Distillery: Barton 1792
Proof: 96.6
Age: 12 Years
Mashbill: Undisclosed (Rumored to be ~15-25% Rye)
BACKGROUND: 1792 Distillery was launched in 1879 and is the oldest fully-operating Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky. 1792 has undergone multiple name changes from Ridgemont Reserve to 1792 and release 6 different whiskies in their portfolio to include their flagship Small Batch, High Rye, Sweet Wheat (wheated mashbill), Port Finish, Full Proof, Bottled-in-Bond and this new, age-stated, 12 Year. 1792 Aged 12 Years was first released in 2019 and is an allocated release on an annual basis.
NOSE: Classic bourbon scents waft up from the glass as scents of vanilla, toffee, clove, and some maple. There is also some fresh rye spice that flirts with your nose. There is a subtle, yet present oak scent that shows the age. Overall the nose is quite straight forward but enjoyable. It is sweet and balanced but lacks some notes we expected from the age statement. (22/25)
PALATE: As soon as the whiskey touches your tongue you are welcomed with a thick mouthfeel and syrupy feel. Notes of caramel, butterscotch, vanilla, graham cracker, dark plum, roasted pecans, all-spice, and charred oak are quite distinguishable. Overall, the whiskey starts juicy and sweet but then dries out ever so slightly but with rich flavors that compliment each other. (35/40)
FINISH: The finish is full of spice and oak sugars. There is also a subtle ethanol bite that I picked up. The dryness from the back of the palate really grows here with a bitterness reminding us of raw cacao. Overall the finish is a little to dry and bitter for us. (21/25)
VALUE: With a $50 SRP this is fairly priced if you can find it near SRP. We would pay up to $75. (7/10)
Overall: 85/100
FINAL THOUGHTS: 1792 12 Year was slightly underwhelming for the hype this whiskey has and some of the prices it fetches on the secondary markets. At SRP, this is a delicious whiskey that I would continue to go back to. It adds some nice character to the regular 1792 Small Batch. We would recommend this to anyone if they can find it near SRP.
Similar & Slightly Better Whiskey: Knob Creek 15 Year (2020)
Similar & Equal Whiskey: Mattie Gladden
Similar & Slightly Worse Whiskey: Blue Note Premium Small Batch 9 Year
Tell us what you think and give us some feedback!
Scoring Legend:
96-100: The perfect dram, juice of the gods
90-95: Near perfect, truly incredible whiskey
85-89: Amazing whiskey, will always try to keep a backup bottle of this
80-84: Very good, some minor flaws here or there
75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink, Will try and keep a bottle on the shelf
70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get this
60-69: Decent, would offer this up to non whiskey drinkers
50-59: Not my cup of tea
Below 50: Give away
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