Review: Michter’s Single Barrel Straight Bourbon 10 Years Old 2024

After taking a hiatus in 2022, much to the dismay of many a bourbon lover and collector, Michter’s returned its 10-year-old single barrel bourbon last year in impressive style with one of the best releases to date. Can they outdo themselves for 2024? Let’s find out.

As always, this is a single barrel expression of Michter’s bourbon, aged at least ten years, and bottled at a non-standard, but always approachable, proof. I don’t always have the opportunity to compare current and previous releases, usually because my sample is long gone by the time another rolls around, but for this year I had a bit of the 2023 left over for comparison. There are some notable similarities.

The aroma is once again concentrated with oak, cocoa, and dark butterscotch, but there’s also a little more Tootsie Roll and sandalwood in the mix giving things a slightly drier profile. That and the addition of a little more baking spice make the dark fruits I detected in the 2023 release a bit harder to tease out, although a hint of black cherry arrives as things open up.

On the palate, this latest release is once again a well-tuned mix of wood and dark spice, kicking things off with notes of coffee grounds and chocolate sauce before transitioning to dark caramels and barrel char on the midpalate. Black pepper and sweet mesquite smoke are laced throughout, giving the overall profile a slightly savory edge and accentuating a long, gently dry finish of chai tea, cinnamon stick, and clove. It’s an impressively consistent profile for a single barrel offering with perhaps just a bit more oak and spice in the mix compared to last year. Yet another crowd pleaser from the folks at Michter’s.

94.4 proof.

A- / $185

The post Review: Michter’s Single Barrel Straight Bourbon 10 Years Old 2024 appeared first on Drinkhacker: The Insider’s Guide to Good Drinking.