Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Barrel Proof Bourbon Enthusiast Pick Barrel 20-20076
As I write this, I’m waiting day by day to find out when the New Jersey Bourbon & Yacht Club team - including me - picks our own Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Select Barrel Proof. I love this stuff - pure Jack Daniel’s power, usually at least 130 proof, hot and sweet and syrupy. I know our pick will be top-notch, but I can’t lie - this bottle is phenomenal.
Picked by The Bourbon Enthusiast (alongside its sister barrel, barrel 20-20075), this is a syrupy, cinnamon-y, peppery hot cinnamon bun of a whiskey. I’m not ashamed to tip my hat to James - Bourbon Enthusiast continues to pick cracker-jack barrels time after time.
The only knock I had on this was that it took a while to open up, but frankly with a neck pour that’s often the case. Additionally, higher proof whiskies sometimes can naturally have a tighter nose at first (there’s science behind this, but I’m not a scientist…) so don’t be afraid if you don’t smell much when you open that Stagg or that Jack - might just need a few minutes and a little air.
Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Select Bourbon Enthusiast Pick: Specs
Classification: TN Straight Whiskey
Origin: Jack Daniel’s Distillery
Proof: 130.9 (65.45% ABV)
Age: NAS
Location: Rick 20, Barrel 20-20076, Picked 11/2/2020
Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Barrel Proof Price: N/A - Single Barrel Pick Exclusive for Members
Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Barrel Proof Review: Tasting Notes
Eye: High-grade maple syrup. Thin rims, very thin droplet legs.
Nose: Tight at first - a little sweetness and a little tingle come out. Cinnamon, maple, and caramel slowly open. French toast being cooked in butter next door; sweet, delicious brioche starts opening.
Palate: Wow - just wow. Immediate grape and maple candies pound my palate, with lots of proof heat washing over my tongue like a tsunami. Sweet cinnamon sugar, eggy brioche monkey bread. The mouthfeel is just incredible - coating, hot at just the right level, tons of vanilla and cinnamon syrup. Ripe red fruits, both fresh and candied keep coming forward and ebbing back. Cinnamon (yes, again) and clove. This is what the Bourbon Pursuit “Cinnabon” pick could be at barrel strength (even though that’s a rye).
Finish: Medium-length, a touch spicy but with more cinnamon sugar. Could have a bit more oomph to it, but it carries the flavors well from the palate, especially the powerhouse cinnamon and brioche notes with maple and dark red fruit rounding out and softening the het.
Overall: Did I mention cinnamon? This bottle is a beauty…I wish I could have bought 5 of them. Some of these Jack Daniels’s Barrel Proofs are banana-forward, some are cinnamon-forward, some fall somewhere in the middle - this one is flambéing cinnamon sugar over brioche French toast, and I don’t want it to end.
Final Rating: 8.3
10 | Insurpassable | Nothing Else Comes Close (Blanton’s Straight from the Barrel)
9 | Incredible | Extraordinary (GTS, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof B518 and B520)
8 | Excellent | Exceptional (12+YO MGP Bourbon, Highland Park Single Barrels)
7 | Great | Well above average (Blanton’s Original, Old Weller Antique, Booker’s)
6 | Very Good | Better than average (Four Roses Small Batch Select, Knob Creek 14+ YO Picks)
5 | Good | Good, solid, ordinary (Elijah Craig Small Batch, Buffalo Trace, Old Grand-Dad Bottled-in-Bond)
4 | Sub-par | Many things I’d rather have (A.D. Laws Four Grain, Compass Box “Oak Cross”)
3 | Bad | Flawed (Iron Smoke Bourbon, Balcones)
2 | Poor | Forced myself to drink it (Buckshee Bourbon and Rye)
1 | Disgusting | Drain pour (Virginia Distilling Co. Cider Cask)
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