Dec 11, 2022
It had BIG DOGS! It had UNDER DOGS! It was a true BATTLE!
A big thank you to Rita, Jon, and Mark who helped set up and get things ready and to everyone who brought beverages, food, and snacks. It was great to meet so many new members and bourbon battle virgins last night. The conversations were lively, the balls were spicy, the whiskey was great, and people’s holiday cheer was in full swing.
The theme was Bottled in Bond and we had some highly sought after, well reputed bottles in the lineup. Honestly, this was probably the best lineup top to bottom we’ve had in a battle. There were no stinkers and I think the general consensus is that people would be happy taking home any of these bottles.
Here are the results! Lowest score wins.
8th place – Evan Williams BiB (193 pts)
7th place – Leopold Bros BiB (188 pts)
6th place – New Riff Bourbon BiB (159 pts)
5th – Heaven Hill BiB (146 pts)
4th – Henry McKenna Single Barrel BiB (142 pts)
3rd – Old Dominick BiB (124 pts)
2nd – E.H. Taylor BiB (123 pts)
1st – Old 55 Single Barrel (72 pts)
Congratulations to Old 55 from Newtown, IN and Old Dominick from Memphis, TN!! Talk about some underdogs bringing the 
HEAT!! Wow! Old 55 is a family farm to bottle operation in the middle of Indiana about 3.5 hours away (Newtown has a pop of 213). We discovered it on our way home last year from doing the New Riff barrel pick in KY. It was unknown to all of us except Tom Garland who wanted to go and try their sweet corn whiskey. Boy, are we glad we stopped there! We enjoyed all their products and Clifford Johnson has been going there to replenish his stock every few months.
Old Dominick is a distillery turned on to the club by Dianna Moroz Webb who lives in TN but grew up in Sycamore. She’s been muleing up Huling Station blended whiskey, which was OD’s sourced whiskey, for us after it took first place in one of the earlier bourbon battles in 2021. Just this year, OD released their own juice and clearly they’re doing something right! They have this bottled and bond and a lower 86 proof standard offering. Dianna already messaged me and said she’ll be happy to put on her chaps and mule again for us this summer.
For all of the stat nerds … here’s more on the whiskeys and the final scoring.
Whiskey A
Leopold Bros Bottled in Bond
Proof: 100
Age: 5 years
Mash Bill: 64% corn, 21% malted barley, and 15% Abruzzi Heritage Rye
Approx. MSRP: $65
Whiskey B
Evan Williams Bottled in Bond
Proof: 100
Age: 5? years
Mash Bill: 78% Corn, 12% Malted Barley, and 10% Rye
Approx. MSRP: $20
Whiskey C
New Riff Straight Bourbon Bottled in Bond
Proof: 100
Age: 4 years
Mash Bill: 65% Corn, 30% Rye, 5% Malted Barley
Approx. MSRP: $45
Whiskey D
Henry McKenna Bottled in Bond 10-year
Proof: 100
Age: 10 years
Mash Bill: 78% Corn, 12% Malted Barley, and 10% Rye
Approx. MSRP: $50
Whiskey E
Old Dominick Straight Tennessee Bottled in Bond
Proof: 100
Age: 4 years
Mash Bill: 75% corn, 13% rye and 12% malted barley
Approx. MSRP: $50
Whiskey F
Heaven Hill Bottled in Bond
Proof: 100
Age: 7 years
Mash Bill: 78% Corn, 12% Malted Barley, and 10% Rye
Approx. MSRP: $45
Whiskey G
EH Taylor Small Batch
Proof: 100
Age: 7-8 years?
Mash Bill: undisclosed (Buffalo Trace Mash Bill #1, low rye)
Approx. MSRP: $50
Whiskey H
Old 55 Bottle in Bond Single Barrel
Proof: 100
Age: 4 years
Mash Bill: 80% Corn, 20% Wheat
Approx. MSRP: $75
