EVAN WILLIAMS SINGLE BARREL VINTAGE
Barrel No. 887, Barreled on 5/16/06, Bottled on 11/13/15MASH BILL – 78% corn, 10% rye, 12% barley
PROOF – 86.6
AGE – 9 years 6 months
DISTILLERY – Old Evan Williams Distillery (i.e. Heaven Hill)
PRICE – $22
WORTH BUYING? – At this price? Any chance I get!
For my last post of any given year I’ve often picked something either pizazzy or reflective. Maybe a special release or a philosophical rumination or some showy comparison of sought-after bottles. In 2023 I decided to flip that script and go with something down and dirty—Jameson. Given how 2025 has gone, I thought I’d do that again. This past year has been both hair and blood pressure raising. Seems useful to toast its end with something more down to earth.
Among the best “unicorn” finds, in my humble O, are bottles like these older Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintages. They can still occasionally be spotted squatting on the bottom shelves of corner stores, as this one had been since arriving there in early 2016. Still priced at its original $19.99, how could I not take it home?
Even at a modest 86.6 proof, the overall specs are great—a single barrel, laid down in 2006, eventually bottled 6 months short of a decade. Those same specs in 2025 would likely mean at least double if not triple the 2016 price. Quadruple+ from a craft distillery.
Until the 2007 vintages, these Evan Williams SiBs were bottled between 9 and 10 years by course. Since then they’ve tended to hover near 8 years—still a decent age. But recent bottlings, in addition to becoming pricier and less readily available, have indeed lost a certain sumpin-sumpin in the taste profile. The pre-2007 vintages are typically creamier, taking the edge off the bitter tannins I often get in later releases.
So how’s this one? Here we are, just about a month after uncorking and halfway through the bottle. These brief notes were taken using both a simple brandy glass and traditional Glencairn.
COLOR – soft orange-ambers, with cloudy sediments visible in the whiskey
NOSE – fragrant right out of the bottle, with bright apricot and nectarine preserves, oak and oak tannin, sweet vanilla, small town fairground caramels, something like an unfiltered amber wine, black pepper, cinnamon
TASTE – a creamy texture, with the fruit notes engulfed in vanilla-laden caramel (now more Sugar Daddy Milk Caramel Pop than small town homemade), accented by a bit of the oak and oak tannin
FINISH – that creamy texture coats the mouth, helping the bright fruit and candy notes to linger with that dash of oak tannin
OVERALL – old-fashioned bourbon goodness
That very specific “small town fairground caramels” note arises straight out of my sense memories. Every summer in my hometown we went to the annual county fair, where, between turns on rickety and likely dangerously unkept traveling carnival rides, we refueled on a combination of hot dogs, popcorn, cotton candy, and locally made caramels. These caramels could also be had in the autumn, during harvest season, when the apple orchards opened for business and their barns were filled with aromas of fresh fruit and baked goods.
And then on the taste, that same caramel note swings into old-fashioned mass produced caramels—but mass produced in the 1970s when such things still somehow transcended the dulling effects of mass production. So there is a cheapness to this bourbon that nevertheless has a certain high quality to it. Homemade and dime-store all at once.
That creamy texture is indeed a key contributor in this regard. It thickens the bright flavors I more readily associate with thin, cheap, mass-produced bourbons. And it coats the mouth thoroughly, helping the finish to linger surprisingly long for an 86.6 proof whiskey.
But even before the finish and taste, the nose already makes an impression. It’s remarkably outgoing. When I poured the glass, the aromas reached up and over to me immediately. Another reminder of those childhood fairground days—standing in line outside the gates, hearing the sounds of the rides and the crowds, already smelling the straw and dirt and popcorn and candy. The fragrant nose of this bourbon heightens and brightens anticipation.
Obviously I enjoy this neat. It doesn’t need ice, and might actually suffer from it. That said, I’ve put it to use in some excellent dive-bar Old-Fashioned cocktails—2oz Evan Williams, 0.25oz simple syrup, 2 dashes Angostura. It’s also done very well in a spiced up twist on the same—2oz Evan Williams, 0.25oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram, 2 dashes orange bitters. So it’s a versatile pour.
In short, if you ever see one of these Evan Williams SiB Vintage bottlings dated 2006 or before, and it hasn’t been subjected to pirate pricing, buy it. No question. I certainly will!
Cheers!
The Right Spirit 