through with some baking spices.

Palate: At full strength, it drinks a lot hotter than the 50% ABV it is. It’s actually virtually undrinkable without some watering. With a splash of water, you get a light burnt caramel note. Some notes of baking spices and raw walnuts are also present.

Finish: Medium in length. Baking spices and banana nut muffins (specifically the giant ones that they sell at Costco) come to mind.

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Conclusion: 1792 definitely comes in as one of my favorite bourbon producers so ever since their release for Kirkland Signature/Costco was announced, I’d been keeping an eye peeled for them to pop up. At $23.99 for a liter, it was hard to pass this up as well. The nose, while a tad ethanol-y, carries a lot of lovely banana and baking spice notes that are really inviting. The finish is great, with more of those same notes. My disappointment comes from how it tastes. At full strength, it was pretty harsh and hard to drink. A splash of water did cool it down, but then I’m left without a ton of flavor. There’s a light bit of burnt caramel and a light bit of baking spice but really, nothing leaps out. Perhaps it needs some air time to open up a bit but as it stands, it’s pretty mediocre though I’m not sure you can ask for a lot more from something priced this affordably. Would I buy another? Probably not, one will last me a while.

Final Score: 73.

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American Whiskey Review #98, Bourbon Review #71, Whisky Network Review #462

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Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.