Tasting at Neighbor's House

Ok, like I said, I got behind. So, going to give some notes on another tasting that we've had recently. We have:

Bernheim Original 7 Year Wheated ( 35.99 )

Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel ( 59.99 )

New Riff Single Barrel Cheers on 109 Store Pick ( 52.99 )

So first we're going to talk about Bernheim. This is a heaven hill product, and unlike a lot of stuff out there these days this has a 7 year age statement. It's also a wheated mash bill, so that's pretty exciting. The King of wheated right now is the Weller line, so it's cool to see someone else playing in this pool. This bourbon is really smooth and an easy neat sipper. It's not real complex, but that's ok. I wouldn't necessarily say that Weller Special Reserve is complex either. But that's not what it's here for. We definitely would recommend this for a new comer or if you can't find Weller ( and who can these days ) as a substitute. You also may be able to find it cheaper.

Next, we have the Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel. This is a tough bottle to find, but we had some luck in scoring one. Elijah Craig Small Batch ( especially the store picks ) are some of our favorites, especially for the price. this bottle is the Small Batch product that was then stored in a brand new toasted barrel and picks up some of the flavors of the new barrel until it's ready. We definitely like this expression of Elijah Craig and hope Heaven Hill continues to make this b/c it's really good.

Lastly, we have a New Riff single barrel store pick from Cheers. We love New Riff single barrel store picks, and this one doesn't disappoint either. At a bottle strength of 103 proof, it's a little lower than some of the other New Riff picks we have seen but still has good flavor and tastes good. Excited to see what New Riff does in the future b/c this stuff is only 4 years old.

Overall, we like all three of these bottles and would recommend all three at this price. If you twist our arms, the Toasted Barrel finishes first, then New Riff, then the Bernheim. Just b/c it finished last, though, does not mean that it's lacking.